A study of gender in a bilingual law dictionary (English/Spanish)

Abstract

Dictionaries are means of transmission of words and senses as a reflection of the prejudices and beliefs of their time. This paper takes a look into the ten editions of the Diccionario de terminos juridicos (Ingles-espanol/Spanish-English) by Enrique Alcaraz Varo and Brian Hughes to see how gender is treated. The analysis takes place both on the macrostructural and the microstructural level, and it illustrates the sexism present in the traditional lexicographical practice in Spanish dictionaries. Among others we have confirmed the presence of certain approaches such as: the concealment of women (by use of the generic masculine or an androcentric treatment of professions), or the presentation of stereotyped portraits of men and women and their relationship (by the selection of semantic fields referred exclusively to women or non-neutral examples of use in terms of gender).