Method of mapping linguistic data in SLA 2

A special hierarchy of symbols has been formulated in the Slovenian Linguistic Atlas based on the deliberate and established practice of the Slavic Linguistic Atlas. The symbols were mainly chosen by the authors of the maps themselves, in line with the agreement that the outline of the symbols should indicate the root of the lexeme and the inner part the word-formational construction of the lexemes. The choice of symbol was based on the morphological analysis.

The meaning of symbols:

• Asterisk (right above the network data-point) means ‘commentary’ and is used when a local speech has more than two expressions (lexemes) for one meaning;

• Underscore (below the data-point) means ‘ni zapisa [no record or no material]’ (this character only appears at data-point T406, where it is no longer possible to find speakers of Slovenian language);

• Slash to the left of the data-point means there is no answer ‘ni odgovora’ for the local speech in question;

• A large five-pointed star indicates a lexeme that only appears once (‘enkratnica’); all such lexemes are addressed in Section 3 of the commentary;

• Various basic symbols on the map (circle, triangle, square, rectangle, pentagons or hexagons and other more complex symbols) mark lexemes with different roots or word-formational bases;

• The same inner part of different outline symbols denotes the same word-formational affix of compound words with a different root/word-formational base;

• Compound words with a common root and various affixes (word-formational variants) are marked with a different inner part of the same basic outline symbols;

• Morphologically relevant morphemes are also morphemes marking gender if the gender is clearly identifiable from the material (otherwise only the word-base is mapped, without the ending);

• Unique compound words with a common root are displayed on the map using the same basic symbol containing a star;

• Single phrases with a common core are displayed on the map using the same basic star-containing symbol, and with a point to the left or to the right side of the symbol or beneath the symbol

• Basic symbols in combination with other basic symbols denote the compound words made of two word-formational bases which already have their own symbols in the key;

• Different basic symbols with the same additional symbol denote a multiple-word lexeme with attribute and core, presented by basic symbol;

• A phrase with an adjectival attribute is marked by an additional symbol below the basic symbol representing the core of the word-phrase;

• A phrase with a non-adjectival attribute is marked by an additional symbol above the symbol representing the core of the word-phrase;

• A prepositional phrase is marked by an additional symbol to the left of the symbol representing the core of the word-phrase;

• If a multiple-word lexeme or answer is on the border between description and set phrase and does not form an areal (i.e. occasional word), it is marked with a symbol for a descriptive denomination;

• The symbol ‘ni poimenovanja [no expression]’ marks answers such as ‘the expression is not known/used’, ‘there is no such expression’, etc.; where it is noted alongside a local speech that a German word only is used for a specific meaning, but which one is not indicated, this is marked on the map with a commentary symbol;

• The symbol ‘opisno poimenovanje [descriptive denomination]’ marks those multi-word answers whose core by word-class corresponds to the question but which are on the border of set phrase and do not form an areal;

• The symbol ‘nerelevanten odgovor [irrelevant answer]’ denotes an answer that is semantically inappropriate due to possible misinterpretation of the question;

• The symbol ‘opis [description]’ maps those multiple-word answers whose cores by word-class do not correspond to the question (e.g. verbal phrases instead of noun, ellipses with a more-or-less hidden verbal core, etc.);

• The symbol ‘glej gradivo [see material]’ marks answers which come from the same word-family but which, in reality, do not correspond to the question because they have different word-formational meanings, like act – event – state – characteristic – bearer of the characteristic;

• Answers that in terms of meaning (but not also by word-class) correspond to and cannot be replaced by conversion of the word-phrase using the verbal primitive to be, to do/to work, to have or to go are marked on the map using the symbol ‘pretvorba s primitivom [conversion with a primitive]’;

• instead of the desired adjective a noun is written (e.g. instead of ‘[to be] bellied’ the answer ‘he’s got a belly’ is written);

• instead of the desired noun an adjective is written (e.g. instead of ‘dropsy’ the answer ‘[to be] dropsied’ is written);