Ordbogersuaq, den store grønlandske ordbog, der ikke blev til noget – nogle etnopolitiske overvejelser

Abstract

At the fall session of 1978 in Greenland's Provincial Council a proposal concerning the compilation of a Greenlandic national (monolingual) dictionary, Ordbogersuaq was voiced. The proposal was well received, funding assured, and the job estab-lished, but unfortunately Ordbogersuaq was never realized.
It will be demonstrated how lack of manpower in the hectic years following the introduction of Home Rule in 1979 together with insufficient management and prob-lems caused by a nationalistic attitude rendered the project impossible.
Finally a case is made to demonstrate how a polyfunctional version of Ord-bogersuaq might be a realistic alternative in Greenland as well as in other minority languages via possibilities created with the modern technology.