## lldikó Fata*

## Specialised Dictionaries for LSP Learners in Hungarian Theory and Practice of Lexicography

## Abstract

The paper covers three topics: First, it surveys the expectations and requirements articulated by Hungarian specialised lexicographers towards modern, innovative, printed and electronic specialised dictionaries for LSP learners. Second, a Hungarian publishing house is introduced that plays an active role in publishing modern specialised dictionaries. Finally, three bilingual dictionaries of economics of this publisher are reviewed as to how much they comply with the expectations from modern, up-to-date printed and electronic specialised dictionaries for LSP learners.

## 1. Introduction

Recently several comprehensive studies (see Fábián 2011, Muráth 2010, Magay 2011) have been published on the state of the art of Hungarian lexicography, and one of the author's previous articles (see Fata 2010: 91ff.) provided a detailed survey of lexicographic research in Hungary.

In the present paper we undertake to cover three topics. First - considering the relevant international literature to be well-known (see for example Fuertes-Olivera (2005, 2010) and Tarp (2005) - we survey the expectations and requirements articulated by Hungarian lexicographers for modern, innovative specialised dictionaries for LSP learners. Second, we introduce a Hungarian publishing house that plays an active role on the market of modern specialised dictionaries, and we review some bilingual dictionaries of economics of this publisher.

In the present paper, based on the typology put forward by Tarp (2011), we refer to the following target user groups by the hypernym LSP learner : 1. learners of language for specifi  c purposes, who aim at acquiring professional and specialised language knowledge as well, and have the intention of proving their competence in a specialised language examination; 2. learners of a spe  cifi  c discipline (such as accounting, legal system), who - while becoming specialists of their fi  eld - attain professional knowledge in their mother tongue and also in a foreign language; and 3. future translators and interpreters, who expect to fi  nd typical strategies of text production in a special fi  eld and language in the given dictionary. When discussing individual specialised dictionaries we describe in detail which group of the learners mentioned above is regarded as target group.

The aim of the paper is to briefl  y review the main expectations of Hungarian theoretical lexicographers towards specialised dictionaries for LSP learners, and to examine the extent to which the  'products'  of  practical  lexicography  meet  these  expectations  towards  modern,  up-to-date, printed and electronic specialised dictionaries.

## 2. Specialised dictionaries for LSP learners as discussed in Hungarian lexicographic theory

Theoretical  specialised  lexicographic  research  in  Hungary  follows  the  research  fi  ndings  of Wiegand and of the modern Danish function theory of lexicography, and its main fi  ndings are

* Ildikó Fata Szent István University Institute of Languages H-2100 Gödöllő, Páter K. u. 1., Hungary fataildi@gmail.com

61

published in three doctoral dissertation. In a chronological order these are Muráth (2000), Fata (2008) and Kriston (2009).

In  Hungary Muráth (2000) was the fi  rst to outline a model for specialised dictionaries she called 'specialised contextual dictionary' (in German: Kontextfachwörterbuch). The target users of such a multifunctional specialised dictionary are semi-experts, mainly university students of economics, and also future translators and interpreters. The concept was rooted in the fi  ndings of international research into specialised lexicography, and a questionnaire survey on the dictionary use of 194 university students (of economics and translation/interpretation). The fi  ndings of theoretical lexicographic research were implemented in practice in a two-volume German-Hungarian, Hungarian-German specialised context dictionary with the title 'Wirtschaft & Sozialpolitik - aktuell'. The outlined concept for a specialised dictionary was elaborated in a PhD dissertation (2000), and was published as a monograph (Muráth 2002).

Fata realised her concept for a specialised dictionary in her 'Ungarisch-deutsches, Deutschungarisches Fachwörterbuch zur Rentenversicherung', published by Grimm Kiadó in 2005; the details of the dictionary model can be found in Fata (2009).

Kriston (2009) outlines the model of a trilingual specialised dictionary for LSP learners in her doctoral thesis. Her aim was to create a multilingual (German-Hungarian-English) printed specialised dictionary for LSP learners, having future tourism professionals as target users who are native speakers of Hungarian and learn German as a foreign language. This dictionary would help students acquire the language for specifi  c purposes of both their mother tongue and the foreign language.

Fata (2011: 124) set out from the dictionary model of modern function theory of lexicography (Bergenholtz/Tarp 2002) and based on Nord (2002) defi  ned specialised dictionary for LSP learners in the following way:

'(Zweisprachige) Lernerwörterbücher für Fachsprachen sind solche polyfunktionalen lexikographischen Werke, derer genuiner Zweck darin besteht, den kommunikativen und kognitiven Wissenserwerb der anvisierten Benutzergruppen ((see details on LSP learner in the Introduction, above)) im Hinblick auf die gewählten (Fach)Sprachen (deren Textsorten- und Textgenerierungsmuster) und das Fachgebiet abzudecken. Ein zweisprachiges Lernerwörterbuch für Fachsprachen vereinigt in seinem Informationsangebot die Vorteile und Stärken eines einsprachigen fachlichen Lehrbuches, eines zweisprachigen Äquivalenzwörterbuches und die von Paralleltexten.'

The authors dealt with above articulate the following requirements for modern, innovative specialised dictionaries for LSP learners:

- The professional and linguistic competence of the primary target group of the dictionary determines the dictionary model. The former infl  uences entry structure, the depth and width of information content, the latter determines the number of languages included, the directionality, and principles of headword selection.
- When compiling the corpus for a corpus-based dictionary, the target users and their needs have to be taken into consideration. The subcorpora that cover various subfi  elds are comprised of the relevant chapters of text books and specialised literature.
- Application of the principle of 'didactic authenticity' (Solmecke 1992: 10, quoted by Kühn 2004: 30) in wording defi  nitions, contexts, example sentences: the use of a concise, factual and user-friendly defi  ning vocabulary.
- The specialised  dictionary  for  LSP  learners  needs  to  have  several  appendices,  whose metalanguage is the mother tongue of the primary target users to ensure better understanding and usability.
- Explaining the relationships among headwords is done in the form of 'lexicographic narration' (Wiegand 1977/1988) and glosses, that contain further hidden collocations and domain-specifi  c expressions.
- Simple cross-referencing both inside and outside the dictionary, reference to sources and bibliography, linking the information content of various dictionary parts with the help of

cross-references.

The above recommendations refl  ect that the pedagogical dimension is taken into account at the very early stages of compiling the specialised dictionary: this is revealed in the features of corpus compilation and the fact that the information content of the dictionary is tailored to the needs of the intended dictionary users. They also share one further aspect: all of these requirements refer to printed specialised dictionaries for LSP learners.

In Hungary theoretical lexicographic research on e-lexicography and on compiling innovative electronic specialised dictionaries for LSP learners is still in its infancy - as opposed to research on general and monolingual computational lexicography. This is why electronic (online and offline) LSP dictionaries are analysed and their usability is studied based on evaluation criteria developed for printed dictionaries (see Fóris/Rihmer 2007) (for reviews of online dictionaries see Gaál 2010, 2011, 2012)).

## 3. Specialised dictionaries for LSP learners in Hungarian lexicographic practice

This section briefl  y presents a Hungarian publishing house that have recently published specialised dictionaries for LSP learners that refl  ect the fi  ndings of modern theoretical lexicography. In the second part of the section we study the specialised dictionary series on economics by this publisher to examine how much it meets the expectations outlined in the theoretical lexicographic part of the paper.

## 3.1.  The specialised dictionary programme of the Grimm Kiadó

The Grimm Kiadó (Szeged) has been publishing dictionaries since 1996. It has already received six 'Outstanding Hungarian Dictionary' prizes, and three dictionary series of the publisher won the  'Outstanding Hungarian Product' award. Beside general, learners' and children's dictionaries, Grimm has published modern, innovative printed dictionaries that work as specialised and explanatory dictionaries covering small domains, therefore they are of a small size. Just to mention a few domains, indicating the year of publication, the language pair and the page number in brackets: the publishing industry (2009) (English-Hungarian, Hungarian-English; 108 pp.), tourism (2008-2012) (English-Hungarian, German-Hungarian, French-Hungarian, Spanish-Hungarian, Italian-Hungarian; approx. 140-200 pp.), controlling (2009-2010) (English-Hungarian, Hungarian-English, and German-Hungarian, Hungarian-German; approx. 160 pp.).

The working methods of Grimm Kiadó have two major characteristics. For one, they take the information structure and entries of the specialised dictionaries of German publishers (e.g. Langenscheidt), and add Hungarian equivalents and information to them. This is how they created the English-Hungarian, German-Hungarian, French-Hungarian, Spanish-Hungarian, Italian-Hungarian dictionary series of gastronomy (approx. 90-100 pp. bilingual LSP dictionaries), the EnglishGerman-French-Spanish-Italian-Hungarian dictionary on the textile industry (1 volume containing all languages, 176 pp.), and the English-Hungarian, German-Hungarian, French-Hungarian, Spanish-Hungarian dictionaries of business communication (100-130 pp.). The other working method of the publisher is to compile their own specialised dictionaries, see e.g. the GermanHungarian, Hungarian-German dictionary of tertiary education (2009) (102 pp.), and the fi  rst dictionary of motorsport in the world, the 'English-Hungarian, Hungarian-English specialised and explanatory dictionary of car racing' (2010) (288 pp.).

## 3.2.  Dictionary criticism

In what follows we review the dictionary series on economics in three language pairs, published by the above introduced Grimm Kiadó.

Three aspects are analysed in the dictionary criticism section of our paper. First, we identify similarities and differences among the publisher's economic dictionaries in the various language pairs. This is worth examining as it would be useful and well justifi  ed to create a common dictionary database - at least in the Hungarian to foreign language direction. This would enable prompt updating of printed specialised dictionaries. (Two of the analysed dictionaries, the German-Hungarian and the French-Hungarian were published in 2005. The 3 rd , revised edition of the EnglishHungarian specialised dictionary came out in 2011.)

The second aspect we are going to examine is whether the dictionaries at hand comply with the requirements of modern, up-to-date specialised dictionaries for LSP learners outlined in the theoretical lexicographic section above.

Finally, we are going to compare the above printed specialised dictionaries of economics and their electronic version, and look for advantages the latter provide as for both quality and quantity.

The dictionary series is titled 'Everyday specialised vocabulary', and this name implies a wide range of intended dictionary users: economists, translators and interpreters, learners of language for specifi  c purposes, and interested laypeople. The intended user situations are also abundant: reading and understanding economic newspapers and journals; production of texts, translating and holding presentations for business communication purposes; and also helping learners of language for specifi  c purposes prepare for a specialised language examination and learn the specialised vocabulary (active and passive dictionary functions). Each dictionary contains approx. 5000 entries per language pair, among which we can fi  nd about 120 EU terms and names of EU institutions.

We will study the modern and learner friendly nature (aspect 2) of the three specialised dictionaries through the entries of a headword that is found in all three: értékpapír (keeping the original typography of the dictionaries):

értékpapír fn pénzügy: security; instrument * értékpapír kibocsátása névértéken security issue at par * átruházható értékpapírok transferable securities

Figure 1. Angol-magyar, Magyar-angol gazdasági szótár [English-Hungarian, Hungarian-English Dictionary of Economics] (2011: 335)

értékpapír fn pénzügy titre ( m ): bemutatóra szóló értékpapír titre au porteur * rögzített kamatozású értékpapírok titres à intérêt fi  xe * külföldi / tőzsdeképes értékpapírok titres étrangers / négociables

Figure 2. Francia-magyar, Magyar-francia gazdasági szótár [French-Hungarian, Hungarian-French Dictionary of Economics] (2005: 172)

értékpapír fn pénzügy das Wertpapier (-(e)s, -e); die Effekten (tbsz); die Obligation (-en): fi x kamatozású értékpapír festverzinsliches Wertpapier; értékpapírt ad ki Wertpapiere emittieren; tőzsdeképes értékpapírok börsengängige Effekten; fi x kamatozású értékpapírok festverzinsliche Effekten; meghosszabbítja a kötvényt Obligation prolongieren

Figure 3. Német-magyar, Magyar-német gazdasági szótár [German-Hungarian, Hungarian-German Dictionary of Economics] (2005: 196)

In the above entries we fi  nd well-segmented information categories in distinctive typography, but their content is notably different. Moreover, a specialised dictionary for LSP learners is expected to provide information on the grammar, semantics, and pragmatics of words; however, these dictionaries only provide abundant grammatical information, at times even too much there of. For instance, in the German-Hungarian dictionary the full spelling of the defi  nite articles and gram- matical forms, and the full paradigm of certain irregular verbs 1 within the entry seem to be unnecessary. It is also needless to repeat the headword in full in set phrases (instead the ~ symbol could be used). In the English-Hungarian and the German-Hungarian dictionaries two and three foreign language equivalents are given of the headword értékpapír, but no information is given on any differences in meaning 2 or use. Compilers of printed dictionaries tend to complain about a shortage of space, but less formal/grammatical information would have allowed more semantic and pragmatic information in these entries.

Continuing the study of learner-friendliness, we fi  nd that the dictionaries are corpus-based, and the corpus and headwords are made up of terms as used in current economic dailies and journals (see the foreword of the Publisher). Example sentences and collocations are up-to-date, their reviewed translations aid learning. However, the dictionaries do not contain cross-references or appendices 3  that would show the connections among the various economic subdomains.

In sum, the specialised dictionary series is learner-friendly, but there is still more opportunity for improving its learner-oriented nature; a harmonised updating of the different language directions and the creation of a common dictionary database would be also welcome.

At the beginning of the section, as a third aspect we set out to examine the extent to which the electronic versions give more than the printed dictionaries of economics in their information content. A few years ago the Grimm Kiadó made a cooperation agreement with MorphoLogic, a company that compiles electronic dictionaries, and as a consequence many of the publisher's specialised dictionaries are available electronically, too. The digitalised dictionary contents are fully identical to the content of the printed dictionaries, so the electronic version of these dictionaries has only two advantages for users: i) the electronic specialised dictionaries are freely downloadable onto the user's computer in demo version or in full (following registration); ii) once a dictionary has been downloaded and activated, if the user clicks on an unknown word while reading or translating a text, the MoBiMouse dictionary software developed by MorphoLogic provides its foreign language equivalent in a bubble or the whole entry in a window.

As a summary of our dictionary criticism, we recommend the compilation of other specialised dictionaries for LSP learners, and of more e-dictionaries following the changing user needs, as these dictionaries can take into consideration the expectations of intended dictionary users and take advantage of the possibilities offered by the medium right from the fi  rst step of designing a dictionary: including pictures and other means of visualisation, animation, cross-referencing system between various parts of the dictionary and outer texts, creating a networked structure etc.

## 4. Conclusions, outlook

In our paper we have surveyed the expectations and requirements articulated by Hungarian lexicographers  for  modern,  innovative  specialised  dictionaries  for  LSP  learners.  In  section  3  we briefl  y discussed a Hungarian publishing house that plays a leading role in publishing modern specialised dictionaries. Finally, three bilingual dictionaries of economics by this Publisher were reviewed as to how much they comply with the expectations of modern, up-to-date printed and electronic specialised dictionaries.

In  our  dictionary  criticism  we  concluded that the research fi  ndings of lexicographic theory are only partly refl  ected in specialised dictionaries for LSP learners, and therefore we articulated some recommendations for Hungarian publishers, although they may seem self-explanatory as they have already been implemented at the international level.

1 For example: Hungarian-German dictionary, p. 297: utánvételez - nachnehmen (nimmt nach, nahm nach, nachgenommen, h. A)

2 What is more, the foreign language equivalents found in the Hungarian-German entry were considered professionally inappropriate by an expert whose opinion we asked.

3 There seems to be no unity in the publisher's practice of including appendixes in the dictionaries. For example, their own English-Hungarian, Hungarian-English dictionary on car racing includes appendices with pictures and on the length of NASCAR/WRC tracks in 2010, etc. The gastronomic dictionary they adapted from a German publisher (published in 2008) contains bilingual menus, recipes and their translations, and useful addresses in Germany and Hungary.

Knowing Hungarian publishers' practice, it needs to be stressed again and again that cooperation of lexicographers, terminologists, and fi  eld experts is very important from the beginning of dictionary making.

We also fi  nd it necessary that the dictionary publisher (or the lexicographer employed) be familiar with and use the relevant research fi  ndings of domestic and international theoretical lexicography in every phase of dictionary making.

Although research into Hungarian dictionary use of specialised dictionaries (for LSP learners) only date back to 10 years or so (see Muráth 2000, 2002; Fata 2006), it is exactly this past decade that has seen a full paradigm change in dictionary use, and this makes empirical studies into dictionary use necessary.

Finally, we hope that graduates of accredited Terminology and Lexicography MA's include experts who will be able to produce specialised dictionaries for LSP learners that meet the users' needs and requirements of the 21 st century, contributing to Hungarian dictionary culture.

## 5. Bibliography

## 5.1.  Dictionaries

- Bajnóczi, B./Haavisto, K. 2011: Angol-magyar, magyar-angol gazdasági szótár. [English-Hungarian, Hungarian-English business dictionary.] (3 rd revised edition). Szeged: Grimm Kiadó.
- Bernáth, Cs./Gyáfrás, E. 2005: Német-magyar, magyar-német gazdasági szótár. [German-Hungarian, Hungarian-German business dictionary.] Szeged: Grimm Kiadó.
- Fata,  I.  2005: Magyar-német, német-magyar nyugdíjbiztosítási szakszótár. [Hungarian-German, German-Hungarian LSP dictionary of pension insurance.] Szeged: Grimm Kiadó.
- Muráth, J. 1998 (ed.): Wirtschaft & Sozialpolitik -aktuell. Pécs - Graz: JPTE - KFU.
- Pálfy, M./Pálfy, M./Mészáros, L. 2005: Francia-magyar, magyar-francia gazdasági szótár. [French-Hungarian, Hungarian-French business dictionary.] Szeged: Grimm Kiadó.

## 5.2.  Other literature

- Bergenholtz, H./Tarp, S. 2002: Die moderne lexikographische Funktionslehre. Diskussionsbeitrag zu neuen und alten Paradigmen, die Wörterbücher als Gebrauchsgegenstände verstehen. In Lexicographica 18/2002 , 253-263.
- Fábián, Zs. 2011 (ed.): Hungarian Lexicography I. Bilingual dictionaries. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. (Lexikográfi  ai füzetek 5).
- Fata, I. 2006: Egy szakfordítók körében végzett felmérés eredményei és tanulságai. [Findings of and lessons learned from a survey conducted among specialised translators] In Klaudy, Kinga/Dobos, Csilla (eds.), A világ nyelvei és a  nyelvek  világa.  Soknyelvűség  a  gazdaságban, a tudományban és az oktatásban. A XV.Magyar Alkalmazott Nyelvészeti Kongresszus előadásai. Miskolc, 2005. április 7-9. Pécs/Miskolc: MANYE/Miskolci Egyetem, Vol.2/1., 393-398.
- Fata, I. 2009: Das zweisprachige Translationswörterbuch für Fachsprachen in der wissenschaftlichen Theorie und Praxis. Budapest: TINTA Könyvkiadó. (Segédkönyvek a nyelvészet tanulmányozásához 93).
- Fata, I. 2010: Learning Specialised Translation with Specialised Dictionaries for Learners. In: Fuertes-Olivera, PedroA. (ed.): Future Trends in Specialised Dictionaries for Learners. A Festschrift in honour of Enrique Alcaraz Varó. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter, 83-103. (= Lexicographica Series Maior 136).
- Fata, I. 2011: Chancen und Perspektiven eines neuen Wörterbuchtyps: Das zweisprachige Lernerwörterbuch für Fachsprachen. In HERMES. Journal of Language and Communication Studies 46, 119-137.
- Fóris, Á./Rihmer , Z. 2007: A szótárak minősítési kritériumairól. [On the evaluation criteria of dictionaries] In Fordítástudomány 9 (1), 109-113.
- Fuertes-Olivera, Pedro A. 2005: Specialized Communication and English Studies: Research Proposals on Specialized Lexicography and English for Specifi  c Purposes. In Atlantis 27 (2), 41-55.
- Fuertes-Olivera, Pedro A. 2010 (ed.): Specialised Dictionaries for Learners. A Festschrift in honour of Enrique Alcaraz Varó. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. (= Lexicographica Series Maior 136).

- Gaál, P. 2010: Online szótárak a Web 2.0 platformon - A Wikiszótár és a Wiktionary. [Online dictionaries in Web 2.0 platform - Wikiszótár and Wiktionary] In Magyar Terminológia 3 (2), 251-268.
- Gaál, P. 2011: A hagyományos szótárak vizsgálati szempontjainak alkalmazhatósága az online szótárak esetében. [Applicability of evaluation criteria developed for paper dictionaries to online dictionaries] In Boda, I. K./Mónos, K. (eds.), Az alkalmazott nyelvészet ma: innováció, technológia, tradíció .  Budapest/Debrecen: MANYE/Debreceni Egyetem, 432-438.
- Gaál, P. 2012: Új formátum, új perspektívák - Az online szótárak néhány speciális jellemzőjének vizsgálata. [New format, new perspectives - Special features of online dictionaries] Talk held at: MANYE Congress, Szeged, 12-14 April, 2012 [unpublished conference presentation].
- Kriston,  R.  2009: Die  Erstellung  einer  Konzeption  zu  einem  dreisprachigen  Lerner-Fachwörterbuch  Deutsch-Ungarisch-Englisch für Tourismus. Ein Muster für die konzeptionelle Planung von neueren Fachwörterbüchern. Budapest: ELTE. [unpublished doctoral dissertation].
- Kühn,  P.  1989:  Typologie  der  Wörterbücher  nach  Benutzungsmöglichkeiten.  In  Hausmann,  F.  J./Reichmann,  O./ Wiegand, H-E./Zgusta, L. (Hgg.), Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft 5. Wörterbücher. Dictionaries. Dictionnaires. Ein internationales Handbuch zur Lexikographie . Erster Teilband. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. 111-127.
- Kühn, P. 2004: Übungsgrammatiken: Konzepte, Typen, Beispiele. In Kühn, P. (Hg.), Übungsgrammatiken Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Linguistische Analysen und didaktische Konzepte. Regensburg: Fachverband Deutsch als Fremdsprache. (Materialien Deutsch als Fremdsprache; Heft 66.), 10-40.
- Magay, T. 2011: (ed.): A magyar szótárirodalom bibliográfi  ája. 2. kiadás. [A Bibliography of Hungarian Dictionaries. Second edition.] Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.
- Muráth, J. 2000: Zweisprachige Fachlexikographie -dargestellt am Beispiel der ungarisch-deutschen, deutsch-ungarischen Wirtschaftskommunikation. Budapest: ELTE BTK Germanistisches Institut. [unpublished doctoral dissertation].
- Muráth, J. 2002: Zweispachige Fachlexikographie . Budapest: Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó. (Pécser Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 5).
- Muráth, J. 2010: Szaknyelv és lexikográfi  a. [LSP and lexicography] In Dobos, Cs. (ed.), Szaknyelvi kommunikáció. Miskolc/Budapest: Miskolci Egyetem/Tinta Könyvkiadó, 23-51. (Segédkönyvek a nyelvészet tanulmányozásához 110).
- Nord, B. 2002: Hilfsmittel beim Übersetzen: Eine empirische Studie zum Rechercheverhalten professioneller Übersetzer.  Frankfurt  am  Main:  Peter  Lang.  (=FASK/Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität: Reihe A, Abhandlungen und Sammelbände; 32).
- Solmecke, G. 1992: Ohne Hören kein Sprechen. In Fremdsprache Deutsch 7/1992, 4-11.
- Tarp, S. 2005: The pedagogical dimension of the well-conceived specialised dictionary. In Ibérica 10, 7-21.
- Tarp, S. 2011: Pedagogical Lexicography: Towards a new and strict typology Corresponding to the Present State-ofthe-Art. In Lexikos 21, 217-231.
- Wiegand, H-E. 1977: Nachdenken über Wörterbücher. Aktuelle Probleme. In Henne, H./Drosdowski, G./Wiegand, H-E. (Hgg.), Nachdenken über Wörterbücher. Mannheim/Wien/Zürich: Bibliographisches Institut, 51-102.
- Wiegand, H-E. 1988: Was eigentlich ist Fachlexikographie? Mit Hinweisen zum Verhältnis von sprachlichem und enzyklopädischem Wissen. In Munske , H. H. (Hg.), Deutscher Wortschatz. Lexikologische Studien. Ludwig Erich Schmitt zum 80. Geburtstag von seinen Marburger Schülern. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter, 729-790.