Abstract

GALVAN-SANTANA, Alberto. Algorithmic Complexity and Learnability in German Monolingual Learner Lexicography. A Case Study. Lexikos [online]. 2024, vol.34, pp.166-188. ISSN 2224-0039.  https://doi.org/10.5788/34-1-1902.

This paper analyzes the algorithmic complexity (also known as Kolmogorov complexity or descriptive complexity) of the lemma corpus included in the Wortfamilienwörterbuch der deutschen Gegenwartssprache (WfWG; Augst 2009) as a function of its macrostructural arrangement. The results show that, compared to the alphabetical order, the WfWG word-family arrangement produces an algorithmically more compressible, and therefore less complex version of the lemma corpus. This observation points to a higher degree of learnability and cognitive accessibility of the lemma corpus arranged in word families.

Keywords : monolingual learner's dictionary; macrostructure; navigation; learnability; algorithmic complexity; compression.

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