Explorations on data condensation and data distribution in the microstructures of e-dictionaries / Untersuchungen zur Datenkondensation und Datendistribution in den Mikrostrukturen von Onlinewörterbüchern / Études sur la condensation et la distribution des données dans la microstructure des dictionnaires en ligne

This paper presents a critical investigation on the applicability within e-dictionaries of basic microstructural concepts and typologies proposed by Wiegand. Focusing on information accessibility for the user, the categories developed for printed dictionaries are put to the test in the electronic environment analysing monolingual online dictionaries of the English, French, German, and Italian languages. As Gouws has already pointed out, new types of data organization are to be found among innovative online dictionaries. They make, in fact, an extensive use of structural indicators and data-identifying entries, thus taking charge of some of the coherence functions that were previously fulfilled by microstructures, typically using strict bipartitions between comments on form and comments on semantics. Therefore, since the microstructure is no longer chiefly responsible for marking the general data typology, i.e. items on form and items on meaning, it is used in the electronic environment to provide other types of coherent arrangements. On the other hand, microstructural typologies of printed dictionaries seem to offer parameters that are still of use in order to identify the type of data integration presented by the dictionary, provided that the concept of some basic structural categories, such as comments, is extended and gains a wider range of possible applications.