Using Explanatory and Combinatorial Lexicology to Describe terms

Abstract

This paper is a proposal to apply models developed within the Explanatory and Combinatorial Lexicology (ECL) Framework to the analysis and description of specialized vocabularies. I will first review previous attempts in the area, and show that they have led to interesting findings. I will then proceed to demonstrate, using terminological units extracted from different types of specialized corpora (namely computing, retailing, and law), that various components of ECL can be used to identify and describe specialized senses. First, criteria help make subtle semantic discriminations between related senses. Secondly, the actant structure of predicative units can be identified accurately and actant instantiated using semantic labels. Thirdly, lexical functions capture various semantic relations (paradigmatic and syntagmatic) between terms. Finally, I will demonstrate that minor adaptations can be made to the ECL models to accommodate special features of specialized terms (e.g. the definition of classes in the description of actant structures; meronymic lexical functions). Very often, no clear distinction is made between conceptual and linguistic analyses. We chose to focus on linguistics (Igor Mel’cuk, 2002, in a seminar at the University of Montreal).

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 34 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.