How to get a word added to the dictionary - Ilan Stavans

Translator: Xosé María Moreno Reviewer: Xusto Rodriguez

“Dictionary:” noun, “a malevolent literary device

“Dicionario”: nome, “malévolo dispositivo literario

for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic.”

para eivar o desenvolvemento dunha lingua e facela máis ríxida e inelástica.”

“Lexicographer:” noun, “a writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge.”

“Lexicógrafo”: nome, “escritor de dicionarios; un choiante inofensivo”

While the concept of a dictionary dates back to ancient civilizations,

Aínda que o concepto de dicionario provén das civilizacións antigas,

the first English dictionary was published by Robert Cawdrey in 1604.

o primeiro dicionario inglés foi publicado por Robert Cawdrey en 1604.

In the centuries that followed,

Nos séculos a seguir,

many more dictionaries were written by individual authors

moitos dicionarios foron escritos por só un autor

who chose what to include or exclude.

que escollía o que incluír ou excluír.

They not only defined words, they openly showcased their creators’ opinions—

Non só definían as palabras, tamén expuñan abertamente as súas opinións

like Ambrose Bierce’s definition of “dictionary”

como na definición de “dicionario” de Ambrose Bierce

and Samuel Johnson’s definition of “lexicographer.”

e na definición de “lexicógrafo” de Samuel Johnson.

After their authors deaths, many of these dictionaries quickly became outdated.

Trala morte dos seus autores, moitos dicionarios ficaron obsoletos.

But one 19th century dictionary had a different fate.

Pero un dicionario do S. XIX tivo unha sorte distinta.

In 1828, American lawyer and author Noah Webster published

En 1828, o avogado e escritor americano Noah Webster publicou

“An American Dictionary of the English Language” with a lofty goal:

“An American Dictionary of the English Language” cun ambicioso obxectivo:

to give the United States its own version of the English language.

darlles aos EEUU a súa propia versión da lingua inglesa.

He believed that as a new nation,

Cría que como nova nación

the United States needed its own distinct version of English

os EEUU necesitaban a súa versión diferenciada do inglés

to assert its independence from Britain.

para afirmar a súa independencia de Gran Bretaña.

In his dictionary, Webster sought to describe and officialize

No seu dicionario, Webster buscou describir e oficializar

the way Americans spoke.

o xeito de falar dos estadounidenses.

Most dictionaries in Webster’s time were prescriptive:

A maioría dos dicionarios en tempos de Webster eran prescritivos:

they dictated how words should be used,

establecían o uso das palabras,

rather than documenting the way people actually used language in daily life.

máis que recoller como a xente usaba a lingua no seu día a día.

When Webster broke this convention and included slang words in his dictionary,

Cando Webster transgrediu esta convención e incluíu palabras das xergas,

critics accused him of polluting the English language.

os críticos acusárono de contaminar a lingua inglesa.

But he argued that these words captured local variations of language—

Mais el argumentaba que tales palabras captaban as variedades locais da lingua

a vital part of what made American English unique.

—un aspecto vital que fai o inglés americano único.

He also believed spelling rules were unnecessarily complex,

Tamén opinaba que as regras de soletreo eran innecesariamente complexas

and that we should write the way we speak as much as possible.

e que no posíbel deberiamos escribir como falamos.

Still, Webster’s own opinions influenced the words he included

As opinións de Webster influíron á hora de incluír palabras

and the way he defined them.

e as súas definicións.

He excluded slang words from Black communities

Excluíu a xerga das comunidades negras

because he didn’t consider them proper.

porque non a consideraba apropiada.

And when he defined “woman,”

E cando definiu a palabra “muller”,

he added that “women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible.”

escribiu que as “mulleres son doces, amábeis, piadosas e flexíbeis”.

By the time of his death, Noah Webster was a household name.

Cando morreu, Noah Webster era xa un nome coñecido.

Seeing a lucrative business opportunity,

Vendo unha lucrativa oportunidade de negocio,

brothers George and Charles Merriam bought the rights to Webster’s Dictionary.

os irmáns George e Charles Merriam compraron os dereitos do Dicionario.

Together with Webster’s son-in-law, the Merriams made a new, revised edition.

Canda un xenro de Webster, os Merriam fixeron unha edición nova e actualizada.

It was the beginning of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Foi o inicio do Dicionario Merriam-Webster.

Today, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary begins to address

Hoxe, o Dicionario Merriam-Webster encara

a contradiction in Webster’s goal:

unha contradición co obxectivo de Webster:

he wanted to represent an entire nation,

el quixo representar a toda a nación,

but he based his work on just one person’s opinion: his own.

mais basou o seu traballo na opinión dunha única persoa: el.

Since Webster’s death, each new edition of the dictionary has been curated

Desde a morte de Webster, cada nova edición do Dicionario é editada

by a group of language experts rather than by a single authority.

por un grupo de expertos en lingua, e non por unha única autoridade.

The current criteria for including a word in the dictionary

Os criterios actuais para incluír unha palabra no dicionario

are that it has “widespread, sustained, and meaningful use.”

son que teña un uso “espallado, permanente e significativo”.

This clearly includes profanities,

Isto inclúe sen dúbida as blasfemias,

which were sometimes excluded from dictionaries in the past.

que algunhas veces se excluían dos dicionarios no pasado.

Racial slurs also meet the criteria for inclusion,

Os insultos raciais tamén cumpren os criterios para seren incluídos,

but some argue that including them might legitimize them.

aínda que algúns argumentan que a súa inclusión pode lexitimalos.

Dictionaries don’t just add new words—

Os dicionarios non só engaden novas palabras,

they also redefine old words to reflect changing attitudes and usage.

tamén redefinen palabras vellas para reflectir cambios de actitudes e uso.

One 1736 dictionary defined “wife” as “a married woman whose will,

Un dicionario de 1736 definía “esposa” como “muller casada cuxa vontade,

in the judgment of the law, is subject to the will of her husband:

a xuízo da lei, está suxeita á vontade do seu home:

for which reason a wife is said to have no will.”

por esta razón dise que unha muller non ten vontade”.

Today, “wife” is defined simply as “a female partner in a marriage.”

Hoxe, “esposa” defínese como “o membro feminino nun matrimonio”.

In 2019, Merriam-Webster’s word of the year was “they.”

En 2019, a palabra do ano no Merriam-Webster foi “they”.

The word has been in regular use for centuries,

A palabra vén usándose desde hai séculos,

but has only recently gained a new recognized meaning,

mais só recentemente adquiriu un novo e recoñecido significado,

as a pronoun for one person whose gender identity is nonbinary.

como pronome para as persoas con identidade de xénero non binaria.

The question of which words belong in the dictionary impacts all of us—

A cuestión de que palabras están no dicionario ten impacto en todos nós

when our words and definitions are represented, they’re affirmed;

—cando as nosas palabras e definicións están representadas, afírmanse;

if not, they— and we— are minimized.

se non, elas —e nós— somos minimizados.

Today, lexicographers have expanded word sourcing

Hoxe, os lexicógrafos expandiron a procura de palabras

to include the dictionary’s users: tracking which words are most searched,

incluíndo os usuarios de dicionarios: rastrexan cales son as máis buscadas,

and adding them to the dictionary.

e engádenas ao dicionario.

So, who decides what’s in the dictionary?

Entón, quen decide que hai nun dicionario?

More than ever before the answer is: we do.

Máis ca nunca a resposta é: nós.

All of us shape language every day.

Todos cada día construímos a linguaxe.

When we collectively embrace one word or redefine another,

Cando adoptamos colectivamente unha palabra ou redefinimos outra,

eventually, those words and meanings are reflected in our dictionaries.

ao final, tales palabras e significados son recollidos nos nosos dicionarios.