Using contrastive analysis methods to create comparative lexicographic entries

The project “Paronymwörterbuch” investigates and documents easily confused words (so-called paronyms) in German with respect to their use in public discourse as documented in a large corpus. These are, for example, antik/antiquiert/antiquarisch (antique/antiquated/antiquarian) or sportlich/sportiv (sporty/athletic). The results of this work are explanatory, contrastive entries in a new dynamic e-dictionary called “Paronyme − Dynamisch im Kontrast”. The objective of this paper is twofold. Firstly, essential new usage modalities of the new dictionary will be illustrated. As it is designed for contrastive consultation processes, the comparative structure of the entries will be elucidated and we will show how this dictionary has moved away from static to dynamic presentation by incorporating flexible consultation options. Secondly, as entries contain linguistic details which are consistently paired up with conceptual-encyclopaedic information, it is shown how this reference guide combines corpus-based methods with cognitive semantics. In this way, linguistic findings correlate better with how users conceptualise language by adequately reflecting ideas such as conceptual structure, categorisation and knowledge. Consequently, appropriate contrastive corpus tools and methods are employed. This paper also emphasises the need of semiotic approaches to the analysis of linguistic data in order to provide ostensive and cognitive-oriented lexical explanations. Such approaches are also necessary to guarantee an efficient pairwise investigation of paronyms. Advantages and disadvantages of explorative self-organising feature maps will be explained in more detail