“I’m going with pleasure to the power plant”, or What can we find in old dictionaries? Cover Image

“Ik ga graag naar het krachtstation” – ofwel: wat vindt men in oude woordenboeken?
“I’m going with pleasure to the power plant”, or What can we find in old dictionaries?

Author(s): Agata Kowalska-Szubert
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego
Keywords: old dictionary; meaning; change of meaning; change of form.

Summary/Abstract: Norbert Morciniec is the author of the first Polish-Dutch and Dutch-Polish dictionary, which was published in the 1970s. Ever since, students have seemed to be using it.This article seeks to answer the question of what use value dictionaries published nearly fifty years ago have. Dutch entries beginning with the letters E and F were analyzed. The research questions were: (1) Are these words still present in Dutch in 2022? (2) Has their form or meaning changed? The conclusions show that old dictionaries can still sometimes be helpful; however, it is better to use more up-to-date ones. This in no way undermines the role and importance of Professor Morciniec’s dictionary for the first Polish generations of Dutch speakers.

  • Issue Year: 33/2022
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 105-115
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: Dutch