Van Huyssteen 2017c

Van Huyssteen, Gerhard B. 2017. “Opname- en elimineringskriteria vir die Afrikaanse woordelys en spelreëls: Die geval emeritus. Deel 2 [Inclusion and elimination criteria for the Afrikaans wordlist and spelling rules: The case of emeritus. Part 2].” Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe 57 (2-1):346-368. doi: doi.10.17159/2224-7912/2017/v57n2-1a8.

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), eliminerings-kriteria, leksikografie, normatiewe taalkunde, opnamekriteria, ortografie, Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SAAWK), Taalkommissie (TK)

English: Since 2006; the Language Commission (“Taalkommissie”; TK) endeavoured to compile formal guidelines for the inclusion or elimination of lemmas in the Afrikaanse woordelys en spelreëls (AWS); these guidelines have been formalised as an operationalisation framework by Van Huyssteen (2017b – see Part 1 in this edition). The purpose of this article is to illustrate the application of this framework; using the lexical item emeritus as a case study. The history of emeritus in the various editions of the AWS is discussed; and it is illustrated that its lexicographic treatment in AWS10 does not provide the end-user with any clear answers as to how emeritus should be used in combination with other nouns (titles). Moreover; its treatment in several other Afrikaans dictionaries varies considerably; leaving end-users with even more uncertainty. It therefore necessitates a systematic analysis of this lexical item; using various macro- and microstructural criteria. In the first eleven steps; questions regarding the macrostructural status of the lemma emeritus in the word-list part of the AWS are considered; with the overarching question being whether emeritus should be included in the AWS or not. Based on data from various corpora and dictionaries; eight of the questions are answered positively; and it is demonstrated that emeritus occurs frequently enough in written Standard Afrikaans to justify its inclusion as a lemma in the AWS. Even though the plural form emeritusse (introduced in AWS4 as a variant plural form of emeriti) occurs in various Afrikaans dictionaries (but not in dictionaries of any other Germanic languages); it is shown that it does not occur at all in any of the corpora; and could therefore be excluded as a word-form in contemporary written Standard Afrikaans. In the six last steps of the operationalisation framework questions regarding the microstructural treatment of a lemma are considered; with the overarching question being how emeritus should be treated in the AWS. Data from a few other Germanic languages show that emeritus functions both as noun (with the possible exception of Frisian) and adjective in these languages. As an adjective; it occurs mostly postpositively in English; German; Swedish; Danish; and Norse; while occurring mostly prepositively in Dutch and Frisian. An analysis of Afrikaans corpus data clearly shows that emeritus occurs statistically significantly as a prepositive adjective (e.g. emeritus aartsbiskop “emeritus archbishop”) in written Standard Afrikaans; and that its postpositive occurrence is rather improbable. In combination with other nouns (titles) the only probable competing construction is a coordinating compound with emeritus as left-hand constituent (e.g. emeritus-aartsbiskop). The article concludes with a summative table of all criteria considered; and gives reasons why and how the entries of emeritus in AWS10 were changed in AWS11 to reflect its usage in contemporary written Standard Afrikaans more accurately.


Afrikaans: Sedert 2006 het die Taalkommissie (TK) begin om formele riglyne vir die opname of eliminering van lemmas in die Afrikaanse woordelys en spelreëls (AWS) saam te stel; diériglyne is deur Van Huyssteen (2017b – kyk Deel 1 in hierdie uitgawe) in ʼn operasionaliseringsraamwerk geformaliseer. Die doel van hierdie artikel is om die operasionaliseringsraamwerk uitvoerig aan die hand van ʼn gevallestudie; te wete die geval emeritus; te illustreer. In die eerste elf stappe word vrae beantwoord wat die makrostrukturele status van die lemma in die woordelysgedeelte van die AWS raak; naamlik of emeritus opgeneem moet word of nie. Agt van dié vrae kan positief beantwoord word en dien as motivering vir die opname van emeritus as lemma. Die laaste ses stappe se vrae het betrekking op die mikrostrukturele hantering van emeritus; naamlik hoe dit in die AWS opgeneem moet word. Op sterkte van die analises word tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat emeritus soms as selfstandige naamwoord (met slegs die meervoud emeriti) in Afrikaans funksioneer; maar meestal as prenominale adjektief (byvoorbeeld emeritus aartsbiskop).

In: Afrikaans

On: Afrikaans