{"title":"Theory and Practice of Lexicographic Definition","authors":"Igor Mel'čuk, A. Polguère","doi":"10.17791/JCS.2018.19.4.417","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The paper offers a rigorous characterization of the notion of lexicographic definition: a minimal paraphrase formulated in the same language as the word defined and satisfying six lexicographic principles, which are formulated and discussed. The major types of semantic components in a lexicographic definition are identified and described: firstly, central vs. peripheral components, semantic-class marking components, presuppositional components, actant-specification components, weak components, and metaphor-marking components; secondly, conjunctive and disjunctive components. Three additional topics are introduced: the roles that the definition plays in a lexical entry (accounting for the semantic, syntactic and lexically restricted cooccurrence of the headword); lexical units whose definition is problematic; lexical connotations and semantic labels. Though the perspective offered on lexicographic definition is theory-oriented – within the framework of Explanatory Combinatorial Lexicology (ECL) –, a strong emphasis is put on the writing of actual definitions, a couple dozen of which is proposed and analyzed.","PeriodicalId":43246,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cognitive Science","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2018-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"8","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Cognitive Science","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.17791/JCS.2018.19.4.417","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 8
Abstract
The paper offers a rigorous characterization of the notion of lexicographic definition: a minimal paraphrase formulated in the same language as the word defined and satisfying six lexicographic principles, which are formulated and discussed. The major types of semantic components in a lexicographic definition are identified and described: firstly, central vs. peripheral components, semantic-class marking components, presuppositional components, actant-specification components, weak components, and metaphor-marking components; secondly, conjunctive and disjunctive components. Three additional topics are introduced: the roles that the definition plays in a lexical entry (accounting for the semantic, syntactic and lexically restricted cooccurrence of the headword); lexical units whose definition is problematic; lexical connotations and semantic labels. Though the perspective offered on lexicographic definition is theory-oriented – within the framework of Explanatory Combinatorial Lexicology (ECL) –, a strong emphasis is put on the writing of actual definitions, a couple dozen of which is proposed and analyzed.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Cognitive Science is an official journal of the International Association for Cognitive Science (IACS, http://ia-cs.org) and published quarterly by the Institute for Cognitive Science at Seoul National University, located in Seoul, Korea. The Association currently consists of member societies of different countries such as Australia, China, Japan, Korea, and European Union. However, paper submission by anyone in the whole world is welcome at any time. Its main concern is to showcase research articles of highest quality and significance within the disciplines of cognitive science, including, but not limited to, philosophy, psychology, linguistics, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, aesthetics, anthropology, and education, insofar as it is deemed to be of interest to those who pursue the study of mind. In particular, we would like to encourage submissions that cross the traditional disciplinary boundaries. The Journal of Cognitive Science (JCS) is published quarterly on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September, 31 December (founded in 2000) as the official journal of International Association for Cognitive Science (IACS) by the Institute for Cognitive Science at Seoul National University. It is a SCOPUS, ESCI, EBSCO, KCI journal. It aims to publish research articles of the highest quality and significance within the disciplines that form cognitive science, including philosophy, psychology, linguistics, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, anthropology, and education for Interdisciplinary Journal. Submissions that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries in either themes or methods are especially encouraged. AI-associated Cognitive Science will be newly reinforced and papers in this area are encouraged to be submitted.