Lexical need as a two-way reality cognition tool

Abstract

In this paper a concept of lexical need is introduced and its application in research of cognitive aspects of translation is discussed. Further discussion elaborates mechanisms of development of translator's lexical space in the course of translation. Authors discuss the importance and special nature of low-frequency lexical units and difficulties encountered when studying their usage and suggest that the lexical need concept help these studies. Lexical need analysis can be also used to learn specifics of translator's lexical space and then to take measures for selection of translators and improvement of their skills.

Multilingual language learners’ intersemiotic translation into L3 English. A grounded theory on reliance on languages in the multilingual mental lexicon

“…Growth and Use of Language (Sharwood Smith & Truscott, 2014). In addition to these somewhat general frameworks, Kit and Berg's (2014) Personal Lexical Space model of the multilingual lexicon is introduced.…”

“…A third model that accounts for lexical access and retrieval in the multilingual lexical system is the Personal Lexical Space (PLS). Kit and Berg (2014) developed the PLS based on observations of how professional translators activate the lexical units belonging to their different languages during various translation tasks. Kit and Berg (2014) highlight that lexical knowledge of multilinguals is profoundly idiosyncratic, and they propose a balanced, horizontal organization of languages in the mental lexicon.…”

“…Kit and Berg (2014) developed the PLS based on observations of how professional translators activate the lexical units belonging to their different languages during various translation tasks. Kit and Berg (2014) highlight that lexical knowledge of multilinguals is profoundly idiosyncratic, and they propose a balanced, horizontal organization of languages in the mental lexicon. Thus, the individual's L1 lexicon is viewed to share the same space with the lexicons belonging to the other languages.…”

“…Unattached meanings have a limited usefulness and, when they surface instead of the lexical unit, they are perceived as circumlocutions. Based on Kit and Berg (2014), the uselessness and the lack of meaning enter the language user's consciousness and become a necessity akin to the to the "gap" defined by Gass (1997), as "the recognition that there is something to be learned" (p.…”

“…Relative to the MML, researchers and theoreticians studying multilingualism have formulated a series of theories and models in their attempt to explain the organization and the functioning of a mind which relies on more than two languages in its linguistic formulations (Herdina & Jessner, 2002;Kit & Berg, 2014;Sharwood Smith & Truscott, 2014).…”