Dictionary making in Language
Documentation
Bielefeld 03.11.2015
Ulrike Mosel, Kiel University
[email protected]
1. Typology of ordinary dictionaries
2. Why dictionaries for endangered languages are special
dictionaries
3. Content and structure of a Lexical Database (LD)
4. Why the print-out of a LD is not a dictionary
5. Transforming a LD into thematic-dictionaries
6. What linguists can discover in thematic-dictionaries
7. Conclusions
modern Teop dwelling house
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1 Typology of ordinary dictionaries
Collins COBUILD EED
Monolingual dictionaries
explain the meaning
of words.
2
Webster's
Comprehensive
Dictionary
Collins COBUILD
Essential English
Dictionary
A large solid hoofed quadruped /
equus caballus/
with coarse mane and tail,
in the domestic state,
employed as a beast of draught and
burden
and especially for riding upon.
A horse is a large animal
which you can ride.
Some horses are used
for pulling ploughs and carts.
for native speakers,
not for language learners
Webster
3
for language learners,
not for native speakers
4
1
Typology
about
the world
about
language
dictionaries
Encyclopedias:
provide
real-world knowledge
Dictionaries
explain meanings
of words
The Children's Illustrated
Encyclopedia
5
monolingual
native
speaker
Webster
learner
encyclopedias
bilingual
active
passive
Collins COBUILD EED
6
My personal lexicographic experience
Typology
Teop
dictionaries
monolingual
Samoan
encyclopedia
bilingual
community dictionaries
Samoan: monolingual school dictionary
Teop: Lexical Database & thematic dictionaries
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2
2 Why dictionaries for endangered languages are
special dictionaries
agevana
asiata
Why dictionaries for endangered languages are
special dictionaries
pink siris, albizza species
spangled emperor
ordinary dict.
dictionary = wordlist + translation equivalent?
Teop
community dict.
economic basis commercial
funding agencies
time frame
decades
3-10 years, part time
purpose
translating,
L2 learning
general public
language maintenance
users
lexicographers professionals
linguistic
resources
huge corpora, old
dictionaries
small community,
academics
linguists,
community members
language documentation
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Dictionaries for endangered speech communities:
users & purpose
Linguists
Community members
understand and analyse texts
passive
dictionary for translation
preservation of cultural memory
language maintenance,
passive & active
learner dictionary
linguistic information
linguistic &
encyclopedic information
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10
3 Content and structure of the a lexical database
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3
Structure of the lexical entry of the TLD 2015:
3 Content and structure of the a lexical database
Not an end product, but a dynamic tool
Structure of the lexical entry of the TLD 2015:
Toolbox
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3 Content and structure of the a lexical database
\lx
\mn
\mr
\ge
\ps
\re
\sn
\de
\sc
\pc
\sd
\rf
\xv
\xe
\
head word in Teop
crossreference to main entry
morphological structure)
English gloss
part of speech
reversal (to create an English wordlist)
sense number
English translation equivalent of \lx , if possible
scientific name (for plants and animals)
picture (link to the Teop Picture Dictionary)
semantic domain
reference of Teop descriptions & examples
Teop description /example
English translation of \xv
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Lexical Database -Toolbox
Not an end product,
but a dynamic tool, containing information on
link to picture
- grammatical features of lexical units
(morphology, word class)
- grammatical relations between words (derivation)
description
-semantic features
- semantic relations to other lexical units
example
-translation equivalents
- description of the meaning in Teop with an English translation
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description
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4
4 Lexical database and printed dictionary
edited print-out
Lexical database
Printed dictionary
Space
Macro-structure
unlimited
multi-dimensional
restricted
linear
Purpose
user oriented,
for the
speech community
highly selective
Meanings
dynamic unbiased
resource and tool
for researchers
moderately
selective
text meanings
examples
citations
illustrative examples
Content
meaning potentials
17
Lexical database
orthography
can easily deal with
variation
grammar
citations contain
speech errors,
interferences from
dominant languages
printed
dictionary
standardization preferable
standard forms preferable
18
4 Lexical database, printed and e-dictionary
(e-dictionary: green colour)
Lexical database
Space
Macro-structure
unlimited
restricted
multi-dimensional linear
Purpose
user oriented
for speech community,
researchers
highly selective
Meanings
dynamic unbiased
resource and tool
for researchers
moderately
selective
text meanings
examples
citations
illustrative examples
Content
requires editing with native speakers
19
Printed dictionary
meaning potentials
20
5
Lexical database
orthography
can easily deal with
variation
grammar
citations contain
speech errors,
interferences from
dominant languages
Problem 1:
Text meaning vs. meaning potential
Printed
dictionary
standardization
preferable
Not the meaning of the lexemes is captured,
but only the various senses
the word has in the particular contexts of the corpus.
standard forms
preferable
And what we consider as distinct senses is influenced by the
translation equivalents.
Example: naovana
‘and Gaivaa became a naovana that we call seagull’
‘then you get two cockatoo feathers, this is a white naovana, ...
requires editing with native speakers
naovana
‘bird’
but other naovana:
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‘The giant could change into a spirit or change into a snake.
Or all kinds of naovana that creep on the ground.’
‘The kaakau is a naovana that looks like a brown leaf.’
flying foxes,
insects 22
Lexical database
captures the different aspects of word meaning that
are activated in its particular context.
Dictionary
“contains lists of meaning potentials”
(Hanks 2000/2008)
How can we capture the relevant “meaning potentials”
and present them in a sensible way in the dictionary?
naovana = animal that flies or moves on the ground
iana
= animal that swims (fishes, dolphins, turtles)
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1 meaning, but 2 (or more) translation equivalents
naovana
Problem 2:
not all citations are suitable
as example sentences.
animal that flies or moves on the ground
translation equivalent:
the word a native speaker would use
in the particular context in question.
What kind of ______ is this?
Collins Cobuid Advanced Dictionary:
“If someone stabs you, they push a
knife or sharp object into your body.”
naovana n.a. animal (that lives on the land); bird; insect; ....
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Problem 3:
English translation equivalent in unknown
2008
‘This old woman,
Sharphand,
stabbed him to death with her hand.’
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2013
Melanesian scrubfowl,
Melanesian megapode, a big, black bird
that lays its eggs in the ground 28
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the creation of a dictionary is a different job
- revision of sense discrimination
- systematic ordering of senses
- revision of examples
-moderate standardization of orthography
and grammar
The same applies to electronic dictionaries !
You need two versions:
a) database as a tool for researchers and lexicographers
b) version for the general public
5. Transforming a lexical data base
into small thematic dictionaries
Criteria for selecting themes:
• which themes do the elders and teachers consider as important?
• which are most endangered?
• which are most suitable for indigenous lexicographers?
•which are easy to understand for the linguist?
Problem 4: time management
no comprehensive dictionary in 5 years
never promise such a dictionary
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Teop
language
documentation
project
Themes of Teop mini-dictionaries:
completed (2003-2015):
house building, fishing, fishes, shellfish,
trees and other plants,
texts typed and proof read:
land animals, food, body and health,
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Problem 5 :
specialised vocabulary is
under-represented in the corpus
supplementary recordings
Further advantages of mini-dictionaries:
Supplementary recordings in Teop for the House-Dictionary:
specialised vocabulary is less frequently used
How to build a men’s house
How to make bamboo walls
How to make the floor from the wood of the kabuu palm
How to make the thatch
more endangered
 less polysemous
endangered
species & word
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How to make bamboo walls
vavaagoroho
‘sleeping pattern’
vavaassun
‘standing pattern’
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How to make the thatch from sago palm leaves
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How to make the floor from kobuu palm wood
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Problem 6: specialised vocabulary
 it is difficult to translate
 linguists have no expertise in ethno-sciences
 indigenous experts lack the necessary proficiency
encyclopedic information
in the target language (English/French/Spanish etc.)
vernacular encyclopedic descriptions
with translations
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Conventional and idiosyncratic language use
in indigenous lexicography
Problem 7: descriptions are not an indigenous genre
but show the expressive potential of the language
Let different people work on items
reflect the native speaker's metalinguistic knowledge
that are presumably described in a similar way; e.g.
house & canoe or fishes & birds
can show the native speaker's conceptualisation of extralinguistic phenomena, e.g. taxonomies
similarities of house and canoe descriptions:
topic = things
predicate = put s.th. somewhere
are useful to understand the meaning of words
training:
“Explain what X is to a child.”
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similarities of fishes and birds descriptions:
topic = animal
predicate = habits
= properties like size, colour, shape
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6 What linguists can discover in thematic-dictionaries
register analysis:
conventional constructions for descriptions of
things, properties and events
systematic patterns of polysemy, homonymy and word formation
7 Conclusions
A lexical database and a dictionary are two very different things
a dictionary is not a by-product
a dictionary requires hard work and
active involvement of the speech community
Example for systematic conversion/homonymy
Noun
‘part of the house’
Verb
‘add this part (e.g. wall) onto the house’
‘rafter’
‘put up the rafters’
‘bamboo wall’
‘put up the bamboo wall’
Be rewarded by a culturally and linguistically interesting, and
completed little dictionary!
‘floor’
‘make the floor of s.th. (a house) from
s.th. (wood; planks)’
Make sure that the format of electronic dictionaries is regularly
updated
Start with a mini-dictionary.
Use vernacular encyclopedic descriptions.
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References
A INU
The Teop-English Dictionary of House Building
Atkins, B.T. Sue & Rundell, Michael. 2008.
The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography.
OUP.
Mark Mahaka, Enoch Horai Magum, Joyce Maion,
Naphtaly Maion, Ruth Siimaa Rigamu, Ruth Saovana
Spriggs, and Jeremiah Vaabero
with Ulrike Mosel, Marcia Schwartz and Yvonne Thiesen,
drawings by Neville Vitahi, photographs by Ulrike Mosel
Coward, David F. & Grimes, Charles E. 2000.
Making Dictionaries,
SIL International Waxhaw. North Carolina.
Hanks, Patrick. 2008. Do word meanings exist? In Thierry Fotenelle.
Practical Lexicography. A Reader. OUP, pp. 125-134
Hanks, Patrick. 2012. Corpus evidence and electronic lexicography.
In Sylviana Granger & Magali Paquot. Electronic Lexicography.
Oxford:OUP
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44
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References (cont.)
Kilgarriff, Adam. 2008. “I don’t believe in word senses!” In
Thierry Fotenelle.
Practical Lexicography. A Reader. OUP, pp. 135-151
Mosel, Ulrike.
2011. Lexicography in endangered language communities.
In Austin, Peter & Sallabank, Julia (eds.).
The handbook of endangered languages. Cambridge: CUP,
pp. 337-353.
Svensén, Bo. 2009. A handbook of LexicographyThe theory and practice of dictionary making.
The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography.
OUP.
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