Department of Etymology
Address:
Veveří 967/97
602 00 Brno
Phone: +420 532 290 515
Email: etymologie at ujc.cas.cz
Scope of research:
The Department of Etymology is the only research institution in the Czech Republic that engages primarily and systematically in etymology. The department conducts multi-faceted historical and comparative research on the Slavic lexicon, from the earliest periods following the disintegration of the Indo-European language community through the formation of distinct Slavic languages to the current era. Particular emphasis is placed on the oldest documented Slavic language, Old Church Slavonic, and Czech in all its developmental phases. The department also addresses current issues of language contact, typology and general linguistics.
Current projects:
Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského (Etymological Dictionary of the Old Church Slavonic Language)
A digital version of the Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského is currently in development. The dictionary was published in print in 1989–2022.
Etymologické symposion Brno
Since 1999, the department has organised an international etymological symposium every three years. Dr. Ilona Janyšková and
Dr. Helena Karlíková organise the symposia and edit and publish the proceedings.
Etymologický slovník jazyka staročeského
The Etymological Dictionary of Old Czech (Etymological dictionary of the Old Czech Language) is in development.
Studia etymologica Brunensia
The department publishes its own etymological series Studia etymologica Brunensia (eds. Dr. Ilona Janyšková and Dr. Helena Karlíková) - which includes proceedings from international etymological conferences organised by the department, as well as monographs on various topics prepared by department staff (published by Lidové noviny).
For specific volumes see publications.
Prameny české etymologie (Sources of Czech Etymology)
Prameny české etymologie (eds. Bohumil Vykypěl and Vít Boček) is a series that presents selections from the works and bibliographies of notable Czech etymologists. The series refreshes contemporary etymological studies with inspiration from earlier work. For specific volumes see publications.
Travaux linguistiques de Brno
The department also publishes a more general series, Travaux linguistiques de Brno (ed. Bohumil Vykypěl in collaboration with Vít Boček), which is published by Lincom in Munich.
Studie osobností brněnské lingvistiky (Studies by renowned Brno linguists)
The edition Studie osobností brněnské lingvistiky (eds. Petr Malčík and Jan Dvořák), published in the past by Host, made selected outstanding texts by Brno linguists publicly available. You can find specific volumes here.
Collections and materials:
The Etymology Department has an extensive reference library. The department continuously expands and updates its book collection, particularly by exchanging publications with a number of similarly oriented Slavic departments in other countries with which it works closely. As a result, the department has at its disposal numerous publications on etymology and Slavic and other Indo-European languages as well as multiple explanatory dictionaries and encyclopaedias. Many of these books are not available anywhere else in the Czech Republic.
Since its founding in the 1950s, the department has been compiling a collection of excerpts (initiated by Václav Machek). This collection consists primarily of an alphabetically arranged card catalogue of Proto-Slavic lemmas. The catalogue is systematically updated and expanded with etymological explanations extracted from journals, specialised publications and dictionaries. The catalogue also contains rich lexical material from all of the Slavic languages. There are two other card catalogues under development: the subject matter catalogue and the foreign words catalogue, which consists mainly of excerpts from the estate of etymologist J. M. Kořínek.
Materials to download:
Seznam literatury k Etymologickému slovníku jazyka staroslověnského (bibliography of the Etymological Dictionary of the Old Church Slavonic Language – complete and revised bibliography cited in the dictionary; last update 18 January 2019).
Publications of the department available online
Staff members:
doc. Mgr. Bohumil Vykypěl, Ph.D., DSc.
head of the department
PhDr. Aleš Bičan, Ph.D.
doc. Mgr. Bc. Vít Boček, Ph.D.
Mgr. Jana Villnow Komárková, Ph.D.
doc. Mgr. Taťána Vykypělová, Ph.D.
Marie Chybová
librarian