Gėlės samprata aiškinamuosiuose žodynuose
The conception of the word flower (lith. gėlė) in dictionaries

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the meanings of the noun flower and their definitions in the dictionaries of the Lithuanian, Latvian, Russian, and English languages. The study has revealed that Lithuanian dictionaries only provide one meaning of the word flower. Latvian, Russian, and English dictionaries identify more meanings of the same word. Nearly all of the dictionaries covered usually combine the traditional definitions of the meanings of flower and their cognitive counterparts. The most common cognitive attributes mentioned are: the brightness of a flower (e.g., ‘usually bright in colour’), its smell (e.g., ‘normally nice-smelling’), and purpose (e.g., ‘a plant cultivated for its (lovely) blossoms’, ‘used as a gift’). Having analysed the definitions of the meanings of the word flower in the Lithuanian, Latvian, Russian, and English dictionaries, we have to admit that the dictionaries of the Lithuanian language should contain more meanings of this word. Illustrative examples from the latter dictionaries show that there are two meanings of the word flower: a ‘flower as a plant’ and a ‘picked flower’. It is probable that the Lithuanian language has a third meaning of the word flower, which is a ‘flower as a blossom’. Yet this presumption needs to be verified with data from corpuses and surveys. The dictionaries of the Lithuanian language should provide more detailed definitions of the word flower, in greater reliance on the cognitive strategy of the definition of a meaning by accentuating the chromatic distinction of the flower, its smell, stating its purpose, possibly lifetime, and so on. These are the things to consider in writing a lexicographic article on flower for the Dictionary of the Standard Lithuanian Language (Bendrinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas).

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