Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.2002, Page 237

Úrfórum Halldórs Laxness
235
Nudansk ordbog = Politikens Nudansk ordbog med etymologi. 1999. Polmkens for-
lag, Kaupmannahöfn.
ODS = Ordbog over det danske sprog. 1919-1954. I-XXVII. Gyldendalske og-
handel - Nordisk forlag, Kaupmannahöfn.
Orðabók Bjöms Halldórssonar, sjá Bjöm Halldórsson.
Orðabók Blöndals 1920B24, sjá Sigfús Blöndal.
Orðabók Menningarsjóðs 1983, sjá íslensk orðabók.
Sigfús Blöndal. 1920B1924. íslensk-dönsk orðabók. Reykjavík.
Vilmundur Jónsson. 1985. Með hug og orði. Af blöðum Vilmundar Jónssonar land-
læknis. Fyrra bindi. Iðunn, Reykjavík.
SUMMARY
‘On Halldór Laxness’s vocabulary’
Keywords: lexicon, lexicology, lexical items, loanwords, regional dialects, usage
This paper gives some examples of the rather special vocabutary found in Halldór
Laxness’s writings. Laxness was sometimes criticized for his use of the anguage
(especially before he won the Nobel Prize) as it was unconventional and innovative
in several respects. He would frequently spell words and phrases in his own way to
give an impression of a special pronunciation and he did not hesitate to use oanwor s
or words of foreign origin where he felt the need to do so, although he a so criticize
his fellow countrymen (especially Icelandic joumalists) for using a
instead of Icelandic. The paper first gives a list of rather common words an expres
sions of Danish origin (or coined on the basis of Danish words and expressions ^
list that Laxness himself had given in a paper that he wrote against the use 0 a
Danish” (1939). It is then shown that he himself avoided the use of almost all ot these
in his writings (with three exceptions that he had actually already use e or® e
Wrote the paper). But it is also shown that he used many loanwords himsel — an e
had actually argued in another paper (1941) that no word was unacceptab e or a rea
(Icel. skrípi), regardless of its origin, if it gave the right meaning and impression ín
Particular place. — The second half of the paper reviews several examples ol lexica
items that Laxness had collected from various regional dialects or older texts and
revived or restored — or else just used once or a few times in his work. e main
Purpose of the paper is thus to give an idea of the wealth and variety of Laxness s
vocabulary, a topic that several books could be written about.
Guðrún Kvaran
Orðabók Háskólans
Neshaga 16
IS-107 Reykjavík, ÍSLAND
8kvaran@lexis.hi.is