O nowym pojęciu glosariusza (na materiale literatury fantasy). Rekonesans badawczy

Abstract

The aim of the article is an attempt to define the term “glossary” in a new way. “Glossary” is codified as a dictionary explaining difficult, outdated, rarely used and unknown words in an old or foreign-language text, or words put at the end of scientific or popular science texts. In this, its prescriptive function is emphasized. In lexicographical compendia, the other definition is evoked. In accordance with it, the glossary is identified with a dictionary compiled for a translation machine. Observation of current language use has shown that there are a few other ways of understanding the term “glossary.” Its main function is now a descriptive function. For the sake of methodology, the article discusses the most common language behavior in this regard. Glossaries found in fantasy texts are characterized in detail because they fulfill a special role in the creation and perception of this type of literary work. The main idea in the article is the argument that every product of a culture (a text) carries a fixed cultural pattern here: a perpetuating pattern. A glossary has been identified as paratext, hence its description is put forth with the tools used in the field of text studies and linguistic enre.