On defining definition
1. Introduction
2. Learner's Diary
3. Tasks and Quizzes
4. Evaluation
5. References
1. Introduction
First a revision about texts and the topic of today, different kind of dictionaries and types of definitions.
2. Learner's Diary
The shared world
basically about communications
The world of the mind
based on the individual, the individual organises text
Different types of dictionaries
different dictionaries have different kinds of definitions
- thesaurus: associative definition
- dictionary: contextual definition
semasiological dictionary
- semantics (meaning)
- reader’s dictionary
- decoding dictionary
- you have the appearance, but you look for the word
onomasiological dictionary
thesaurus
- ono (name)
- know the meaning, looking for a word, the appearance)
Picture meaning dictionaryu
Dictionary Information
Metadata
- information about the production of a dictionary
- intended for dictionary identification
Types of lexical information in dictionary entries:
- form (appearance) e.g. spelling, pronunciation
- structure (formulation) e.g. constructions of words (sentences)
- content (meaning) definition, relations with other words, examples
Basic definition types
- circular definition (BAD) e.g. a rose, is a rose, is a rose
- contextual definition
- recursive definition
- real definition (ostensive definitions; models)
Standard dictionary definition
- X is a Y kind of Z, e.g. a poodle is a hairy kind of dog
- Definitio per genus proximum et differentia specifica
- Definition by nearest kind and specific differences
Taxonomies
Taxonomies are used in many contexts, traditional in lexicography
- cross-references in standard definitions
- thesaurus construction
Recursive definitions
The technique of defining an infinite set of entities, such as
- the set of possible sentences in a language,
- the set of possible words in a language,
- the set of natural numbers
First, define the atomic, finite case or cases, for instance for a morphological stem, then induce the infinite set, then exclude everything else.
3. Tasks and Quizzes
What is a dictionary?
A dictionary is a book of alphabetically listed words in a specific language, with good definitions, etymologies, pronunciations, and other information or a book of alphabetically listed words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon.
(Wikipedia article "dictionary",
What kinds of dictionary are there?
- etymological dictionaries
- collocations dictionaries
- crossword/ scrabble dictionaries
- lexicons
- encyclopaedias
- glossaries
What is the difference between a semasiological and an onomasiological dictionary?
A semasiological dictionary is also called a reader's dictionary or decoding dictionary, it explains the meaning of word, the reader knows the appearance, bit not the meaning. An onomasiological dictionary is also called a writer's dictionary, e.g. the thesaurus, it contains synonyms and word fields. The user knows the meaning but have to look for the word or the appearance.
What other kinds of dictionaries are there?
- Dictionary of names
- Bilingual dictionary
- Etymological dictionary
What is Text Linguistics?
Generally linguists deals mostly with words and sentences, not necessarily with their role and meaning in texts. So, text linguistics is probably about how several words and sentences form a homogeneous text and how words and texts are related to each other.
What is applied text linguistics?
Using the results of text linguists to solve problems which arise in the everyday use of texts, e.g. in Word.
What are the main kinds of information in a dictionary?
Firstly, there is the metadata in which you can find information on the dictionary itself, for example the authors, publishers and on the type of dictionary, its purpose and so on. Furthermore there is the lexical information, which holds the information on the word in the dictionary, its form, structure and content.
Give examples of
- Form information (appearance): Spelling and pronunciation
- Structure information (formulation): composition, spelling, pronunciation
- Content information (meaning):definition, relations with other words, examples
What is the main kind of information which dictionary users are generally interested in?
The user of a dictionary can be interested in the content, looking for the meaning and also to look for synonyms, for a word (appearance), because the user know already have the meaning.
Find dictionary definitions of 5 different words of different parts of speech, and give examples of genus proximum and differentia specifica
banana - a long curved fruit with a thick skin, GB: fruit, DS: yellow, grows on bush
screw driver - a tool with a blade that fits in a screw, GB: tool, DS: a thin metal part and a thick part to handle it
swim - move the body through the water, GB: move through water, DS: using arms and legs
Alsatian - an animal, GB: dog, DS: long hair, from Germany
blanket – a thick woollen covering, BG: smooth thing, DS: rectangular, to cover something
What kinds of dictionaries are there?
- Semasiological dictionaries
- Thesaurus/ idioms dictionary/ onomasiological dictionary
- Bilingual and monolingual dictionaries
- Grammar dictionaries
- Pronunciation dictionary
How would you find the „best“ English dictionary?
Ask a teacher or native speaker.
Do you own a dictionary or do you borrow one from the library?
What kind of dictionary?
How often do you use it?
What do you use it for?
Would you recommend a dictionary?
Anne
1. Yes, I own two dictionaries
2. an English monolingual and an English bilingual
3. I use them nearly every day for my English studies.
4. I mostly use it to check the spelling or the meaning of the word, but I also usethe monolingual English one to get some inspiration, as you can sometimes find synonyms in the entries.
5. I would recommend my Longman's monolingual English dictionary. It helped me a lot during my time at school and I can use it at the univer sity as well.
Sarah
1. I own an English monolingual dictionary
2. See question no. 1
3. I do need it nearly every day (often)
4. spelling and meaning
5. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
Jana
1. I own one dictionary
2. I use it very often for my English studies.
3. spelling and meaning of words
4. I would recommend the Langenscheidt bilingual dictionary
Give detailed examples, from at least 3 different kinds of dictionary, of metadata and types of lexical information for 3 different kinds of lexical entry
Oxford Compact Thesaurus
Metadata
Oxford Compact Thesaurus, edited by Maurice Waite, with Lucy Hollingworth and Duncan Marshall, Oxford University Press, third edition 2005, declaration of copyright, ISBN 0-19-861030-0, content, preface, guide to the Thesaurus ,guide to the use of the dictionary
Lexical entries
foggy adjective misty, smoggy, hazy, murphy
house-trained adjective (Brit.) domesticated, trained; N. Amer. Housebroken
pub noun (Brit.) bar, inn tavern, hostelry, wine bar, taproom, roadhouse; Brit. Public house; Austrail./NZ hotel; informal watering hole; Brit. Informal local, boozes
Longman Dictionary of contemporary English
Metadata
Longman Dictionary of contemporary English; (pronunciation table, special signs, short forms and labels, grammar codes and patterns- not quite sure whether they belong to the mesostructure rather than the metadata), acknowledgements (managing editor, editors, lexicographers, pronunciation editor, proofreaders, editorial director, project manager, corpus and CD-ROM development, computational linguist and CD-ROM Project management, language notes, production editors, technical support manager, production, design, project and database administration, network administration, keyboarders, CD-ROM development, illustrators); thanks; address of the company; declaration of copyrights; date of publication of former editions; ISBN numbers (ten, one for each kind of publication); set in Nimrod, by Letterpart, UK, Printed in Italy by La Tipografica Varese; declaration of copyrights for maps and photographs; table of contents; Foreword; Introduction, “How to use the Dictionary” back matter: advertising the book itself and also hinting to other kinds of editions, bar code and ISBN of the edition( 3-526-51672-3), logos of the companies (Pearson Longman, Longman Corpus Network, British National Corpus)
Lexical entries
mallrat (blue characters), British pronunciation, American pronunciation (indicate by the $), n (part of speech noun), AmE informal a young person who goes to SHOPPING MALLS in order to be with their friends, not to buy things.
pictures of the wordfield "jump": you see a woman jump, a girl hop, a dancer leap, and a girl skip with a rope
a box in which are given phrases is connection to the entry "strike", with phrases such as be on strike and definitions for the phrases call off a strike (=decide not to continue with it) in blue box and a white box with prepositions [+by] and an example of the preposition plus word in context a six-week strike by railway workers
Pons Kompaktwörterbuch Englisch-Deutsch, Deutsch-Englisch
Metadata
Pons Kompaktwörterbuch Englisch-Deutsch, Deutsch-Englisch (Rund 130,000 Stichwörter und Wendungen. Mit CD-ROM) vollständige Neuentwicklung 2005; Ernst Klett Sprachen, bearbeitet von Evelyn Agbaria, Katja Daiss, u.a., 1. Auflge Stuttgart 2005, copyright declaration, table of contents; using this dictionary, phonetics, symbols and abbreviations
Lexical entries
covet IPA transcription vt begehren
presosition IPA transcription n Verhältniswort nt, Präposition
simulator IPA transcription n COMPUT, TECH Simulator m
Create definitions by nearest kind and specific differences for
hip-hop an urban kind of music, with a certain beat and spoken rhymes
love a deep feeling of affection and admiration towards somebody or some thing, which cannot be explained rationally
lasagna a pasta dish, which is composed traditionally of several layers of pasta, tomato sauce, minced meat and cheese and then baked in an oven
Describe in detail what is the reality and what are artefacts in
3 of the models discussed in the section on models
barbie doll the model of a young woman, artefacts: made of plastic, unrealistic figure, cannot talk, “ideal of a woman”
pictures used in dictionaries show a prototypical example of the definiendum, artefacts: mostly smaller than the original and sometime painted, only shows one kind of many different kinds, you cannot touch it
action games reality is that your virtual character can shoot with a virtual gun at virtual people and kill them. Your virtual character can look anything you like, it does not have to be human, but can be an animal or alien or fantasy character, the same counts for you virtual enemies, they can be any kind of creature. Artefacts are that you do not actually kill people, you might also be a peaceful person in real life.
in the text model given in the Text Theory introduction
The model isn't able to save memories, associations or feeling a person is connecting with a special word. Everybody has a different picture of a word in the head.
4. Evaluation
The lessons was clear structured and not difficult to understand. It is clear what a genus proximum and a differentia specifica is.
5. References
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