Compilation, formalisation and presentation of bilingual phraseology: Problems and possible solutions

The present chapter explores the many problems that occur in processing bilingual phraseology and strives to offer concrete solutions. The methodological framework and reflection are based on empirical research into English-French phraseology for academic and scientific purposes. The ultimate goal is to offer French academics and scientists a tool for easy access to English routine formulae in that specific genre. After discussing a series of lexicographical issues related to the compilation, formalisation and presentation of bilingual collocations, we illustrate a model we have developed for retrieving English-French general scientific phraseology. The model is based on the semantic component of the language and involves linking every multiword unit to a conceptual condensed representation of its dominant meaning. Ultimately, we demonstrate the ways in which this model could usefully be used to design a flexible electronic dictionary of bilingual phraseology. The unique feature of such a tool would be that it would offer potential users a flexible approach to collocations: one semasiological, allowing them to access the data from their form and one onomasiological, providing an access key to the same data from their meaning.