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Collaborators

Department of Etymology and Onomastics



člani etimološko-onomastične sekcije

Head: Metka Furlan
+386 1 470 62 34
metka.furlan@zrc-sazu.si

Location: Novi Trg 4, fourth floor

Department Purpose and Activity

The basic mission of the department is to provide ongoing etymological, onomastic, and comparative historical interpretation of the Slovenian common and proper noun inventory from the first written sources for Slovenian to modern times, to present research findings at conferences in Slovenia and abroad, and to publish them in dictionaries, research volumes, and journals in Slovenia and abroad. The department was founded in 1958. Currently, the department employs one researcher.

The department helps improve the institute’s Fran portal, and its members serve on the editorial board of the institute’s journal Jezikoslovni zapiski, are involved in the Language Technologies Development Centre at the institute, provide individual answers on the institute’s Language Consulting Service webpage, deal with standardization issues related to Slovenian geographical names, are members of the Committee for the Standardization of Geographical Names of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, and teach at all three levels at the Department of Comparative and General Linguistics at the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Arts.

Members of the department have so far produced the following important works:

  • Slovenska vodna imena I–II (Slovenian Hydronyms, vols. 1 and 2; France Bezlaj, 1956, 1961)
  • Etimološki slovar slovenskega jezika (Slovenian Etymological Dictionary: Sample Volume; France Bezlaj, 1963)
  • Eseji o slovenskem jeziku (Essays on Slovenian; France Bezlaj, 1967)
  • Začasni slovar slovenskih priimkov (Provisional Dictionary of Slovenian Surnames; editor-in-chief France Bezlaj, 1974)
  • Etimološki slovar slovenskega jezika (Slovenian Etymological Dictionary; 1976, 1982, 1995, 2005, 2007)
  • Kratka albanska slovnica (Concise Albanian Grammar; Marko Snoj, 1991)
  • Odzadnji slovar zemljepisnih imen po Atlasu Slovenije (Reverse Dictionary of Geographical Names Based on the Atlas of Slovenia; Metka Furlan, 1993)
  • Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der albanischen Sprache (Reverse Dictionary of Albanian; Marko Snoj, 1994)
  • Slovenski etimološki slovar (Slovenian Etymological Dictionary; Marko Snoj, 1997, 2003)
  • Pravopisno ustrezen zapis zemljepisnih in stvarnih lastnih imen v Registru zemljepisnih imen in Registru prostorskih enot (Proper Spelling of Geographical Names and Other Proper Nouns in the Register of Geographical Names and the Register of Spatial Units; Metka Furlan, Alenka Gložančev, & Alenka Šivic-Dular, 2000)
  • Zbrani jezikoslovni spisi I–II (Collected Linguistic Writings, vols. 1 and 2; France Bezlaj, ed. Metka Furlan, 2003)
  • Slovensko-nemški slovar, transliterirana izdaja I–II (Slovenian–German Dictionary, Transliterated Edition, vols. 1 and 2; ed. Metka Furlan, 2006)
  • Slovensko-nemški slovar (Slovenian–German Dictionary; Maks Pleteršnik, ed. Metka Furlan, Helena Dobrovoljc, & Helena Jazbec, 2006)
  • Slovar jezika Janeza Svetokriškega I–II (Dictionary of the Language of John Baptist of Sveti Križ, vols. 1 and 2; Marko Snoj, 2006)
  • Krajevno imenoslovje na slovenskem zahodu (Toponomastics in Western Slovenian Territory; Pavle Merkù, ed. Metka Furlan & Silvo Torkar, 2006)
  • Nemške izposojenke pri Trubarju na primeru besedila Ena dolga predguvor (German Loanwords in Trubar: Based on the Example of the Text A Long Preface; Helena Jazbec, 2007)
  • Merkujev zbornik (A Festschrift for Pavle Merkù; core editorial board Silvo Torkar, Metka Furlan, Janez Keber, & Alenka Šivic-Dular, 2007)
  • Gjurmime shqiptare / Albanische Forschungen (Albanian Studies; Franz Miklosich, prepared by Rexhep Ismajli & Marko Snoj, 2007)
  • Etimološki slovar slovenskih zemljepisnih imen (Etymological Dictionary of Slovenian Geographical Names; Marko Snoj, 2009)
  • Pregled indoevropskih jezikov (Overview of Indo-European Languages; Simona Klemenčič, 2011)
  • Praslovanska dialektizacija v luči etimoloških raziskav: Ob stoti obletnici rojstva akademika Franceta Bezlaja (Proto-Slavic Dialectization in the Light of Etymological Research: On the Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Academy Member France Bezlaj; ed. Metka Furlan & Alenka Šivic-Dular, 2012)
  • Novi etimološki slovar slovenskega jezika: Poskusni zvezek (New Etymological Dictionary of Slovenian: Sample Volume; Metka Furlan, 2013)
  • Keltska dediščina v toponimiji jugovzhodnega alpskega prostora (Celtic Heritage in the Toponymy of the Southeastern Alpine Region; Luka Repanšek, 2016)
  • Prispevki k slovenski in slovanski etimologiji (Contributions to Slovenian and Slavic Etymology; Metka Furlan, 2016)
  • Ob jubileju Ljubov Viktorovne Kurkine (On the Eightieth Birthday of Lyubov Viktorovna Kurkina; ed. Metka Furlan, Silvo Torkar, & Peter Weiss, 2017)
  • Zgodovinska antroponimija in toponimija vzhodne Tolminske (Historical Anthroponymy and Toponymy of the Eastern Tolmin Region; Silvo Torkar, 2020)
  • Pleteršnikova rokopisna zbirka zemljepisnih imen: Znanstvenokritična izdaja rokopisne kartoteke (Pleteršnik’s Manuscript Collection of Geographical Names: A Scientific Critical Edition of the Manuscript Index; Metka Furlan & Miha Sušnik, 2021)
  • Rokopisna zbirka slovenskih krajevnih imen iz Metelkove zapuščine. Prva knjiga. (The manuscript collection of Slovenian place names from Metelko’s Legacy. First volume; Silvo Torkar, 2024)
  • Rokopisna zbirka slovenskih krajevnih imen iz Metelkove zapuščine. Druga knjiga. (The manuscript collection of Slovenian place names from Metelko’s Legacy. Second volume; Silvo Torkar, 2025)

The department holds the following major digitized and digital collections:

Catalog of Slovenian surnames from the censuses of 1931, 1941, and 1948 (catalog material)

  • Basic etymological index (catalog material)
  • Excerpts of professional literature for the Slovenian Etymological Dictionary (manuscript material)
  • Index of Slovenian plant names from Rinio’s dictionary (catalog material)
  • Catalog of Slovenian oeconyms (catalog material)
  • Pleteršnik’s manuscript collection of geographical names (catalog material)
  • Microtoponym database of the Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Agricultural Markets and Rural Development (database)

Former Department Members:

France Bezlaj (†1993), Darja Globevnik, roj. Žorga (†1983), Milena Hajnšek - Holz, Janez Keber, Simona Klemenčič, Drago Mertelj (†1990), Janez Orešnik, Milena Piškur, Luka Repanšek, Saša Sernec, Helena Smole, roj. Jazbec, Marko Snoj, Vaso Suyer (†1984), Silvo Torkar, Metka Furlan

Current Programs and Projects

As part of the institute’s basic program Slovenian in Synchronic and Diachronic Development (from January 1st, 2015 to December 31st, 2021), the department is currently working on the following projects:

  • New Etymological Dictionary of Slovenian
  • Metelko’s 1823 Collection of Slovenian Toponyms: A Scientific and Critical Edition of the Eource
  • Slovenian Plural Forms in -a of Non-Neuter Nouns in an Indo-European Context
  • Digitization of Pleteršnik’s Manuscript Collection of Geographical Names: Continuation

Media Presence

Members of the department help create the Beseda tedna (Word of the Week) column in the print and online editions of the newspaper Delo.