FinnWordNet och kulturbundna ord
Nina Martola · LexicoNordica · 2011
In this paper I analyze the beta version of the Finnish WordNet froma societal and cultural point of view. FinnWordNet has been createdthrough translation of the Princeton WordNet (Lindén & Carlson2010). Certain lexicographical problems are to be expected due tothe method.Essential terms referring to Finnish society structure and Finnishculture cannot be found in the present FinnWordNet. The Englishdefinitions for words that can be found are not adequate from a Finnishviewpoint and the concept hierarchies are only partly relevant.Constructing a WordNet is a laborious process and startingby translating is not a bad alternative. The linking to the EnglishWordNet comes ‘for free’. If the work had started by building up anindependent WordNet for Finnish the linking process would havebeen very time-consuming. But pure word translation from L1 toL2 without any supplementing work does, of course, not result inan adequate description of the target language L2.