User guides in monolingual Slovenian dictionaries

users’ perspective

Authors

  • Marjeta Vrbinc University of Ljubljana
  • Alenka Vrbinc University of Ljubljana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40607-020-00067-w

Keywords:

Front matter texts, User guide, Intelligibility, Linguistic terminology, Syntactic complexity

Abstract

This contribution discusses the front matter texts of three Slovenian monolingual dictionaries: Dictionary of Standard SlovenianDictionary of Slovenian Synonyms and Dictionary of Legal Terminology. Thirty-two MA students of English at the University of Ljubljana were asked to read the front matter texts and comment on various aspects of their usefulness from the intended users’ perspective. The problems they pointed out were terminology, syntax and general information overload. Among the strengths of the front matter, texts are well-structured sections and subsections. They also suggested improvements such as simpler syntax, the use of Slovenian terms and the rearrangement of sections.

References

Dictionaries

Pravni terminološki slovar (Dictionary of Legal Terminology): https://fran.si/iskanje?FilteredDictionaryIds=211&View=1&Query=%2A.

Sinonimni slovar slovenskega jezika (Dictionary of Slovenian Synonyms): https://fran.si/iskanje?FilteredDictionaryIds=208&View=1&Query=%2A.

Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika (Dictionary of Standard Slovenian): https://fran.si/iskanje?FilteredDictionaryIds=133&View=1&Query=%2A.

Other literature

Farina, Donna M.T.Cr., Marjeta Vrbinc, and Alenka Vrbinc. 2019. Problems in online dictionary use for advanced Slovenian learners of English. International Journal of Lexicography. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijl/ecz017.

Kirkpatrick, Betty. 1989. User’s guides in dictionaries. In Wörterbucher, dictionaries, dictionnaires. An international encyclopedia of lexicography, ed. Franz Josef Hausmann, Oskar Reichmann, Herbert Ernst Wiegand, and Ladislav Zgusta, 754–761. New York: Walter de Gruyter.

Klosa, Annette and Rufus H. Gouws. 2015. Outer features in e-dictionaries. Lexicographica 31: 142–172. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://ids-pub.bsz-bw.de/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/4428/fle/Klosa_Gouws_Outer_feature_in_e-dictionaries_2015.pdf.

Landau, Sidney I. 2001. Dictionaries: the art and craft of lexicography, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Müller-Spitzer, Carolin. 2013. Textual structures in electronic dictionaries. In An international encyclopedia of lexicography supplementary volume: recent developments with focus on electronic and computational lexicography, ed. Rufus H. Gouws, Ulrich Heid, Wolfgang Schweickard, and Herbert Ernst Wiegand, 367–381. Berlin: De Gruyter.

Nielsen, Sandro. 2005. User’s guides. In Schreiben, Verstehen, Übersetzen, Lernen. Zu ein- und zweisprachigen Wörterbüchern mit Deutsch, ed. Barz Irmhild, Bergenholtz Henning, and Korhonen Jarmo, 137–146. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

Nielsen, Sandro. 2006. A functional approach to user guides. Dictionaries Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America 27: 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1353/dic.2006.0006.

Varantola, Krista. 2003. Linguistic corpora (databases) and the compilation of dictionaries. In A Practical Guide to Lexicography, ed. Piet van Sterkenburg, 228–239. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Published

2020-06-01

How to Cite

Vrbinc, M., & Vrbinc, A. (2020). User guides in monolingual Slovenian dictionaries: users’ perspective. Lexicography, 7(1-2), 123-134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40607-020-00067-w

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