Bilingual Dictionaries
Bilingual dictionaries are reference tools that provide translations and definitions for words and phrases in two languages. They are designed to help speakers of one language understand and communicate in another language. Bilingual dictionaries are commonly used by language learners, translators, and individuals who need to navigate between two languages in their daily lives.
5 Key excerpts on "Bilingual Dictionaries"
eBook - ePubTranslanguaging and the Bilingual Brain
A Mixed Methods Approach to Word-Formation and Language Processing
- Nina Dumrukcic(Author)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- De Gruyter(Publisher)
...They view bilingualism as a “dynamic process that has a mutual impact on both languages involved and is heavily influences by the linguistic and social environment of the speaker” (Reif & Robinson 2016, 4). This view of bilingualism as a spectrum without specific boundaries may increase difficulty in selecting participants for a study, nonetheless it does provide a realistic overview of the different degrees of proficiency. Oksaar (1983) offers a functional definition of bilingualism, by looking at how one chooses to communicate and express themselves as part of their identity. He claims that bilingualism is “the ability of a person to use here and now two languages as a means of communication in most situations and to switch from one to the other, if necessary” (Oksaar 1983, 19). In a different paper, he refers back to his own definition and states that it encompasses both inter-lingual bilingualism with two standard languages, and intra-lingual bilingualism with a standard language and a dialect (Oksaar 1989). According to this distinction, the present paper shall look at inter-lingual bilingualism with German and English as what society has deemed to be two distinct glottonyms. Edwards lists several criteria that need to be considered when attempting to define bilingualism such as age of onset, proficiency in pronunciation, morpho-syntax and lexis, degree of competence in language skills, context of acquisition, and frequency of exposure (2013, 3). This should be taken into account when selecting bilingual participants for a study. Another factor to take into consideration is what Kecskes calls the “bilingual pragmatic competence” (2016, 39). He claims that while L1 language development and social skills are an instinctive and subconscious process, bilinguals have individual control and willingness to adapt their behaviour and skills to some situations but not others...
- Colin Baker, Wayne E. Wright(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Multilingual Matters(Publisher)
...Some categorization, however, is often necessary and helpful to make sense of the world. Therefore, categorizations and approximations may be required. Simple narrow definitions such as ‘native-like control of two languages’ (Bloomfield, 1933) offer little help as they are intrinsically arbitrary and ambiguous. Overly broad definitions that include anyone who can utter a few words or phrases in another language are also of little help. A more helpful approach may be to locate important distinctions and dimensions surrounding the terms ‘bilingualism’ and ‘multilingualism’ that help to refine our thinking. The fundamental distinction is between bilingual ability and bilingual usage. Some bilinguals may be fluent in two languages but rarely use both. Others may be much less fluent but use their languages regularly in different contexts. Bilinguals frequently translanguage, drawing from their linguistic repertoire in creative and effective ways to communicate with other bilinguals. Many other patterns are possible. Languages are not static. Bilingualism is dynamic. Students growing up with or learning two or more languages are ‘emergent bilinguals’ or ‘multilingual learners’. Profiling a person’s use of two or more languages raises questions about when, where and with whom. This highlights the importance of considering domain or context. As individuals move from one situation to another, so may the languages being used, in terms of type (e.g. Spanish, English or translanguaging), content (e.g. vocabulary) and style. Over time and place, an individual’s languages are never static but ever changing and evolving. In terms of ability in two or more languages, the four basic domains are listening, speaking, reading and writing. It is possible to fragment each of these proficiency domains into more detailed dimensions (e.g. pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, meaning and style)...
eBook - ePub- François Grosjean, Ping Li(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
...Chapter 1 Bilingualism: A Short Introduction François Grosjean The words “bilingual” and “bilingualism” have many different meanings depending on the context they are used in. They can include the knowledge and use of two or more languages, the presentation of information in two languages, the need for two languages, the recognition of two or more languages, and so on. Since this book focuses on the psycholinguistics of bilingual adults and children, we will define bilingualism, and indeed multilingualism, as the use of two or more languages (or dialects) in everyday life. This chapter has several aims. The first is to introduce readers to basic concepts concerning bilingualism and bilinguals so as to help them understand more specialized chapters later in the book. Readers bring with them knowledge of language and cognition but they may know less about bilingualism. Hopefully this chapter will help fill this gap. The second aim is to describe what it is that bilingual participants bring to the studies they take part in. In everyday life, they are “regular bilinguals” with specific language knowledge and language use which they bring to this research as participants. Some of the aspects that will be mentioned are studied specifically or manipulated directly by psycholinguists whilst others simply accompany bilingual participants into the research environment. We need to understand these phenomena so as to be able to make sense of the data that are obtained. A third aim, which is not restricted to this chapter alone, will be to clarify some misconceptions that surround bilingualism and bilinguals, such as that bilinguals have equal and perfect knowledge of their two or more languages, that they have no accent in any of their languages, that they acquired their languages in childhood, that they are all competent translators, and so on...
- Heming Yong, Jing Peng(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Viewed globally, the emergence of Latin-English and English-Latin dictionaries in Britain was an epitome of the intensification of national awareness and the revitalization of national languages. The awareness of the importance of national languages was well intensified in ancient civilizations other than in European civilization, in which it took place only several hundred years before the printing technology was introduced and without much avail, owing to the fact that Latin, as the medium of academic exchanges, relegated national languages into an inferior and subordinate position. However, things began to change, though gradually, with the intensification of national awareness and the accumulation of literature of national languages. Judging from lexicographical practices, small bilingual glossaries and vocabularies of national languages started to appear in the last few years of the 15th century, with a few of them even completely detached from Latin. From the socio-cultural perspective, the earliest compilation of glossaries and dictionaries served the purpose of military subjugation and national assimilation, but this function receded to a less important position in their subsequent development, and their didactic function started to play a dominant role, as is evident from the fact that early Latin dictionaries and the ancient hard-word glossaries, to a great degree, were intended for the interpretation of classic works. With the development of trade and commerce and the promotion of religion, dictionary compilation assumed strong religious and commercial colouring from the late part of the Middle Ages. In order to conduct trade and commerce, European merchants were supposed to acquire a basic knowledge of the languages of the countries where such business activities took place...
- Josep Quer, Roland Pfau, Annika Herrmann, Josep Quer, Roland Pfau, Annika Herrmann(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...27 Bimodal bilingual grammars Theoretical and experimental perspectives Caterina Donati 27.1 Introduction Bilingualism, referring to competence in two (or more) languages, is a widespread phenomenon, almost universal across language communities all over the world. Bilingual individuals and their linguistic competence have long attracted the attention of researchers in linguistics and in psycholinguistics. Many fascinating issues can be raised in relation to these individuals, by no means exceptional: how can the same mind host two (or more) grammars that can be very remote from one another? How do these grammars interact, and how is language production able to spring out of two distinct systems, only episodically triggering mixing phenomena? When a bilingual individual speaks one language, what happens to her other language? Is it simply switched off and inactive, or is it rather also active and simply superficially suppressed in order to adapt to our articulatory conditions that only allow one string of sounds to be produced at a time? These and other questions can also be raised, and with even more fascinating implications, in relation to bimodal bilinguals, that is, bilinguals who are competent in a sign language and in a spoken language. While unimodal bilingualism entails a severe production constraint because of the physical impossibility of producing two spoken words or phrases at the same time, bimodal bilinguals have two output channels available: the vocal tract and the hands. In addition, while for unimodal bilinguals, both languages are perceived by the same sensory system (audition), for bimodal bilinguals one language is perceived auditorily and the other is perceived visually...
