LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 9 September 2012
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Verb Entries in the Dictionaries in Indian Languages

Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc. (Biology), M.A. (Linguistics),
M.A. (Translation), Dip. in Tamil

Differences in the Order of Verb Entries in Dictionaries

Every Indian language has its own way of giving the verb entry in its dictionary. A look at the dictionaries reveals that they do not have any uniformity in giving a verb entry in the dictionaries available in the Indian subcontinent. Though there are some language- specific reasons for doing so, many languages do not provide any valid reasons/objectives for giving entries with variations in their dictionaries. These features have lots of implications for the learning of verbs both by first and second language learners. Some dictionaries give verb root as the entry, some give verbal noun as the entry and some others give the hortative or a kind of imperative form as the entry. The reason for giving these kinds of entries is not made clear. This article tries to find out these features in different Indian languages.

Need for Some Grammatical Knowledge to Use a Dictionary

This analysis begins from Tamil entries since I have learnt it as a second language, which has helped me to observe the changes in the entries in different languages including my mother tongue, Manipuri. The complementary nature of grammar and dictionary is a well established factor. However, an analysis of the entries in dictionaries of different Indian languages reveals that the dictionaries presuppose the need for the users to have some grammatical knowledge for using a dictionary. While some dictionaries give grammatical information for the use of lexical entries, some do not bother to give the usages but give only the meaning(s). If any dictionary expects pre-knowledge of grammar to use a dictionary, it is felt that those dictionaries are not good enough to guide the users with necessary information.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc. (Biology), M.A. (Linguistics),
M.A. (Translation), Diploma in Tamil
Resource Person
National Translation Mission
Central Institute of Indian languages
Mysore 570 006
Karnataka
India
rebika_srd@rediffmail.com
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