Mulleres na Lexicografía / Women in Lexicography

Josette Rey-Debove

French

Calais, France, November 16, 1929 - Senegal, February 22, 2005

Josette Rey-Debove (1929-2005) was a French semiologist and lexicographer, with a brilliant career in France and Canada as well as in the rest of the world. In her country she is especially known for being a member of the editorial teams of the Le Robert dictionaries, lexicons of absolute reference in France and published by the homonymous publishing house since the sixties. Among these repertories, the small one, “Le petit Robert”, which transformed the world of school dictionaries and of which she was co-director, and the large one, "Le grand Robert", a monumental work in six volumes entitled “Dictionnaire alphabétique et analogique de la langue française”, a work in which Alain Rey and Henri Cottez also participated and for which she was the editorial secretary. In addition to these significant works, she is also responsible for important repertories such as the "Dictionnaire méthodique du français actuel" (1982), "Dictionnaire des anglicismes" (1991) or "Le Robert du français langue étrangère" (1998). To speak of Rey-Debove is not only to speak of a great dictionary maker or of a semiologist and lexicographer of reference in French universities, but of one of the most influential persons in modern lexicological theories, especially in Europe, transformed by her contributions. In this field, she can be credited with having placed the lexical unit at the center of European linguistic studies. Concepts already very common in lexicology, such as relational definition and substantial definition, always point to our author. In the words of Teresa Cabré, her theoretical legacy points in three directions: “The metalanguage of description and representation of the lexicon, the morphosemantic structuring of the lexicon and the internal organization of words”. Her university career testifies to this prestige, which has been growing for decades. She graduated in Letters from the University of Soborna, where she defended her doctoral thesis, “Linguistic and semiotic study of contemporary French dictionaries”, a work that became one of the most important texts of her career and whose title allows us to glimpse the two fields in which Rey-Debove excelled: semiotics and lexicography. Regarding the science of signs, it is worth mentioning her work “Essays on Semiotics” (1971), in which she had the collaboration of women of the stature of Jean Umiker and Julia Kristeva. At the same time, in addition to leading the editorial committee of the Robert family and to being an enthusiastic university professor, her restless spirit led her to many other achievements: we should point out her stay in the USA, where she worked at the Indiana University Bloomington, an institution that had such an impact on linguistic studies, and even delivery a seminar on lexicology at the prestigious École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales since 2002. However, it is worth mentioning her work in Quebec, where she contributed to the creation of the Quebec French language bureau in the 1970s, when The Charter of the French Language was established. This office, where she made contributions on terminology, neology and methodology of terminology work, remains a point of reference today. Her figure transcends the purely linguistic. She was appointed by the Ministry of Public Functions to lead several commissions in different state reform processes, such as the Conseil supérieur de la langue française in 1989 or the Comité d'orientation pour la simplification du language administratif (COSLA) in 2002. Perhaps this does not give a clear idea of the committed woman she was, diligent in defending fundamental rights, especially those of women, through this political commitment and, above all, through what she was able to do as a linguist. Her defense of the feminization of French is particularly expressive, especially with regard to the titles and denominations of professions (traditionally in the masculine gender). This reformist spirit led her to be very critical in her articles in the press with the French Academy. The decorations, respect and awards she received over a career spanning more than fifty years do not fit in such a short space as this one, but they show the invaluable weight of this woman in the French, Canadian and European academic world. It is enough to take a look at any book on Spanish and Galician lexicography to get an idea of the enormous impact of her work.

Josette Rey-Debove (1929-2005) was a French semiologist and lexicographer, with a brilliant career in France and Canada as well as in the rest of the world. In her country she is especially known for being a member of the editorial teams of the Le Robert dictionaries, lexicons of absolute reference in France and published by the homonymous publishing house since the sixties. Among these repertories, the small one, “Le petit Robert”, which transformed the world of school dictionaries and of which she was co-director, and the large one, Le grand Robert, a monumental work in six volumes entitled “Dictionnaire alphabétique et analogique de la langue française”, a work in which Alain Rey and Henri Cottez also participated and for which she was the editorial secretary. In addition to these significant works, she is also responsible for important repertories such as the “Dictionnaire méthodique du français actuel (1982), Dictionnaire des anglicismes (1991) or Le Robert du français langue étrangère” (1998). To speak of Rey-Debove is not only to speak of a great dictionary maker or of a semiologist and lexicographer of reference in French universities, but of one of the most influential persons in modern lexicological theories, especially in Europe, transformed by her contributions. In this field, she can be credited with having placed the lexical unit at the center of European linguistic studies. Concepts already very common in lexicology, such as relational definition and substantial definition, always point to our author. In the words of Teresa Cabré, her theoretical legacy points in three directions: “The metalanguage of description and representation of the lexicon, the morphosemantic structuring of the lexicon and the internal organization of words”. Her university career testifies to this prestige, which has been growing for decades. She graduated in Letters from the University of Soborna, where she defended her doctoral thesis, “Linguistic and semiotic study of contemporary French dictionaries”, a work that became one of the most important texts of her career and whose title allows us to glimpse the two fields in which Rey-Debove excelled: semiotics and lexicography. Regarding the science of signs, it is worth mentioning her work “Essays on Semiotics” (1971), in which she had the collaboration of women of the stature of Jean Umiker and Julia Kristeva. At the same time, in addition to leading the editorial committee of the Robert family and to being an enthusiastic university professor, her restless spirit led her to many other achievements: we should point out her stay in the USA, where she worked at the Indiana University Bloomington, an institution that had such an impact on linguistic studies, and even delivery a seminar on lexicology at the prestigious École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales since 2002. However, it is worth mentioning her work in Quebec, where she contributed to the creation of the Quebec French language bureau in the 1970s, when The Charter of the French Language was established. This office, where she made contributions on terminology, neology and methodology of terminology work, remains a point of reference today. Her figure transcends the purely linguistic. She was appointed by the Ministry of Public Functions to lead several commissions in different state reform processes, such as the Conseil supérieur de la langue française in 1989 or the Comité d'orientation pour la simplification du language administratif (COSLA) in 2002. Perhaps this does not give a clear idea of the committed woman she was, diligent in defending fundamental rights, especially those of women, through this political commitment and, above all, through what she was able to do as a linguist. Her defense of the feminization of French is particularly expressive, especially with regard to the titles and denominations of professions (traditionally in the masculine gender). This reformist spirit led her to be very critical in her articles in the press with the French Academy. The decorations, respect and awards she received over a career spanning more than fifty years do not fit in such a short space as this one, but they show the invaluable weight of this woman in the French, Canadian and European academic world. It is enough to take a look at any book on Spanish and Galician lexicography to get an idea of the enormous impact of her work. 1967. Dictionnaire alphabétique et analogique de la langue française (Le Grand Robert), xunto a Alain Rey e Henri Cottez./ together with Alain Rey and Henri Cottez. 1967. Le Petit Robert. 1971. Étude linguistique et sémiotique des dictionnaires français contemporains. 1971. Essais de sémiothique. 1973. Recherche sur les systèmes signifiants. 1978. Le Métalangage: étude du discours sur le langage. 1979. Lexique de sémiotique. 1982. Dictionnaire méthodique du français actuel. 1988. Le Petit Robert des enfants. 1991. Dictionnaire des anglicismes, Le Robert, xunto a Gilberte Gagnon./ together with Gilberte Gagnon. 1993. Le Nouveau Petit Robert. 1996. Le Robert quotidien. 1998. La Linguistique du signe: une approche sémiotique du langage et le Robert du français. 1998. Le Robert du français langue étrangère. 2008. Le Petit Robert des noms propres, xunto a Paul Robert e Alain Rey./ together with Paul Robert and Alain Rey.

1998. Chevalier de l’ Ordre national du Mérite (Knight of the National Order of Merit) 2004. Ordre national du Québec (National Order of Quebec)

1. Bibliography: Cabré, Teresa (2006): Josette Rey-Debove (1929-2005) In Memoriam. Estudis romànics. N.º 28, páxs. 633-635. https://www.raco.cat/index.php/Estudis/article/view/9235/401626 Guerrero Ramos, Gloria / Pérez Lagos, Manuel Fernando. (2017): La definición en el diccionario desde la teoría lingüística. Pragmalingüística. Nº 25, páxs. 286-310. https://revistas.uca.es/index.php/pragma/article/view/3411/3774 Sitio web hmong.es / hmong.es Internet site https://hmong.es/wiki/Josette_Rey-Debove Babelio https://www.babelio.com/auteur/Josette-Rey-Debove/24087 Office québécois de la langue française http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/actualites/ressources/hommage_josette_debove.html Ordre National du Québec https://www.ordre-national.gouv.qc.ca/membres/membre.asp?id=1856 2. Lexicographic works: Google Scholar https://scholar.google.es/scholar?hl=es&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=rey-debove&btnG=

David Quintáns Lago

David Quintáns Lago