A Study On The Schema-based Categorized Definition Pattern On Animal Words In English Learners' Dictionaries

Definition has always been the core of a dictionary,so the quality of definitions determines the quality of dictionary compilation and the learning efficiency of the dictionary users.As the commonest things in our daily life,animals are closely related to human beings.For English learners,there are many animal words that are dispersed among the whole dictionary and are defined in different patterns,thus causing confusion to English learners.In order to solve this problem,we attempt to deal with it from the perspective of categorization-based definition to establish a definition pattern for animal words.Categorization is the basic mental process in which experiences and concepts are recognized and understood by human beings,and it is an important way to recognize and interpret the world.Previous studies on the categorization-based definitions in dictionaries are mainly based on the prototype theory,but this thesis tries to analyze definitions from the perspective of the schema theory,which is rarely touched.A schema is the description of the abstract common features that can totally include all of the members in the same category,and the category based on the schematic features is called a schematic category.In present study,as one of the components of the animal kingdom,166 bird words in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary(8th edition)are selected as the research objects which are classified into six categories based on the schema theory:the singing birds category,the birds of prey category,the climbing birds category,the wading birds category,the swimming birds category and the terrestrial birds category.Then,based on the new category system,we illustrate their schematic features,namely the common features respectively.After that,based on the schematic category system,definitions of different categories in current English learner's dictionaries are presented and their problems are found.Finally,a uniform definition pattern is proposed based on the cognition of the birds' features,which will help learners improve their English lexical learning.The aim of this study is to optimize the definitions of animal words in current English learner's dictionaries(ELDs)and to improve learners' understanding and memorization of English words,and also to improve the efficiency of dictionary compilation.The study may exist some limitations as the research objective is restricted to the bird words,but it is a good try and may be beneficial to the further study of the categorization-based definition.