Criteria of selecting quotation illustrations for sports eponyms’ lexicographic description

The article is aimed at the identification of the basic criteria of selecting quotation illustrations for including them into the microstructure of the Russian-English dictionary of eponymous sports lexis. The research is based on an established corpus of original texts, characterized by a balanced character and representativeness. The corpus, including the texts of the rules and regulations, research papers, textbooks, teaching aids, encyclopedias, media texts, contains 6,118,560 word uses. The corpus was created taking into account the principle of genre diversity. The presentation of quoting illustrations from the texts included in the thematic corpus makes the dictionary authentic. In the course of the research, descriptive and analytical methods, the method of statistical processing are used. The published dictionary is based on a descriptive a pproach focused on a complete and objective reflection of the lexical unit from the point of view of its form, meaning and functioning. The inclusion of quotation illustrations demonstrates the form of the word, reveals its meaning, complementing the definition, and shows the features of its functioning in an authentic context. In addition to linguistic information, the quotation illustration provides encyclopedic information by giving additional data about the referent. One of the criteria for a quotation illustration is its accessibility for readers with different levels of language knowledge and special erudition, and also the absence of additional language difficulties in it. Based on the example of concrete language units, the author shows a methodology for selecting sentences for including them in the illustration zone of the dictionary microstructure. Paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations of words in a sentence are exposed to analysis. The tool is the AntConc program, which allows identifying the frequency of using a unit and its compatibility with other units in the discourse, features of punctuation necessary for the use of the unit. According to the results of the analysis, sentences where the illustrated units are presented in the most typical combinations are to be included into the dictionary. The most frequent combinations are to be separately fixed in the corresponding dictionary entry as a phrase. Quotation illustrations selected for the dictionary meet the requirements of being authentic, typical and informative. They represent the lexical and grammatical potential of lexical units, the sphere of their functioning, their etymology and compatibility. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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