Setting the standard: Usage labels in advanced monolingual learners' dictionaries of German

Using lexical items from Martin Durrell's classification of register variation as a sample, the study investigates how the current advanced monolingual learners' dictionaries of German as an additional language treat such variation and indicate to their users what they consider to be standard usage: how do they set the standard ? Abbreviated usage labels as conventionally found in dictionaries for first-language users are the primary indications, and the dictionaries seldom go beyond such labels. German Standard German is the norm. At its core are unmarked or unlabelled items, while its range extends to include less formal items from everyday use, especially spoken, which are typically labelled umg. or gespr., and more formal items, more particularly found in written usage, which are labelled geh. or geschr. Non-standard items, if entered as headwords, may be labelled derb or vulgar, veraltet or lit. No one dictionary stands out from the others as setting the standard in terms of treating register variation, and it must be questioned whether learners of German as an additional language would not be better served by more detailed, discursive information on different contexts of use and stylistic levels.