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<DIV><FONT size=2>Bryan Allen wrote, "<FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>The
dictionary I am working on will be heavily used in a literacy project. Newly
literate readers will depend on the dictionary for knowing how to spell words.
So I am wondering how to handle variants.... Should we include any variants
which are in common use?</FONT>"</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>This is a literacy question, but I think it can be very much a
dictionary question too. I have faced this issue in editing the St. Lucian
Creole dictionary, and recently I was advising someone else on this very subject
as he was working on a dictionary for another language. Anyone making a first
dictionary for a language without a strong written tradition will have to decide
how to deal with dialect variation.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Exactly how you handle this will depend on the constraints you
have to work with in terms of orthography. I assume we are talking about an
orthography that is basically phonemic, unlike English. You can either have
fixed spellings or you can write based on pronunciation, but you can't very well
have it both ways. There are advantages of either approach, but we won't go into
that here, because that really is a literacy matter. I assume we are not talking
about a syllabary or logographic writing system, nor even a morphophonemic
(Chomsky's 'systematic phonemic') orthography.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Even if the orthography is phonemic, it makes a difference
whether or not the rules of the orthography allow for variant spellings of the
same word based on dialect variation. When there is variation, the only
alternative to having variant spellings is to choose one dialect as standard and
only represent that dialect in writing. So are there any constraints in that
regard? I assume not, or else the question would already be answered. The only
problem then would be deciding which forms to recognize as standard, and only
put those into the dictionary.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Even if the rules for the orthography you are dealing with
will allow for variant spellings, you still have to deal with the problem of
deciding which forms are standard. There is no way to get around that if you are
making the first dictionary based on that orthography, unless someone has
already sorted that problem out in advance. Dictionary making seems to be
unavoidably tied up in establishing standards. One of the main uses of a
dictionary from the users' point of view is to check how a word is supposed to
be spelled -- even if that is not one of the main purposes from the compilers'
point of view. (I see that is one of the main purposes you have in compiling
this dictionary.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>In making our St. Lucian Creole dictionary, we didn't have
clearly defined dialects to work with, though there is variation of lexical
forms. We had to have some other basis for decision making, and in our case we
decided that the standard form was the most conservative form, in terms of
historical development. I would hope you would be able to come up with some kind
of systematic approach to deciding which forms would be treated as most
standard in the dictionary. (I see you talk about the "correct" forms, so
evidently you don't have a problem in deciding which forms should be treated as
standard.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>So here is how I would handle this issue, given that a) the
orthography is phonemic, b) your dictionary recognizes and takes into account
(dialect) variation, and c) you have figured out a way to determine which of the
variant forms are most standard.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>1) Make full entries for the standard forms of the words. The
dictionary compiler may well be the one who has to determine which forms are
treated as standard.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>2) For the other variant forms, make a minor entry, such that
a user who finds that form in the dictionary is directed to the standard form.
You could also in the main entries for those lexical items point the user to the
variant forms.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Here is a formatted example from our St. Lucian Creole
dictionary, though the formatting might not come through properly:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=lexeme><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT
size=3><SPAN class=lexeme><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><STRONG>
<HR>
vowé</STRONG></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT
color=#000000><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>variant of
<B>voyé</B>.</FONT></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=lexeme><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><SPAN
lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=lexeme><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT
size=3><SPAN class=lexeme><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><STRONG>voyé</STRONG></SPAN></SPAN><FONT
color=#000000><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>(var: <B>vowé, vwéyé</B>)<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 7pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT
size=1>V</FONT></SPAN><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>1) to send.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><B>Pòl voyé dé bwapen ban mwen.</B> Paul
sent me two breadfruits.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>2) to
throw.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><B>Yo voyé wòch dèyè’y.</B>
They threw stones at him. (see also: <B>fléché, jété</B>) [< Fr.
</SPAN><I><SPAN lang=FR
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">envoyer</SPAN></I><SPAN
lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">]</SPAN></FONT></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=lexeme><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT
color=#000000><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=lexeme><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT
color=#000000><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><FONT
size=3><SPAN class=lexeme><SPAN lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><STRONG>vwéyé</STRONG></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
lang=EN-CARRIBEAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-CARRIBEAN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>variant of
<B>voyé</B>.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV><FONT size=2>
<DIV>
<HR>
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>-- David Frank</FONT></DIV>
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