The Comparative Lexicography Project of French and English in Canada
or
the BILINGUAL CANADIAN DICTIONARY

• Goals
• Examples of specific research studies
• Concrete results
• Research team and affiliates
• Project members

  Goals

• Producing a Canadian English-French, French-English dictionary intended for sophisticated language users (publication date: 2004)
• Creating a database of Canadian texts in English and French
• Creating a multi-purpose dictionary database
• Developing Canadian scholarship in bilingual lexicography

  Examples of specific research studies

• Canadianisms
  • the relationship between Canadianisms and Canadian culture (Roberts & Bossé-Andrieu in preparation; Grenon-Nyenhuis, Ph.D. thesis in preparation)
  • the different types of Canadianisms found in English and French (Grenon-Nyenhuis, M.A. thesis, Université de Montréal, 1997)
  • the translation of English Canadianisms into French (Grenon-Nyenhuis, in preparation)
• Corpora
  • the contribution of corpus data to bilingual lexicography (Langlois, M.A. thesis, University of Ottawa, 1997)
  • the use of corpora in bilingual lexicography (Roberts & Montgomery 1996; Langlois, M.A. thesis, University of Ottawa, 1997)
  • the use of corpora to identify Canadianisms (Roberts & Montgomery 1996; Roberts & Grenon-Nyenhuis 1998; Josselin in preparation)
• Information Technology
  • the establishment of a lexicographic database using SGML (Roberts & Langlois 1997)
  • comparison between paper and electronic dictionaries (Forget, M.A. thesis, University of Ottawa1999)
  • the use of computerized unilingual dictionaries to produce a computerized bilingual dictionary (Langlois, Ph.D. thesis in preparation)

  Concrete results

  New tools for Canadians

• an English-French, French-English general dictionary reflecting current Canadian usage (the Bilingual Canadian Dictionary).  Intended for all Canadians, but more particularly Canada's language professionals.
• a dictionary database, which can be updated and enlarged in the future and can be used as the basis for other dictionaries.  Intended for Canadian lexicographers as well as linguists involved in contrastive research in Canadian French and English.
• a large corpus of Canadian texts in French and English, which can be used to compile other Canadian dictionaries, to produce language teaching materials, and to undertake comparative linguistics research.  Intended for Canadian lexicographers, language teachers and researchers.

  Issues of interest to Canadian society

• the extent to which Canadian English and Canadian French differ from American or UK English and French from France.  Of interest to all Canadians and more particularly language teachers and language professionals.
• the relationship between culture, language and dictionaries: why Canada needs its own bilingual dictionary.  Of interest to Canadian policy makers in the areas of culture and language.
• the application of information technology to dictionary-making.  Of interest to the Canadian hi-tech industry.

  Research team

  Core institutions (all Canadian)

• University of Ottawa
• Université de Montréal
• Université Laval

  Our partners (all Canadian)

• Social Sciences and Humanties Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
• McClelland & Stewart, Inc.
• Translation Bureau, Government of Canada
• Laboratoire de Recherche appliquée en linguistique informatique, University of  Montréal
• University of  Moncton
• Ordre des traducteurs et interprètes agréés du Québec (OTIAQ)
• Association des traducteurs et interprètes de l'Ontario (ATIO)

  Total number of researchers and students involved

• approximately 40-45 per year (including 30-35 students)

  Role of students in the Project

• Researching words using hi-tech tools
• Preparing draft dictionary entries
• Finding solutions to lexicographic problems
• Participating in the development, maintenance and improvement of our computer programs

  Project members

  Project Director

• Prof. Roda P. ROBERTS - University of Ottawa (C.V.)

  Principal Researchers

• Prof. Pierre AUGER - Université Laval (W3)
• Prof. Lionel BOISVERT - Université Laval (W3)
• Prof. Jacqueline BOSSÉ-ANDRIEU - University of Ottawa
• Prof. André CLAS - Université de Montréal
• Prof. Sarah CUMMINS - Université Laval
• Prof. Monique CORMIER - Université de Montréal (W3)
• Prof. Claude VERREAULT - Université Laval

  Research Assistants

• Université d'Ottawa

• Université de Montréal

• Université Laval

Bilingual Canadian Dictionary
University of Ottawa
40 Stewart
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1N 6N5
E-mail: dico@uottawa.ca