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Dictionaries as instruments of exclusion and inclusion

Some South African dictionaries as case in point

Bibliographic Data

ID22304189
AuthorsRufus H Gouws (0000-0002-3423-058X, Stellenbosch University Afrikaans and Dutch Private Bag X1, Matieland Stellenbosch South Africa, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume38
Issue1
Pages39-61
Publication date2022-11-25
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLexicographica - International Annual for Lexicography / Internationales Jahrbuch für Lexikographie (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0175-6206 • E-ISSN: 1865-9403
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/lex-2022-0003
OpenAlexW4309827817
LanguageEN
Citations received1

As utility tools dictionaries should convey data in an impartial way. Lexicographers should not impose either their subjective view or some prevailing ideologies on the users of the dictionary. This paper focuses on aspects of exclusion and othering in some South African dictionaries. Different types of exclusion in different types of dictionaries are shown but it is also shown how dictionaries contribute to processes of inclusion. The treatment of a single offensive racist word in different dictionaries is discussed and the lack of countering the insulting impact of the use of the word is criticized. A positive response to this problem by means of a policy for the treatment of sensitive words is also discussed

Ideology · Inclusion–exclusion principle · Lexicography · Linguistics · Offensive · Operations research · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Computer Science · Gender Studies · Law · Lexicography and Language Studies · linguistics and terminology studies · Mathematics · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Philosophy

  • Language, dictionaries and society

    Open Access•Xinli Xu, Wenge Chen•Humanities and Social Sciences…•2026

Citations per year1
Citation span2026 - 2026 (1)
Highly citedNo

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