FinnWordNet och kulturbundna ord

Abstract

In this paper I analyze the beta version of the Finnish WordNet from
a societal and cultural point of view. FinnWordNet has been created
through translation of the Princeton WordNet (Lindén & Carlson
2010). Certain lexicographical problems are to be expected due to
the method.
Essential terms referring to Finnish society structure and Finnish
culture cannot be found in the present FinnWordNet. The English
definitions for words that can be found are not adequate from a Finnish
viewpoint and the concept hierarchies are only partly relevant.
Constructing a WordNet is a laborious process and starting
by translating is not a bad alternative. The linking to the English
WordNet comes ‘for free’. If the work had started by building up an
independent WordNet for Finnish the linking process would have
been very time-consuming. But pure word translation from L1 to
L2 without any supplementing work does, of course, not result in
an adequate description of the target language L2.