Hvor præskriptiv er en deskriptiv ordbog? Hvor deskriptiv er en præskriptiv ordbog?

Resumé

There is much uncertainty and confusion as to the real differences between prescriptive
and descriptive dictionaries. In general, the majority of existing accounts can be
summed up to this: Descriptive relates to the empirical basis; accordance between
the empirical data and the dictionary is required. Prescriptive relates to the genuine
purpose of the dictionary; the dictionary is meant to help with problems concerning
text production and will thus affect usage. This asymmetrical understanding would
imply prescriptive and descriptive in practise being false contrasts. Here, we suggest
a more consistent terminology which allows for both the function of the dictionary
and the relation of the dictionary to the empirical basis.