Kernerman Dictionary News • Number 12 • July 2004
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Milon Even-Shoshan, Revisited Moshe Azar
The
lexicographer Avraham Even-Shoshan entitled his dictionary, published in
1948, Milon Ħadash [New Dictionary]. This title was
changed, in a later edition, to ha-Milon he-Ħadash [The New
Dictionary]. Now that Even-Shoshan is no longer alive, the title was
changed to Milon Even-Shoshan [Even-Shoshan Dictionary, (ESD)].
This name was deemed proper, on one hand, to express the esteem and
admiration felt toward the founder and first editor, and, on the other hand,
to formally endorse the name by which the first New Dictionary has
become known. Now, with this publication, Avraham Even-Shoshan joins Noah
Webster, Paul Robert, Pierre Larousse, and other compilers of monolingual
dictionaries that bear the name of their author. Even-Shoshan not only gained
the privilege of having his name become synonymous with Israeli Hebrew
lexicography, but he is also seen by many Israelis as the symbol of standard
Hebrew. The
sub-heading of ESD is “A General and Comprehensive Lexicon of Contemporary
Hebrew Combined as Derived from all Hebrew Periods”. This was indeed the
description of the dictionary from its inception. The dictionary attempts to
be, as far as possible, a complete compendium of everyday spoken and written
Hebrew, and, being a general dictionary, it intentionally does not include a
lot of scientific and technological terminology, sufficing with words and
expressions that educated people may encounter in non-professional reading
and conversation. Another
characteristic of the dictionary is that it is constructed in a manner that
describes the vocabulary of contemporary Hebrew in combination with all its
historical periods. This method is based on the assumption that present-day
Hebrew cannot be properly understood without considering it as yet another
stage in the long history of the language. No language exists on its own
without reference to its history, certainly not Hebrew, especially regarding
the most common words inherited from the Biblical and Talmudic periods. Thus,
the vocabulary of the Hebrew language has increased without deleting old
words and senses. Moreover, disconnecting modern Hebrew words from their past
would mean disconnecting them from the heart of the religious, cultural and
literary legacy stored in the Hebrew language throughout the generations.
Even-Shoshan correctly decided to preserve the uniformity of the Hebrew
language by indicating the period (Biblical, Talmudic, Medieval, Modern and
Modern Foreign) in which the word and meaning became part of the lexicon for
Hebrew speakers. ESD,
then, is characterized by documenting and interpreting Israeli contemporary
Hebrew (Modern Hebrew), including many foreign and non-standard words and
idioms, as well as all the words that appear in the Old Testament with their
accepted meanings, and a large selection of Talmudic and medieval words and
meanings. The reason for this is, as Even-Shoshan wrote in the Preface to the
first edition: “There is almost no word, as uncommon as it might be, which
the Hebrew reader might not encounter by chance, through reading or
conversing, and it is his right that his dictionary explain it to him. It is,
then, better for the dictionary to ‘err’ here and there by including more
words, than by leaving out words which in contemporary Hebrew may be
considered as ‘dead’. Yet, it is not impossible that, one of these days, our
language will revive these words in their original form or with some minor
change.” Even-Shoshan well expressed the dominant passive role of any general
monolingual dictionary. A dictionary of this kind is intended first of all
for understanding unfamiliar and unclear words, which a reader may encounter,
and also for enriching the linguistic knowledge about these words, including
linguistic history. Even-Shoshan’s
mixture of old and new is not very different from that of the great European
monolingual dictionaries. These dictionaries, especially those dedicated to
national languages, are distinguished by associating a contemporary language
with its historical sources and roots. A national language is not a mere
vehicle for communication; it also preserves culture. Therefore, listing
words and describing their present usage without associating them to their
past, strips them of nuances that can be grasped only by knowing their
historical background. The
language that is inscribed, described and interpreted in ESD is standard,
normative and correct Hebrew, provided that the words defined are not marked
as colloquial or slang. Evidence of how Even-Shoshan’s various editions have
been considered as the authoratitive dictionary of normative language can be
found in written verdicts of Israeli courts, which based their decisions
concerning the interpretation of disputed words on Even-Shoshan’s
definitions. Sometimes the court accords the dictionary the explicit title normative.
For example, in a verdict given by the Jerusalem District Court sitting as an
appellate court in 1996 (criminal appeal 96/19; see also Leshonenu la-'Am
47.65, 1997) says: “…we have brought above the definition of Even-Shoshan
dictionary, the normative dictionary of the last decades”. ESD
is in fact the only new Hebrew dictionary constructed in an integrated
manner, which is characteristic of dictionaries known by the designation
‘academic’. As with other academic dictionaries, it is general and
comprehensive, and, at the same time, standard. Like them, it describes the
contemporary linguistic facts with a strong inclination to historical and
etymological facts. Like them, technical and scientific terms are only
partially represented, and encyclopedic items and information is restricted.
And, as in any regular academic dictionary, the most important element is the
standard language. Standard language entries are treated with the utmost
attention and are described in full detail. They are usually accompanied by
quotations with exact references. The grammar, morphology (roots and stems),
and syntax appendices provide indispensable tools for the comprehensive
description of standard language. The
decision to retain the policy of the former editions regarding vocalized
spelling, and fully punctuate all words according to the rules of the Academy
of the Hebrew Language, is also congruent with viewing the dictionary as
intended for all Hebrew speakers and students. Native speakers of Hebrew are
also included in its student population, not because Hebrew is unique in
being still in a state of transformation from a language preserved in books
into a modern living one, but because every language that serves as a
cultural and literary medium is always in the process of being learned. There
can be no doubt about the importance of vocalized spelling for all Hebrew
speakers, and especially for students of Hebrew, whether native or non-native
speakers. If a dictionary attempts to be user-friendly, it cannot do without
sufficient spelling, not only with respect to words which users look up, but
also for definitions and quotations. As Even-Shoshan wrote in the preface to
the first edition: “The full and exact spelling illuminates the eyes of the
reader, it eliminates doubts and mistakes when reading a quotation, and
thereby facilitates comprehension of the subject matter. Also, vocalized
spelling opens the dictionary before larger and more popular circles –
students, new immigrants and others”. The
new and updated ESD undertook the task of including all the lexical,
grammatical, vowel indications, and syntactical innovations that were created
after the last edition of the dictionary was published, as well as those
created before the last edition but which, for whatever reason, were not
included in it. The
lexical innovations may be in the form of new Hebrew words (neologisms),
standard or non-standard, or foreign. They may also appear as new meanings
added to old words or as idiomatic phrases. Thousands of new lexical items
found a place in the new edition, from every corner of life and all types of
writing and speech, whether created spontaneously by speakers or writers, or
coined by the Academy. Among the sources from which they were drawn, it is
worth mentioning the vast corpus of fiction written since the early 1970s,
which was not cited in previous editions. Finally, although ESD
assembles colloquial words and meanings, and to some extent even words that
may be considered gross and vulgar, speling always follows the standard
grammatical rules. The dictionary also takes no consideration of the fact
that many users of the language, including interviewees on radio and
television, pronounce certain words in a non-standard way. An academic
general language dictionary is not meant to reflect everything that happens
in the language. Ungrammatical forms and pronunciations may become part of
language (or of a subset of it) some day, but they may also disappear. ESD,
as any general monolingual dictionary, is pre-eminently designed to serve as
a practical, academic, standard dictionary, and as such, does not include
information about inconsistency or instability concerning pronunciation. Milon Even-Shoshan
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