从定义视角论《新时代英汉大词典》的文本性

On the Textuality of the NAECD from Definition Perspective

亚里斯多德定义方式是单语词典常用的释义方式.该方式所确立的一些充分必要条件实质上是一系列自足条件;这些条件使释义项呈现出孤立语段特征,从而使词典成为形而下的工具.双语词典乃对译词典,翻译对应词相当于词目的释义.该对应词具有双重身份:一方面作为原词目的译义;另一方面是实质词目.这种双重性客观上要求例证首先充当实质词目的定义项功能,其次用以辅证搭配等语法意义.<新时代英汉大词典>准确地把握了翻译对应词的双重身份,而且采用了较大比重的整句例证,使词目解释项在表述完整事件的基础上,依靠衔接等手段构成交互文本.该词典的衔接性、连贯性、意图性和可接受性等内在属性使其呈现出显著的文本特性.

The traditional rules of lexical definition in monolingual dictionaries, based on Aristotle’s analysis, demand that the word defined be identified by genus and differentia. The differentia is, in essence, a series of sufficient and necessary conditions making the definiens an isolated paragraph. This accounts for the prevailing notion that a dictionary is thought of as no more than an instrument. A bilingual dictionary is actually a list of established equivalents between words of two language systems. The equivalent functions as the translation as well as the substantial word to be defined. This requires that the examples be perceived primarily as the definiens of that word, and as exemplifications in the second place; this dual-identity of examples has been well balanced in the New Age English-Chinese Dictionary (NAECD). While the adoption of whole sentences as exemplification enables the definiens in the NAECD to be recognized as texts via cohesive devices, the cohesiveness, coherence, intentionality, acceptability as well as other built—in features contribute to the textuality of that dictionary.