An Empirical Study Of Parts Of Speech Labeling For Monosyllabic Entries In Modern Chinese Dictionaries

Parts of speech (POS) labeling in modern Chinese is both a critical problem and a bottleneck for Chinese lexicography. The POS labeling of monosyllabic entries in modern Chinese dictionaries is related to the recognition and attitude to the entire Chinese grammar and knowledge, but previous studies are limited in research scope and theoretical foundations, and the significant divergence on the basic unit of Chinese grammar increase the difficulty of the POS labeling for monosyllabic entries.Based on previous studies on POS labeling in modern Chinese dictionaries, this paper will make a study of a profound research on the status and problems of POS labeling of modern Chinese monosyllabic entries in the perspectives of Usage-based theory, with the statistics provided by DIY databases of full sample of Contemporary Chinese Dictionary 5th edition and the Modern Chinese Standardized Dictionary. It is found that there are considerable differences of POS labeling of monosyllabic entries in these two dictionaries, especially the labeling in Modern Chinese Standardized Dictionary is more questionable. The POS labeling for the monosyllabic entries in MCSD almost made no distinction between words and non-words, and the paper thinks that POS labeling of Modern Chinese monosyllables should not be based on their senses and word formation, but should be based on the survey of usage patterns in large-scale Chinese corpora.This study will not only deepen the POS labeling in modern Chinese dictionaries, but also have some theoretical significance for modern Chinese grammar.