Two-Tongued Lexical Trends: Updating Inclusive Language in a Bilingual Dictionary

Abstract

ABSTRACT:French and English language communities engage in public discussions about inclusive language, but these discussions do not always occur at the same time for each language or in the same forums, nor do they always address the same topics involving inclusivity or arrive at the same solutions. These tensions between French and English inclusive language norms present a challenge to those lexicographers who aim to represent the impact of inclusive language norms when working on a bilingual dictionary. This paper examines differences between inclusive language norms in French and English and presents examples of editorial decision-making when navigating these differences for the dictionary of Antidote, a writing assistance software product for French and English.