CCL: Bilingual Dictionaries

Centre for Computational Linguistics: Projects

On the Construction of Bilingual Dictionaries. Feasibility Study carried out by order of the European Commission (MLIS)

Time Span: 1997 - 1998
Commissie Lexicografische Vertaalvoorzieningen
I. Schuurman, F. Van Eynde
Other participants: Commissie Lexicografische Vertaalvoorzieningen (Den Haag), Institut für Maschinelle Sprachverarbeitung (Stuttgart)

The creation of interlingual electronic lexical databases and the derivation of bilingual and multilingual dictionary products from them is vital for the realization of a multilingual information society based on democratic principles. The preservation and the development of multilingualism - both on a collective and on an individual level - as one of the basic features of European identity and as a prerequisite for democratic supranational cooperation is a major responsibility for the authorities of the European Union. Moreover the new challenges and demands European citizens have to face in a global context call for an infrastructure that facilitates the participation of members of the different linguistic communities in these processes. This is in line with the view taken within the EU's MLIS (Multilingual Information Society) -- programme. This new programme which has started in 1996 marks 'a major paradigm' shift, to quote Roukens (see Roukens 1998), the objective of the programme no longer being 'tools-' but 'needs-'driven:
``the object [...] is not technological development itself, but the linguistic needs of a society evolving rapidly under the influence of technological development and internationalization in all spheres of human activity'' (ibidem).

Defining a model for the creation of high-quality, bilingual electronic dictionaries in a cost-effective way, one has to keep in mind that

on the one hand, all European languages should be treated equally;
on the other hand, there is, at the moment, at least one language (English) which gets a priority position as a communication vehicle;
furthermore, there are specific local needs at play as well;
and, moreover, the situation as given now is not a static one, but may change in the future.

Against this background it is clear that a strategy/model which expresses

on the one hand equality
on the other hand difference (more used vs.~ lesser used languages)
and, in a third instance, the potential to have the situation changed if needed, and to have one's specific needs fulfilled

is to be favoured. A model which meets these requirements is the Hub-and-Spoke model. Within the framework of a Hub-and-Spoke model, every language should be encouraged to construct good Linkable Monolingual Resources (in some cases they may already be available). Having such an LMR at one's disposal, one can link with any other Linkable Monolingual Resource one wants, in order to obtain the Bilingual Dictionaries one needs (depending on the economic and socio-cultural indicators for the specific language in question). In order to come to a cost-effective situation, it is advisable to create at least a link with one prioritized language, viz.\ English. If such a link with a common prioritized language were available for all EU-languages it would be possible to use it as a hub and derive the other bilingual dictionaries one needs in a cost-effective way. On the other hand, one is not obliged to go via the hub in order to link the spokes.
Note that such a policy allows all countries to create just those bilingual dictionaries they feel they need. When, after time, it turns out that another bilingual dictionary is needed as well, that dictionary can still be created at a relatively small cost.

limited access:

Martin, W., U. Heid, I. Schuurman, J. Beeken & G. Laureys (1998): On the Construction of Bilingual Dictionaries. Feasibility Study carried out by order of the European Commission, The Hague/Stuttgart, 96 pgs. + App. 19 pgs.

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