International Journal of Lexicography Advance Access originally published online on June 23, 2009
International Journal of Lexicography 2009 22(3):259-280; doi:10.1093/ijl/ecp021
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L’inclusion des Particularismes Extra-Hexagonaux dans la Dernière Édition du Grand Robert : Réalité ou Mirage de la Francophonie ?
Université Laval, Laboratoire de lexicologie et lexicographie québécoises (LexiQué) (Claude.Verreault{at}lli.ulaval.ca)
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Abstract |
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Since the 1970s, French dictionaries have opened up to the French-speaking world, notably by including a number of words and usages characteristic of the many non-Metropolitan varieties of French. Tentative at first, this opening up has intensified with each re-edition to the point that today dictionaries compiled in France can give the impression that they reflect the entirety of French as used throughout the francophonie. This is the case, for instance, with the new Grand Robert de la langue française, which was received and presented in this way by reviewers in the Québec media. Using the introductory note of the two editions and the overhaul that the Grand Robert has undergone to date, this article first briefly recalls how the dictionary's interest in non-Metropolitan features came about and developed over time, then examines the conception of the French language that the compilers have come to adopt. On the basis of an analysis of a random sample of the nomenclature, which includes a number of Québecisms, this conception is then compared with the lexicographical practices adopted in the work as a whole. Finally, it shows how, as things stand at present, the opening up of French dictionaries to the French-speaking world can have the perverse effect of producing and maintaining a linguistic mirage.