From Masculine Defaults to Gender Equality: Occupational Nouns in Croatian Dictionaries in the 21st Century

This paper examines gender asymmetry in the representation of occupational terms in two contemporary Croatian monolingual dictionaries published in the 21st century – the School Dictionary of the Croatian Language (Školski rječnik hrvatskoga jezika) and the Great Dictionary of Standard Croatian Language (Veliki rječnik hrvatskoga standardnog jezika). This study highlights the historical dominance of masculine forms in the Croatian language due to various influences and examines legislative changes in the 21st ct. aimed at increasing female visibility in language. This paper reviews how two dictionaries, published after implementing legislative changes, handle gendered occupational terms and discusses ongoing issues in achieving gender equality in linguistic practices.