On The Definition Of Idioms In The New C-E Dictionary Based On The Multidimensional Definition Model

Lexicographical definition is an indispensable part of a dictionary, and thevalidity of the definition plays a decisive role in the comprehension and acquisition ofwords for the dictionary users. The Chinese-English dictionaries have long beenregarded as the Chinese EFL Learner’s dictionaries, which makes the importance ofdefinition beyond all doubt. Because of various reasons, there are still a lot ofshortcomings in the definition. Owing to the particularity of the definition of Chineseidioms, it becomes a problem that is difficult to deal with for the lexicographers.This thesis attempts to systematically analyze some representation problems ofidioms in the mainstream of Chinese-English dictionaries by adapting samplingsurvey. In this thesis, qualitative and quantitative study will be applied. Based on theMultidimensional Definition Model, this thesis aims to construct a representationmodel for the Chinese idioms in Chinese-English dictionaries. At the first place, thisthesis will make a comprehensive analysis about the general problems andshortcomings based on the data collected from The New C-E Dictionary. Then thisthesis will resort to the CCL corpus to verify the semantic structure and output model.At last, descriptive analysis and error analysis will be adopted to research the Chineseidioms’ representation model from the aspect of the dictionary users.After this study, the writer finds that the definition of Chinese idioms in The NewC-E Dictionary has some drawbacks, like vague definition or the inconformity of thetarget language and the original language. The new multidimensional definition modelis constructed to remedy the shortcomings in the traditional definition model and helpwith the productivity of the users. Besides, the new multidimensional definitionmodel is instructive in the compiling of Chinese EFL Learner’s C-E dictionaries.