scholarly journals A method to update traditional explanatory dictionaries

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 42-48
Author(s):  
Rūta Petrauskaitė ◽  
Virginijus Dadurkevičius
Keyword(s):  

In the paper the method is presented how to update traditional digitalised dictionaries based on comparison of the dictionary lemmas and a big corpus. Hunspell platform is used for generation of all the word forms from the dictionary lemmas. 6th edition of The Dictionary of Modern Lithuanian was chosen for its comparison with the lexical data from The Joint Corpus of Lithuanian. The outcome of the comparison was two lists of non-overlapping lexis: the list of the dictionary lemmas unused in the present-day Lithuanian and the list of the dictionary gaps, i.e., frequently used words and word forms ignored by the dictionary. The latter is discussed in greater detail to give lexicographers a clue for updates.

Diachronica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timotheus A. Bodt¹ ◽  
Johann-Mattis List²

Abstract While analysing lexical data of Western Kho-Bwa languages of the Sino-Tibetan or Trans-Himalayan family with the help of a computer-assisted approach for historical language comparison, we observed gaps in the data where one or more varieties lacked forms for certain concepts. We employed a new workflow, combining manual and automated steps, to predict the most likely phonetic realisations of the missing forms in our data, by making systematic use of the information on sound correspondences in words that were potentially cognate with the missing forms. This procedure yielded a list of hypothetical reflexes of previously identified cognate sets, which we first preregistered as an experiment on the prediction of unattested word forms and then compared with actual word forms elicited during secondary fieldwork. In this study we first describe the workflow which we used to predict hypothetical reflexes and the process of elicitation of actual word forms during fieldwork. We then present the results of our reflex prediction experiment. Based on this experiment, we identify four general benefits of reflex prediction in historical language comparison. These comprise (1) an increased transparency of linguistic research, (2) an increased efficiency of field and source work, (3) an educational aspect which offers teachers and learners a wide plethora of linguistic phenomena, including the regularity of sound change, and (4) the possibility of kindling speakers’ interest in their own linguistic heritage.


Author(s):  
Pui Fong Kan

Abstract The purpose of this article is to look at the word learning skills in sequential bilingual children—children who learn two languages (L1 and L2) at different times in their childhood. Learning a new word is a process of learning a word form and relating this form to a concept. For bilingual children, each concept might need to map onto two word forms (in L1 and in L2). In case studies, I present 3 typically developing Hmong-English bilingual preschoolers' word learning skills in Hmong (L1) and in English (L2) during an 8-week period (4 weeks for each language). The results showed gains in novel-word knowledge in L1 and in L2 when the amount of input is equal for both languages. The individual differences in novel word learning are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Palma ◽  
Marie-France Marin ◽  
k onishi ◽  
Debra Titone

Although several studies have focused on novel word learning and consolidation in native (presumably monolingual) speakers, less is know about how bilinguals add novel words to their mental lexicon. Here, we trained 33 English-French bilinguals on novel word-forms that were neighbors to “hermit” English words (i.e., words with no existing neighbors). Importantly, these English words varied in terms of orthographic overlap with their French translation equivalent (i.e., cognates vs. noncognates). We measured explicit recognition of the novel neighbors and the interaction between novel neighbors and English words through a lexical decision task, both before and after a sleep interval. In the lexical decision task, we found evidence of immediate facilitation for English words with novel neighbors, and evidence of competition after a sleep interval for cognate words only. These results suggest that higher quality of existing lexical representations predicts an earlier onset for novel word lexicalization.


Author(s):  
Е.О. Ковыршина

Постановка задачи. В статье на материале собранного корпуса фразеологических единиц (в количестве 1828 ФЕ), полученного методом сплошной выборки из немецкоязычных и двуязычных словарей, выделяются и анализируются с синтаксической позиции многокомпонентные фразеоединицы со структурой словосочетания с главным словом - глаголом. Способом буквального перевода определяются синтаксические типы, которые активно используются для создания многокомпонентных глагольных фразеосочетаний (МКГФС), выявляется специфика синтаксических типов немецких ФС и создается синтаксическая типология МКГФС немецкого языка. Результаты. На основе изученного материала было выделено восемь синтаксических типов МКГФС. В ходе исследования с помощью метода квантитативного анализа были установлены наиболее частотные типы структурно-синтаксических схем, активно образующие многокомпонентные глагольные фразеосочетания. Выделение синтаксических типов немецких МКГФС и их анализ позволили установить специфику синтаксической организации МКГФС немецкого языка. Выводы. На основе проведенного исследования была создана синтаксическая типология МКГФС немецкого языка, одного из наиболее многочисленных классов многокомпонентных фразеоединиц с разнообразной синтаксической организацией. Установлено, что в немецком языке существуют специальные синтаксические структуры из трех и более словоформ, которые используются для создания многокомпонентных фразеосочетаний. Анализ МКГФС позволил выявить специфику немецких типов с двумя глагольными компонентами и выделить самый продуктивный, частотный (566 ФС) тип МКГФС со структурой сложного словосочетания. Проведенное исследование и дальнейшее изучение синтаксических типов других многокомпонентых ФЕ - неглагольных типов, ФЕ со структурой предложения позволят расширить и углубить знания о многокомпонентных фразеоединицах, занимающих весомое место в фразеологической системе немецкого языка. Изучение типов структурно-синтаксических схем МКГФС и других многокомпонентных ФЕ, являющихся конкретным языковым воплощением структурной модели ФС, открывает новые перспективы в области синтаксического моделирования немецкого языка. Statement of the problem. In the article on the material of the assembled corpus of phraseological units (in the amount of 1828 PU), obtained by the method of continuous sampling from German-language and bilingual dictionaries, multicomponent phraseological units with a phrase structure with the main word - a verb consisting of three or more components are selected and analyzed from the syntactic position. The method of literal translation determines the syntactic types that are actively used to create multicomponent verbal phraseological combinations (MCVPC), the specificity of syntactic is revealed. types of German PC and syntactic typology of the MCVPC of the German language is created. Results. Based on the material studied, eight syntactic types of MCVPC were distinguished. In the course of the study, using the method of quantitative analysis, the most frequency types of structural-syntactic schemes were established that actively form multicomponent verbal phrase combinations. Syntax type extraction of German MCVPC and their analysis made it possible to establish the specifics of the syntactic organization of the MCVPC of the German language. Conclusion. A syntactic typology of the MCVPC of the German language, one of the most numerous classes of multicomponent phraseological units with a diverse syntactic organization was created on the basis of the study. It is established that in the German language there are special syntactic structures of three or more word forms that are used to create multicomponent phrase combinations. The analysis of MCVPC revealed the specificity of German types with two verb components and highlighted the most productive, frequency (566PC) type of MCVPC with the structure of a complex phrase. The study of the syntactic types of other multicomponent phraseological units - non-verb types, phraseological units with a sentence structure will allow us to expand and deepen our knowledge of multicomponent phraseological units, which occupy a significant place in the phraseological system of the German language. Study of the structural-syntactic schemes types of the MCVPC and other multicomponent phraseological units, which are the concrete language embodiment of the structural model of the FS, opens up new prospects in the field of syntactic modeling of the German language.


2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Cowley

To view language as a cultural tool challenges much of what claims to be linguistic science while opening up a new people-centred linguistics. On this view, how we speak, think and act depends on, not just brains (or minds), but also cultural traditions. Yet, Everett is conservative: like others trained in distributional analysis, he reifies ‘words’. Though rejecting inner languages and grammatical universals, he ascribes mental reality to a lexicon. Reliant as he is on transcriptions, he takes the cognitivist view that brains represent word-forms. By contrast, in radical embodied cognitive theory, bodily dynamics themselves act as cues to meaning. Linguistic exostructures resemble tools that constrain how people concert acting-perceiving bodies. The result is unending renewal of verbal structures: like artefacts and institutions, they function to sustain a species-specific cultural ecology. As Ross (2007) argues, ecological extensions make human cognition hypersocial. When we link verbal patterns with lived experience, we communicate and cognise by fitting action/perception to cultural practices that anchor human meaning making.


Author(s):  
Rong Xiang ◽  
Emmanuele Chersoni ◽  
Qin Lu ◽  
Chu‐Ren Huang ◽  
Wenjie Li ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 1845-1856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karla K. McGregor ◽  
Ulla Licandro ◽  
Richard Arenas ◽  
Nichole Eden ◽  
Derek Stiles ◽  
...  

Purpose To determine whether word learning problems associated with developmental language impairment (LI) reflect deficits in encoding or subsequent remembering of forms and meanings. Method Sixty-nine 18- to 25-year-olds with LI or without (the normal development [ND] group) took tests to measure learning of 16 word forms and meanings immediately after training (encoding) and 12 hr, 24 hr, and 1 week later (remembering). Half of the participants trained in the morning, and half trained in the evening. Results At immediate posttest, participants with LI performed more poorly on form and meaning than those with ND. Poor performance was more likely among those with more severe LI. The LI–ND gap for word form recall widened over 1 week. In contrast, the LI and ND groups demonstrated no difference in remembering word meanings over the week. In both groups, participants who trained in the evening, and therefore slept shortly after training, demonstrated greater gains in meaning recall than those who trained in the morning. Conclusions Some adults with LI have encoding deficits that limit the addition of word forms and meanings to the lexicon. Similarities and differences in patterns of remembering in the LI and ND groups motivate the hypothesis that consolidation of declarative memory is a strength for adults with LI.


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