摘要
搭配信息是英语教学型词典的重要组成部分。随着教学型词典的不断改进和创新,搭配信息已经受到词典界的高度重视和研究。本文就有关问题进行探讨,内容包括:1)什么是搭配 2)专门的搭配词典 3)教学型词典提供搭配的方式。
This paper deals with three problems about English collocation. Firstly, what is collocation? There are three different concepts about it and therefore three different approaches. The traditional one is based on semantic relation, that is, how words are used together. Collocates can be divided into 'open' and 'restricted ' sets, e.g. adjectives, like good and bad, that can modify almost any nouns belong to the 'open' set, while verbs, such as neigh, that can only be used with fixed nouns are of the 'restricted' set, and there are also selection restrictions, although there is no clear-up difference between collocation and free combination, between collocation and idiom. The second approach involves grammatical structures as well as lexical collocation, grammatical structures like that-clause, the infinitive, the gerund and so on. The third approach regards as collocation any words that, selected by frequency from the corpus, often occur together, without considering semantic relation. And each approach has its limitations. Secondly, what dictionaries specially deal with collocations? Several dictionaries are introduced for different approaches. Kenkyusha's New Dictionary of English Collocations (1st editin,1958) is the most famous for lexical collocation, rich in materials and good for improving writing. But the presentation leaves something to be desired. Its second edition (1995), though greatly enlarged and replaced with new materials, keeps the same layout. The BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English (1986) is typical of the second approach. Not rich enough in collocates, it cannot meet the needs of those who want to find a suitable word in writing. With so many good ELT dictionaries available, its significance is greatly reduced. And its second edition (1997), though enlarged and updated, is not substantially improved. Cambridge International Dictionary of English and COBUILD English Collocations on CD-ROM are also mentioned for their use of computer in the selection of materials. Not based on semantic relation, many 'collocates' are just words that happen to appear together, and their inclusion is questionable. Thirdly, what presentations are used in the ELT dictionaries? Besides various ways of presenting grammatical structures, four ways are used for lexical collocates: collocates are (1) shown in the examples, as done in most ELT dictionaries, (2) included as entries, as is the case with Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 3rd edition (1995), (3) presented in definitions, which, for monolingual dictionary, is typical of Collins COBUILD English Dictionary, for all the definitions in it are in whole sentences, and which is also used in bilingual dictionaries, especially English-Japanese ELT dictionaries, (4) given in special columns, as in some English-Japanese dictionaries. Also mentioned is Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English Vol.1 & 2, for its rich information about collocation and unique presentation. After reviewing various dictionaries and presentations, the author makes some suggestions for the compilation of ELT dictionaries, about the selection and presentation of collocates. They should be drawn from corpora, selected by the computer and experts as well. Different presentation should be adopted for different purposes, and common collocates should be marked for the user to make his decision.
出处
《现代外语》
CSSCI
北大核心
2001年第3期259-266,共8页
Modern Foreign Languages
