IFA LEXICOGRAPHY and TRANSLATION READING GROUPS

jointly present

Jump the shark or…

The English-Polish Dictionary of New Words – an up-to-date account of new vocabulary from the perspective of dictionary-making

by Radosław Więckowski

MA in Canadian literature, Copernicus University, Toruń

Thursday, 23 April 2009

6:30 p.m.

Room 601A

The overriding aim of the presentation (interspersed with Polish and English) is to give an up-to-date account of new vocabulary from the perspective of dictionary-making, the English-Polish Dictionary of New Words being in the foreground. This account does not constitute an endgame and makes no claim to deal comprehensively with all new words. The presentation is organized into 5 themes, including sources, distinguishing marks of the Dictionary and semantic nuances, headwords from all walks of life imaginable, translation and contextualisation, and tendencies in word formation. ”Conclusion” synthesizes all the focal points discussed. The word ”conclusion” has deliberately been put in inverted commas as nothing can be taken as final in dictionary-making. The multi-year process reminds of a threadlike chain in which what was unknown becomes the known as a point of departure towards a further unknown area.