Francek Mukič Porabsko knjižnoslovensko-madžarski slovar

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The genre of dialect dictionaries ranges considerably: from mere word-lists

meant to bridge the gap between local variation and an exalted standard

language, to rich compendia containing not just lexical equivalencies, but a

hoard of linguistic and anthropological knowledge to be examined

perpetually–as exemplified in the Slavic-speaking world by V. I. Dal’s opus

vitć, the Tolkovyj slovar’ živogo velikorusskago jazyka, first published in

the 1860s. On this continuum, Francek Mukič’s Porabsko knjižnoslovensko-

madžarski slovar (henceforth PKMS) lies somewhat closer to the latter than

to the former, despite the author’s modest statement that the compilation is

intended primarily for “everyday practicality, readability, and

comprehensibility, in short, usefulness, even for the linguistically less-

educated native Slovene speaker from the Rába Valley” (iii). Mukič’s

reasons for the work are practical and timely, given that the Rába-Valley

dialect—the subdialect of Prekmurje Slovene that remained in Hungary

after the 1920 Trianon partition—teeters on the brink of language death,

both owing to demo-graphic attrition as well as the everyday dominance of

standard Hungarian rather than standard Slovene (henceforth SSl). As

Mukič points out, Rába-Valley speakers are more likely to code-switch into

Hungarian than SSl when they lack vocabulary for a given topic (iii). In the

years since the (de)parting of the Iron Curtain, which effectively separated

Rába-Valley Slovenes from their nearest linguistic relatives in Slovenia,

Rába-Valley Slovene (henceforth RVS) has become more frequently

elevated as a standard language in its own right, as reflected in texts

published on the Internet (for example, one may read the Porab...

... middle of paper ...

..., the value of PKMS as a

repository of cultural and linguistic knowledge will remain.

Marc L. Greenberg, University of Kansas

Works Cited

Novak, Vilko. 2006. Slovar stare knjižne prekmurščine. Ljubljana: ZRC

SAZU.

Pável, Ágost. 1909. A vashidegkúti szlovén nyelvjárás hangtana (=

Magyarországi szláv nyelvjárások, 1. füzet), Budapest: A

Magyar Tudományos Akadémia.

Schallert, Joseph and Marc L. Greenberg (forthcoming 2007). The

Prehistory and Areal Distribution of Slavic *gъlčěti ‘Speak’.

Slovenski jezik/Slovene Linguistic Studies 6: 68 pp.

Vratuša, Anton. 1966. Jezikovne razmere v severnem Prekmurje in

slovenskem Porabju. F. Zadravec, ed., Panonski zbornik: 20–30.

Murska Sobota: Pomurska založba.

Francek Mukič. Porabsko knjižnoslovensko-madžarski slovar.

Szombathely: Zveza Slovencev na Madžarskem, 2005. VI + 445

pp. (hardcover). ISBN: 963-217-762-2.

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