Across commas, across semicolons, across oceans : presentation style and immigrant dictionaries

Vrbinc, Alenka (author), Farina, Donna M. T. Cr. (author), Vrbinc, Marjeta (author)

It is unfortunate that scholars have given scant attention to what can be called immigrant dictionaries. These books are significant to the history of (learner) lexicography; they meet pressing needs of immigrants and refugees. This article examines four immigrant dictionaries, Slovenian-English and English-Slovenian (Kubelka 1904, Kubelka 1912b, Košutnik 1912, and Kern 1919), published in the early twentieth century at a time when the Slovenian immigration to the United States was at its height. The presentation of information in these dictionaries is investigated with a focus on the treatment of homonymy, polysemy, conversion, and parenthetical information. Findings address the implications of a macrostructure-oriented versus a microstructure-oriented approach for immigrant user understanding. The paper recommends that learner lexicography should prioritize the design of the lexicographic presentation in the microstructure and prioritize the presentation of meaning over other possible elements covered traditionally in dictionaries.

• Language: English
• Keywords: foreign languages, dictionaries, English, immigrant dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, Slovenian–English dictionaries, English–Slovenian dictionaries, homonymy, polysemy, conversion, parenthetical information, microstructure
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: EF - School of Economics and Business; FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: Str. 354-374
• Numbering: Vol. 37, iss. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-169943
• UDC: 81'374
• ISSN on article: 0950-3846
• DOI: 10.1093/ijl/ecae008
• COBISS.SI-ID: 194596099
• Publication date in RUL: 24.06.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: International journal of lexicography
• Shortened title: Int. j. lexicogr.
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISSN: 0950-3846
• COBISS.SI-ID: 197933

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian

Abstract

Do zdaj so raziskovalci posvečali zelo malo pozornosti slovarjem, ki jih lahko imenujemo slovarji za priseljence. Gre za slovarje, ki so pomembni za historično leksikografijo in slovarje za tujce, saj so namenjeni priseljencem in beguncem. V članku preučujemo štiri slovensko-angleške in angleško-slovenske slovarje za priseljence (Kubelka 1904, Kubelka 1912b, Košutnik 1912 in Kern 1919), ki so izšli v začetku 20. stoletja, ko je bilo izseljevanje Slovencev v ZDA na vrhuncu. Preučujemo vključevanje informacij v te slovarje, pri čemer se osredotočamo na obravnavo homonimije, polisemije, konverzije in na usmerjevalne besede v oklepaju. Raziskava je pokazala, da so nekateri slovarji bolj makrostrukturno, drugi pa bolj mikrostrukturno urejeni, kar vpliva tudi na uporabnikovo razumevanje posameznih informacij. V članku predlagamo, da naj slovarji za tujce dajejo prednost predstavitvi slovarskih informacij v mikrostrukturi ter da naj posvečajo posebno pozornost predstavitvi pomena in ne toliko ostalim elementom, ki so tradicionalno vključeni v slovarje.

• Keywords: tuji jeziki, slovarji, angleščina

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: BI-US/22-24-042
• Name: Slovarji in izkušnje Slovencev–emigrantov v Združenih državah Amerike (konec 19. in začetek 20. stoletja)

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: BI-US/22-24-030
• Name: Stare besede, nove besede, novi svet: Življenje slovenskih leksikografov - priseljencev v ZDA