Meaning and anisomorphism in modern lexicography

The aim of this paper is to discuss two issues inherently related to terminology management and its representation in the bilingual dictionary, i.e., meaning and anisomorphism. It is universally acknowledged that one of the most slippery concepts in linguistics is meaning. Thus, its representation will always present problems and, from an operational point of view, will require the assistance of some parameters (such as definition, context, synonyms or cross-references). Anisomorphism, which roughly speaking means “asymmetry,” refers to the losses and gains that always occur in interlinguistic transfer processes, and which may be taken into account when comparing two different language systems.

The reflections contained in this paper have been tackled in the framework of several research projects carried out within the IULMA (Interuniversity Institute for Applied Modern Languages of Alicante) and supervised by Prof. Dr. Enrique Alcaraz Varó.