A Research On The Exemplification Strategies In Compiling Dictionaries Of English Idioms

This research focuses on the exemplification strategies in compiling dictionaries of English idioms. By studying the general situation of exemplification strategies and that applied in dictionaries of English idioms, this research discovers the gap between them. Generally speaking, contemporary lexicographers are inclined to be more descriptive——citing examples from large corpora, yet currently in dictionaries of English idioms, the majority is still prescriptive——inventing examples. This research finds out that the unique properties of English idioms may partly explain this situation, but still the gap shows dictionaries of English idioms are "lagging behind" in modern lexicographical studies in terms of exemplification.In order to fill the gap, this research proposes an ideal exemplification strategy for dictionaries of English idioms——optimized natural examples. With the help of large corpus COCA (the Corpus of Contemporary American English) as well as the Google News, it demonstrates the effects of the strategy by practicing it out with a number of samples and by comparing the examples with those in an influential English idioms dictionary. As it turns out, the results show unique advantage in authoritativeness, contextual information and contemporariness, which is to say, the optimized natural examples not only are possible to make, but also show advantages in use.