MISTAKING AN IMAGINED THEORETICAL CONSTRUCT FOR FACTUAL LINGUISTIC REALITY – A CASE STUDY
MISTAKING AN IMAGINED THEORETICAL CONSTRUCT FOR FACTUAL LINGUISTIC REALITY – A CASE STUDY

Summary/Abstract: Starting from the idea that the linguistic imaginary can also refer to the speaker’s subjectivity, and so in certain contexts reasonableness can be overcome by emotional logic, and the two can often prevail over the rigours of truth, we tried to tackle the issue of that rather dangerous theoretical attitude of wishful thinking which may turn otherwise decent and honourable linguists into excessively authoritarian norm-setters or linguistic prophets. This attitude can be encountered in the field of etymology, too. Our case study is represented by the etymological dictionary compiled by M. Vinereanu, in which most arguments converge towards the idea that the oldest lexical layer of our language, the (Thraco-) Dacian substratum, should be better highlighted, analyzed and illustrated. Unfortunately, in the process the author made an incredible number of factual errors, some of which we undertook to exemplify, concisely analyze and amicably amend, to the best of our abilities

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