Slovenski jezik / Slovene Linguistic Studies

The Mediating Role of 16th‑Century Lexicographic Works in Preserving Jurij Juričič’s Čakavian Lexical Contributions to the Slovene Literary Language

Alenka Jelovšek — 2026-02-02

This paper discusses the mediating role of the Register in Dalmatin’s Bible and Megiser’s multilingual dictionaries in the continuity of the words that were first attested in Juričič’s Postilla (1578) in the Slovenian literary language. An examination of the material in older Slovenian dictionaries shows that the Register in Dalmatin’s Bible did not play a special role either in the inclusion of Juričič’s words in Megiser’s dictionaries or in their inclusion in dictionaries from later periods of linguistic history, whereas the words that also appear in Megiser’s dictionaries show greater continuity.

Lemma Choice In English-Slovenian And Slovenian-English Dictionaries For Slovenian Immigrants In The USA

Alenka Vrbinc — 2026-02-02

This article analyzes four English–Slovenian and Slovenian–English dictionaries compiled by Viktor/Victor Kubelka, Silvester Košutnik, and Frank (Javh-)Kern, intended for Slovenian immigrants in the USA. These dictionaries were published between 1904 and 1919, a period when Slovenian emigration to the USA was at its peak. The study examines similarities and differences between the word lists of the analyzed dictionaries and those of dictionaries already available on the market at the time. The focus is primarily on the selection of entries, which were presumably borrowed from existing dictionaries. We aim to determine whether a specific trend or pattern can be observed, whether the compilers’ decisions aligned with the needs of the target users—Slovenian immigrants in the USA, and whether the users could access information about the new sociocultural context. Through case analysis, we found that Kubelka’s 1912 dictionary and Kern’s 1919 dictionary most comprehensively include appropriate sociocultural equivalents; therefore, they most deserve to be called immigrant dictionaries.

Methodology of Exemplification in the Slovenian-Czech Dictionary

David Blažek — 2026-02-02

The article deals with the methodology of exemplification in the printed version of the Slovenian‑Czech Dictionary, which contains more than 25,000 entries, and presents the exemplification section as an important part of the entry, in which general information about the lemma is placed in a specific context. To illustrate the principles followed by the author and editors in selecting examples for the dictionary, specific cases of examples that were not included in the final version of the dictionary or had to be expanded, shortened, or otherwise modified have been presented.

Lexical processing of morphologically complex Slovene words in a lexical decision task: the role of pseudowords

Matic Pavlič — 2026-02-02

This study investigates how the structure of pseudowords influences the lexical decision accuracy and response time in morphologically complex Slovene words. We tested three methods of constructing pseudowords: manual modification with preserved suffixes, manual modification with altered suffixes, and algorithmic generation with preserved suffixes, using the Wuggy application (Keuleers and Brysbaert 2010) adapted to Slovene. The pseudoword types did not differ significantly by accuracy,
only by response time. However, these differences did not affect the accuracy rate or response time of existing Slovene words, suggesting that morphological complexity and manual/algorithmic construction of pseudowords are not relevant factors in
lexical decision.

Slovenian Expressive Suffixes: Variation in the Manner of Attachment in Diminutive Suffixes and in Attitude Suffixes with a Positive Connotation

Karin Kavčič Hvala — 2026-02-02

This paper presents a typological classification of Slovenian expressive suffixes based on their formal properties. Our analysis builds on crosslinguistic research on expressive suffixation in Russian, Spanish, German, and Greek (Wiltschko and Steriopolo 2007; Steriopolo 2008, 2009, 2015, 2016; Steriopolo, Markopoulos, and Spyropoulos 2021). These studies demonstrate that the place and manner of attachment of expressive suffixes can be predicted from their meaning within each language, though crosslinguistic variation exists. For instance, in Russian, expressive suffixes conveying attitude function as morphological heads, whereas in Greek, they act as modifiers. Similarly, size suffixes behave as modifiers in Russian and Spanish but as heads in Greek and German. In this paper, we analyze a subset of Slovenian expressive suffixes, specifically attitude suffixes with a positive emotional connotation and size suffixes with diminutive meaning, focusing on their manner of attachment. Our findings indicate that Slovenian does not exhibit a one-to-one correlation between form and function, as both size and attitude suffixes can behave either as modifiers or heads. This demonstrates that variation in attachment patterns is not only a crosslinguistic phenomenon but also occurs within a single language.

Syntactic Characteristics of Spoken Slovene: a Survey

Kaja Dobrovoljc — 2026-02-02

This study provides a comprehensive overview of literature on syntactic characteristics of spoken Slovene, culminating in the first exhaustive inventory of speech-specific syntactic phenomena in Slovene. Our findings reveal a notable surge in research addressing this topic within various domains of Slovene linguistics, with only a partial overlap in the sets of syntactic features considered. To bridge this gap, this study introduces a consolidated inventory of speech-specific syntactic idiosyncrasies identified thus far, which demonstrates that these peculiarities span all levels of syntactic description. These include the most structurally salient or frequently occurring phenomena, such as self-repairs, ellipsis and atypical word order, as well as numerous other grammatical peculiarities related to spontaneous speech and its analysis. Our review thus highlights the imperative for continued research in this area, but also identifies three significant limitations of its current state: excessive focus on identifying deviations from the norms of the written language, highly heterogeneous terminology, and lack of large-scale corpus-linguistic research.

A Classification of the Slavic Languages based on the material of the Slavic Linguistic Atlas: A Trial Run

Anastasija Sergejevna Kuzmina — 2026-02-02

This study proposes a classification of Slavic languages based on an objective dialectometric analysis of the materials of the Slavic Linguistic Atlas. Unlike traditional classifications, which rely primarily on literary languages and are influenced by extralinguistic factors, this method focuses on the dialect continuum. The work is based on data from 6 volumes of the phonetic-grammatical series of the Slavic Linguistic Atlas, containing information on the reflexes of 7 Proto-Slavic vowels (*ě, *ę, *ǫ, *ъ, *ь, *o, *e) in 780 localities. For each reflex, linguistic characteristics (height, backness, length, rounding, nasalization) were determined and presented as vectors. The key stage was a pairwise comparison of reflexes between all locations with the calculation of the Euclidean distance, taking into account structural differences (for example, between monophthongs and diphthongs). Based on the constructed matrix of linguistic distances, hierarchical clustering by Ward’s method was applied. The analysis revealed that, for the material considered, the optimal division of the Slavic area is into 15 clusters. The algorithm confirmed established views in Slavic dialectology, as it correctly separated the East, West, and South Slavic areas and accurately attributed locations outside state borders. However, shortcomings associated with relying solely on vocalism were also identified, the most striking of which was the erroneous unification of the Torlak and Sorbian dialects.
The study demonstrates the potential of quantitative methods to reveal the structure of a dialect continuum, free from subjective assessments. The resulting classification serves as an important benchmark but does not replace traditional approaches.

Slovenian Kinesiological Multiword Terms with the Adjectival Element Gibalni or Motorični and their English Equivalents

Barbara Jurša Potocco — 2026-02-02

The paper examines Slovenian kinesiological multiword terms containing either the adjectival element gibalni or motorični as a noun premodifier based on their occurrence in terminological dictionaries and scientific and professional texts in the subject field of kinesiology. By comparing the relevant entries in Slovenian and English terminological dictionaries and examining bilingual abstracts from Slovenian kinesiological journals, the study attempts to determine the English equivalents of these terms. However, the overall aim is to contribute to greater clarity and transparency of the Slovenian scientific language in kinesiology, by noting examples of inconsistent use of terms.

Kozma Ahačič, Stati inu obstati. Prvih petdeset slovenskih knjig.

Metod Čepar — 2026-02-02