Van Huyssteen 2017b

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English: Afrikaans, Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls (AWS), elimination criteria, inclusion criteria, lexicography, normative linguistics, orthography, Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SAAWK), Taalkommissie (TK)

Afrikaans: Afrikaans, Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls (AWS), elimination criteria, inclusion criteria, lexicography, normative linguistics, orthography, Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SAAWK), Taalkommissie (TK)

English: When the first Afrikaanse woordelys en spelreëls (AWS) was conceived more than a hundred years ago; it was not yet standard practice to explicate the nature; goal and scope (for example with regard to inclusion and elimination criteria) of dictionaries explicitly in a dictionary conceptualisation plan. Through the years; the compilers of the AWS (i.e. the Language Commission (“Taalkommissie” (TK)) of the “Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns”) provided in the respective forewords of each new edition of the AWS indications of their specific perspectives; goals and methodologies. Until 2006; no internal (or public) dictionary conceptualisation plan of the AWS existed. From 2006 onwards; the TK endeavoured to compile a style guide (addressing matters such as the sequence of dictionary tags; alphabetisation; sequence of disjunctively and conjunctively written forms; treatment of clippings; typography; etc.); as well as methodological guidelines for inclusion and elimination of lemmas in the word-list section of the AWS. None of these documents have been formally approved by the TK; or have been released in the public domain. The aim of this article is to organise and interpret some of the information contained in these documents; to construct an operationalisation framework; and to make this information available for scientific scrutiny. With regard to the nature of the AWS (as a so-called spelling or orthography dictionary); it is characterised within a broader dictionary typology as a limited; monolingual; synchronic; linguistic-encyclopaedic reference work. As such; it shares certain similarities with standard monolingual dictionaries; specifically regarding the normative character of some of these dictionaries. One can therefore also say that it is the primary goal of the AWS to set norms and standards for using present-day; written; formal Standard Afrikaans. Regarding the scope of the word-list section of the AWS; this article argues that lemmas in the AWS has a bipartite function; serving simultaneously as macro- and microstructural dictionary elements. Numerous inclusion and elimination criteria that determine the scope of the AWS are discussed and illustrated with examples from the AWS. Macrostructural criteria include: (1) lexical items that could present potential spelling problems and problems of style; (2) the status of lexical items (taking the distribution and frequency of a lexical item in corpora into account); (3) lexical items that should be included for the sake of completing certain paradigms in the AWS (e.g. derivations of language names); (4) illustration material in the rule section of the AWS; and (5) physical limitations in the scope of a to-be-published book; set by a publisher. Microstructural criteria include: (1) linguistic correctness/motivation of lexical items; (2) institutionalisation of lexical items in other dictionaries; (3) frequency of lexical items (and specifically variant lemmas) in a variety of corpora; and (4) the dictionary style and editorial policy of the AWS. A few statistical models and techniques that could be considered by the TK when analysing corpus data are also discussed. The article concludes with a summative table that could serve as an operationalised frame of reference for the AWS. A few topics for further future research are also included.

Afrikaans: Toe die eerste Afrikaanse woordelys en spelreëls (AWS) meer as honderd jaar gelede gekonsipieer is; was dit nog nie standaard praktyk om die aard; doel en omvang vanwoordeboeke duidelik; omvattend en sistematies uit te spel in ʼn woordeboekkonseptualiseringsplan nie. In 2006 het die TK begin om twee dokumente saam te stel; naamlik ʼn stylgids (waarin kwessies soos die volgorde van etikette; alfabetisering; volgorde van los-; vas- en koppeltekenskryfvorme; inkortings; tipografie; en so meer aangeraak word) en riglyne vir die TK (waarin opname- en elimineringskriteria vir lemmas in die woordelysgedeelte van die AWS bespreek word). Geen van beide is tot op datum van publikasie van hierdie artikel formeel deur die TK goedgekeur of in die openbare domein beskikbaar nie. Die doel van hierdie artikel is om van daardie inligting te organiseer; daarop uit te brei en as ʼn operasionaliseringsraamwerk te formuleer. Met betrekking tot die aard van die AWS word die AWS binne ʼn groter woordeboektipologie gekarakteriseer as ʼn beperkte; eentalige; sinchroniese; linguistiesensiklopediese naslaanbron. Die belangrikste doel van die AWS is om norme daar te stel vir die gebruik van hedendaagse; geskrewe; formele Standaardafrikaans. Met betrekking tot die omvang van die woordelysgedeelte in die AWS word daarop gewys dat lemmas in die AWS ʼn dubbele rol as woordeboekinskrywings vervul; naamlik as makro- én mikrostruktuurelemente. Verskeie opname- en elimineringskriteria wat die omvang van die AWS bepaal; word bespreek en aan die hand van verskeie voorbeelde toegelig.

In: Afrikaans

On: Afrikaans