Zo studnice rodnej reči 2 (slovensky) – Balleková Katarína (2014)

The publication follows the successful booklet From the Well of Native Speech (2005) and presents a selection of contributions that were originally part of the eponymous column during its second decade from 2002 to 2011 in the journal Culture of Words. The compilers offer a diverse collage of rare testimonies from dialects and about dialects, categorized into seven thematic areas. The reader traverses a linguistic terrain rich in dialectal inequalities, which do not harm the language; on the contrary, they give it a stamp of diversity, making it both ordinary and extraordinary, and remarkable. On this journey, one has the opportunity not only to learn many interesting things, such as the origins of surnames, the naming of months, or the names of fruits; but also to verify whether a bird is indeed known by its feathers and a person by their speech; to enjoy a view of the colorful world of language; to discover something about Slovak culinary customs; and to find out what troubles a person. The added value of the texts is the original interpretation of dialectal material, as well as sources from the pre-writing period of Slovak, revealing the national spiritual heritage and also pointing to natural linguistic forms, genre, and regional differences. The texts are supplemented by a list of locations that characterize the individual contributions...