DINING WITH THE NEIGHBOURS: CULTURE-SPECIFIC TERMS AND THEIR TRANSLATION EQUIVALENTS IN THE SLOVENE-CROATIAN AND SLOVENE-SERBIAN DICTIONARY

Abstract

The article focuses on culture-specific terms from the lexicological and lexicographical perspective, more specifically it analyses the vocabulary connected with the Slovenian national cuisine in two bilingual dictionaries, namely the Slovensko-srpski, srpsko-slovenski slovar [Đukanović 2010] and Veliki suvremeni slovensko-hrvatski i hrvatsko-slovenski rječnik [Peti Stantić 2014]. Language and culture are inextricably intertwined, since translation does not only happen between languages, but also between cultures. When a concept from the material or spiritual world is limited to a certain environment and does not exist in the target culture, there is no translation equivalent in the target language. Lexicographers are often confronted with a problem when searching for translation equivalents in the field of national cuisine in the target culture. This article gives an inventory of Slovene dishes and drinks in the two dictionaries and presents various lexicographic transfer solutions, including a descriptive translation, an approximate translation or borrowing from Croatian and Serbian. All strategies of presenting alternative equivalents have their limitations, thus the dictionary user often searches for additional help.