Alternativna leksikografija i antirječnici u Bosni i Hercegovini
Alternative Lexicography and Antidictionaries in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Summary/Abstract: The present paper discusses alternative lexicography in Bosnia and Herzegovina, its current state and the forms in which it is manifested. These are the texts, that is, lists of words that are named or organized as dictionaries, but in which the definitions and descriptions of the meanings and usages of particular terms are very different by style or content from the definitions presented in conventional lexicography. The most representative works of alternative lexicography in Bosnia and Herzegovina are three larger wordlists that have been published as a separate book or as larger book chapters. These are Nenad Veličković’s Seksikon, Muhidin Šarić’s Rječnik zapretanih riječi u bosanskom jeziku and Ero Gag: Mala zbirka hercegovačkog žargona by an unknown group of authors. Seksikon defines the terms related to human sexuality in a humorous way, while at the same time criticizing different stereotypes and prejudices related to sexuality. The definitions in the book Rječnik zapretanih riječi u bosanskom jeziku are rhymed quatrains which, in entertaining style, explain the meaning of some regionally specific words or archaisms, or words “covered by the ashes (of oblivion)” (an approximate meaning of zapretan). The book Ero Gag: Mala zbirka hercegovačkog žargona defines words from a variety of thematic groups that are claimed to belong to the Herzegovinian jargon, though many of them are also used in conversational style outside Herzegovina. The presented dictionaries differ in form, content, style and size, so that they give us a thorough insight into the potential of alternative lexicography. The main aim of the paper is to shed light on the current state of the alternative lexicography in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to lay the groundwork for its further study.

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