News & Events
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Topic: Research Seminar: "The Meaning is the Use: Application of Functional Linguistics in Lexicography"
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 Posted - 01/02/2010 : 14:55:24
Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics
Research Seminar
The Meaning is the Use:
Application of Functional Linguistics in Lexicography
Presented by
Professor Chang Chenguang
Dean, School of Foreign Languages, Sun Yat-sen University
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Date: |
4 February 2010 (Thursday) |
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Time: |
2:00 - 3:30pm |
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Venue: |
P4704 (Level 4, Purple Zone), Academic Building, CityU |
Abstract
This paper aims to discuss the insights that may be gained from systemic functional linguistics in guiding the compilation of an English-Chinese learner’s dictionary of English idioms. The paper starts by looking at the meanings of idioms from a functional perspective. The Hallidayan functional theory holds that language is a resource for making three strands of meanings simultaneously, the ideational, the interpersonal and the textual. This view of language has important implications on the design of an English-Chinese learner’s dictionary of idioms. It is proposed that the way idioms are treated in such a dictionary, including the definitions, illustrative examples and usage, should be guided by the functional principle: ‘the meaning is the use’. Some suggestions concerning the improvement of the macrostructure of the idioms dictionary are also proposed.
Speaker
Chang Chenguang is a Professor of English and Dean of the School of Foreign Languages, Sun Yat-sen University. He has been teaching in Sun Yat-sen University since 1989. Professor Chang received his PhD in functional linguistics in 2003. His research interests include discourse analysis, lexis and lexicography, and applied linguistics. One of his publications, A New Dictionary of English Phrasal Verbs, won the China National Book Award in 2000. He is currently Deputy Chair of China Association of Functional Linguistics.
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