Defining Word Meanings In Bilingual Dictionaries: A Pragmatic Perspective

Bilingual dictionary is the bridge of communication between two different languages, as well as an important tool for intercultural communication. As the study of the theory of bilingual dictionary compilation goes further, more and more scholars show their concerns to the application of pragmatics in the process of compiling bilingual dictionary. As an important part of word explanation, word definition is the study subject not only of lexico-semantics, but also of pragmatics.Firstly, the dissertation introduces what bilingual dictionary is and the development of domestic bilingual dictionary. And then, it explains some important concepts of word definition in dictionary, such as words, headwords, meaning, shout cut, etc., and the relationships between them.Secondly, the dissertation expounds word definition and its ways of definition in bilingual dictionary, and concretely analyses the commonly used model of word definition—semantic means. The author points out that semantic means has its limitation and the use of pragmatic means is a better way to improve the ways of definition.Taking the definitions of Longman and Oxford at random as the study literature, this dissertation analyzes in detail the model of word definition in bilingual dictionary and concludes the means and rules of word definition in current bilingual dictionary. After analyzing the problems of word definition in current bilingual dictionary, the author concludes that the use of pragmatic means in word definition of bilingual dictionary is necessary.Next, this dissertation interprets"the meaning"in the sense of pragmatics and reveals its communication between different cultures, and usually the cross-cultural communication encounters barriers, which has been the new research field in pragmatics and applied linguistics. The compilation of bilingual dictionary is the exchange of information and knowledge between different cultures and is the written communicative activity between compiler and user in reality. Unless the two parties participate in the compilation, bilingual dictionary cannot offer correlative information about the difficulties and key points in foreign language learning and perform the function as the bridge of foreign language learning. Whether this question can be solved properly depends on how to apply the theory of pragmatics to the compilation of bilingual dictionary.At last, this dissertation discusses the model of word definition in bilingual dictionary from the perspective of current pragmatics, then the author puts forwards the model of pragmatic definition, through which word explanation provides pragmatic information and shows different...