Från målspråk till källspråk - Vaasan yliopisto

5. Summary
ACTA WASAENSIA 313
From target language to source language. The evolution of
the Finnish-Swedish dictionaries and the monolingual dictio
in Finnish
In order to study the various stages of the development of the Finnish-Swedish and Finnish
lexicographical tradition, I have divided it into the following periods: 1637 [1632]–1733,
1745–1829, 1838–1903, 1908–1998. This is based on the date of publication of the
dictionaries and on the lexicographical features I have found to be typical of the different
periods.
Different social factors and changes in linguistic circumstances have affected the publication
of dictionaries and the demand for them. The Finnish-Swedish dictionaries are based on a
continental lexicographical tradition, deriving ultimately from Latin. These dictionaries have
developed in parallel with the encyclopaedias and do not constitute a phase in the
development of the encyclopaedias as I originally hypothesised. On the other hand, it is clear
that Swedish influences have affected the Finnish-Swedish lexicographical tradition.
Lexicographical research on bilingual Finnish-Swedish and Swedish-Finnish dictionaries is
extremely limited in extent, not least where it comes to the underlying approach to structure
and their evolution. The surveys of Finnish-Swedish and Swedish-Finnish dictionaries that I
expected to find did not exist. It has been possible to discern a pervading attitude of
disparagement, deprecation and nonchalance among established linguistic researchers to the
study of bilingual lexicography.
Appendix 2 presents my survey of the general language Finnish-Swedish and Swedish-
Finnish dictionaries published between 1637 and 1998.
Until 1745, the earliest dictionaries in which Finnish is at all represented have Latin as their
source language and contain Finnish as one of several target languages. These dictionaries
are, in fact, general word-lists or phrase books for teaching language, mainly Latin. Finnish
was elevated to the status of a source language in 1745, whereas Swedish had attained this
status in 1741.