Etymology of the Serbian language: With a glance at the past and a look into the future

Abstract

After an introductory overview of previous achievements in the field, abroad and at home, during the 19th and 20th centuries, this paper deals with the present state of Serbian etymology (i.e. etymology of the Serbian language) among the Serbs which, for several decades now, has been closely related to the Etymological Department of the Serbian Language Institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Following an explanation of elements of the etymological analysis, we offer a comparison of the methodologies applied in compiling the two dictionaries presently under development at the Department, a thesaurus-type Etimološki rečnik srpskoga jezika (ERSJ - Etymological Dictionary of the Serbian Language) and the concise Priručni etimološki rečnik srpskoga jezika (PERSJ - Concise Etymological Dictionary of the Serbian Language). Finally, we present a preliminary projection of the future development of Serbian etymology with a suggested agenda. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 178007: Etimološka istraživanja srpskog jezika i izrada Etimološkog rečnika srpskog jezika]

Keywords

• the Serbian language
• etymology
• history
• etymological lexicography
• etymological dictionary of the Serbian language