Non-standard dictionary definitions: What they cannot tell native speakers of Polish.
Recently, a new defining format has been gaining in popularity in abstract noun entries of monolingual English learners’ dictionaries: a single-clause when-definition. The present study attempts to investigate the role of the definition of this format, placed in a complete microstructure, in conveyi...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
2006-04-01
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| Series: | Cadernos de Tradução |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/traducao/article/view/6953 |
| _version_ | 1818242916035854336 |
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| author | Robert Lew Anna Dziemianko |
| author_facet | Robert Lew Anna Dziemianko |
| author_sort | Robert Lew |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recently, a new defining format has been gaining in popularity in abstract noun entries of monolingual English learners’ dictionaries: a single-clause when-definition. The present study attempts to investigate the role of the definition of this format, placed in a complete microstructure, in conveying information on the syntactic class of nominal headwords. To achieve this aim, tests were designed and run on several groups of Polish learners of English at the intermediate level. Balanced parallel forms were employed, where single-clause when-definitions were contrasted with their closest analytical analogs in full dictionary entries. It was found that both the new and the classical definition formats resulted in comparably frequent correct POS identification of the headword nouns. This is in stark contrast to the results yielded by Lew & Dziemianko’s research (in press), which has inspired the present analysis, where the definition formats were investigated in isolation from other components of the microstructure. Analysis of the consultation behaviour suggests that the syntactic label was the only element of the entry consulted with any frequency, which suggests that the subjects may have approached the task as a metalexicographic exercise. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T13:52:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d9c8c85e5a9a40b0b02145b0825130cb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2175-7968 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T13:52:49Z |
| publishDate | 2006-04-01 |
| publisher | Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cadernos de Tradução |
| spelling | doaj.art-d9c8c85e5a9a40b0b02145b0825130cb2022-12-22T00:22:32ZengUniversidade Federal de Santa CatarinaCadernos de Tradução2175-79682006-04-012182752946058Non-standard dictionary definitions: What they cannot tell native speakers of Polish.Robert Lew0Anna Dziemianko1Adam Mickiewicz UniversityAdam Mickiewicz UniversityRecently, a new defining format has been gaining in popularity in abstract noun entries of monolingual English learners’ dictionaries: a single-clause when-definition. The present study attempts to investigate the role of the definition of this format, placed in a complete microstructure, in conveying information on the syntactic class of nominal headwords. To achieve this aim, tests were designed and run on several groups of Polish learners of English at the intermediate level. Balanced parallel forms were employed, where single-clause when-definitions were contrasted with their closest analytical analogs in full dictionary entries. It was found that both the new and the classical definition formats resulted in comparably frequent correct POS identification of the headword nouns. This is in stark contrast to the results yielded by Lew & Dziemianko’s research (in press), which has inspired the present analysis, where the definition formats were investigated in isolation from other components of the microstructure. Analysis of the consultation behaviour suggests that the syntactic label was the only element of the entry consulted with any frequency, which suggests that the subjects may have approached the task as a metalexicographic exercise.https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/traducao/article/view/6953monolingual dictionaries, learner’s dictionaries, definition format, dictionary entry interpretation, syntactic information, folk defining, language learners, dictionary use. |
| spellingShingle | Robert Lew Anna Dziemianko Non-standard dictionary definitions: What they cannot tell native speakers of Polish. Cadernos de Tradução monolingual dictionaries, learner’s dictionaries, definition format, dictionary entry interpretation, syntactic information, folk defining, language learners, dictionary use. |
| title | Non-standard dictionary definitions: What they cannot tell native speakers of Polish. |
| title_full | Non-standard dictionary definitions: What they cannot tell native speakers of Polish. |
| title_fullStr | Non-standard dictionary definitions: What they cannot tell native speakers of Polish. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Non-standard dictionary definitions: What they cannot tell native speakers of Polish. |
| title_short | Non-standard dictionary definitions: What they cannot tell native speakers of Polish. |
| title_sort | non standard dictionary definitions what they cannot tell native speakers of polish |
| topic | monolingual dictionaries, learner’s dictionaries, definition format, dictionary entry interpretation, syntactic information, folk defining, language learners, dictionary use. |
| url | https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/traducao/article/view/6953 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robertlew nonstandarddictionarydefinitionswhattheycannottellnativespeakersofpolish AT annadziemianko nonstandarddictionarydefinitionswhattheycannottellnativespeakersofpolish |