| Abstract |
This article addresses a crucial topic in lexicography and metalexicography, namely the challenge of defining meanings in historical dictionaries. Its aim is to present an overview of the criteria for crafting effective definitions by semanticists, logicians, and lexicographers, primarily tailored to meet the demands of contemporary dictionaries, to apply these principles to an academic historical dictionary of the Polish language and to assess the feasibility and justification of their implementation. The analysis encompasses: a) types of dictionary definitions; b) fundamental tenets of effective definitions, such as adequacy, substitutability, translatability, and analyticity; c) common pitfalls in the formulation of definitions (inadequate definitions – overly broad or narrow definitions, direct or indirect circular definitions, ignotum per ignotius); and d) the lexicographer’s perspective, including the linguistic versus encyclopedic nature of definitions, the quandary of categorization (taxonomy) and valuation. The basis for the analysis is the Electronic Dictionary of the 17thand 18th-Century Polish. The theory of definitions and its practical implementation in this dictionary are discussed. References are also made to other Polish historical-philological lexicons to elucidate comparable challenges and facilitate generalization. |
| BibTex |
@inproceedings{euralex_2024_paper_66,
address = {Cavtat},
title = {Defining Meanings in Historical Dictionaries – The Case of the Electronic Dictionary of the 17th- and 18th-Century Polish},isbn = {978-953-7967-77-2},
shorttitle = {Euralex 2024},
url = {},
language = {eng},
booktitle = {Lexicography and Semantics. Proceedings of the XXI EURALEX International Congress},
publisher = {Institut za hrvatski jezik},
author = {Majdak, Magdalena},
editor = {Despot, Kristina Š. and Ostroški Anić, Ana and Brač, Ivana},
year = {2024},
pages = {805-819}
} |
