Skip to main content Skip to page footer
Fryske Akademy Fryske Akademy

Presentation Stefan, Van der Zwaag & Sijens, XXII EURALEX2026, Wenen (AT)

Conference

Researchers Nika Stefan, Johan van der Zwaag and Hindrik Sijens from the Fryske Akademy have been invited to the XXII EURALEX International Congress 2026 in Vienna, with the theme ‘Lexicography in the Age of AI’. They will present their research entitled ‘Beyond the Single Standard: Addressing Variation and User Needs in an Online Frisian Dictionary’. Sijens will also chair a session on ‘Lexical Semantics, Neology & Phraseology’.

The conference will take place in the main building of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, in the heart of Vienna. The conference will run from Tuesday 29 September to Saturday 3 October 2026.

Further information and the full programme can be found here. Below is a summary of our colleagues’ work.

Nika Stefan, Johan van der Zwaag & Hindrik Sijens 

BEYOND THE SINGLE STANDARD: Addressing Variation and User Needs in an Online Frisian Dictionary 

Keywords labelling; online dictionaries; minority language; language variation; standardization; description/prescription; lexicographic practice 

This paper examines the challenges of representing linguistic variation in Frisian lexicography, focusing on the Dutch-Frisian online dictionary. While existing lexicographic resources already accommodate variation to some extent, discrepancies remain between dictionary representation and actual language use. Survey data and usage examples reveal complex patterns in which standard forms coexist with contact-induced variants, and in some cases no fully equivalent Frisian alternatives exist, leading speakers to adopt Dutch forms in Frisian discourse. These findings highlight a tension between normative guidance and descriptive adequacy, particularly in contexts where speakers vary in competence and where written Frisian differs from spoken usage. The current label system, although informative, does not always provide sufficiently systematic or user-oriented support. Building on insights from user-oriented lexicographic theory, this paper proposes a more flexible model in which dictionary information is accessed through multiple modes. These include a normative mode offering clear guidance, a comparative mode making variation explicit, and a learning mode tailored to users with less experience. By structuring variation in a transparent and user-sensitive way, the proposed approach aims to align lexicographic practice more closely with actual language use while supporting both standardization and linguistic diversity. 

 

Back