Poetical words in the dictionary of Slovene standard language

Abstract

A great number of extracts were taken from the poetical collections, published in the 20th century as well as from the works of senior poets, for the purposes of the Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika (SSKJ). Poetical materials were given fairly satisfactory consideration in the SSKJ. According to the characteristics of the dictionary the poetical vocabulary was presented particularly from the semantic point of view, considering also grammatical characteristcs and the word relations in which it appears. Other characteristics, e. g. rhyme, rhythm, assonance cannot be presented for lack of illustrating materials and becouse of the specific way of presenting the poetical vocabulary in the dictionary. Poetical words, significations and relations are marked by the word poetical, the name of author added when quoted, or by explanation in folk song/in folk songs. In the early editions of the SSKJ, markings of style, frequency or meaning were often added to that of poetical. According to the fundamental starting-points, written down in the Introduction to the SSKJ, such combinations are less acceptable. Words which are, according to SSKJ, limited in their use to poetical texts only may be used in unmetaphorical therefore in the basic meaning if they are of foreign origin and thus less defined as far as the meaning is concerned, or they are arhaic, old fashioned, unusual in the sense of both — productivity and paradigm. Accomplishment of the expected meaning is influenced by a phone-tical composition and context. Nouns which are poetical in one of nonprimary meanings or in certain relations are usually used metaphorically after having undergone the process of metonymy, personification, extension or contraction of the meaning or the change of the grammatical characteristics. M. Humar: Pesniško besedje po Slovarju 127 A special category of poetical unit is formed by noun phrases containing strongly expressive adjective or noun modifiers. Adjectives which modify the headword of the phrase determine the colour, its intensity and denote very high or overhigh degree of quality. They may be strengthened by an adverb. Words which are used in samples containing poetically marked expressions also arouse strong feelings and similar images as the poetically marked ekspressions. In the process of arranging the extracted materials to be used as the dictionary samples the poetically marked expressions might have been transformated into prose. Those word relations which are not extracted from the poetical texts are only exceptionally considered poetically marked. Poetical relations or words which are typical of a certain poet and well-known as such should be presented in the form of quotations. Certain adjectives in the noun phrases and repetitions of verbs are typical of extracts from the folk art.