The intersection discussed in this paper is one of the various meeting points of English lexis and grammar, specifically, the notion of ‘word class’. Word class has long formed part of the description of English, and often involves assigning words to one or more of eight ‘parts of speech’. It has long been recognized, however, that such classification is a far from perfect descriptive tool (see, among others: Fries 1952 passim; Hornby et al 1963, p.vi; Quirk et al 1985, p.37; Crystal 1997, p.92); the following are some of the problem areas: (a) word class involves different aspects of the language (morphology, syntax, extra-syntactic phenomena, meaning and function); (b) a variable number of sub-divisions can be made within each class; (c) not all items fit neatly into categories; (d) terminology varies. Corpus analysis has enabled lexico-grammatical description to become much more accurate and detailed than before, but this also means that when PoS labels are used to help describe the language to the average user or learner, many choices and compromises need to be made (see, with regard to dictionaries, Sinclair 1987). It is within this context that a comparative study was carried out, and will be reported on in this presentation, of five corpus-based dictionaries (References A to E). Aspects investigated were: (1) which word classes are systematically used by each dictionary, and using which terminology; (2) whether and how the classes are described to the dictionary user; (3) whether all words are assigned a word class, and the extent to which phrasal units are also given PoS labels; (4) specific analysis of 35-40 lexical items judged by the present author to present particular difficulties in relation to ‘word class’. Comparison of the dictionaries will include evaluative comments. In addition, the same investigation was carried out on three editions of analogous pre-corpus dictionaries, published by OUP (1963, 1989) and Longman (1987), in order to see whether and to what extent description has changed over time. References Primary dictionaries examined: A. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 4th edn. 2013. Cambridge University Press. B. Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary of English, 5th edn. 2006. HarperCollins, Glasgow. C. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 6th edn. Pearson Education, Harlow. D. Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners, 2nd edn. 2007. Macmillan Publishers Ltd, Oxford. E. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 9th edn. 2015. Oxford University Press. Other references: Crystal, David. 1997. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Fries, Charles Carpenter. 1952. The Structure of English. An Introduction to the construction of English sentences. Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York. Hornby, A.S., E.V. Gatenby, H. Wakefield, Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, 2nd edn. 1963. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Quirk, R., S. Greenbaum, G. Leech and J. Svartvik. 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman, London. Sinclair, John. 1987. ‘Grammar in the Dictionary’. In Looking Up: An account of the COBUILD Project in lexical computing. J. Sinclair (ed), pp. 104-115. Collins ELT, London and Glasgow.
Considerations regarding the notion of ‘word class’ in modern English, with special reference to learners’ dictionaries
Coffey
2018-01-01
Abstract
The intersection discussed in this paper is one of the various meeting points of English lexis and grammar, specifically, the notion of ‘word class’. Word class has long formed part of the description of English, and often involves assigning words to one or more of eight ‘parts of speech’. It has long been recognized, however, that such classification is a far from perfect descriptive tool (see, among others: Fries 1952 passim; Hornby et al 1963, p.vi; Quirk et al 1985, p.37; Crystal 1997, p.92); the following are some of the problem areas: (a) word class involves different aspects of the language (morphology, syntax, extra-syntactic phenomena, meaning and function); (b) a variable number of sub-divisions can be made within each class; (c) not all items fit neatly into categories; (d) terminology varies. Corpus analysis has enabled lexico-grammatical description to become much more accurate and detailed than before, but this also means that when PoS labels are used to help describe the language to the average user or learner, many choices and compromises need to be made (see, with regard to dictionaries, Sinclair 1987). It is within this context that a comparative study was carried out, and will be reported on in this presentation, of five corpus-based dictionaries (References A to E). Aspects investigated were: (1) which word classes are systematically used by each dictionary, and using which terminology; (2) whether and how the classes are described to the dictionary user; (3) whether all words are assigned a word class, and the extent to which phrasal units are also given PoS labels; (4) specific analysis of 35-40 lexical items judged by the present author to present particular difficulties in relation to ‘word class’. Comparison of the dictionaries will include evaluative comments. In addition, the same investigation was carried out on three editions of analogous pre-corpus dictionaries, published by OUP (1963, 1989) and Longman (1987), in order to see whether and to what extent description has changed over time. References Primary dictionaries examined: A. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 4th edn. 2013. Cambridge University Press. B. Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary of English, 5th edn. 2006. HarperCollins, Glasgow. C. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 6th edn. Pearson Education, Harlow. D. Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners, 2nd edn. 2007. Macmillan Publishers Ltd, Oxford. E. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 9th edn. 2015. Oxford University Press. Other references: Crystal, David. 1997. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Fries, Charles Carpenter. 1952. The Structure of English. An Introduction to the construction of English sentences. Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York. Hornby, A.S., E.V. Gatenby, H. Wakefield, Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, 2nd edn. 1963. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Quirk, R., S. Greenbaum, G. Leech and J. Svartvik. 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman, London. Sinclair, John. 1987. ‘Grammar in the Dictionary’. In Looking Up: An account of the COBUILD Project in lexical computing. J. Sinclair (ed), pp. 104-115. Collins ELT, London and Glasgow.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
