The Spoken Word as Represented in Norsk Ordbok

Abstract

Spoken language is the prerequisite of written standard languages for living language communities. Yet written sources dominate lexicographic description of standard languages, and awareness of dictionaries that specifically source speech seems limited.

In Norsk Ordbok (The Norwegian Dictionary), and in the Language Collections on which the dictionary is based, oral materials are perceived as input to the national language Nynorsk, written or spoken. The purpose is integration into one whole, not a series of parallel lexical registers. Legitimacy is aimed at by explicit sourcing of linguistic information, whether from speech or literature.

This paper looks at how speech is sourced within the entries of the dictionary Norsk Ordbok (NO), particularly at the sourcing of definitions. Explicit sourcing of speech in connection with definitions facilitates investigating the contribution of speech materials to Norsk Ordbok as a whole, and if and how the differences between speech and written text is reflected in Norsk Ordbok.