Department of Language Standardisation

Head: Helena Dobrovoljc
+386 1 4706 432
helena.dobrovoljc@zrc-sazu.si

Location: Novi Trg 4, fifth floor

Department Purpose and Activity

The department employs seven researchers engaged in lexicographic and research activities, especially in connection with standard Slovenian and its expressive forms. The main task of the department is to coordinate preparation of new normative rules (Pravopis 8.0), which are being created in cooperation with the SAZU and ZRC SAZU Normative Committee, and the associated normative dictionary (ePravopis). In their desire to make the manual as useful as possible, they pay special attention to the language issues of language users, and they answer language questions via the up-to-date online Language Consulting Service, while at the same time gathering information for a collection of language issues. Members conduct research on standard language theory, word formation, geographical names, dialectology, lexicology, phraseology, and paremiology.

Some members teach at the ZRC SAZU Graduate School, the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Social Sciences, and the University of Nova Gorica’s Faulty of Humanities, and they also frequently appear as guest lecturers in Slovenia and abroad.

Two growing dictionaries are being compiled within the department: ePravopis (e-Normative Guide, 2016–), which all members of the department are working on, and Slovar pregovorov in sorodnih paremioloških izrazov (Dictionary of Proverbs and Related Paremiological Expressions, 2020–) by Matej Meterc.

The members of the department are involved in creating, editing, and improving the language portals Fran, Franček, and Language Consulting Service.

The department regularly publishes scholarly volumes with articles on issues that researchers encounter in their normative work:

• Sodobni pravopisni priročnik med normo in predpisom (The Modern Normative Guide between Norm and Regulation; Helena Dobrovoljc & Nataša Jakop, 2011, 2012)
• Pravopisna stikanja (Normative Encounters, ed. Nataša Jakop & Helena Dobrovoljc, 2012)
• Pravopisna razpotja (Normative Crossroads, ed. Helena Dobrovoljc & Tina Lengar Verovnik, 2015)
• Pravopis na zrnu graha (The Normative Guide and the Pea, ed. Tina Lengar Verovnik & Urška Vranjek Ošlak, 2022)
• Živim v Bukovem vrhu pod Bukovim vrhom (I Live in the Village of Bukov Vrh below the Hill Bukov vrh, ed. Helena Dobrovoljc & Manca Černivec, 2020)

Based on the questions from the Language Consulting Service page and in cooperation with two members of the Department of Lexicology, the volume Kje pa vas jezik žuli? Prva pomoč iz Jezikovne svetovalnice (Tell Me Where Your Tongue Hurts: First Aid from the Language Consulting Service; Helena Dobrovoljc, Nataša Gliha Komac, Mija Michelizza, Urška Vranjek Ošlak, Tina Lengar Verovnik, & Peter Weiss, 2020) was produced. It received the Excellence in Science Award.

The department also produces electronic publications:

• ePravopis (e-Normative Guide, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
• Pravopisne kategorije ePravopisa (Normative Categories in the e-Normative Guide, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
• Pravopis 8.0 – Pravila novega slovenskega pravopisa za javno razpravo. I Pisna znamenja, II Krajšave, Pripombe javne razprave (poglavja in komentarji javnosti ob javni predstavitvi pravil Pravopisa 8.0) (Normative Guide 8.0: Rules of the New Slovenian Normative Guide for Public Discussion. 1. Symbols, 2. Abbreviations, Public Discussion Comments; Chapters and Public Comments during the Public Presentation of the Rules in the Normative Guide 8.0, 2022)
• Pravopis 8.0 – Pravila novega slovenskega pravopisa za javno razpravo. III Velika in mala začetnica, IV Prevzete besede in besedne zveze, Pripombe javne razprave (Normative Guide 8.0: Rules of the New Slovenian Normative Guide for Public Discussion. 3. Capitalization, 4. Borrowed Words and Phrases, Public Discussion Comments; Chapters and Public Comments during the Public Presentation of the Rules in the Normative Guide 8.0, 2022)
• Pravopis 8.0. Komentar poglavij I–IV (Normative Guide 8.0: Comments on Chapters 1–4, 2022)

Members of the department also perform editorial work for:

• Jezikoslovni zapiski (Peter Weiss)
• Lingua Slovenica (Helena Dobrovoljc)
• Lingua Slovenica Fontes (Helena Dobrovoljc)

Current Programs and Projects

Members of the department have been or are involved in the following programs and projects:

• Slovenian in Synchronic and Diachronic Development (January 1st, 2015 – December 31st, 2021)
• Development of Slovenian in the Digital Environment: Language Resources and Technologies (May 4th, 2020 – August 31st, 2022)
• Media Repertoires of Young People: Social, Political, and Cultural Aspects of Digitized Everyday Life (Tina Lengar Verovnik)
• Standardization of Hydronyms in the Register of Geographical Names (September 1st, 2021 – August 31st, 2024, Helena Dobrovoljc)

Media Presence

Achievements by members of the department also appear in the media, where they frequently present their work:

• Roundtable upon completion of the project Grace RRI (Priložnosti ob vključevanju javnosti v jezikoslovni raziskovalni proces, November 16th, 2021)
• Roundtable at the start of the public discussion on the new normative chapters in Pravopis 8.0 (Normative Guide 8.0) (March 12th, 2021)
• Online discussion about the book Kje pa vas jezik žuli? (Tell Me Where Your Tongue Hurts) (May 28th, 2021)

They help create the Beseda tedna (Word of the Week) column in the print and online editions of the newspaper Delo, and they take part in broadcasts of RTV Kiks.