ABSTRACT
Most language users view the dictionary as the indisputable authority on usage, a representation in print or digital form of what is deemed to be the ‘standard’. This chapter offers a chronological survey of these lexicographical undertakings, whose creation has been complicated by challenges specific to the codification of any postcolonial, second-language variety such as that of the Philippines, and whose outcome and reception have been conditioned by the country’s current sociolinguistic situation and its unique lexicographical tradition that dates back centuries into its colonial past. The early bilingual dictionaries broadly adhered to the models set by Spanish lexicographers like Antonio de Nebrija, as well as similar dictionaries of Amerindian languages previously published in New Spain, while also introducing innovations that responded to the specific needs of their target audience.
