General-purpose Bilingual Dictionaries I (English-Arabic)

Chapter 4:

What is General-purpose Bilingual Dictionary?

Bilingual dictionaries

Bilingual dictionaries are dictionaries that involve two languages. With reference to structure, they are very much similar to monolingual dictionaries. They can be described in terms of their macro- and microstructures.

Bilingual dictionaries vary in the type and amount of information they provide.

What are The differences between mono-and bilingual dictionaries?

The differences between mono-and bilingual dictionaries:

1) One of the main differences between mono- and bilingual dictionaries is that monolingual dictionaries provide meanings and explanations whereas bilingual dictionaries provide word equivalents.

2) Monolingual dictionaries are used by native speakers or language learners to know the meanings of words. Bilingual dictionaries, on the other hand, are primarily meant to be used by translators.

Translators very often need to consult bilingual dictionaries when they translate.

To make the best use of these dictionaries, the translator should pay attention to a few points.

1) Before looking up a word, one needs to identify the part of speech the word is and its type. The part of speech refers to categories such as noun, verb, adjective, etc. And the word type refers to categories such as transitive verbs or count nouns

2) Translators also need to familiarize themselves with the abbreviations used in the dictionary consulted.

3) The context in which the word appears should be examined. Context is the environment in which a word is used. Any word has two types of context: linguistic and situational.

The linguistic context:

The linguistic context refers to the linguistic elements that surround a word and its position in the sentence

The situational context The situational context is any non-

linguistic information which helps you to interpret the meaning of a word and consequently choose the right equivalent. This type of context relates to the degree of formality (formal, informal), user (adult, child, specialist, etc), topic (general, specialized).

While many dictionaries list all the different equivalents of a word without giving the user any clues as to the context in which each equivalent is used, many others help in different ways. Those also vary in the extent to which they help. Look at the following two samples:

Translate the following sentences, paying attention to the linguistic contexts of the underlined words:

(1) I'm Muslim. My husband is Muslim too.

الصحراء ) في 2فتاه أمه ) من (3رحمه

(12) The sailors abandoned the burning ship.

(13) The plane banked steeply. (14) The search was abandoned when

the night came, even though the child had not been found.

(15) He abandoned himself to grief.

(16) It was so exciting that the people jumped and shouted with abandon.

(17) The prisoners abandoned their attempts to escape.

(18) His appeal for forgiveness went unanswered.

(19) The appeal for money with which to build a new hall was very successful.

(20) There was a look of appeal on her sad face.

(21) Films of that sort have lost their appeal for me.

(22) The right of appeal is an important part of good law.

(23) He appealed to his attackers for mercy.

(24) The government is appealing to everyone to save water.

(25) She appeals to me. (26) He will appeal against being found guilty

(27) She finds this topic very appealing. (28) If you do not obey me I will appeal to

force. (29) That book appeals to me. (30) This shampoo is easy to apply.

(31) Give us an account of what happened.

(32) The doctor is a man of some account in the village.

(33) He turned his knowledge to good account.

(34) The accounts show that we have spent more than we received.

(38) He works on alternate days. (39) Farmers usually alternate their

crops. (40) My life alternated between work

and sleep. (41) We had to fight; there was no other

alternative. (42) The alternative to being taken

prisoner was to die fighting

H.W (43) Large amounts of money were spent on

the bridge. (44) He could only pay half the amount he

owed. (45) Your words amount to a refusal. (46) His debts amount to over one million. (47) She did not get any amount of

happiness. (48) An angle of 90 is called a right angle. . (49) If you look at the accident from another

angle you will see how funny it all was.

(50) She angles her reports to suit the people she is speaking to.

(51) Mary has been angling for an invitation to your party.

(52) They always go angling on fine summer days.

(53) Although I wrote a month ago I’ve had no answer yet.

(54) In answer to my shouts people ran to help.

(55) The dog answers to his name. (56) This tool will answer (for) our

needs. (57) He answers to the description you

gave.

(58) The giant pandas are related to the bears.

(59) The two problems are related. (60) This problem relates to what

happened last week. (61) The girl related the whole story as

it exactly happened.

(62) This research attempt to relate linguistic competence and high academic achievement in schools.

(63) He applied to get a job. (64) What we said about that book

applies to this book as well.

Another point to consider is the type of meaning a word is meant to have in a certain linguistic context: real or figurative meaning. This can be determined by looking at the words that combine with it (collocates, collocations).

Bilingual dictionaries list all the equivalents of a word without indicating whether they relate to

the real or figurative meaning of the word. However, they typically provide examples which can help you to

choose the right equivalent. Let us examine the word "blue" in two bilingual dictionaries:

1) When I crossed the street, a car came out of the blue.

2) I bought a blue dress. 3) She visits us only once in a blue

moon. 4) Don't tell blue jokes. 5) The balloon floated off into the blue.