A Functional Approach to Compiling a Specialized English – Slovene Dictionary of Green Energy Terms

The functional approach to lexicography argues that dictionaries must provide their users with concrete types of information, presented in a manner that suits their needs. To achieve this, the process of compiling specialized dictionaries must be improved. This paper examines the revision of a specialized English–Slovene Dictionary of Green Energy Terms, with particular emphasis on the functional approach to building specialized dictionaries. As the potential users of the unrevised dictionary differ from those of the revised version, this paper aims to show how the profile of the intended user affects the structure of the actual dictionary entry, as well as the dictionary’s main functions. The main objective of the paper is therefore to put forward a sound theoretical foundation for the improved construction of LSP dictionaries, so that they will truly serve as a helpful tool in solving those problems that normally occur in LSP communication.

A Functional Approach to Compiling a Specialized english-Slovene Dictionary of Green energy terms

Introduction
The compilation of specialized terminological products involves making numerous decisions concerning dictionary users, their needs, and their linguistic competence.This paper presents a pilot study that was carried out as part of the revision process of the English-Slovene Dictionary of Green Energy Terms (the ESDGET) (Mrhar 2010)  1 , which was primarily compiled with a number of different users in mind, but was later on reorganized to suit a new type of user, namely the expert translator.To determine the user profile and the structure of the dictionary entry, the paper uses the function theory of lexicography, to see if it provides any practical suggestions for establishing the main functions of the dictionary, and thus improving its quality.In part one, the functional approach to lexicography is discussed from the point of view of the specific type of user with specific types of problems that occur in specific types of user situations (for a review, see Tarp 2008).In part two, the communicative functions of the revised dictionary are presented in detail, as they serve as the focal point for forming a revised dictionary entry.In part three, the microstructure of the dictionary entry is described along with a detailed user profile, the types of situations in which translators normally reach for bilingual specialized dictionaries, and the needs or problems that force them to do so.

The function theory of lexicography
Even though many theories concerning lexicographic functions, dictionary users, and their needs have been put forward so far, none of them " […] has taken the full consequences of their references to the users and user needs" (Bergenholtz and Tarp 2003, 172).It was only after the development of the function theory of lexicography, proposed by Henning Bergenholtz and Sven Tarp from the Aarhus School of Business's Center for Lexicography, that dictionary users, their needs and the situations in which they normally reach for dictionaries became the focal point for the further development of all lexicographic theory.Even though users always had an important role in the compilation of dictionaries, this functional approach to lexicography "[…] shifts the focus from actual dictionary users and dictionary usage situations to potential users and the social situation in which they participate" (Tarp 2008, 40).
A proper understanding of the changing needs of potential users is therefore a crucial factor in the compilation of any dictionary, especially as dictionaries are viewed as utility products, meant to satisfy certain human needs (Bergenholtz and Tarp 2003, 172).The dictionary planning stage should therefore begin by drawing up a user profile, intended to characterize the potential user of the dictionary.It must be kept in mind, however, that dictionaries are meant to satisfy not global information needs but rather specific information needs which are never abstract needs, but are 1 The original dictionary was compiled as a part of Mrhar's (2010) unpublished B.A. thesis (entitled English-Slovene Dictionary of Green Energy Terms), and was later revised to better suit the purpose of her unpublished PhD thesis (entitled Bilingual Specialized Dictionary Compilation from a Translational Point of View) in which the original dictionary is edited and expanded with a new target user in mind (i.e., the expert translator).Primarily, the ESDGET (Mrhar 2010) was structured so as to meet the needs of semi-experts, experts, students, and lay-people.As the expert translator's native-language competence, foreign-language competence, and encyclopedic competence differs from that of students and lay-people, the information presented in the dictionary had to be reorganized according to this new target user's needs and expectations.So far, the revised dictionary on green energy has not been published, but could be prepared for publication in print form after the PhD thesis has been defended.LANGUAGE always concrete needs closely related to a concrete user in a concrete user situation (see Tarp 2008a, 119 for a review).When building a user profile, lexicographers must also consider the situations in which problems or needs normally arise, and can be solved by a certain kind of lexicographic data provided by a given dictionary (Bergenholtz and Tarp 2003, 173).A user profile together with a clear overview of the most common user situations provides a sound basis for establishing the overall purpose of a dictionary, as well as its functions.Some of the questions lexicographers need to take into account when building a profile of the intended users include the following (Bergenholtz and Tarp 2003, 173): 1. Which language functions as the users' mother tongue? 2. How well do the users master their mother tongue?3. How well do the users master the foreign language in question?4. What kind of experience do the users have concerning translation between their mother tongue and the given foreign language?5. How vast is the users' general and encyclopedic knowledge?6.How well do the users master the subject field represented by the given dictionary? 7. How well do the users master the specialized language of the given subject field in their mother tongue?8. How well do the users master the specialized language of the given subject filed in the foreign language?
As all these characteristics are not relevant for every dictionary, lexicographers must first decide whether a particular dictionary is meant to serve the cognitive, or the communicative user situations.
In the case of cognitive situations, the user looks for additional information or knowledge on some topic, be it cultural, encyclopedic, or specialized information related to a particular specialized field.In the case of communicative situations, the user is involved in text production, reception, and translation, and looks for information that could help him in solving problems that might pop up in one of these processes (Tarp 2005, 9).No matter what the user situation is, however, it is never abstract, but is always related to a specific user group engaged in a specific situation in which different problems arise that can be solved with the help of a dictionary.A clear distinction of the basic types of communication-related situations needs to be made in order to acquire a clear understanding of these situations and then detect their major problems.According to Bergenholtz and Tarp (2003, 175), there exist six basic types of communicative situations in which users normally reach for dictionaries: 1. Production of texts in the mother tongue (or first language) 2. Reception of texts in the mother tongue (or first language) 3. Production of texts in a foreign language (or second, third language, etc.) 4. Reception of texts in a foreign language (or second, third language, etc.) 5. Translation of texts from the mother tongue (or first language) into a foreign language (or second, third language, etc.) 6.Translation of texts from a foreign language (or second, third language, etc.) into the mother tongue (or first language) Other types of user situations might be relevant for some dictionaries, and must appropriately be taken into account in the dictionary-planning stage.When the distinctive characteristics of the intended user group have been established along with the basic types of user situations, lexicographers can proceed to determine the needs of the prospective users.Even though lexicographers often claim that they use reliable means to characterize the users' needs before they start compiling a particular dictionary, they more often than not merely establish what it is that users expect to find in a dictionary.Tarp (2004, 312) argues that as far as existing dictionary practice is concerned, "[i] t is not a question of what users expect to find in the dictionary due to an improper dictionary culture, but what they actually need".Therefore, it is necessary for lexicographers to determine the users' needs by consulting the following categories, comprising of various types information that can be included in a particular dictionary: 1. Information about the native language 2. Information about a foreign language 3. Comparison between the native and a foreign language 4. Information about culture and the world in general 5. Information about the special subject field 6.Comparison between the subject field in the native and foreign culture 7. Information about the native LSP 8. Information about the foreign LSP 9. Comparison between the native and foreign LSP (Bergenholtz and Tarp 2003, 175) Only after the lexicographers have determined the intended users' needs and have decided on which types of data to include in the given dictionary, can they determine the lexicographic functions of the dictionary.These functions depend on the type of the dictionary, and are determined by user situations.To illustrate, dictionaries intended for beginners whose main problem is text production in a foreign language differ considerably from those conceived for experts who have no problems with text production in a foreign language, but are sometimes not sure how to express a concept correctly.Therefore, any user-oriented dictionary, like the ESDGET (Mrhar 2010), must take into account the main types of user situations in order to prepare and include those types of information into the dictionary from which the users truly will benefit.The functions below are listed as the most important types of communication-oriented lexicographic functions: to assist the users in solving problems related to text reception in the native language to assist the users in solving problems related to text production of texts in the native language to assist the users in solving problems related to text reception in a foreign language to assist the users in solving problems related to text production in a foreign language to assist the users in solving problems related to translation of texts from the native language into a foreign language to assist the users in solving problems related to translation of texts from a foreign language into the native language (Bergenholtz and Tarp 2003, 176) Other types of functions may be relevant for particular dictionaries, depending on what kind of user needs the given dictionaries are meant to satisfy.These needs are often very simple, and can be met by a small number of lexicographic data, or a combination of various types of data.Lexicographers can therefore decide on which data to include in a dictionary once its purpose has been determined or, if LANGUAGE a particular dictionary is being revised, analyze whether the data already presented by the dictionary suit its declared functions.The functional approach proposes that the data included in a dictionary must live up to its respective functions, and thus meet the requirements it is supposed to comply with (for a review, see Bergenholtz and Tarp 2003, 177).The following part of the paper discusses the lexicographic functions of the revised ESDGET from this communicative point of view, as the dictionary is not meant to address the knowledge-oriented needs of the users, but rather help them with the production, reception, and translation of LSP texts from English into Slovene.

The Communicative Functions of the eSDGet
When determining the functions of any given dictionary, it is essential to define the profile of the intended user.In the case of the revised ESDGET, the intended user is an experienced translator who is normally confronted with specialized texts belonging to the subject fields of green energy, environmentalism, recycling, pollution, etc. S/he possesses a sound knowledge of his/her mother tongue (Slovene) and the foreign language s/he is translating from (English), but is sometimes confronted with the problem of not finding appropriate reference materials that would suit his/ her area of specialization, and his/her professional needs.Within his/her line of work, translation from the given foreign language into his/her mother tongue is the most frequent, and is more often than not characterized by the usage of a specialized language.To produce high-quality translations, the professional translator must have a proper understanding of the given subject field, and a good command of the specific terminology that is normally used within this field.In this respect, the translator can be compared to other specialists, who are not translators, but possess great knowledge of the specialized subject field in question and have no difficulties whatsoever communicating about it naturally.The revised ESDGET therefore serves two main communication-oriented functions that address the expert translator's specific needs related to: interpretation/reception of English specialized texts translation of texts from the foreign language (English) into the native language (Slovene) The ESDGET fulfills a combination of two different functions, and includes information both on the foreign language, and the mother tongue of the intended users.Interpretation/reception of English specialized texts and their translation into Slovene are given the highest priority, meaning that the dictionary also includes some information on typical collocations, as well as minimal grammatical information on English and Slovene.In this respect, the revised ESDGET does not differ considerably from the initial version.An obvious difference between the two versions of the dictionary, however, is reflected in their treatment of meaning.The unrevised ESDGET (Mrhar 2010) provides extensive definitions that explain the meaning of the headword in both English and Slovene, which is not required in the revised version, as expert translators do not necessarily profit from additional encyclopedic information.On the contrary, professional translators only need native-language equivalents to grasp the meaning of the given specialized term.Specialized bilingual dictionaries for translators also do not need to include sentence examples, as the latter are more often than not found in dictionaries intended for more inexperienced users (e.g., learners) who need examples in order to better understand the definition.
It can therefore be deduced that additional information is not always productive, and must be carefully chosen according to the intended user and the overall purpose of a given dictionary.For example, expert translators can to some extent do without semantic information (e.g., explanations, definitions, and thematic field labels), whereas translators who are not specialists find that kind of information useful in the comprehension of the given notions (see also: Gómez González-Jover 2005, 78).In the translation from the foreign language into the native language, the less specialized translator requires more information than the expert translator, and benefits the most from information that facilitates the process of translation.In the case of the revised ESDGET, this type of information is given in the form of field labels, translational equivalents, grammatical information, and collocations.Definitions are not obligatory in bilingual specialized dictionaries for expert translators, but can be genuinely useful especially when a particular dictionary covers more than one subject field.As the ESDGET covers more than one topic (e.g., chemistry, biology, science…), it would seem logical to include multiple definitions accompanied by their respective field labels.
As a rule, specialized bilingual dictionaries contain as little information as possible, because they are intended for users who are experts in particular fields, and do not benefit from extensive contextual, semantic, grammatical, and pragmatic information.Quite often, such dictionaries only contain a list of terms and their equivalents, and are in this respect rather similar to glossaries.The revised ESDGET, however, is compiled in a manner that bends this rule to a certain extent, as its mains purpose is to make the translation process easier and quicker by providing more information than necessary.It therefore includes some contextual information in Slovene (e.g., typical examples of use, collocations) that shed some light on how particular terms are used in specialized texts and discourse, along with grammatical information, short definitions, field labels, and translational equivalents.The following chapter will show how the overall entry structure of the unrevised ESDGET (Mrhar 2010) was adapted to suit the needs of expert translators.

examples from the unrevised and revised versions of the eSDGet
The unrevised version of the ESDGET (Mrhar 2010) was compiled to help Slovene non-native speakers of English better understand and use specialized English terminology.It was meant to serve a myriad of different users ranging from experts, semi-experts, laymen, to students, who lack knowledge of the given subject field, but possess a good knowledge of both their native language, and the foreign language in question.Their linguistic and encyclopedic knowledge, however, is not wide enough to ensure the understanding of specialized texts and their proper rendering in the target language.Consequently, the dictionary targets two main objectives: it presents an accurate record of terms that most often occur in the field of green energy, and facilitates the comprehension of these terms to the maximum.The initial version of the dictionary is structured around 282 key concepts taken from both general and specialized language.Word frequency played a major part in compiling the word list, as the most technical words are often viewed as the most useful in this type of discourse.The frequency of the words was measured according to how often these words occur in specialized language related to green energy and other similar fields.In the dictionary, each entry comprises of nine parts, namely: 1.) pronunciation 2.) word-class markers 3.) grammatical information 4.) frequency 5.) English definition 6.) English example 7.) Slovene equivalent 8.) Slovene definition 9.) Slovene example The specific lexicographic functions of the unrevised ESDGET (Mrhar 2010) dictated the inclusion of the aforementioned data types, whereas the intended users and the overall purpose of the dictionary influenced the amount of information included.The following examples (1, 2, 3, 4) show how this information is arranged in the actual dictionary entries (Mrhar 2010): (1) acid /{sId/ noun [C/U] ★ ★ CHEMISTRY a chemical substance with a PH value of less than 7 (MED): hydrochloric acid ♦ kislina tekočina ali snov, katere PH vrednost je nižja od sedem: žveplova kislina (2) eco-audit /%i:k@UO:dIt / verb [T] to estimate how an individual, a group of people, or an activity affects the environment, and to offer advice on environmental issues: After the expert eco-audited our house, we installed solar panels.♦ eko-revidirati oceniti kako posameznik, skupina ljudi, ali dejavnost vpliva na okolje in nuditi nasvete o zadevah povezanih z okoljem: Strokovnjak je eko-revidiral hišo in nam povedal, kako zmanjšati naš ogljični odtis.
(4) paraffin /ˈpaerəfɪn/ noun [U] a clear oil with a strong smell that is used for fuel (MED): paraffin wax ♦ parafin olje belkaste barve, ki se uporablja kot gorivo: parafinsko olje Spelling information is included to help the users whose native language is not English correctly pronounce and use difficult words, e.g., paraffin (4), in speech.The information given about the word-class and grammar labels of various headwords are provided to inform the users of all the constructions they must know in order to use a particular word flexibly and fluently (see also Atkins and Rundell 2008, 219-20).Other constructional information is encoded in the English and Slovene examples, which are not translated, but nevertheless provide advice on the usage of a given headword, along with information on the contexts in which a word typically occurs.
Frequency marking in the form of red stars (1) shows the users which items are the most common, and therefore the most useful.In the case of the ESDGET (Mrhar 2010), definitions are longer (3) than those normally found in bilingual dictionaries, as they include encyclopedic notes, especially useful for the LSP text reception, native-and foreign-language text production, and translation (see also Bergenholtz and Tarp 1995, 143).Equivalents are provided for all headwords.As Slovene is sometimes familiar with two possible translational equivalents for an English word, these options are also cited, as in example (3).
As the revised version of the ESDGET was compiled with a more defined user in mind, namely the expert translator, the overall structure of the dictionary entry had to be reorganized to suit his/ her individual needs, as they greatly influence the amount and nature of the linguistic information required.With a clear idea of the intended user and what s/he will use the dictionary for, a number of decisions had to be made including which headwords and information categories to incorporate into the dictionary, and in which way to present them.Firstly, the majority of headwords to be included into the revised dictionary were taken from the unrevised version of the ESDGET (Mrhar 2010).Secondly, new headwords were chosen from various dictionaries, corpora, and Internet websites containing product-line glossaries on green energy and other environmental matters.A substantial, if not the largest part of the word list was gathered from online glossaries, such as the Oregon Department of Energy Glossary of Energy Terms 2 , or The California Energy Commission Glossary of Energy terms 3 , and various corpora like Evrokorpus4 .In the case of the unrevised ESDGET (Mrhar 2010), most headwords were chosen according to their frequency of occurrence.
The information on frequency provided by the unrevised dictionary was not gathered from frequency lists or computer corpora, but was acquired with the help of Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners (Rundell et al. 2007), which marks the most frequent words found in English with red stars that show their frequency (e.g., a word with one red star is fairly common, whereas a word with three stars is one of the most basic words found in the English language)."The same manner was used in the English-Slovene Dictionary of Green Energy terms […].Frequency was included into the specialized dictionary on green energy terms so as to show its users which words are not only the most frequent but also the most standard" (Mrhar 2010, 15).Before these headwords were included into the revised version of the dictionary, a corpus analysis was carried out to show their true frequency of occurrence in various general corpora (e.g., COCA, BNC, enTenTen, and Evrokorpus).
Predictably, the analysis showed that most of these headwords have a relatively low frequency of occurrence in general corpora, due to the fact that they are limited to a very specific field (i.e., the specialized field related to green energy).Surprisingly, however, headwords like ecology, ecological, environmental, global warming, and thermal also occurred in the above-mentioned corpora with very low frequency rating counts, even though these terms are not limited to the specialized field related to green energy, but can be applied to more general fields (e.g., mass media, non-technical books and other texts).In order to get more reliable data on frequency, which is to be included into the revised dictionary at a later stage, a small corpus of specialized texts referring to green energy is currently being developed for the purpose of not only predicting the frequency of the given headwords but also explaining it.The corpus-driven approach to the revised ESDGET will furthermore improve its credibility and ensure that the data provided by it is accurate.To really improve the dictionary on green energy and its entries, however, a series of important decisions regarding the microstructure of the dictionary had to be made before any kind of corpus analysis could be carried out.So in order to improve the dictionary entry, a model composed of different types of information was constructed to guide the revision process.It includes the three different types of information expert translators normally look for in specialized reference materials, namely (a) contextual information, (b) semantic information, and (c) grammatical information.
Contextual information implies the kind of text in which a particular meaning normally occurs.Such information is most often provided in the form of "[…] the phrase or clause, and maximally the sentence, in which the target word appears in corpus data" (Atkins and Rundell 2008, 145).Semantic information implies definitions in the source language or the target language and translation equivalents, whereas grammatical information provides the grammatical category of entries (Gómez González- Jover 2005, 79).It is evident that the microstructure of the revised ESDGET, which is based on these types of information, differs considerably from that of the unrevised version.As opposed to the initial version, the improved entry only comprises five parts: 1.) word class marker 2.) Slovene translation 3.) grammatical information 4.) Slovene definition 5.) Slovene example The information provided by the revised dictionary entry has been reduced considerably, and tailored to suit the expert translator's level of specialization.Therefore, apart from the equivalent term, which acts as the central part of the revised dictionary entry, the translator-oriented dictionary provides extra information on form (i.e., grammatical information), meaning (i.e., semantic information), and context (i.e., contextual information).Describing meaning only by a translation equivalent is of limited value, as the meaning of a given terms sometimes cannot be precisely rendered by a matching word in another language (for a review, see Zgusta 1984, 148-9), resulting in the fact that alternative translations are often provided in the revised ESDGET, along with clear distinctions between these translations.What shows how the senses between different translation equivalents interrelate is the organization of the dictionary entry.In those cases in which two different translation equivalents are completely synonymous and can be used interchangeably (5), the translation equivalents are separated from one another by way of a forward slash (/): (5) landfill gas n -deponijski/odlagališčni plin (m) plin, ki nastaja na odlagališčih odpadkov z anaerobnim razkrajanjem gospodinjskih odpadkov (ET): Deponijski plin se lahko uporabi za ogrevanje.
In those cases in which there exist slight nuances in meaning between two or more translation equivalents (6), the translations are separated from one another by way of a comma.Additional data in the form of definitions is provided to distinguish between the given translations, and a definition is given for each of the senses provided by the translation equivalents, along with short examples for each equivalent.It is evident that the distribution of meanings is not organized as a list, but rather as a hierarchy of sections labeled with different numerals, each of which corresponds to a given meaning or section.The translation equivalents are organized according to their frequency, meaning that the most commonly used terms are listed first, followed by less frequently used terms.
(6) crop n -pridelek, posevek (m) 1. kar se pridobi z gojenjem česa sploh v enem letu, v eni sezoni (SSKJ) 2. kar je posejano (SSKJ): 1. sadni pridelek, 2. zimski posevek As opposed to the unrevised version of the ESDGET (Mrhar 2010), the revised dictionary on green energy does not include long, encyclopedic definitions, but rather short and concise ones.This is due to the fact that specialized bilingual dictionaries normally seek to satisfy the needs of expert users (professional translators in the case of the revised ESDGET) who only need minimal (linguistic) information to grasp the meaning of a given concept.For example, if a translator encountered the term crop (6) in a scientific article, and s/he would not be sure about its precise meaning, s/he would not want to find out everything there is to know about crop. to help people grasp meanings, and for this purpose their main task is to supply a series of hints and associations that will relate the unknown to something known" (Bolinger 1965, 572).
Besides semantic information in the form of translation equivalents and definitions, the revised ESDGET provides some grammatical information, organized in a way to suit the needs of the expert translator.Concerning his/her level of specialization, the intended user does not need a lot of grammatical information about his/her native language (Slovene) or the language s/he is translating from (English).The information on form therefore only includes data on word class (e.g., n: noun (7), v: verb ( 8)) in English and gender (e.g., (m): moški spol (9) [masculine], (ž): ženski spol (7) [feminine]) in Slovene.Information on grammar is not very detailed, as expert translators normally do not benefit from the various grammar components of a dictionary, e.g., constructions and extra grammar information in the form of grammar labels.
(12) paraffin n -parafin (m) olje belkaste barve, ki se uporablja kot gorivo: parafinsko olje The distribution of information is use-friendly and enables the translator to find the data s/he is looking for quickly and easily, especially because the entries are arranged alphabetically, and have been organized according to a very clear typography (the translational equivalents are distinguished from the rest of the text with a different font style), which further facilitates the user's look-up process.Once more, we come to the conclusion that a particular dictionary needs to be defined according to its intended user group, its general lexicographic functions, and the assistance it can provide to cover the users' needs.Even though one dictionary cannot solve all the users' problems, it can provide them with the help they need in a certain situation.

Conclusion
The function theory of lexicography examines specific types of dictionary users with specific types of problems that arise in specific types of situations.What has been studied within the framework of this methodology is the rather vast number of problems that arise in the compilation of a bilingual specialized dictionary for professional translators.This paper has offered some specific proposals for the revision of the English-Slovene Dictionary of Green Energy Terms (Mrhar 2010), which was primarily compiled for a range of different users (e.g., students, laymen, and experts), only to be revised with a new, more specific user in mind, namely the experienced translator.To contribute to this endeavor, this paper has identified the communicative functions of the given dictionary, and then presented a user profile that would later on influence the overall entry structure of the revised ESDGET.The study has also examined the situations in which intended users normally reach for specialized translation-oriented dictionaries, and the needs, which make them to do so.Finally, the study has drawn up a brief report on the most important factors that need to be taken into account when determining the overall structure of the revised dictionary's entry, and the information it must include in order to truly satisfy the needs of a professional translator.

Bibliography
Atkins, B.T.S., and M. Rundell. 2008.The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography.New York: Oxford University Press.
S/he would merely want to understand what was being said or implied by the term.A definition such as kar se pridobi z gojenjem česa sploh v enem letu, v eni sezoni [what is gained by growing something in a year, in a season] or kar je posejano [what is sown] would provide enough information for the translator to understand crop without having to consult other sources or lose to much time trying to decipher its meaning on his/her own.This supports Bolinger's observation that definitions are meant "[…]