Presentation Of Semantic Information Of Human Body Words In Foreigner-Oriented Chinese-English Dictionaries

As a basic vocabulary,human body words(HBWs)are inevitably encountered by foreign learners in the process of learning Chinese.However,the polysemy of HBWs is a major difficulty for foreign learners to master them,and one of the reasons may be that foreign learners do not understand the cognitive mechanism behind it:metonymy or metaphor.A foreigner-oriented Chinese-English dictionary(FCED)is an important learning tool for foreign learners in the process of learning Chinese.Nevertheless,the existing FCEDs are not satisfactory in presenting the semantic information of HBWs.They do not take into account the cognitive factors of the words and the compiling principles of foreigner-oriented Chinese learner’s dictionaries,or even copy the compiling mode of native-oriented Chinese dictionaries,such as the inclusion and division of senses.This study attempts to propose suggestions for improving the semantic information of HBWs presented in a FCED.In this study,the HBWs of grade A in the Syllabus of HSK Vocabulary and Chinese Character Grades are selected for the study,as the syllabus is a basis for the CFL teaching which could be a reference for compiling a FCED in vocabulary inclusion.At the same time,the vocabulary of grade A is a must for foreign learners to master.By examining the semantic information of these words in the two FCEDs,it is found that the existing dictionaries ignore the cognitive learning characteristics of foreign learners.For example,the sense arrangement cuts the semantic links between senses;the relation to the source meaning is not reflected in the definition of the metonymic or metaphorical meaning(derived meaning),and the word examples are not given their derived meanings.The presentation of the semantic information of these HBWs in The Commercial Press Learner’s Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese is also explored.The dictionary is considered to be a Chinese learner’s dictionary with foreigner-oriented features in China,and to a certain extent it could be used as a reference for the compilation of FCEDs.The findings show that from a cognitive perspective,the dictionary has some advantages in the presentation of semantic information of HBWs,such as the close arrangement of source and derived meanings;the application of an illustrative defining method,and examples providing a context for understanding words’ derived meanings.Based on the cognitive perspective,this paper makes an attempt to propose principles for presenting the semantic information of HBWs in a FCED,including such principles as the sense arrangement reflecting cognitive semantic links,diversification of defining methods and variety in examples.The aim of this study is to optimize the presentation of the semantic information of HBWs in FCEDs,so as to better assist foreign learners in understanding these Chinese words accurately and using them appropriately.