Synonymický slovník slovenćiny [A synonymic dictionary of Slovak] (review)

Reviews261 ture, so the translator adds the gloss 'Fahrenheita' to forestall a misreading of centigrade degrees. Naturally, there are cases where this reviewer would make a different selection. For lawless 'bez zákona' (306), I would prefer 'nerespektující zákon(y)'. On the other hand, I find the translation of zombie as 'trouba' excellent . At first it seems that, whereas the English expression is ultramodern, the Czech equivalent carries a certain aura of the 19tii century, but on reflection one finds no supermodern Czech expression (which is strange, given the richness of the vituperative vocabulary in Czech) , and the feeling of obsoleteness in the Czech equivalent is quite in keeping widi the mysteriousness of a real zombie. Spring in sense 3 (534) is translated as 'blok', which is impossible; this is obviously a misprint for 'skok'. This dictionary, and particularly the selection of the equivalents — certainly rendered more difficult by their numerical restriction — successfully introduces this new type of dictionary into the lexicography of Czech.3 Synonymicky slovník slovenciny [A synonymic dictionary of Slovak]. Ed. Mária Pisárciková. Bratislava: Veda, vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej akadémie vied, 1995. Pp. 998. This is a synonymic dictionary that discriminates nuances in the meaning or in the status of Slovak synonyms. The material is organized in entries, the headword of the entry being the dominant word of a group of synonyms, that is, the one that occurs most frequently in the standard language and that does not carry connotations. The meaning of this headword is indicated by a definition , and die meanings of die various synonyms are provided by specifying die differences that distinguish the meaning of the synonyms from that of the dominant word. The discrimination is achieved by means of explanatory glosses in parendieses, which usually delimit the range of application, or by means of labels informing the user about stylistic or other differences. If the dominant word (i.e., the headword of an entry) is polysemous, the entry is divided into its individual senses, each of which commands its own string of synonyms. If needed, short contextual examples are given. Discrimination is sometimes effected by the mention of antonyms, a resource diat serves to augment the informative value of die dictionary. For instance, mäsity 'thick, fat' has three different antonyms when used in different collocations; the antonyms carry the respective meanings 'thin, slim', 'thin, narrow', and 'thin, lean'. 3In saying "new type," I mean to limit the scope of the statement to the modern age. Odierwise, it must be noted that dictionaries of this sort existed long ago. For instance, the Vocabulario degli accademid della Crusca (Firenze, 1612) defines the Italian entrywords in Italian and adds Latin equivalents. 262Reviews Expressive words and substandard, demotic forms and words are listed in the strings of synonyms — widi suitable labels, of course. What these lexicographers consider "wrong" words or forms (incorrect is their term) are quoted, but diey are distinguished by die typeface used: they are not printed in boldface like the other synonyms. Also, diese "incorrect" words are labeled as such, diough indirectly: the form considered incorrect is followed by die form considered "correct," which is printed in boldface. For instance, "dielci [= 'partial '] správ. [= correctly] ciastkovy." Sometimes, however, the labeling is direct and die sequence reversed. For instance, under otvorit', in sense 2, we find "zacat' otvorit', zacat' zasadnutie parlamentu [= 'begin, open the session of parliament']; nespráv. [= incorrectly] zahájit': zahájit' schôdzu, správ. [= correctly ] otvorit' schôdzu." In some cases the disapproval is not explicitly stated and is conveyed only by not printing the synonym in boldface; for instance, under pohodlny 'easy going', the synonyms komótny and nenáhlivy follow, and then lázo-plázo [not boldfaced] indeclinable, with an explanation and examples . This form is both substandard and a Bohemianism, but we are warned by the typeface only. In most if not all cases, the unboldfaced forms are Bohemianisms — a phenomenon that one would expect in an 'Aufbausprache', as Heinz Kloss would call it, which Slovak is. The dictionary encompasses a rich vocabulary. Still, diere are a few lacunae . I could not find olovrant 'lunch' or zrkadlovy 'mirror', although there is...