Paul Robert (lexicographer)

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Paul Robert (born October 19, 1910 in Ech Cheliff , † August 11, 1980 in Mougins ) was a French Romance scholar and lexicographer .

life and work

The idea for a new French dictionary

Robert grew up in Algeria, studied law in Algiers and Paris and received his doctorate in 1945 with the Thèse Les agrumes dans le monde et le développement de leur culture en Algérie (Paris 1947). The idea came to him - inspired by the French tradition of the dictionary type “Dictionnaire analogique” (by Prudence Boissière , Paul Rouaix and Charles Maquet ), as well as through foreign language experience with English and, last but not least, through experience with message encryption gained in the army a usage dictionary with an integrated dictionary of terms so that the user can not only look up the rare word (for example: troglodyte ), but also find it if he does not know it at all. In 1945 he discovered that it was sufficient for the lexicographer to include the heavy word in the article of the related easy word (e.g. sv CAVERNE "Höhle" with the subentry "habitant des cavernes: troglodyte") and that it was necessary to systematically record this semantic Relationships are sufficient to reverse the usual definitions of the dictionaries and to redistribute their words (eg TROGLODYTE = habitant des cavernes "cave dwellers", redistributed in: CAVERNE, habitant des cavernes: troglodyte). He managed the complete redistribution with the help of a network of volunteers.

The Grand Robert

In a second step he became aware of the lack of an up-to-date quoting dictionary of French, because in France the enormous and admired but completely outdated dictionary by Émile Littré still dominated . He therefore put together a group of mostly unknown and inexperienced lexicographers in Casablanca (later in Paris), founded a publishing house called "Société du Nouveau Littré" and in a decade and a half created a lexicographic marvel in six Volumes with the title Dictionnaire alphabétique et analogique de la langue française. Les mots et les associations d'idées (1953–1964, later editions ud T. Grand Robert ), which was recognized by experts and the broadly educated public.

The dictionary publisher Le Robert

With Alain Rey , Josette Rey-Debove and Henri Cottez , who are now also theoretically experienced , he had the 2000-page one-volume dictionary Le Petit Robert. Dictionnaire alphabétique et analogique de la langue française (1967, since then numerous, now annual, new editions), as well as (with additional compression) the Micro Robert (1971, today Robert Micro ). In addition, there were numerous didactic and special dictionaries of almost all types, bilingual dictionaries and, last but not least, multi-volume and one-volume lexicons with encyclopedic information.

Right from the start, Robert accompanied the lexicographical work with tireless advertising and lobbying. Its employees garnered academic qualifications, recognitions, and honors. The name Robert became, thanks to its combination of lexicographical genius (without any linguistic training), his organizational talent and his know-how in marketing, a synonym for "dictionary" and remained so after Robert's death.

Honors

Robert was the commander of the Legion of Honor .

Other works

  • Aventures et mésaventure d'un dictionnaire , Paris 1966
  • Au fil des ans et des mots , 2 vols., Paris 1980 (memoirs)

literature

  • Les dictionnaires Le Robert. Genèse et évolution , ed. by Monique C. Cormier, Aline Francoeur and Jean-Claude Boulanger, Montreal 2003
  • Alain Rey, Dictionnaire des amoureux du dictionnaire , Paris 2011 sv

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Robert, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French romanist and lexicographer
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Ech Cheliff
DATE OF DEATH August 11, 1980
Place of death Mougins