An Analysis Of Bilingual Dictionary Of Architecture:Its Macrostructure And Microstructure

Bilingual dictionaries of architecture as one sort of specialised dictionaries have occupied a large lexicographical market, yet few theoretical studies have been presented to such dictionaries. This thesis is an attempt to fill in the blank. It carries out theoretical studies on bilingual dictionaries of architecture. Five research questions are proposed to discuss and justify the research value. On the ground of terminography and specialised lexicography, the distinctive features of bilingual dictionaries of architecture can be revealed through the comparison of target audience, inclusion, lemma selection and interpretation. Based on the general principles of specialised lexicography, combined with the characteristics of bilingual dictionaries, two compiling conditions can be summed up:first is to know the nature of specialised dictionaries; second is a well-structured compilation team.Here in this thesis, we examine the existing bilingual dictionaries of architecture in terms of headword coverage, lemma selection, entry construction and lemma arrangement. And two problems of coverage are summarized:one is the inclusion over range; the other is the inadequate coverage. Moreover, further steps are proposed to optimize the coverage. The definition of entry is also analyzed. According to the definition model, such dictionaries can be divided into interpretation type and corresponding translation type, and the ideas will be proposed to improve the microstructure of existing bilingual dictionaries of architecture.Phonetic transcription is an important component of the micro-information of a dictionary though functions differently from definition and equivalent. It is productive in linking learners’ speaking and writing. This thesis focuses on systematic analysis of bilingual dictionaries of architecture without phonetic transcription. The results are that both foreign language learning and professional exchanges will be affected. Thus, dictionaries to be labeled with phonetic information are in accordance with the development towards specialization, practicality and multi-information and with readers’ requirements. The detailed approach is to establish and regulate the form of pronunciation, including the choice of phonetic ground, phonetic system and phonetic notation of a dictionary, and to make reasonable choice between entire phonetic notation and partial phonetic notation for English entry words in English-Chinese dictionaries of architecture. Whereas Chinese-English dictionaries of architecture usually provide phonetic transcription for English defining lexicon only and two approaches are listed:all English vocabularies involved will be indexed with no other labels but phonetic symbols; or follow the example of transcribing English entries and English equivalents in English-Chinese dictionaries of architecture.Due to contemporary needs and circumstances, most compilers of bilingual dictionaries of architecture are technical personnel rather than linguistic major graduates. With subject to the limitations of the era, such dictionaries are required to keep pace with the times, which contains increasement and reduction of contents, reasonable appendix, knowledge information design as well as user-friendliness in compilation. The improvement in both macrostructure and microstructure is likely to offer some exploratory experience for other bilingual specialised dictionaries and promote researches on such dictionaries.