"For the benefit of my countrymen" : cultural context and lemma choice in early 20th-century dictionaries for immigrants

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

An immigrant dictionary has been defined as a reference work specifically designed for an immigrant audience. The need for dictionaries with this audience has increased, given the movement of peoples in the 21st century. Lexicography requires a deeper understanding of the nature of such dictionaries. In the present study, we delve into lemma choice: Which lemmata should the lexicographer choose to meet the needs of immigrant users? What are the cultural (nonlinguistic) reasons for lemma selection? Why did this lexicographer pick that “strange” lemma? How does the lexicographer’s own background impact upon appropriate lemma choices? To answer these questions, we investigate examples from four Slovenian–English and English–Slovenian dictionaries of the early 20th century, analyzing the cultural context and usefulness for immigrant users.

• Language: English
• Keywords: immigrant dictionary, lemma choice, cultural information, bilingual dictionary, Slovenian–English dictionary, English–Slovenian dictionary
• 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: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 238-256
• Numbering: Vol. 38, iss. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-177405
• UDC: 81'374=111=163.6
• ISSN on article: 0950-3846
• DOI: 10.1093/ijl/ecaf009
• COBISS.SI-ID: 236385539
• Publication date in RUL: 22.12.2025

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-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian

Abstract

Slovar za priseljence definiramo kot priročnik, ki je sestavljen posebej za priseljene. Potreba po slovarjih za to ciljno skupino se povečuje, saj se je preseljevanje v 21. stoletju znatno okrepilo. Leksikografi morajo razumeti, kakšna je funkcija the slovarjev. V prispevku se osredotočamo na izbor iztočnic: Katere iztočnice morajo leksikografi izbrati, da bodo iztočnice v skladu s potrebami priseljencev? Kaj so kulturno specifični (nejezikovni) razlogi za izbor iztočnic? Zakaj so leksikografi izbrali »neobičajno« iztočnico? Kako življenjske izkušnje leksikografa vplivajo na izbor iztočnic? Da bi odgovorili na ta vprašanja, smo preučili primere iz štirih slovensko-angleških in angleško-slovenskih slovarjev z začetka 20. stoletja ter analizirali kulturni kontekst in uporabnost za migrante.

• Keywords: slovar za priseljence, izbor iztočnic, kulturno specifične informacije, dvojezični slovar, slovensko-angleški slovar, angleško-slovenski slovar