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Applied Linguistics 2001 22(1):79-103; doi:10.1093/applin/22.1.79
© 2001 by Oxford University Press
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Preposition entries in UK monolingual learners' dictionaries: problems and possible solutions

S Lindstromberg

Hilderstone College, Kent, UK

This paper presents a selective examination of the entries on the preposition on in five advanced learners' dictionaries published in the UK. The principal concern is the preposition on as a signifier of contact with a surface - especially an upper surface. The expressions Located Object (LO) and Landmark are glossed in accordance with their use in Cognitive Linguistics - e.g. the catLO on the matLANDMARK. With respect to 'contact' on, key functional roles of LOs and Landmarks in metaphorical expressions are informally characterized in terms of Cognitive Linguistics metaphor theory. There follows an analysis of the entries in light of these viewpoints. The general conclusion is that all the entries show potential to obscure or conceal important information about the meaning of the headword. Most significantly, (1) sense information is sometimes vague or misleading; (2) sense information is often mismatched to examples; (3) coverage of similar uses is often dispersed throughout an entry; and (4) paradigmatic semantic contrasts are ignored. The suggestions made for the improvement of entries for on may be relevant to entries on spatial prepositions generally.


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