Original scientific paper

Dictionary of Komiža G - H

Joško Božanić

Abstract

With this work, the author continues his dictionary of the Cokavian speech of Komiža on the island of Vis. This is the fourth installment following the previous three published in Čakavska rič (2006. A, 2008. B, 2022. C – F). With the new contribution in this issue of Čakavska rič, approximately 4,100 glosses of the Komiža Dictionary will have been processed and published so far, spanning around 330 pages. All glosses are illustrated with examples of speech from native speakers, including examples by the author, who is also a native speaker. The majority of examples from native speakers were excerpted by the author from tape-recorded narratives of older storytellers whose speech is authentic and minimally influenced by standard Croatian. The work also includes phraseology in numerous spoken examples, as well as stylistically marked words and their figurative modalities. In most cases, these storytellers are fishermen with extensive experience in traditional fishing and life at sea and on remote offshore islands. However, all spheres of island life are represented. This installment also includes the topic of the exodus of the 1950s, since the author recorded and published their stories as well in Čakavska rič in 1992 and 1993, under the title A Hole in the Iron Curtain – stories in the Komiža dialect as spoken by Komižans in California under the influence of the English language. Including the figurative meanings of words alongside their literal meanings is important for understanding the cultural component of an organic social community, namely its inclination toward humor, which is expressed particularly in the dominant non-fictional narrative genre of facenda. Also it is especially important to emphasize the richness of halieutic terminology related to the experience of the sea, the ship, navigation, and fishing.

Keywords

Komiža; island of Vis; Cokavian speech; dialect; vocabulary; lexicon

Hrčak ID:

344669

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/344669

Publication date:

18.2.2026.

Article data in other languages: croatian italian

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