Algerian Dictionary of Proper Names
contributors
Coordinateur :
Kheira MERINE
abstract
Our project, conceived as a dictionary of proper names and celebrities (two categories often overlapping in existing dictionaries of proper names), requires positioning along two axes: the linguistic, with respect for onomastic norms, and the cultural, where the information uncovered is rarely free from subjectivity or irrationality. Our challenge is to ensure that the content reflects factual realities as they may have existed; hence, we chose to eliminate excessive qualifications, reducing the axiological dimension to a description approaching neutrality, even if certain entries inevitably reflect contextual contingencies. The most demanding task has been to establish the criteria of celebrity by which we determine the nomenclature of proper names to be included. Without entering into debates distinguishing “celebrity” from “notoriety,” we sought to superimpose the two notions in order to assess how an event or personality might be considered as belonging to this category. What is notable at one time may not be so at another; thus, our work has focused primarily on the temporal axis (with space remaining largely constant), recognizing that synchronically, a celebrity must transcend the local framework to acquire a universal dimension one that grants a form of permanence, immortalizing them across time and space…….