This, thing, fervor, fulfilment : the treatment of pronunciation and spelling in dictionaries of the Slovenian immigration

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

In the second half of the 19th century, dictionaries increased in importance among Americans. They began to be perceived as authorities by the U.S. population; users expected them to provide answers to their questions about language. At the turn of the 19th century into the 20th, on both sides of the Atlantic, the first independent Slovenian publications appeared, intended for Slovenian immigrants to the U.S. The goal of the present article is to examine the treatment of pronunciation and spelling, both in the front matter and in the body of dictionaries of the Slovenian immigration. We examine four dictionaries created by three authors (Kubelka 1904, Kubelka 1912b, Košutnik 1912, Kern 1919). They were published at a time when there were no readily available resources on English pronunciation or spelling written in Slovenian. This article documents the dictionary authors' explanations of pronunciation and how these explanations were presented to the intended audience. It also documents the treatment of spelling of words with predominantly American and predominantly British variants, at a time when both variants were widely circulating within American society.

• Language: English
• Keywords: foreign languages, dictionaries, Slovenian immigration to U.S., bilingual dictionaries, English–Slovenian dictionaries, Slovenian–English dictionaries, pronunciation, IPA, respelling, spelling, British English, American English
• 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. 141-165
• Numbering: Vol. 34
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-169944
• UDC: 81'374
• ISSN on article: 2224-0039
• DOI: 10.5788/34-1-1901
• COBISS.SI-ID: 195125763
• Publication date in RUL: 24.06.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Lexikos
• Shortened title: Lexikos
• Publisher: Buro van die WAT
• ISSN: 2224-0039
• COBISS.SI-ID: 54915170

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
• Keywords: tuji jeziki, slovarji

Projects

• 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

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