The Prototype And Evaluation System Of Dictionaries Of Translation Studies

With the accumulation of literature on translation, compilation of dictionary of translation studies (DTS in short) has become a scene of prosperity both in and outside China over the past two decades. The existing dictionaries are not large in number but various in type in terms of lexicographical parameters, ranging from dictionaries about things and dictionaries about words, monolingual dictionaries and bilingual dictionaries, all-field dictionaries and single-field dictionaries, theoretical dictionaries and practical dictionaries, dictionaries for specialists, semi-specialists and general readers, conceptual dictionaries or alphabetic dictionaries, prescriptive-synchronic dictionaries and descriptive-diachronic dictionaries, etc. These many and various dictionaries feature different macro and micro structures, as is manifest in entry inclusion, entry definition, sense division, entry arrangement, secondary access structure, appendix design, dictionary components and physical properties. Complete in dictionary genres, they constitute a special area of study worthy of serious scholarly attention. DTS research, therefore, is a logical development of DTS compilation practice, which is on the rise in consequence of the crystallization of translation studies as an independent discipline. DTS research can find its feet in applied translation studies and specialized dictionary theory. As such, it will involve lexicographical considerations as well as highly complex nature of translation studies as an emerging discipline, which determines the depth as well as the width of DTS research.Up to now DTS research has lagged behind DTS making and remained a neglected area of study in translation studies. This is a state of affairs not favorable to DTS compilation practice, which still leaves much to be desired in presenting translation studies to the expectation. The problems cover all essential aspects of dictionary making: entry inclusion, entry definition, entry arrangement, user-unfriendliness, appendix design, dictionary components and physical properties. From the viewpoint of translation studies, likewise, they are inadequate in providing a...