Concurrent Over- and Under-treatment in Dictionaries - The Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal as a Case in Point

Consistency all the way through a reference work is a crucial yet often overlooked aspect in lexicography. This is especially true for multi-volume dictionary projects. In this contribution it is shown how a multidimensional lexicographic Ruler can be used to monitor over- and/or under-treatment in terms of number and length of dictionary articles. Since inconsistencies are often directly related to either speeding up or slowing down, acceleration in dictionary projects is the topic of section 1. Rulers as measurement and prediction instruments are discussed in section 2, while such instruments are presented for isiNdebele, English and Afrikaans in sections 3, 4 and 5 respectively. As a case study, the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (WAT) is then analysed in depth, focusing on average article length in section 6, concurrent over- and under-treatment in section 7, and the last volume published so far in section 8. From this study follows that, contrary to what is generally accepted, WAT is not only not being compiled faster than ever, but also that – in order for the dictionary to be balanced – over half the items are missing from the last volume. The main argument of this article is that the latter type of skewing may be signalled by concurrent over- and under-treatment, a kind of treatment that masks inconsistencies. Section 9, finally, sums up and looks ahead.