On Comparison Of Perception Verbs’ Definitions In English General And Learner’s Dictionaries

As the core issue of dictionaries,the definition is of great importance.So far,definition research mainly seeks to make theoretical exploration or summarize relevant experiences,while little research has explored specific definition patterns,especially a specific kind of word.Therefore,the present study,adopting a local grammar approach,carried out a comparative analysis of the functional and structural elements in the perception verbs’definitions from the Oxford Advanced Learners’Dictionary(10^th Ed)（abbreviated to OALD）and Oxford Dictionary of English(3^rd Ed)（abbreviated to ODE）,so as to reveal the similarities and differences of definition patterns between them and further summarize the definition features of English learner’s dictionaries.The study extracted definition phrases for perception verbs from the two dictionaries based on the same word list and used self-designed functional labels to annotate them based on recurring definition structures to form local grammar patterns.Then the local grammar of perception verbs’definitions in the two dictionaries was compared in terms of typical local grammar patterns,the linguistic realization and the semantic parameters of functional components,based on which the features of the definitions in English learner’s dictionaries were explored and discussed.Results indicated that the local grammar patterns of perception verbs’definitions in the two dictionaries nearly shared the same major functional components,linguistic realizations of those functional elements and semantic parameters of the Circumstance but differed in their distribution and frequency.English learner’s dictionaries proceeding from second language users’cognitive perspective are found to have the following three definition features:1.present the semantic framework and frame elements of definienda;2.use controlled defining vocabulary such as basic-level verbs or those easier to understand;3.adopt semantic decomposition instead of synonymous interpretation.These findings can inspire definition compilations of learner’s dictionaries of Chinese as a foreign language,especially for perception verbs.