To discriminate between discrimination and inclusion: a lexicographer’s dilemma

Page 381-386
Author Stellan Petersson, Emma Sköldberg
Title To discriminate between discrimination and inclusion: a lexicographer’s dilemma
Abstract The overall theme of this paper is the balance between descriptive adequacy and discrimination in dictionaries. More specifically, the purpose is to describe the process of revising dictionary articles related to the grounds of discrimination in the forthcoming edition of the Swedish monolingual dictionary Svensk ordbok utgiven av Svenska Akademien [The Contemporary Dictionary of the Swedish Academy], which is expected to be published in 2020. The focus of the article is on the semantic fields related to sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation and age. Updates of the lemma list, based on a more diverse data set, are presented. Furthermore, revisions of definitions and linguistic examples, motivated by the new data and principles of inclusion, are shown. We also discuss usage labels of negatively charged words and explore cross-references and their role in facilitating non-discriminatory word choices. Moreover, methodological questions are raised, and the role of corpora and other data gathering methods are considered.
Session Reports on Lexicographical and Lexicological Projects
Keywords critical lexicography; Swedish; the Swedish law of discrimination
BibTex
@inproceedings{ELX2020_2021-039,
address = {Alexandroupolis},
title = {To discriminate between discrimination and inclusion: a lexicographer’s dilemma},
isbn = {978-618-85138-1-5},
url = {https://www.euralex.org/elx_proceedings/Euralex2020-2021/EURALEX2020-2021_Vol1-p381-386.pdf},
language = {en},
booktitle = {Lexicography for {Inclusion}: {Proceedings} of the 19th {EURALEX} {International} {Congress}, 7-9 {September} 2021, {Alexandroupolis}, {Vol}. 1},
publisher = {Democritus University of Thrace},
author = {Petersson, Stellan and Sköldberg, Emma},
editor = {Gavriilidou, Zoe and Mitsiaki, Maria and Fliatouras, Asimakis},
year = {2020},
pages = {381--386},}
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