Abstract
A significant number of multilingual dictionaries (in at least three languages) were published in Romania after the Revolution of December 1989. In the context of an unprecedented evolution of multilingualism, experts in various fields, as well as higher education professors identify specific communication needs and potential users and foresee preferential contexts of dictionary use. This article presents the outcomes of a study on the main categories of users and contexts of use of multilingual dictionaries edited in Romania after 1989. This analytical approach targets a representative sample of dictionaries selected on the basis of three criteria imposed by the research limits: temporal (dictionaries edited in the period 1990–2010), idiomatic (works presenting the list of entries in Romanian) and formal (the multilingual character stated explicitly in the title of the dictionary). The first part of the article accounts for the stage of research related to dictionary users and a short presentation of Romanian lexicography in general and of multilingual lexicography in particular. The second part of the study describes the methodology and proposes a systematization of the categories of potential users and the contexts of dictionary use as envisaged by the authors of the dictionaries under analysis.
Highlights
The main purpose of lexicography has always been to provide an inventory of and to explain the lexis of a language, be it a general lexis or a specialized one, for the speakers of that specific language or for the speakers of other languages
Taking into account the fact that the value of a dictionary resides in the manner in which it manages to relate the lexicographic data to the specific needs of the target audience, this paper proposes an analysis of Romanian multilingual dictionaries issued in Romania after the Revolution of 1989, from the perspective of the categories of users targeted by these dictionaries and the contexts of dictionary use anticipated by the authors of the respective dictionaries
244 Mihaela Mocanu and Alina-Mihaela Bursuc readily available. This aspect is reflected in the heterogeneous character of Romanian lexicography after 1989: academic, professional editions co-exist with dictionaries drafted by specialists in various fields with no specialized lexicography training, an aspect which impacted on the quality of the lexicographic works issued during that period
Summary
The main purpose of lexicography has always been to provide an inventory of and to explain the lexis of a language, be it a general lexis or a specialized one, for the speakers of that specific language or for the speakers of other languages. In the texts that constitute the prefaces of dictionaries generally three main strategies that prove a transition of focus from the lexis to the users are employed: (i) the identification of the users' needs in relation to actual social realities (e.g. the emergence and development of new socio-professional categories) and the manner in which the content is organized depending on the aforementioned needs, marked by an ever increasing influence of the publishing houses upon the authors of dictionaries; (ii) the analysis of the profile and the assignment of the target readers/users; (iii) an invitation to the users to participate in the lexicographic approach ( in view of the elaboration and publication of the dictionary, and with regard to the impact and the improved quality of lexicographic products). 240 Mihaela Mocanu and Alina-Mihaela Bursuc the second part presents the methodology and the outcomes of the analysis of multilingual dictionaries
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