| Abstract: |
After the publication of a new and comprehensive Lower Sorbian-German dictionary in 1999, the urgent need for an active learner's dictionary has been widely felt. Some specifics of the sociolinguistic situation of Lower Sorbian must have direct impact on the conception of such a dictionary: For almost all speakers of younger generation German is the first and better known language. German-Lower Sorbian interference, a very small or only partially elaborated vocabulary, and an often defective command of grammar, especially of those parts of it lacking in German, is widespread. Since 2001 the Lower Sorbian Department of the Sorbian Institute works on a dictionary that tries to meet the requirements of that target-group. With respect to the fact that Lower Sorbian is highly endangered and there is no time to lose, all information is published on the internet as quickly as possible. In 2003 a first version of the online dictionary 'Deutsch-niedersorbisches Wörterbuch' (DNW) was launched. At the present the DNW contains about 70,000 entries, but it will continually be extended and corrected; it is still considered a draft version. Apart from some technical background information, the paper gives an overview of the lexicographic description. In order to help to avoid typical L1-interferences and to actively use the minority language the dictionary ofers, for example, additional information about the use of verbal grammatical and lexical aspect (Aktionsart). Also support verb constructions (so-called 'Funktionsverbgefüge' in German), where direct translations of the German construction often lead to a non-idiomatic language usage, are taken into consideration. For a better integration of such and other important information, some new conventions have been introduced, hoping that the DNW will function as a learners' dictionary as well as a contribution to language documentation. |