In the context of complex history of creation of the four-volume Atlas slovenského jazyka [Atlas of the Slovak Language], an important dialectological and Slovakistic work, this article informs about Anton Habovštiak’s contribution to its creation almost from its outset. This renowned Slovak linguist participated in the scientific and professional discussions concerning the creation of the original concept of the Atlas in the early days. He took part in both rounds of questionnaire-based collecting of dialectal source material, prepared the majority of the second of the questionnaires used, subsequently became co-author of the first and author of the fourth volume of the Atlas and as one of the core team members of the Dialectology Department of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, he was also involved in revising the concept, in various stages of material processing and analysis, as well as in work on all volumes of the Atlas of the Slovak Language.
The article aims to show the developmental changes in the inhabitant nicknames in the Orava villages, which were systematically addressed for the first time by A. Habovštiak at the First Slovak Onomastic Conference in 1967. The newer forms of the inhabitant nicknames were obtained by extracting an extensive set of seminar papers written by students of Slovak Studies from the Faculty of Arts at Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica and partly also from the Faculty of Arts at Catholic University in Ružomberok during the span of years 2000-2022. Several inhabitant nicknames maintain continuity from an earlier period, while some display a change in the interpretation of the motivational story; new nicknames were also observed that were not previously mentioned by A. Habovštiak.
The works of A. Habovštiak focusing on dialectal phraseology, published in the 70s and 80s of the 20th century, can still be considered the pinnacle of that line of scientific approach to dialectal phraseology, in which dialectal phraseology is investigated by the method of linguistic cartography in order to obtain an idea about its territorial division and thus supplement the knowledge about the division of the Slovak language territory by including the missing phraseological aspect. The dialectal phraseological material with which A. Habovštiak works gave an opportunity to explore also the multidimensional relationships of discussed phraseological units (form, motivation, imagery). The theory of phraseology in cooperation with dialectal theory helped and is currently helping to find answers to the questions that are related to these relationships. For the author of the article, the terminological question (the term tautonym) turned out to be particularly stimulating, in the context of the recorded conceptual variability of the term tautonym in the Slovak linguistic tradition and in view of the recently proposed implementation of the term dialectal phraseological tautonym/tautonyms into the terminological system linked to dialectal phraseology.
During his prolific and creative life, Anton Habovštiak dealt with many topics. The two poles, which are somehow interconnected, are the adaptation of Slovaks abroad and the adaptation of foreign words in Slovak dialects. In our paper, we would like to honour the dialectological researches in Slovak enclaves and diasporas, in which Anton Habovštiak also participated, and to highlight its importance and contribution to the knowledge of the development of Slovak dialects. We also want to point out the interrelation of dialectological projects and their mutual enrichment.
The article focuses on the personality of the prominent Slovak linguist and dialectologist Anton Habovštiak, in the context of the beginnings of work on one of the key projects of Slovak dialectology – Slovník slovenských nárečí [Dictionary of Slovak Dialects]. It points out the connection and inspirations in solving the theoretical and methodological issues of this work with the principles of a regional dialect research and their application in the subsequent processing of the rich dictionary material, also against the background of the materials of the Bratislava conference on the tasks and problems of Slovak dialectology (1960).
Anton Habovštiak, known in the wide linguistic sphere primarily as an excellent dialectologist, in addition to his main scientific activity in dialectology, was also engaged in the onomastic sphere, especially in the field of anoikonyms. His toponomastic works, culminated in the summarizing monograph Oravské chotárne názvy [Field Names of the Orava Region] (1970), are significant in their structure not only as a sociolinguistic probe into the life of the former inhabitants of his native Orava and their connection with the use of the language, but above all for their enormous contribution to the then beginnings of nationwide anoikonymy research and the creation of Slovak onomastics as such in the second half of the 20th century. The linking of the sociolinguistic aspect with the traditional onomastic and dialectological element can be described as a novelty of the time, which undoubtedly deserves closer attention. Therefore, the primary aim of the paper is a comprehensive presentation of this selected and still inspiring onomastic segment in the otherwise rich and varied scientific research activity of this renowned Slovak linguist.
The paper summarizes the contribution of Anton Habovštiak’s scientific work in the field of Slavic comparative linguistics, especially dialectal lexicology and linguistic cartography. The central topic of the text reflects the participation of A. Habovštiak in international projects, with emphasis on the Slovanský jazykový atlas [Slavic Linguistic Atlas], research on the dialects of individual Slavic languages, and on the interconnection of the results of Slovak dialectology with other Slavic dialectological institutions. The paper also includes an overview of a number of Habovštiak’s scientific and professional publications that form the methodology of research on dialect vocabulary in both Slovak and Slavic scientific contexts. The paper concludes with the author’s memories of his cooperation with A. Habovštiak in the Slavic Linguistic Atlas project.
This paper presents views on the social differentiation of the Slovak national language with regard to the works of A. Habovštiak in the context of development of the Slovak linguistics. The social differentiation of the national language and, within its framework, the relation between the literary or standard language and the territorial dialect was studied by linguists such as J. Horecký, J. Bosák, I. Ripka, D. Slančová and M. Sokolová, Ľ. Kralčák and others. The views on this relation were influenced by the historical development, political situation and the development of society, and it was the topic of several linguistic conferences and discussions. Within this framework, Anton Habovštiak dealt mainly with the questions of the standard – dialect relationship, the influence of other languages on dialects, semi-varieties, the stylistic differentiation in dialects and specific social varieties as slang and argot, in particular, the language of the linen weavers and merchants. The aim is to present an overview of linguistic perspectives and unique contribution of Habovštiak, who looked at these issues from a dialectological perspective.
The article presents some models of territorial classification of the Slovak dialectal area, which were created in the course of the development of Slovak linguistics and dialectology. At the same time, it reminds that the differentiation of Slovak dialects has to a large extent the character of a dialectal continuum, therefore territorial classifications are always the result of a certain abstraction and selection of linguistic criteria as well as the consideration of extra-linguistic factors. The first classifications were based almost exclusively on extra-linguistic factors (namely the division of the territory into the old administrative units in the Hungarian Empire). During the development of classifications of Slovak dialects, it is possible to identify a gradual tendency to increase reflection of linguistic data and isoglosses, and extra-linguistic factors served as one of the potential motivations. In this article, special attention is paid to the contribution of A. Habovštiak’s work to the research of dialect differentiation and the basic principles of their classification.
The paper focuses on the study of temporal and territorial lexis in Anton Habovštiak’s folklore collection Skamenená dievka [Petrified Girl] (1977), primarily analysing the occurrence and functional use of archaic, historical, and dialectal elements. It examines how these lexemes influence the interpretation of these texts and their poetics to intentionality (the text’s focus on a child recipient). Special attention is given to temporal lexis, intended to characterize different regions of Slovakia, as the folklore collection displays a heteroregional character. The presence or absence of dialectal words is particularly monitored. Another partial topic of the paper is the investigation of how outdated prefixes and suffixes create the archaic character of the text. The paper identifies these elements and examines their impact on the historical, cultural, and linguistic context of Habovštiak’s tales, highlighting a certain temporal universality of his literary expression.
This paper presents the results and clarifies the scientific contribution of A. Habovštiak’s confrontational Slavic research focused on the lexicon Slovak dialects in the Slavic context, which he presented in numerous articles published in domestic and foreign scientific journals and proceedings and later in a summarized form in the monograph Zo slovensko-slovanských lexikálnych vzťahov (so zreteľom na lingvistickú geografiu) [From Slovak-Slavic Lexical Relations (with Regard to Linguistic Geography)] from 1993. With an emphasis on the Slovak-Slavic context, we can summarise that the author significantly contributed to the discussions about defining the place of Slovak in the group of Slavic languages, shed light on its West Slavic character and its relations with South Slavic and East Slavic languages, pointed to the peculiar development of the Slovak lexical fund and on the special continuity of the Slovak dialect lexicon with its Proto-Slavic linguistic origin.
The paper focuses on the specific part of the wide linguistic activity of Anton Habovštiak – his work in the field of text lexicography, connected with the edition called Hviezdoslavova knižnica [Hviezdoslav’s Library], which has not yet received due attention. In the beginning of the 2nd half of the 20th century A. Habovštiak prepared three literary glossaries serving readers of literary texts to solve their lexical problems with unfamiliar expressions (agnonyms). These “appended text dictionaries” that accompanied Slovak literary works of P. O. Hviezdoslav and Martin Kukučín were intended to help the Slovak but also the Czech readers understand unknown words in the frame of desired mutual reception of literary works and nurture of biliteracy in the Czech and Slovak cultural environments. Alongside the traditional dichotomy between “reading books in original” and “reading books in translation”, in the Czech-Slovak context also the third way – reading books in the original language equipped with literary glossaries – appeared. The support of the Czech-Slovak and Slovak-Czech biliteracy alongside bilingualism represented a part of cultural policy and language planning that included the language management resulting in the specific peculiar form of lexicographical entries with both intralingual and interlingual explications of an unfamiliar word. A. Habovštiak, together with other linguists and cultural workers, became a textual lexicographer authoring appended dictionaries that represent a remarkable and still alive investment to the literary text lexicography accompanying classic Slovak literary works.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.