Automating the compilation of specialized dictionaries: Use and analysis of term extraction and lexical alignment

In this paper, we study how single-word term extraction and bilingual lexical alignment can be used and combined to assist terminologists when they compile bilingual specialized dictionaries. Two specific tools — namely a term extractor called TermoStat and a sentence and lexical aligner called Alinea — are tested in a specific project the aim of which is the development of an English-French dictionary on climate change. We analyze the results of lexical alignment based on a typology of terminology equivalents. We first extracted French candidate terms that were then submitted to the lexical aligner. The results show that the use of these tools proves to be a valuable asset for compiling bilingual dictionaries. Most equivalents provided by the aligner were valid and the tool was able to locate several valid English equivalents (some of which were structurally different) for candidate terms.