Which Defining Model Contributes to More Successful Extraction of Syntactic Class Information and Translation Accuracy?

Abstract

Definitions in English monolingual learners' dictionaries are the central focus of the paper. Metalexicographers have had a consuming interest in the following three types of definitions: analytical definitions (or classical definitions), full-sentence definitions (also called contextual definitions) and single-clause when-definitions. The use of when-definitions, the role of which is to define abstract nouns, has raised questions and doubts as to their efficacy on correct part of speech recognition of the definiendum, or item being defined, in light of the problems related to the substitutability of headwords and parts of definitions (lack of general category words in this definition format). By and large, existing research has substantiated the superiority of the classical definitiontype over single-clause when-definitions with respect to the accuracy of word class identification. The current experiment attempts to further delve into the subject of part of speech recognition with regard to the three aforementioned defining formats-in previous studies only data from analytical and single-clause when-definitions were collated, since contextual definitions were not included in the study design. The study was conducted on a group of 120 advanced-level Polish university students of English. The subjects were tested on their ability of correct extraction of syntactic class information and translation accuracy of abstract noun headwords as regards the three predominant definition-types in English lexicographic practice.

Bridging the gap between website accessibility and lexicography: information access in online dictionaries

“…FSD results in longer, more syntactically complex definitions, which critics of FSD adduce as a problem [44]. Several studies have shown that users extract syntactic class information more easily from classical Aristotelian definitions [48][49][50]. Therefore, it has been argued that combining the Aristotelian definition for non-predicative words (as concrete nouns, for example) with FSD for predicative words in relation to which contextual information must be provided (mainly adjectives and verbs) is a better solution [46].…”

English Translation Stylistic Features and Syntax Translation with Application of Knowledge Mapping

“…Literature [12] In order to understand the role of translation in learning a language, the authors conducted a study on 22 Norwegian students in English writing, which showed that translation develops students' English writing skills. Literature [13] tested the ability of 120 Polish university students to correctly extract syntactic analogies and translation level for three types of definitions in English dictionary compilation practice: analytic definitions, full-sentence definitions, and singleton when-definitions, and the results showed that the classical definition type was superior to the singleton when-definition. Literature [14] studied discourse markers based on discourse annotations and translation localization in Czech, Development, Hungarian and Lithuanian, and the author concludes by showing how to combine translation annotation.…”