Among culture-bound vocabulary items, we typically find names of realia, but also lexemes not imm... more Among culture-bound vocabulary items, we typically find names of realia, but also lexemes not immediately identifiable as such, but which are perhaps even more important as indications of culture specificity: words that reflect the ways of thinking and acting deemed appropriate in a given cultural milieu. This paper deals with one such item, which, according to Anna Wierzbicka (2006, 2014), is an essential component of Anglo values: the adjective fair in its moral sense. The analysis is meant to establish how successful dictionaries for learners of English are in rendering its nuances of meaning.
Abstract: The lexicons of natural languages are not isomorphic. Reasons for the anisomorphism can... more Abstract: The lexicons of natural languages are not isomorphic. Reasons for the anisomorphism can be sought on three interrelated planes: language structure, extralinguistic reality, and concep-tualisation. Simply put, the relevant differences may reside in the language, the world, the mind, or any combination of these. As a result, what goes under the name of lexicographic equivalence is a rather heterogeneous category. Growing awareness of this fact has resulted over the years in the creation of several tentative typologies of equivalence, one of which is presented below, together with a brief discussion of some strategies for dealing with imperfect equivalence. The remaining part of the article comprises a detailed analysis of a single problem encoun-tered while preparing a new edition of a bilingual dictionary for Polish learners of English. The task at hand involved choosing a viable counterpart for a (Polish) semantic neologism from among a few (English) equivalence candidates...
The paper starts out with a look at various strategies for dealing with lack of interlingual equi... more The paper starts out with a look at various strategies for dealing with lack of interlingual equivalence in a bilingual dictionary, and subsequently concentrates on one ofthose strategies, namely, sanctioning a borrowing from the source into the target language. As an illustration, some relevant cases from the author's experience as editor ofEnglish-Polish dictionaries are discussed. An attempt is made to highlight the factors which influence decisions about the (non)acceptance ofborrowings as translation equivalents. 1. Dealing with Nonequivalence All bilingual lexicographers must be familiar with the practical consequences of what is referred to in metalexicographic literature (after Zgusta 1971) as the 'anisomorphism' of languages. A large part of our time and effort is spent trying to circumvent the problem of lack ofgood target language (TL) equivalents for the source language (SL) items. hi a situation ofzero or partial equivalence (to use the terminology ofKromann...
The paper deals with one of the reasons why examples in a bilingual dictionary should not be tran... more The paper deals with one of the reasons why examples in a bilingual dictionary should not be translated. It is claimed that - in a corpus-based Lx-Ly dictionary which gives Lx examples and then translates them into Ly - only the Lx sentences can be fully typical; the Ly sentences, no matter how good qua translations, are bound to contain collocations and colligations which are, at best, merely possible. The troubled relationship between the English adverb notoriously and its Polish counterpart notorycznie is used as an illustration. The problem does not arise if examples (in both the L2-L1 and L1-L2 parts of a bilingual dictionary) are given exclusively in the intended user's L2 - a solution which is only feasible in directional bilingual dictionaries, and which thus constitutes an additional argument in their favour.
The purpose of the present study is to check how well monolingual learners' diction-aries cop... more The purpose of the present study is to check how well monolingual learners' diction-aries cope with the sensitive field of mental ill health. The subject is considered worthy of attention in view of the high prevalence of mental health problems among young people, at whom learners' dictionaries are primarily targeted. To obtain a picture of the situation, twelve names of common mental health issues have been looked up in six learners' dictionaries of English (five British and one American). The analysis zoomed in on the choice of genus words, the information value of the definitions and examples, and the potential impact of both on the sensibilities of dictionary users. To resolve occasional disagreements in matters of content, specialist medical sources have been consulted. The treatment is cognitive linguistic in spirit, with the notion of construal — specifically its key component of focal adjustment — serving as the main descriptive tool.
The paper is an attempt to look at the problems faced by lexicographers compiling prepositional e... more The paper is an attempt to look at the problems faced by lexicographers compiling prepositional entries in dictionaries for foreign learners, and to suggest ways in which these problems could be alleviated. After discussing some of the reasons why prepositions are difficult to deal with in a dictionary, and reporting on the results of metalexicographic studies examining the treatment of prepositions in monolingual English learners. dictionaries and in three bilingual English-Polish dictionaries, Cognitive Linguistics is suggested as a source of important insights which could be of assistance in solving practical lexicographic problems. Among those insights are: the idea that the linguistic structuring of space functions as a mental template for other domains; recognition of the polysemic sense network of prepositional meanings; preference for principled polysemy over earlier unrestricted polysemy approaches; introduction of rigid criteria for the recognition of separate senses; reco...
This article makes a case for bilingual learners’ dictionaries. These dictionaries are very diffe... more This article makes a case for bilingual learners’ dictionaries. These dictionaries are very different from traditional bilingual dictionaries, being attuned to the productive needs of learners who are speakers of a specific L1. Although they have been around for some time now, teachers of English remain largely unaware of their benefits (or, possibly, their existence), continuing to promote the one-size-fits-all monolingual English learners’ dictionaries (MELDs) as the best choice for their students. As practising lexicographers, we cannot fail to appreciate the excellence of the leading MELDs, but, as we try to show, there are important respects in which even the best monolingual dictionary cannot assist a foreign language learner. We also explain why bilingualized dictionaries (adaptations of MELDs) are not a viable alternative to custom-designed bilingual learners’ dictionaries when it comes to helping students speak or write in English. Our arguments are illustrated by sample en...
Among culture-bound vocabulary items, we typically find names of realia, but also lexemes not imm... more Among culture-bound vocabulary items, we typically find names of realia, but also lexemes not immediately identifiable as such, but which are perhaps even more important as indications of culture specificity: words that reflect the ways of thinking and acting deemed appropriate in a given cultural milieu. This paper deals with one such item, which, according to Anna Wierzbicka (2006, 2014), is an essential component of Anglo values: the adjective fair in its moral sense. The analysis is meant to establish how successful dictionaries for learners of English are in rendering its nuances of meaning.
Abstract: The lexicons of natural languages are not isomorphic. Reasons for the anisomorphism can... more Abstract: The lexicons of natural languages are not isomorphic. Reasons for the anisomorphism can be sought on three interrelated planes: language structure, extralinguistic reality, and concep-tualisation. Simply put, the relevant differences may reside in the language, the world, the mind, or any combination of these. As a result, what goes under the name of lexicographic equivalence is a rather heterogeneous category. Growing awareness of this fact has resulted over the years in the creation of several tentative typologies of equivalence, one of which is presented below, together with a brief discussion of some strategies for dealing with imperfect equivalence. The remaining part of the article comprises a detailed analysis of a single problem encoun-tered while preparing a new edition of a bilingual dictionary for Polish learners of English. The task at hand involved choosing a viable counterpart for a (Polish) semantic neologism from among a few (English) equivalence candidates...
The paper starts out with a look at various strategies for dealing with lack of interlingual equi... more The paper starts out with a look at various strategies for dealing with lack of interlingual equivalence in a bilingual dictionary, and subsequently concentrates on one ofthose strategies, namely, sanctioning a borrowing from the source into the target language. As an illustration, some relevant cases from the author's experience as editor ofEnglish-Polish dictionaries are discussed. An attempt is made to highlight the factors which influence decisions about the (non)acceptance ofborrowings as translation equivalents. 1. Dealing with Nonequivalence All bilingual lexicographers must be familiar with the practical consequences of what is referred to in metalexicographic literature (after Zgusta 1971) as the 'anisomorphism' of languages. A large part of our time and effort is spent trying to circumvent the problem of lack ofgood target language (TL) equivalents for the source language (SL) items. hi a situation ofzero or partial equivalence (to use the terminology ofKromann...
The paper deals with one of the reasons why examples in a bilingual dictionary should not be tran... more The paper deals with one of the reasons why examples in a bilingual dictionary should not be translated. It is claimed that - in a corpus-based Lx-Ly dictionary which gives Lx examples and then translates them into Ly - only the Lx sentences can be fully typical; the Ly sentences, no matter how good qua translations, are bound to contain collocations and colligations which are, at best, merely possible. The troubled relationship between the English adverb notoriously and its Polish counterpart notorycznie is used as an illustration. The problem does not arise if examples (in both the L2-L1 and L1-L2 parts of a bilingual dictionary) are given exclusively in the intended user's L2 - a solution which is only feasible in directional bilingual dictionaries, and which thus constitutes an additional argument in their favour.
The purpose of the present study is to check how well monolingual learners' diction-aries cop... more The purpose of the present study is to check how well monolingual learners' diction-aries cope with the sensitive field of mental ill health. The subject is considered worthy of attention in view of the high prevalence of mental health problems among young people, at whom learners' dictionaries are primarily targeted. To obtain a picture of the situation, twelve names of common mental health issues have been looked up in six learners' dictionaries of English (five British and one American). The analysis zoomed in on the choice of genus words, the information value of the definitions and examples, and the potential impact of both on the sensibilities of dictionary users. To resolve occasional disagreements in matters of content, specialist medical sources have been consulted. The treatment is cognitive linguistic in spirit, with the notion of construal — specifically its key component of focal adjustment — serving as the main descriptive tool.
The paper is an attempt to look at the problems faced by lexicographers compiling prepositional e... more The paper is an attempt to look at the problems faced by lexicographers compiling prepositional entries in dictionaries for foreign learners, and to suggest ways in which these problems could be alleviated. After discussing some of the reasons why prepositions are difficult to deal with in a dictionary, and reporting on the results of metalexicographic studies examining the treatment of prepositions in monolingual English learners. dictionaries and in three bilingual English-Polish dictionaries, Cognitive Linguistics is suggested as a source of important insights which could be of assistance in solving practical lexicographic problems. Among those insights are: the idea that the linguistic structuring of space functions as a mental template for other domains; recognition of the polysemic sense network of prepositional meanings; preference for principled polysemy over earlier unrestricted polysemy approaches; introduction of rigid criteria for the recognition of separate senses; reco...
This article makes a case for bilingual learners’ dictionaries. These dictionaries are very diffe... more This article makes a case for bilingual learners’ dictionaries. These dictionaries are very different from traditional bilingual dictionaries, being attuned to the productive needs of learners who are speakers of a specific L1. Although they have been around for some time now, teachers of English remain largely unaware of their benefits (or, possibly, their existence), continuing to promote the one-size-fits-all monolingual English learners’ dictionaries (MELDs) as the best choice for their students. As practising lexicographers, we cannot fail to appreciate the excellence of the leading MELDs, but, as we try to show, there are important respects in which even the best monolingual dictionary cannot assist a foreign language learner. We also explain why bilingualized dictionaries (adaptations of MELDs) are not a viable alternative to custom-designed bilingual learners’ dictionaries when it comes to helping students speak or write in English. Our arguments are illustrated by sample en...
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