A New Type of Folk-inspired Definition in English Monolingual Learners' Dictionaries and its Usefulness for Conveying Syntactic Information

Authors: Lew, Robert; Dziemianko, Anna

Source: International Journal of Lexicography, Volume 19, Number 3, September 2006 , pp. 225-242(18)

Publisher: Oxford University Press

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Abstract:

A new type of definition of abstract noun headwords, the single-clause when-definition, has recently found its way into major English monolingual learners' dictionaries. In line with a current broad tendency in pedagogical lexicography, the new definition format seems to be modeled after (English) folk defining, although in fact the latter has so far received little systematic study. The present contribution focuses on the usefulness of the new definition format for conveying syntactic class information to the foreign learner, who may be unfamiliar with the English folk defining tradition. The new definition is tested empirically against the traditional analytical definition.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1093/ijl/ecl011

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