by DSNA Office Comment Closed

Newsletter Fall 2024

Table of Contents

Member & Dictionary News

What have you been up to? The DSNA loves to share news of member projects, publications, programs, and more! Please send your news to dsnaadmin@gmail.com for inclusion; deadline for submissions for the Spring 2025 issue is Monday 24 March 2025. You can also see and share what’s happening on DSNA’s Member Forum, Facebook, and X/Twitter. 

A flock of DSNA members have contributed to Edward Finegan and Michael Adams‘ forthcoming Cambridge Handbook of the Dictionary: “Bringing together cutting-edge research from a team of experts, this Handbook provides an all-encompassing account of dictionaries in context. It considers the cultural, social, intellectual and book history of dictionaries, as well as why they are made, and how they are edited, designed and published.” (Preorder and discount information available here.)

Alexander K. Bocast would like to announce one recent publication and one in press:

“La Cyclopædia d’Ephraïm Chambers et les réseaux lexicographiques du XVIIIe siècle”, in Dictionnaires et réseaux des lexicographes aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, trans. Ioana Galleron (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2023), pp. 133–162.

“Disattributing the Encyclopédie Article on ‘Définition En Logique’ from Jean-Henri-Samuel Formey”, in West Meets East : Papers in Historical Lexicography and Lexicology from across the Globe (Berlin: Language Science Press, 2024), pp. 71–89.

Louis Raymond Justin is planning to publish a small bilingual dictionary of English and Haitian Creole for adult ESOL learners. He would welcome inquiries and suggestions from DSNA members; he can be contacted at lrjisten@live.com.

Anatoly Liberman’s book, Origin Uncertain: Unraveling the Mysteries of Etymology, was published by Oxford University Press this Spring.

Tinatin Margalitadze reports holding a successful conference on “Lexicography in the XXI Century”:

The International Conference “Lexicography in the XXI Century” was held at Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia, from 10 to 12 November 2023. The conference was established in 2022 by Ilia State University and Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University. The organizer of the conference is “The Centre for Lexicography and Language Technologies” of Ilia State University. The conference will be held bi-annually, alternatively at Ilia State University and Batumi State University.

The topics of the conference included the following: Lexicography and language technologies; lexicography and corpus linguistics; lexicography for specialized languages, terminology, and terminography; lexicological issues of lexicographical relevance; bilingual lexicography; the dictionary-making process; research on dictionary use and issues of dictionary didactics. During the review process, every submitted abstract/paper was evaluated by two independent blind referees.

At the conference, special attention was paid to the participation of young researchers. The conference had sessions dedicated to MA and Ph.D. students. There were 11 scientific sessions at the conference, 3 keynote speeches, 25 full papers, and 9 research posters. The motto of the conference was: “Lexicography – by combining traditional methods and modern technologies”.

The proceedings of the conference are published here. The next conference will be held in Batumi, at Batumi State University in 2025.

Conference Update

DSNA Silver & Gold Anniversary Conference in Buffalo, NY

We’re looking forward to seeing you in Buffalo at the 2025 DSNA meeting: this will be our 25th biennial meeting, and we’ll be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Society! The 2025 DSNA conference will be held at Buffalo State University: Buff State, as it is familiarly known. Joining me in organizing the meeting is Walt Hakala, of the English Department at the University at Buffalo (which is in Amherst, NY. Never mind.).

Buff State is located in the heart of Buffalo. The university is ten minutes away from the Peace Bridge (which connects the U.S. to Ontario, Canada), and 20 minutes from Niagara Falls. Directly across the street is the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, a newly expanded venue dedicated to 20th century and contemporary art. The AKG is on Time Magazine’s 2024 list of the World’s Greatest Places; it is the sixth oldest public museum in the United States. Located on the Buff State campus is the Burchfield Penney Art Center, which showcases art from Western New York, particularly the works of Charles Burchfield.

Next door is the Psychiatric Hospital, an architectural masterpiece designed by H. H. Richardson and now the home of an upscale hotel (as well as being, still, a mental health facility). Buffalo is a celebrated for architectural tourism: it is one of the few cities to feature buildings designed by Richardson, Louis Sullivan, and Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as luminaries like Louise Bethune, E. B. Green, and Robert Coles. The Buffalo River is dramatically lined with grain elevators, some of which have been repurposed as art spaces, breweries, and so on. If there is interest, we may be able to organize an architectural bus tour. (I also recommend kayaking…)

We are partnering with the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library on an exhibit of lexicographical materials from their astounding rare book collection. This exhibit will coincide with the conference but will open to the public before that, spreading the word about words.

The meeting will take place May 28–31, 2025. It is in the planning stages now but it’s not too early to share any ideas you may have about how to make the conference a success. Please reach out to Lisa (berglul@buffalostate.edu) or Walt (walterha@buffalo.edu) with suggestions or questions. We are especially interested in hearing from members who have ideas for symposia, workshops, and panels.

The conference will take place at Buff State in the student center and the Communications building. There will be dormitory accommodation available for those who want it, and we do encourage this option because there are contractual minimums that we must pay for, whether people are sleeping in the rooms or not. But we also will provide a list of nearby hotels and B&B options.

Buffalo is very proud of its food diversity, and we look forward to sharing a list of our favorite eateries. Elmwood Avenue, where the university is located, is packed with restaurants, and many more within a short drive, bus ride, or walk. Please note that Buffalonians do not speak of “Buffalo wings.” They are “wings.” We eat them unironically.

A call for papers and information on conference registration and logistics will be circulated later this fall, and we will begin adding information to the conference website. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact us for more information or suggestions!

-Lisa Berglund

CFP: 2025 Project Grants

We are pleased to announce that the DSNA will award small grants in 2025 in support of practical or scholarly lexicographic projects by independent researchers, dictionary makers, and early-career scholars. The awards aim to support existing projects for which a small grant would make a substantial difference in bringing the project to a more advanced stage or to completion. The grants may be used to support purchase of necessary resources, including travel in order to gather research or data. We welcome projects regarding any facet of lexicography, including but not limited to dictionaries or glossaries of any language or languages (including indigenous or minority languages) or scholarship regarding dictionaries or lexicography of any language or era. DSNA will make one or two awards, not exceeding $2,500 each.

Applications comprise three items: 1) a description (not to exceed 1,200 words) of the overall project, indicating what has been accomplished to date, what remains to be completed, and what the award funds would cover or enable; 2) a list of other sources of support for the project that have been secured or are on request, if any; 3) the applicant’s curriculum vitae or résumé.

Applications must be received by October 31, 2024, and a successful applicant must be a member of DSNA before receiving the award. Announcement of awards will be made in early December 2024. Award winners must furnish a brief report on the progress of the project within one year of the award and must remain a DSNA member through completion of the award period and submission of a report. Applications should be submitted by email attachment, with the subject line DSNA AWARD APPLICATION and sent to:

Kory Stamper, DSNA President
DSNAAward@gmail.com

In Memoriam: Reinhard R. K. Hartmann, 1938–2024

The DSNA has learned of the passing of former member Reinhard Hartmann. Hartmann’s contributions to Dictionaries include “Dictionaries for Lexicographers?: For Linguists? For Laymen?” (1982), “European Lexicography: Perspectives on Dictionary Research, with Special Reference to the Countries of the European Union” (2000), and “Linking Up. The Role of Networking in Disciplinary Contacts within and around Lexicography, with Special Reference to Four European Countries” (2011). In addition to the family’s notice, there is a remembrance of Hartmann on the landing page for EURALEX, the society he was instrumental in founding in 1983. 

Upcoming Conferences

Publication Information

The DSNA Newsletter is usually published twice a year, in the spring and fall. It is currently edited by Rachel Fletcher and Lindsay Rose Russell. Associate Editor is Peter Chipman. Member news items can be sent to dsnaadmin@gmail.com; please include Member News in the subject line.

Our Executive Director is Lindsay Rose Russell.

Send correspondence re membership, etc. to
dsnaadmin@gmail.com
Dictionary Society of North America
Department of English, University of Illinois
608 S Wright St, Rm 208
Urbana IL 61801
USA

This issue: Vol. 48 No. 2 (2024)
Cumulative issue #98