Godelive  Laureys
Ghent University (Belgium)

Luxury or Necessity?  The representation of non-dominant varieties
in monolingual and bilingual dictionaries: the cases of Dutch and Swedish.

Key words: pluricentric languages, lexical variety, language policy, lexicography

Abstract

This paper deals with the representation of non-dominant varieties of pluricentric languages in monolingual and bilingual dictionaries. First the term ‘natiolect’, viz. national variety, is explained and delineated. The implications of the concept of pluricentric languages with respect to language policy in different domains are touched upon. Especially the issue of the representation of the non-dominant varieties in codification tools is further elaborated upon. Specific attention is drawn to the asymmetric treatment of lexical variation, whereby the non-dominant variety usually is characterized as either marked or deviant.  

The necessity of inserting relevant information on this type of variation in dictionaries is discussed in relation to the functionalities of a given dictionary and the intended target group. Distinctions are made as to monolingual and bilingual dictionaries. For the former one should distinguish between normative and descriptive dictionaries, for the latter several factors should be taken in consideration: the directionality of the dictionary, the distinction between source and target language and between receptive and productive use. Some attention is also paid to specific dictionaries dealing with one single national variety and focusing on the lexical particularities of that variety.

The paper focusses on Dutch and Swedish, both languages being bi-centric with a status of official language in two neighboring countries, the Netherlands and Belgium on the one hand and Sweden and Finland on the other hand. Good lexicographical practices in both the Dutch and the Swedish lexicographical tradition are discussed in a contrastive perspective.

The empirical evidence is used to sketch a model for the analysis of lexical variation patterns in pluricentric languages, that can be useful for the elaboration of annotated lexical databases and be applied in other pluricentric language areas.