The Accademia della Crusca is involved in historical, philological and lexicographical research into the Italian language. First, we provide some background information on the Accademia. Second, we discuss the problems of selectivity and inertia of nineteenth century lexicography, and define modern day requirements. We then consider the contribution of the computer to modern lexicography, and some computer-based dictionary projects, including those undertaken specifically at the Accademia.
Key Words lexicography - dictionaries - Accademia della Crusca - lexicons - Italian language
Giovanni Nencioni is the President of the Accademia della Crusca (Florence, Italy), quondam professor of Italian linguistics in the Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa. His main research interests are the history of the literary Italian language and lexicography. He has two major publications: Tra grammatica e retorica, Torino: Einaudi Paperbacks, 1983; and Saggi di lingua antica e moderna, Torino: Rosenberg e Sellier, 1989.