Andreina Adelstein
CONICET / Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, Argentina

Integral dictionaries and the delimitation of the Argentinean variety of Spanish

Keywords: Integral dictionary, Spanish in Argentina, delimination

From a glotopolitical and sociolinguistic perspective, the term pluricentrism is a step towards the descriptive adequacy of linguistic varieties, as it recognizes that diversity necessarily implies varieties of different regulatory, political and economic status (cfr. Muhr 2003, del Valle 2007, Lara 2009).  From the point of view of the formal study of languages, it is also a positive minting, because it assumes that variation is an inherent property of the system, not just of its use.  The term is associated with the identification of at least two variety statuses: hegemonic and peripheral (i.e. dominant and non-dominant varieties).  This distinction has been described dichotomically: from a single center (or a single dominant variety), and also as a continuum in which more than one dominant variety may be distinguished (Amoros Negre & Prieto de los Mozos 2013).  These notions generally refer to national varieties (cf. Muhr 2003), even though the existence of linguistic fragmentation is acknowledged.  While it appears that there is a clear demarcation between national ND varieties (which appear homogeneous when opposed to each other), the attempt at description of one of them raises again the same phenomenon of pluricentrism: a single nation has dominant varieties -generally in urban areas as well as ND varieties.

The lexicographical production is an indication of the degree of peripheral character of an ND variety; the distinction between differential and integral dictionaries should contribute to further specify this gradation (cfr. Lara 2009, Zimmermann 2006).  In this paper we are interested in investigating how the integral dictionary defines the features of a variety of ND Spanish: that of Argentina.

The Argentine variety od Spanish, as opposed to that of the Iberic peninsula, has long been recognized, as attested by the existence of controversies surrounding the national language since 1828 (cfr. Alfón 2013), the theoretical and applied research on grammatical, lexical and textual issues, and the vast lexicographical production, among other aspects.  However, the accuracy of specific national features --beyond the predominant use of vos against tú, the yeismo and certain exclusive uses of the lexicon-- is extremely complex, as a tension exists between regional varieties (more or less hegemonic of their social standard), on the one hand, and vis à vis other varieties of the American continent, on the other.  We believe that both tensions are reflected in the production of the most recent dictionaries of Argentine Spanish.

In this work we will preliminarily describe the lexicographic treatment of the Argentine variety and the tensions it implies regarding national linguistic fragmentation, and the other varieties of ND Spanish, in a series of linguistic instruments, i.e. the style guide and the design of the Diccionario integral del español de la Argentina (DIEA), the DIEA itself, the online version of this dictionary, and its adaptation for a multivolume edition: the Gran diccionario de los argentinos.  In particular, we will analyze the treatment differences in the diatopical, diaphasic and diastratic systems, the notes and observations, and their impact on the notion of the variety.