Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.31724/rihjj.47.2.9
Dictionary and Stereotypes: What is a Blonde Like in Mrežnik?
Lana Hudeček
; Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje
Sažetak
This paper is dealing with practical lexicographic issues connected to stereotyping by looking at data from the hrWaC corpus. Examples of terms and expressions used to denote people with blond hair, male and female alike – plavokosa djevojčica/djevojka/žena (blonde girl/woman), plavuša (blonde), plavokos dječak/mladić/muškarac (blond boy/young man/man), and plavušan (blond) – and the possessive adjective plavušin (blonde’s; hrWaC has no record of the male equivalent – plavušanov/blond’s) show their most frequent collocational behaviour. This brings us to the issue of linguistic (grammatical) stereotyping (like we see in plavuša with the feminine -uša suffix) and lack of semantic parallelism between the unit denoting a stereotyped notion and its derivatives (female plavuša/blonde vs. male plavušan/blond). The paper shows the extent of connotational/collocational differentiation between the Croatian expressions for female persons that contain adjective plavokos (blond-haired) (mostly implying delicacy, gentleness, fragility) and the term plavuša (blonde) (mostly implying physical attraction and lack of intelligence). As a dictionary that is corpus-based, but not corpus-driven, Mrežnik does not register collocations uncritically. This fact raises many questions: about the importance of a dictionary’s social responsibility and its realization; whether a dictionary should also have an educational role, in the sense that it should aim to change negative perceptions/stereotypes; What is the role of the assumed user profile as we choose the way in which to present a stereotyped concept? Can a lexicographer be scientifically consistent and socially appropriate at the same time? In fact, by raising this collocational issue with regard to Mrežnik and asking how Mrežnik perceives a blonde, we are bringing closer some of the doubts that emerge as we process words that reflect social, gender and other stereotypes, while offering a model for their processing.
Ključne riječi
dictionary; stereotypes; social stereotypes; gender stereotypes; grammaticalization of stereotypes
Hrčak ID:
270788
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.12.2021.
Posjeta: 2.449 *