Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31820/f.37.2.5
On the Value Potential of Vocabulary: The Example of the Dictionary Blago jezika slovinskoga (The Treasure of the Slavic Language, 1649/1651) by Jakov Mikalja
Davor Dukić
orcid.org/0000-0001-6427-0622
; Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Filozofski fakultet
Abstract
The Croatian-Italian-Latin dictionary Blago jezika slovinskoga (The Treasure of the Slavic Language, Loreto-Ancona 1649/1651), compiled by the Jesuit linguist Jakov Mikalja (1601–1654), is the oldest dictionary with Croatian as the source language. This article analyses the value vocabulary of the dictionary, classifying it according to axiological criteria into three main groups: elementary value labels (which have no meaning other than value), cultural (intersubjective) values, and other value labels. Each group is further divided into several subgroups. The analysis shows that the value potential of Mikalja’s dictionary is relatively large, despite some shortcomings, mainly incomplete sequences of value labels with the same word root. Based on data from the semanticaxiological analysis, some cautious conclusions can be drawn about Mikalja’s dictionary as a reflection of the culture of the time and place in which it was created and for which it was intended. Within the vocabulary denoting cultural values, there is a large number and variety of words from the semantic fields of ‘heroism,’ ‘beauty,’ and ‘reason.’ The first two values are important themes in the literature of Mikalja’s time, while the third can be linked to the Christian-theological view of reason as God’s gift to humanity to distinguish good from evil. In the third group of Mikalja’s value vocabulary (other value labels), a relatively large number of negatively connoted words are observed for denoting the misuse of speech, especially the linguistic practice of ‘flattery,’ as well as a predominance of negatively connoted lexicon in the semantic fields of ‘emotionality’ and ‘human character.’ This, in turn, can be linked to the modern notions of ‘fear’ and ‘guilt’ as some of the essential attributes of the post-Tridentine era in the Christian West.
Keywords
text axiology; value vocabulary; evaluative concept (value); Jakov Mikalja
Hrčak ID:
342896
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2025.
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