13.4 Dictionaries of Language Difficulties

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the history and the current situation of the so-called dictionaries of doubts and difficulties. These instruments are meant to address the speakers’ “insecurity” concerning specific aspects of the Portuguese language. This concerns both the European and Brazilian norm. The current dictionaries of difficulties will be contextualized within the wider Lusophone tradition. By doing so, the article will present a critical panorama of the most important dictionaries of difficulties published at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century.