Volume 31, Issue 1

This contribution will not describe the structure in existing dictionaries. Instead, it will focus on the decisions that lexicographers make when they draw up the concept for and carry out the production of one or more new dictionaries, or when they consider making changes in the data presentation in an existing dictionary. This part of the lexicographical work is what we call structuring, which encompasses a number of various lexicographical decisions. One of these is choosing the fields that a database should contain. Typically, for some of these field types, it will be easy to distribute data, but for other fields it will require much consideration as there are several distribution options with different outcomes of varying usefulness. A second type of lexicographical decision to be made by the lexicographer is the predefined searching, which involves in what order searches are to be made in the different database fields and how these searches should result in a certain presentation of fields in the dictionary. An essential part of the argumentation in this contribution is based on the distinction between polyfunctional and monofunctional dictionaries. Most printed dictionaries are polyfunctional dictionaries, which are close to useless on electronic devices such as tablets and smartphones as they contain a vast amount of data. Only by producing monofunctional dictionaries is it possible to avoid information overload. In the case of monofunctional dictionaries, lexicographical structuring becomes particularly important as these dictionaries are derived from the same database but contain completely different structures.

This paper presents a critical investigation on the applicability within e-dictionaries of basic microstructural concepts and typologies proposed by Wiegand. Focusing on information accessibility for the user, the categories developed for printed dictionaries are put to the test in the electronic environment analysing monolingual online dictionaries of the English, French, German, and Italian languages. As Gouws has already pointed out, new types of data organization are to be found among innovative online dictionaries. They make, in fact, an extensive use of structural indicators and data-identifying entries, thus taking charge of some of the coherence functions that were previously fulfilled by microstructures, typically using strict bipartitions between comments on form and comments on semantics. Therefore, since the microstructure is no longer chiefly responsible for marking the general data typology, i.e. items on form and items on meaning, it is used in the electronic environment to provide other types of coherent arrangements. On the other hand, microstructural typologies of printed dictionaries seem to offer parameters that are still of use in order to identify the type of data integration presented by the dictionary, provided that the concept of some basic structural categories, such as comments, is extended and gains a wider range of possible applications.

A user-driven approach in lexicography - e.g. the function theory of lexicography (Bergenholtz & Tarp 2002, 2003, 2004; Fuertes-Olivera & Tarp 2014; Tarp 2008) - compels lexicographers to use all possible means at their disposal to improve the quality of dictionary use and to ensure an optimal retrieval of information from the lexicographical data. For instance, the advent of the internet has substantially modified the design and compilation of dictionaries in two ways. First, online dictionaries are dynamic tools, which makes them more suitable for meeting user needs in different user situations. Second, thinking in terms of static lexicographic structures is erroneous as these are ill-suited for benefiting from existing and potential internet technologies, for complying with the tenets of the user needs paradigm, and for analysing the merits of lexicographical tasks such as lexicographical storing. This article follows Bergenholtz & Agerbo’s concept of lexicographical structuring, which supports the main tenets of the user needs paradigm and the necessity of analysing the process of storing lexicographical data in a lexicographical database. This analysis supports my belief that lexicographical storing is a new lexicographical task which must be better understood, especially when working with the large amount of data being stored in lexicographical databases such as the one on which we are currently compiling the UNIVERSIDAD DE VALLADOLID INTERNET DICTIONARIES OF SPANISH.

This contribution enlarges upon the topic of macrostructures and access structures in LSP e-lexicography, paying special attention to the technical domain and translation-oriented usage. Whereas dictionary microstructures and mediostructures have so far been at the centre of research concerning LSP, macrostructures have been taken into consideration only incidentally and not in a systematic way. This paper proposes an evaluation framework for macrostructures of e-lexicographic tools on the grounds of different, combinable criteria, and applies this framework to a set of online and offline available resources. Against this background, the paper argues in favour of more in-depth studies on the role of macrostructures and access structures in the development of new methods for terminology management and description, especially under consideration of the quantitative predominance of the technical domain.

Writing idiomatic academic texts in English is a challenge faced by an increasing number of international students and scholars. In this article, we present a web-based dictionary-cum-writing aid tool, the Louvain English for Academic Purposes Dictionary, which aims to address the attested needs of non-native writers of English, with a particular focus on the phraseological patterning of academic words. First, we present the general design of the dictionary, highlighting four of its main features, i.e. the fact that it is corpus-based, production-oriented, hybrid and customizable. We then describe key aspects of the macro- and microstructure and highlight innovative features of the access structure, such as direct access to discipline-specific corpora. The conclusion outlines some important priorities for the future, in particular the need for validation and the desirability of integrating the dictionary into a wider learning environment.

Some structures in printed dictionaries also occur in online dictionaries, some do not occur, some need to be adapted whereas new structures may be introduced in online dictionaries. This paper looks at one type of structure, known in printed dictionaries as outer texts. It is argued that the notions of a frame structure and front and back matter texts do not apply to online dictionaries. The data distribution in online dictionaries does not only target the dictionary articles. There are components outside the word list section of the dictionary. These components are not always texts. They could e.g. also be video clips. Consequently the notion of outer texts in printed dictionaries is substituted by the notion of outer features in online dictionaries. This paper shows how outer features help to constitute a feature compound. The outer features in eight online dictionaries are discussed. Where the users guidelines text is a compulsory outer text in printed dictionaries it seems that an equivalent feature is often eschewed in online dictionaries. A distinction is made between dictionary-internal and dictionary-external outer features, illustrating that outer features can be situated in other sources than the specific dictionary. More research is needed to formulate models for online features that can play a comprehensive role in online dictionaries.

In this contribution, we present a novel approach for the analysis of cross-reference structures in digital dictionaries on the basis of the complete dictionary database. Using paradigmatic items in the German Wiktionary as an example, we show how analyses based on graph theory can be fruitfully applied in this context, e. g. to gain an overview of paradigmatic references as a whole or to detect closely connected groups of headwords. Furthermore, we connect information about cross-reference structures with corpus frequencies and log file statistics. In this way, we can answer questions such as the following ones: Are frequent words paradigmatically linked more closely than others? Are closely linked headwords or headwords that stand more solitary in the dictionary visited significantly more often?

Theoretical lexicographers have developed a range of elaborate structures to describe the arrangement of data inside dictionaries, in particular in dictionary articles. However, most of these structures have been developed on the basis of detailed analyses of print dictionaries and relatively little has been said about the arrangement of data in e-dictionaries. The relevant data types are lexicographical data providing help concerning the function(s) and use of dictionaries on search results pages. In order to create a visual hierarchy on screen that makes the most important search result data stand out, lexicographers should prioritize functional data that are directly related to and support the function(s) of dictionaries on a need-to-have/niceto- have basis, because data presentation structures with functional focus may better help users achieve their intended goals, i.e. finding answers to problems in communicative situations. One result is that lexicographers can analyse and describe the visual hierarchy in terms of data presentation fields and search zones, even though some search results may be described as non-articles.

This paper deals exclusively with e-lexicography. It intends to answer the question how much a lexicographer in charge of a new e-dictionary project should know about lexicographical structures, and how this knowledge could be communicated to the IT programmer designing the underlying database and the corresponding user interfaces. With this purpose, it first defines the concepts of lexicographical database, e-dictionary and e-lexicographical structure. Then it discusses some of the new ways in which lexicographical structures express themselves in the digital environment. It stresses, above all, their dynamic character and great complexity which make it extremely difficult and time-consuming for the lexicographer to get an overview of all the structures in an e-lexicographical project. Finally, and based upon the experience from the planning and design of five e-dictionaries, it shows how the lexicographer, nonetheless, can treat the question in the concrete interdisciplinary interaction with the programmer in order to obtain the database and interfaces needed to guarantee quality and innovation in an e-dictionary project.

This contribution presents the most recent state of research regarding functional item additions. The typology of functional item additions is rearranged on the basis of the distinction between glossed and non-glossed item additions. It is shown that and how functional item additions determine the hybrid structures of all types of elementary and nonelementary items and dictionary arcticles and determine a typology of such structures. Thereby a new typology is developed on the basis of the terms lexicographic superscript and subscript that allows a precise differentiation of the individual hybrid structures. Finally a network is developed in which all hybrid and pure article-related types of hierarchical structures, like the four types of article structures, i.e. article microstructures, article constituent structures, article item structures and exhaustive artictle item structures as well as all types of hierarchical comment structures, e.g. left and right core structures, left and right periphery structures, left, middle and right interstructures can be linked with one another across two types of partial structure relations, i.e. the substructure relation and the reduction relation.

The following report reflects on the activities of EMLex - the International European Master in Lexicography, focusing on the second annual colloquium and subsequent annual consortium meeting held at the Karoli Gaspar Reformatus Egyetem in Budapest, Hungary as well as the annual teaching semester at the University of Minho, in Braga, Portugal.