Cover not available

Article published In: Terminology: Online-First Articles

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Representing multiword expressions in terminology resources

From a traditional to a construction-based approach

ORCiD logo with link | Université de Montréal
Published online: 1 December 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/term.25029.lho
Abstract
Multiword terms are units that terminologists deal with in their everyday work. In terminology, the relevance of multiword terms is argued on the basis that they label concepts in knowledge structures. However, the identification of multiword terms in texts, their specific features when compared to other multiword expressions, and their representation in terminology resources raise many questions. This article examines some problems related to the traditional recording in terminology resources which basically consists in creating separate entries for multiword terms. It then compares two alternative approaches: 1. a lexical approach that records different kinds of multiword expressions as subentries; and 2. a construction-based approach that captures sets of multiword expressions as patterns. The two methods are illustrated with environment terms. The comparison shows that the construction-based approach is very promising as that it can prevent some of the shortcomings of the other ones. A proposal for its implementation is presented.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Why so many multiword terms in terminology resources?
    • 2.1Questions raised by MWTs in terminology resources
    • 2.2A different kind of multiword expression?
  • 3.A lexical solution
    • 3.1The workings of the lexical approach when applied to MWEs
    • 3.2Challenges of the lexical approach
  • 4.A tentative solution for capturing sets of related MWEs
    • 4.1The workings of a construction-based approach applied to specialized MWEs
  • 5.A first implementation of patterns in a terminology resource
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
References (42)
References
Barrios Rodríguez, M. A. 2024. Diretes, A Spanish Monolingual Dictionary Based on Lexical-semantic Relations, In Lexicography and Semantics, Proceedings of the XXI EURALEX International Congress, ed. by Despot, K. S., A. Ostroški Anić, and I. Brač, 369–382. Cavtat, Croatia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bouillon, P., E. Jerzek, C. Melloni and A. Picton. 2012. Annotating Qualia Relations in Italian and French Complex Nominals. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference LREC, Istanbul, Turkey.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bouveret, M., and C. Fillmore. 2008. Matching Verbo-nominal Constructions in FrameNet with Lexical Functions in MTT. In Proceedings of the XIII EURALEX International Congress, ed. by, E., Bernal and J. DeCesaris, 297–308. Barcelona: Institut Universitari de Lingüística Aplicada.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cabezas-García, M. 2019. Los compuestos nominales en terminología: formación, traducción y representación, Doctoral Thesis, University of Granada.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carreño-Cruz, I. 2005. Analyse de la variation terminologique en corpus parallèle anglais-espagnol et de son incidence sur l’extraction de termes bilingue, MA dissertation. University of Montreal.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cohen, B. 1986. Lexique de cooccurrents. Bourse, conjoncture économique, Brossard: Linguatech.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cruse, D. A. 1986. Lexical Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Daille, B. 2001. Qualitative Term Extraction: identifying relational adjectives. In Recent Advances in Computational Terminology, ed. by Bourigault, D., C. Jacquemin, and M. C. L’Homme, 149–166. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2003. Conceptual Structuring through Term Variations. In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL 2003), Workshop on Multiword Expressions: Analysis, Acquisition and Treatment, ed. by Bond, F., A. Korhonen, D. MacCarthy, and A. Villavicencio. 9–16. Saporo, Japan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DiCoEnviro, Dictionnaire fondamental de l’environnement ([URL]). Accessed 23 April 2025.
Fillmore, C. J. 2008. Border Conflicts: FrameNet Meets Construction Grammar. In Proceedings of the XIII EURALEX International Congress., ed. by Bernal, E., and J. DiCesaris, 49–68. Barcelona: Universitat Pompeu Fabra.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fillmore, C. J., P. Kay, and M. C. O’Connor. 1988. Regularity and Idiomaticity in Grammatical Constructions: The Case of Let Alone. Language 64 (3): 501–538. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Framed DiCoEnviro ([URL]). Accessed 23 April 2025.
Freixa, J. 2022. Causes of Terminological Variation. In Theoretical Perspectives on Terminology: Explaining Terms, Concepts and Specialized Knowledge, ed. by Faber, P. and M. C. L’Homme, 399–420. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gaussier, E. 2001. General Considerations on Bilingual Terminology Extraction. In Recent Advances in Computational Terminology, ed. by Bourigault, D., C. Jacquemin, and M. C. L’Homme, 167–182. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Giacomini, L. 2022. The Contextual Behaviour of Specialised Collocations: Typology and Lexicographic Treatment. Yearbook of Phraseology 13 (1), 55–80. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
General Multilingual Environmental Thesaurus, GEMET ([URL]). Accessed 16 October 2024.
Goldberg, A. 2013. Constructionist Approaches. In The Oxford Handbook of Construction Grammar, ed. by Hoffmann, T., and G. Trousdale, 15–31. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hilpert, M. 2019. Construction Grammar and its Application to English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoffmann, T. 2022. Construction Grammar. The Structure of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoffmann, T., and G. Trousdale (eds). 2013. The Oxford Handbook of Construction Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kerremans, K. 2017. Towards a Resource of Semantically and Contextually Structured Term Variants and their Translations. In Multiple Perspectives on Terminological Variation, ed. by Drouin, P., A. Francoeur, J. Humbley, and A. Picton, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
L’Homme, M. C. 1998. Le statut du verbe en langue de spécialité et sa description lexicographique. Cahiers de lexicologie 73(2): 61–84.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
L’Homme, M. C., and Z. Jia. 2015. Classement des combinaisons lexicales spécialisées à base nominale dans un dictionnaire d’informatique. Cahiers de lexicologie 1061 : 229–251.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
L’Homme, M. C., B. Robichaud, and C. Subirats. 2020. Building Multilingual Specialized Resources Based on FrameNet: Application to the Field of the Environment, In International FrameNet Workshop 2020. Towards a Global, Multilingual FrameNet. Proceedings, Workshop of the Language Resources and Evaluation, LREC 20201, ed. by Torrent, T., C. F. Baker, O. Czulo, K. Ohara, and M. R. L. Petruck. 94–102. Marseille, France.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Le Serrec, A., M. C. L’Homme, P. Drouin, and O. Kraif. 2010. Automating the Compilation of Specialized Dictionaries. Use and Analysis of Term Extraction and Lexical Alignment, Terminology 16(1): 77–106.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marciniak, M., P. Rychlik, and A. Mikowiecka. 2020. Supporting Terminology Extraction with Dependency Parses. In Proceedings of the Workshop on Computational Terminology COMPUTERM), Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC 2020), ed. by Daille, B., K. Kageura, and A. Rigouts-Terryn, 72–79. Marseille, France.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mel’čuk, I., and A. Polguère 2007. Lexique actif du français. L’apprentissage du français fondé sur 20 000 dérivations sémantiques et collocations du français, Bruxelles: De Boeck.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2021. Les fonctions lexicales dernier cri. In La Théorie Sens-Texte. Concepts-clés et applications, ed. by Marengo, S., 75–155. Paris: L’Harmattan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nakov, P. I., and M. A. Hearst. 2013. Semantic Interpretation of Noun Compounds Using Verbal and other Paraphrases. ACM Transactions on Speech and Language Processing 10(3): 1–51. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
NeoVisual. Discover the terminological structure of the environment ([URL]). Accessed 25 October 2025.
Picht, H. 1987. Terms and their LSP Environment — LSP Phraseology. Meta 32 (2), 149–155. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ohara, K. 2018. Relations between Frames and Constructions. A Proposal from the Japanese FrameNet Constructicon. In Constructicography: Constructicon development across Languages, ed. by Lyngfelt, B., L. Borin, K. Ohara, and T. Timponi Torrent, 142–163. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sager, J. C. 1990. A Practical Course in Terminology Processing, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Termium Plus® ([URL]). Accessed 16 October 2024.
Wanner, L., and I. Mel’čuk. 1996. Lexical Functions and Lexical Inheritance for Emotions Lexemes in German. In Lexical Functions in Lexicography and Natural Language Processing, ed. by Wanner, L., 209–278. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wulff, S. 2013. Words and Idioms, In Hoffmann, T. and G. Trousdale (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Construction Grammar, 274–289. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zhang, W., T. Yoshida, and X. Tang. 2009. Using Ontology to Improve Precision of Terminology Extraction from Documents. Expert Systems with Applications 36(5): 9333–9339. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue