Svensk lexikografi, ordböcker och Internet

• This article has three objectives. First there is a brief overview of the history of Swedish lexicography, secondly there is a basic introduction to lexicographic theory and finally there is a short presentation of some of the Swedish dictionaries, which right now are available on Internet. The history of lexicography in Sweden can be divided into three periods. During the first period, from the late 15th century to the very beginning of the 18th century, Swedish lexicography is completely based on the Latin lexicography, which had developed on the European continent. During the second period, from the early 18th century to the middle of the 19th, a Swedish, bilingual lexicographic tradition is established, and an adequate lexical description of the Swedish language takes form. This development is completed in 1855, when the first monolingual Swedish dictionary is published. The third period, is the period of monolingual lexicography. During the 20th century, the monolingual Swedish lexicography became a field of study and included in the academic discipline of Nordic languages. The process of turning bilingual lexicography into an academic field was somewhat slower; bilingual dictionaries were by and large regarded as pedagogical tools in the studies of foreign languages. In the late 20th century, however, even this branch of lexicography developed a theory with respect to the needs of the target group and the intended function of the dictionary. The e-publication of dictionaries on Internet means new possibilities for the users of bilingual dictionaries with respect to searches in both languages. This does indeed challenge the theories of bilingual lexicography. The e-dictionaries presented in the last part of the article are for the time being available free of charge on the Internet. Special attention is paid to Lexin, the Swedish learner’s dictionaries, and ISLEX, an Icelandic-Danish/Norwegian/Swedish dictionary, which was recently opened on Internet.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur -- Studier av enskilda språk (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature -- Specific Languages (hsv//eng)

Keyword

svensk lexikografi

lexikografihistoria

elektroniska ordböcker

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

art (subject category)