Ke kritice Slovníku současné češtiny

Author(s): František Martínek / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2016

The text is a reaction to Anna Čermáková’s critical discussion of the Dictionary of Contemporary Czech (Slovník současné češtiny) published in Slovo a slovesnost (74, 2013, no. 3). I also have a critical opinion of this dictionary (we both document significant dependence of the Slovník současné češtiny on previous dictionaries, for example). My criticism, however, is mainly based on different arguments. I would like to confront these with the ones presented by Čermáková, and thus contribute to the debate on (meta)lexicography. My remarks concern the macrostructure of the dictionary, the structure and formulation of lexicographic definitions, detailed lexicographic principles, and the possibilities of using corpus data to make a dictionary. Among other things, I argue that the word frequency as acquired from language corpora cannot be the only criterion for compiling a list of lexemes. Furthermore, I also agree with some of the dictionary’s solutions to lexicographic issues which were criticized by Čermáková. I also show that there are lexicographic principles mentioned in Čermáková’s paper which are not upheld elsewhere in her text. Finally, I suggest understanding the criticized prescriptive orientation of this dictionary as a reaction to the anticipated needs of dictionary users.

Psaní velkých písmen v samostatně vydaných českých Nových zákonech 15. a 16. století

Author(s): Martina Nývltová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 4/2016

This paper examines the development of capitalization in early printed Czech New Testaments. The method employed was the same as in previous studies by Fidlerová, Dittmann and Vladimírová, who examined the majuscules in Old Czech Bibles. The research presented aimed to to confirm and further develop their results on the basis of several separately published New Testaments. The chosen editions were analysed on the lexical level. The percentage of capitals in various categories of substantives, adjectives and numerals was calculated. The increased usage of majuscules in the Melantrich prints was confirmed. Blahoslav’s New Testament was similar to the pre-Melantrich editions.

Vokalická kvantita v Kázaní o hrozné kométě (1578)

Author(s): Veronika Vytlačilová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2017

The paper analyses vocalic quantity in the sermon by Valentin Šubar Lanškrounský which was published in 1578 under the collaboration of Daniel Adam ofVeleslavín and Jiří Melantrich of Aventyno in their printing workshop. The conjunction nébrž, which according to J. Porák has not appeared in print since the 1560s, can be found in The Sermon. The analysis further reflects the current discussion on the amount of influence the typographer had on the final visual form of the print, reaching the conclusion that the distribution of the variants <ů> and <uo> in The Sermon retains random character.

Kdo hanobil mistra Jeronýma?

Author(s): Milada Homolková / Language(s): Czech Issue: 3/2017

The article deals with the expressive noun přiserač, which was used to label instigators against Jeroným of Prague during the process in Konstanz in 1416 in the old Czech translation of the Hussite Chronicle by Vavřinec of Březová. The first part of the article disclaims the necessity of text emendation. Records of the given word in 16th century texts are adduced and its word-formation structure is analyzed. The second part raises the question of whether the given denomination originates as early as in the vocabulary of Old Czech (i.e. from the period beginning in ca. 1500), or as late as in Middle Czech. In this connection, the general relationship and the possible incompatibility of a historical dictionary and a text bank is investigated.

Adverbia rovně, zrovna, jejich funkce a významové obměny v čase

Author(s): Markéta Klimešová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 4/2017

This paper aims to describe and differentiate the diverse meanings of the adverbs rovně and zrovna during the different historical periods. It focuses on the usage of these expressions primarily in Middle Czech. Although a complete dictionary of Middle Czech is not yet available, we attempt to find the most significant functions of rovně and zrovna. Rovně is characterized by multiple meanings in Middle Czech, e.g. ‘stejně’, ‘právě (v tu chvíli)’ or ‘rovnoměrně’. Zrovna does not occur until the Baroque period. However, it is much more frequent than rovně in contemporary Czech.

Slovotvorné „excesy“ ve starší češtině?

Author(s): Petr Nejedlý / Language(s): Czech Issue: 5/2017

The word “neústrojný” (inorganic) is used in lexicography to describe some Old and Middle Czech lexical units. It designates lexical units with unusual word-formative structure and timelimited usage, as well as those on the boundary of the word-formative system. The contemporary Czech lexicological terms “neologism” and especially “occasional word” are essentially very close to this categorization. In spite of the fact that lexical units described using these terms often disrupt the word-formative system of the given time period, we understand them as peripheral components, as the (unsuccessful) results of intuitive attempts at systemic changes, and as manifestations of the developmental dynamics of the word-formative system.

S radosti. K vokalické kvantitě v koncovkách instrumentálu singuláru feminin

Author(s): Veronika Vytlačilová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 5/2017

The paper analyses 57 Czech prints from the humanistic and baroque periods, focusing on the marked short vowel <i> in instrumental singular feminine endings, which appears overall in 43 prints. The linguistic motivation for the short vowel, rather than the graphic one, is discussed.

On the Origin of the Name ‘Basarab’

Author(s): Catalin Anghelina / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2018

The kingdom of Wallachia was established in the fourteenth century under the rule of the Basarabs, who subsequently ruled the Romanian Principality for several centuries. Both the origin of this dynasty and the etymology of their name are unknown. I argue that ‘Basarab’ is an honorary title that derives from the Greek word for ‘king’, basileus, acquired via Latin. The Romanian word ‘Basarab’ represents the only trace of the existence of this Greek loanword in Latin.

Joachim Andraschke: Die germanisch-frühdeutschen Ortsnamen des Regnitz- und Obermaingebietes. Von der elbgermanischen Landnahme bis zur Merowingerzeit

Author(s): Harald Bichlmeier / Language(s): German Issue: 2/2019

Irena Mytnik: Słownik historyczno etymologiczny antroponimów ziemi chełmskiej (XVI–XVII wiek)

Author(s): Tatiana Kosmeda,Dominika Janczura / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 2/2019

За некои лексички особености на изворите за Речникот на црковнословенскиот јазик од македонска редакција

Author(s): Emilija Crvenkovska / Language(s): Macedonian Issue: 2/2020

The article elaborates on some lexical features of the sources of the Dictionary of the Macedonian Recension of Church Slavonic. The analysis is based on the Comparative Index Towards the Dictionaries Produced under the Commission for Old Church Slavonic Lexicology and Lexicography at ICS. The main interests are selected rare words, mentioned only in Macedonian manuscripts. The point of interest is also word formation potential as well as semantic and morphological peculiarities. The parallel corpora of Church Slavonic Dictionaries of different recensions gave a clear picture of similarities between some recensions. Comparative Index and other new editions of Slavic historical lexicography clarify specific features in different linguistic areas of the Church Slavonic period, especially by the use of lexis from vernacular, rich synonymy, genre characteristics and relations between different areas in the enrichment of the lexical corpus of Church Slavonic. The big part of rare lexemes in the Dictionary of the Macedonian Recension of Church Slavonic is concentrated in hymnographic texts, in Damascins, Prologues, as well as the Psalters with comments and Prophetologia. The lexis that connects different recensions of Church Slavonic can give answers to the movement of the texts in the Church Slavonic period.

Архаїчна ойконімія правобережного Полісся і суміжних територій у XV ст.: ареал і семантика твірних основ

Author(s): Zoryana Kupchyns’ka / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 2/2021

This article analyses the geographical names ending in *-ьn, *-ьskъ, *-any/*-jany,*-itji, *-j(ь), *-ovъ/*-evъ, *-inъ of the right-bank Polesia in the 15th century. The analysedmaterial comes from historical documents and secondary literature. The oikonymsof these archaic types are analysed according to the structure and meaning ofthe word stems used as the name bases. The areas of these names are described andvisualised on a map chart.

Zu den oberfränkischen Ortsnamen Teuchatz und Treunitz (Lkr. Bamberg)

Author(s): Harald Bichlmeier / Language(s): German Issue: 2/2021

The article researches the etymologies of two oikonyms in North-Eastern Bavaria,Teuchatz and Treunitz. Traditionally they were said to have Slavic etymologies, but the2015 PhD thesis by J. Andraschke (publ. 2016) claims they are of German(ic) origins.The comparison of the different etymologies shows clearly that the Slavic ones areto be preferred over the decidedly weaker German(ic) ones. The names go back toCommon Slavic *Tuxonici (*Tuxanici) and *Dorgunici (*Dorgonici) respectively.

Српски као дипломатски језик на угарском двору XV века (на примеру писма Стефана Баторија Али-бегу Михалоглуу)

Author(s): Vladimir Polomac / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 1/2021

From the philological perspective, the paper examines the letter of Stephen V Báthory (Ecsedi Bátori István in Hungarian), a court judge and Transylvanian duke from the time of the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus, sent from Buda on 1 May 1483 to the Turkish military commander and Smederevo Sandžak-beg Mihaloğlu Ali Bey. Báthory’s letter represents one of the rare testimonies of the use of the Serbian language and Cyrillic script in the diplomatic correspondence that Hungarian kings and their magnates exchanged with Turkish sultans and their officials during the 15th and 16th centuries. The letter belongs to a wider unpreserved diplomatic correspondence in the Serbian language in which disputes between Hungary and Turkey were being resolved after the collapse of the peace negotiations in 1478. In addition to the new edition of Báthory’s letter in the original script, the paper likewise explores its most important ortographic and linguistic features, yet always in the context of the use of Serbian as a diplomatic language in Hungarian court correspondence with Turkish sultans and military officials as well as in the broader context of Serbian office relations on the Hungarian court with the business and legal literacy of the Serbian Despotate.

Standard Georgian language: History and current challenges

Author(s): Tamari Lomtadze / Language(s): English Issue: 12/2021

This article outlines some debates and issues in the field of Georgian linguistics and offers a research agenda for standard Georgian language, including its history, phases of development, present-day challenges and prospects. There is a multitude of conflicting and even mutually exclusive ideas and points of view regarding these issues. My key point is to provide the periodization of the standard Georgian language that encompasses sixteen centuries, taking into consideration not only the level of normalization and standardization of the Georgian language in a particular historical period, but also the language variety on which the standard / literary language was based, and the institutions controlling and governing the development of the standard language. The point of departure here is the definition of the “standard” as a historically determined set of commonly used language assets, recognized by society as the most appropriate and prestigious variety due to its common usage and high cultural status. Using descriptive, synchronic, diachronic, and comparative research methods, I have tried to identify four phases / periods in the continuous history of the Georgian standard language spanning sixteen centuries.

Funkció és jelentés Aranyos vidékének térszínformaneveiben

Author(s): Csilla T. Szabó / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/2021

The paper presents the analysis of the toponyms of the relief forms of twenty-seven villages in the Aranyos region (today in Romania). The author identifies sixty-five toponyms of the relief forms in the study material, these indicate the topographic diversity of the area. The analysis primarily focuses on the presentation of the functional-semantic features of the names.

Studiu lingvistic asupra manuscrisului Sandipa. Sintaxa (4.). Sintaxa propoziției (1.)

Author(s): Galaction Verebceanu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2022

The article focuses on the description of syntactic processes that occur at the level of sentence parts. The characteristic features of the Subject, Predicate and Attribute from the text of the popular novel Sandipa are examined, a manuscript copy dated to the end of the 18th century in the northern part of historical Moldova and kept at the Russian State Library, Moscow (ms. Rom. 824). The syntactic phenomena are investigated from the point of view of their occurrence in the oldest Romanian language writings and in the contemporary ones with the manuscript we are dealing with, referring, as the case may be, to the situation in the current literary language.

Nume de familie care provin din terminologia prelucrării pieilor

Author(s): Teodor Oanca / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2022

Since the earliest times, hide processing has been a necessity in order to provide people with clothing and footwear. In the Middle Ages, craftsmen specialized in hide processing were differentiated and names according to the pieces of clothing or footwear they produced: they were furriers or skinners, shoemakers, leather cutters, traditional footwear makers and tanners etc. An important role in the development of this type of activity (processing domestic and wild animal hides) has been played by the technological progress that involved the use of chemical substances meant to ensure high-quality products. The appellatives selected as being part of the hide processing terminology became sources of nicknames or bynames in the 19th century, and later became official surnames as a result of the 1895 Name Law. At present 175 active surnames have been identified and the region and county frequency of occurrence is mentioned in the Appendix, according to The Anthoponymic Romanian Database.

Az ész és az elme konceptualizációja az ómagyar korban

Author(s): Réka Szabó / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/2022

The topic of my article is the partial reconstruction of the conceptualization of the notion ész (’mind’) in Old Hungarian based on data collected from 23 codicis. The sub-goal of this research is an important element of a longer one, which is to follow the conceptualization of ELME (another word for ’mind’) from the beginnings of writing to the present day. In order to outline the development of the concept, it is essential to examine ész as a synonym, therefore, in the first stage I analyzed the Old Hungarian data of elme (see Szabó 2021), and then I compared these two words. Later on I intend to extend the study to all digitally available language monuments. The aim of my study is not only to shed light on the conceptualization of a single word, but also to gain a closer understanding of conceptualizing processes through diachronic metaphorical studies, and to draw more general conclusions from the evolution of the concept that enrich cognitive linguistics.In this study, I briefly summarize the results of my previous research on the mind ’elme’, and then, after analyzing the metaphorical expressions, I address the similarities and differences between the metaphors of the word ész and elme. As a result of the comparison, we will see that the interactions between synonyms work here as well: elme has many mappings that do not have too many occurrences, but are all the more varied; in the case of the word of ész, on the other hand, the incidence of a single representation is remarkably high, and this narrows the use and meanings of the word, but ensures its survival against elme.

The historical development of the suffix -en in English

Author(s): Jeroen van de Weijer,Hua Gao / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2022

This paper investigates the historical development during the past three centuries of the English suffix -en, used to create denominal adjectives (e.g. golden, silken), focusing on words that have remained in the language until the present day. We specify a way of calculating the rate of loss of the suffix and apply this to different lexical items involved in this process. Finally, we explore the roles of word frequency and collocations, in order to shed some light on how these factors relate to the loss of a linguistic form.