Several dozen times more words: A preliminary outline of the development of Esperanto lexicographical publications in Poland

Abstract

The article gives an insight into Esperanto lexicography in the territories of Poland – from the first Vortaro por Poloj (1887) by Ludwik Lazarus Zamenhof, through other compilations, including Antoni Grabowski’s Słownik języka esperanto [Esperanto Dictionary] (1910 and 1916) and Tadeusz Józef Michalski’s Słownik esperancko-polski [EsperantoPolish Dictionary] (1959), to Edward Kozyra’s enlarged edition of Esperanto-English-Polish, English-Esperanto and Polish-Esperanto dictionary (2020). It shows how the general concept of traditional Esperanto dictionary has changed as well as that, although the development of Esperanto vocabulary has been inevitable and natural, there are more features of a good Esperanto lexicographical publication than its length, including short grammar instructions which facilitate the formation of new terms, the clarity of individual entries as well as derivatives, and the consistency of Esperanto dictionaries published in Poland with dictionaries issued in other countries.