Capturing Semantic Relativity in Dictionary Definitions the Case of Defining “imaginary” Beings and “imaginary” Attributes

By November 17, 2016,
Page 1271-1276
Author Piet Swanepoel
Title Capturing Semantic Relativity in Dictionary Definitions the Case of Defining “imaginary” Beings and “imaginary” Attributes
Abstract All languages contain words that have to be defined relative to some other larger knowledge structure. In this paper the problem of encoding the relativity of beliefs about the existence of entities (e.g. God) and beliefs about the truth of attributes of entities (e.g., that sangomas have power of divination) are analysed in detail. It is indicated that lexicographers utilise a variety of descriptive mechanisms for this purpose, but there is no generally accepted lexicographic principle(s) guiding their use. A number of topics that need urgent research to guide the use of various descriptive mechanisms to encode relative meaning in dictionary definitions are discussed.
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BibTex 
@InProceedings{ELX06-153,
	   author = {Piet Swanepoel},
	   title = {Capturing Semantic Relativity in Dictionary Definitions the Case of Defining "imaginary" Beings and "imaginary" Attributes },
	   pages = {1271-1276},
	   booktitle = {Proceedings of the 12th EURALEX International Congress},
	   year = {2006},
	   month = {sep},
	   date = {6-9},
	   address = {Torino, Italy},
	   editor = {Elisa Corino, Carla Marello, Cristina Onesti},
	   publisher = {Edizioni dell'Orso},
	   isbn = {88-7694-918-6},
	}
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