Lexikos

The Reception of the Dictionaries Compiled by the ALLEX Project and ALRI

Eventhough Ndlovu — 2026-04-15

This article examines the reception of the African Languages Lexical (ALLEX) Project and the African Languages Research Institute's (ALRI) dictionaries by the target users. It assesses the target users' ownership, awareness, knowledge, and use of the dictionaries. Thus, the study seeks to gauge the dictionary culture of the primary target users of the dictionaries under study. The findings of the study demonstrate that since the publication of the dictionaries, the dictionary culture of the target users has not changed much. Most of the target users do not own the dictionaries and do not use them. The dictionaries are also not prescribed as key reference materials or tools in the basic education sector or as tools of the trade for language mediators in courts, parliament, or media. There is also no curriculum for the teaching of dictionary skills and imparting dictionary culture in the Zimbabwean basic education system. The findings of this study further highlight the prevailing misconception that in African speech communities, dictionary assistance is not required in one's mother tongue.

Keywords: reception, ALLEX, ALRI, dictionary, University of Zimbabwe, sales records, dictionary culture, dictionary pedagogy, educational policy on dictionaries, ownership

Usage Qualifiers and Their Lexicographic Significance — Examples from the Dictionary of the Montenegrin National and Literary Language

Danijela Radojević — 2026-04-15

This paper addresses a key component of every descriptive dictionary — lexicographic qualifiers, with a particular focus on one of their types, namely usage qualifiers. The analysis draws on examples from the first volume of the Dictionary of the Montenegrin National and Literary Language. It considers both normative and functional-stylistic qualifiers, which are essential elements of lexicographic description. Their significance is highlighted in both the standardization of the lexicon and its functional-stylistic stratification. By providing explanations and illustrative examples, this paper emphasizes the importance of usage qualifiers for an accurate understanding of the semantic content of lexemes in a broader context, as well as their communicative value and pragmatic relevance. Moreover, the paper points out the inherent susceptibility of usage qualifiers to change (which reflects the dynamic nature of the lexicon and language changes in general), thereby highlighting the need to establish general principles and criteria for their more consistent use in descriptive dictionaries. Some characteristic examples of the use of qualifiers have also been examined comparatively, in relation to their treatment in other dictionaries from the formerly shared Serbo-Croatian linguistic area. Attention is likewise drawn to the challenges lexicographers face in marking and classifying lexical items, as well as to possible approaches to overcoming these issues.

Keywords: usage qualifiers, lexicography, lexeme, lexicon, lexicographic description, descriptive dictionaries, functional-stylistic qualifiers, normative qualifiers, context, pragmatics

Annette Klosa-Kückelhaus and Martina Nied Curcio (Eds.). Dictionary Use and Dictionary Teaching. New Challenges in a Multilingual, Digital and Global World.

Jian Zhou — 2026-04-15

Review of Annette Klosa-Kückelhaus and Martina Nied Curcio (Eds.). Dictionary Use and Dictionary Teaching. New Challenges in a Multilingual, Digital and Global World.