User:Zyang/sandbox
Author's profile[edit]
As Josep Pla said: " I have the feeling that is one of the hardest workers in the country, working in a safe, rhythmic and continuous effort". The Critical & etymological Dictionary is what it has been left behind a lifetime of effort - lonely, restless but also in exile - like many researchers of his generation.
The Corominas boasts a great intellectual honesty, trying not to get arguments against his ideas, when there is a definite conclusion it is manifested with all sincerity, but also is strong at the moment that presents its views and arguments when there is certainty... On the other hand has an unusual way to work today, sometimes shows the subjectivity of the savant who looks from the avalanche of scientific data, perhaps to remember his humanity.
Context[edit]
An etymological dictionary is providing information on the origin of words. Despite sporadic attempts have existed after Covarrubias primitive dictionary, the etymological dictionary of Castilian language par excellence is the "Corominas", (meaning the " Diccionario crítico etimológico de la lengua castellana").[1]
The effort made by Joan Corominas was immense, and it started in parallel with his magnum work in Catalan. Certainly, both languages are not isolated, and the transfers and loans between them are constant:- someone who studies one of these languages in isolation, can not achieve a thoroughly study -...
The Corominas is the work of a linguist savant, a guy hard to find today: its database of words extends to the whole set of languages and dialects of the peninsula and beyond: Catalan, Galician, Basque, Leonés, Judeo-Spanish, Moorish, Portuguese, Occitan, Provençal..., and used as filler (sometimes even in its original form) of the words of the Spanish language.
This dictionary complements in a previous lexical collections, rather than new words with new meanings and all data concerning the life and environment of words. The character appears in conjunction with critical and historical aspects, with the dialects appearing with particular emphasis. The ultimate goal is always the etymology, although the historical and dialectological aspects arise with a particular highlight. Compared to his Catalan dictionary, the reserved matters fill the modern spoken language in a rather larger measure, and has been even more generous with appointments in the strictly literary texts.
Targeted public[edit]
Although he later took the Brief etymological dictionary of the Spanish language, that is limited to " non-specialist in linguistics " as says his introduction, " reports the origin of Spanish words commonly known by people educated ", but the specialists or the curious who want to dig deeper, always end up in the large, the " authentic ".
The etymology, as research on the history, collecting runs on tiny details found in the most distant and disparate, having even sometimes to make guesses to rebuild the link. José Antonio Pascual noted at the time that this work " provides much more than it seems promising." And unfortunately the Castilian language does not have any other dictionary where to look historically the first occurrence of a specific word, though Corominas documents it so you can go back over the centuries.
There is no other source in Castilian with a historical list of morphology and phonetics where you can follow the evolution of their sounds and structures. It is for this reason that a lot of scholars have had end up with Corominas, often looking for what they did not find in the dictionary of the RAE...
The critical etymological dictionary of the Spanish language is directed to the specialist, it is a work that is easy to read, though sometimes it's a bit convoluted. Many of its inputs are true scientific articles, which present proposals outside next to the author, discussing others, with the testimony of upcoming and other remote languages ( Catalan, Baltic, High German, the OSC, etc....) sometimes weighing and dispensing formulas with some opinions from conclusive studies, and finally giving a diagnosis...
Web version[edit]
For several years, the Autonomous University of Barcelona is conducting digital version etymological dictionary . It will be very interesting that the fruits of this effort becomes available to researchers. even if the work is already in printed form, the digital version of " Corominas " will represent even a more practical value to the researchers of the Spanish language.