Policy for the Treatment of Insulting and Sensitive Lexical Items in the &lt;i&gt;Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal&lt;/i&gt;

Pieter Harteveld,A.E Van Niekerk

doi:10.5788/5-1-1068

Abstract

Outline of the policy for the treatment of insulting and sensitive lexical items in the <i>Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal</i>: Common to all sensitive lexical items --- all simplexes, compounds and expressions are lemmatized --- all conform to the general usage criterion of the Bureau --- clear and correct labelling takes place, which also applies to insulting synonyms --- the metalanguage is neutral --- no collocations or editorial usage examples are given --- citations (where included) are chosen with care --- articles are checked by advisors to the Bureau A. Racist terms 1. Treatment in the WAT (a) Wholly racist lexical items --- for the definition, the item is referred to the most commonly used synonym; no racist synonyms are, however, given at neutral or racist lexical items --- no semantic oppositions are given --- no citations are given --- expressions are explained; no synonyms, antonyms, references and illustrative material are given with such expressions --- the same manner of treatment applies to racist expressions under neutral lemmas --- complete treatment takes place in electronic form (see 2 below) (b) Partially racist lexical items --- neutral semantic distinctions are treated in full --- racist semantic distinctions and expressions are treated as wholly racist lexical items 2. Treatment in the electronic manuscript --- references to or the noting of synonyms and semantic oppositions are given --- citations are given --- electronic manuscript is available on request B. Sexist terms and sensitive lexical items which indicate stigmatized sexual phenomena, practices and preferences among people --- the definition is given at the most commonly used neutral synonym --- references to or the noting of synonyms are given --- antonyms and formal references are given --- citations are given --- expressions are explained C. Sensitive lexical items which indicate stigmatized physical or mental conditions and phenomena among people --- treatment as in B above D. Sensitive lexical items within a social, political and religious structure --- treatment as in B above E. Obscene and vulgar lexical items, abusive language and swear-words --- treatment as in B above <b>Keywords:</b> policy, treatment, insulting lexical items, sensitive lexical items, dictionary, woordeboek van die afrikaanse taal, simplexes, compounds, expressions, general usage criterion, labelling, synonyms, metalanguage, collocations, editorial usage examples, citations, advisors, racist lexical items, neutral lemmas, electronic manuscript, references, semantic oppositions, sexist terms, stigmatized sexual phenomena, stigmatized physical conditions, stigmatized mental conditions, political items, religious items, obscenities, vulgarisms, abusive language, swear-words

Highlights

When it concerns the treatment of insulting and sensitive lexical items in the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (WAT), it is the approach of the Bureau of the WAT to pursue its ideal of comprehensiveness, and to follow a sensitive treatment policy
Outline of the policy for the treatment of insulting and sensitive lexical items in the Woordeboek van die Afrikaau5e Taal: Common to all sensitive lexical items all simplexes, compounds and expressions are lemmatized all conform to the general usage criterion of the Bureau clear and correct labelling takes place, which applies to insulting synonyms the metalanguage is neutral no collocations or editorial usage examples are given citations are chosen with care articles are checked by advisors to the Bureau
Opsomming en Sleutelwoorde: Sien die AfTikaanse weergawe hier boo. When it concerns the treatment of insulting and sensitive lexical items in the WAT, it is the approach of the Bureau of the WAT to pursue its ideal of comprehensiveness, and to follow a sensitive treatment policy

Summary

Introduction

When it concerns the treatment of insulting and sensitive lexical items in the WAT, it is the approach of the Bureau of the WAT to pursue its ideal of comprehensiveness, and to follow a sensitive treatment policy. Distinctions must be drawn between the different types within each of these categories It was against this background that the Bureau formulated a provisional policy for the treatment of insulting and sensitive lexical items in the WAT and sent it to all the participants in the above mentioned congress, and to language users, language practitioners, linguists and other important international lexicographers and metalexicographers for their comments. The Bureau is, of the opinion that microstructural comprehensiveness with regard to racist terms and other insulting and sensitive lexical items need not be strictly maintained, as long as the explanation of meaning takes place and the user is warned against the hurtful nature of the items. It is against this background and with the consideration of the comments received that the policy as set out below was formulated

Racist terms

Treatment in the WAT

Treatment in the electronic manuscript

Concluding remarks