Can a legal dictionary go from sexist to inclusive?: The dictionary of legal terms as a case of point

Abstract

Linguistic sexism can be present in any text, even in those that appear to be neutral. One clear example of this is dictionaries, as they exhibit a certain image of our society through multiple mechanisms, such as the selection of both entries and definitions. This paper analyses the Dictionary of Legal Terms (DLT) by Enrique Alcaraz Varo, Brian Hughes and Miguel Angel Campos, and through this analysis the aforementioned mechanisms am highlighted. Furthermore, a comparative study of the 10 editions of the DLT allows us to observe how one particular dictionary's treatment of gender has evolved through the years and to determine to what extent the sexism that is implicit in language has been taken into account, both when the dictionary was being written for the first time and also during its successive modifications. Lastly, some alternatives are offered up, the use of which can help to avoid sexist language being included in dictionaries.