The role lexicographers can play in helping to vanquish insensitivity, brutality, othering, and wilful ignorance
Résumé
Similarly to the way that people learn to discriminate, denigrate, and other through language, they can learn to accept, affirm, and cherish through it as well. People trust what dictionaries have to say, so lexicographers have an enormous responsibility to their users. Regular general English dictionaries are not doing an adequate job of alerting users to biased expression, which essentially legitimises such usage. This paper will explore some of the ways in which lexicographers can meaningfully help eradicate insensitivity, brutality, othering, and wilful ignorance. These will include suggestions on ways to improve the paraphrases of meaning (the definitions,) enhanced usage labelling of lemmas (headwords,) and recommendations on how to make users better aware of insightful usage notes, such as alerts to them right in the paraphrase of meaning. Five examples will be explored: anthropocentrism, third world, nigger, bitch, and squaw. Each will illustrate how the incorporated othering and oppression can be much more fully identified and explained in dictionary articles (entries.) The regular general English dictionaries by and large continue to promote and defend traditions and beliefs which encourage and uphold sexism, racism, xenophobia, heterosexism, colonialism, and speciesism, among other forms of oppression and othering. This paper makes some suggestions on how to improve matters.
Mots clés
social justice bias-free and inclusive usage biased and exclusive usage culturally-aware lexicography inclusive lexicography dictionary culture sociolinguistics egalitarianism interdisciplinary collaboration anthropocentrism bitch nigger squaw third world
social justice
bias-free and inclusive usage
biased and exclusive usage
culturally-aware lexicography
inclusive lexicography
dictionary culture
sociolinguistics
egalitarianism
interdisciplinary collaboration
anthropocentrism
bitch
nigger
squaw
third world
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