Linguist Jože Toporišič dies

The author of a number of school textbooks

Jože Toporišič. Foto: BoBo

Jože Toporišič, a renowned linguist and academic, has died the age of 88. He was the central figure in Slovenian linguistic studies. He is the author of the Slovene grammar and the co-author of the Dictionary of Standard Slovene Language and Slovene orthography.

In 1996 Toporišič received the honorable symbol of freedom of the Republic of Slovenia for his "extraordinary merit in Slovene linguistics, for strengthening its international reputation, and for his role in the fruitful integration of expert knowledge in Slovenia's cultural life and independence". He got his PhD at the Department for Slovenian Studies at the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts, where he later linguistically established Slovenian phonology.

"I think Slovenians in general should be more aware that having a standard language is a precious thing. In enables us to freely express out thoughts and feelings without a sense of inferiority to other languages. That is why we should make effort and invest in our language culture, and become conscious members of the Slovene standard language community," is the way Toporišič opened his heart, when we talked to him on his 80th birthday.

Slovene language probably won't live to see Judgment Day, but we have to keep working as if it will, Toporišič used to emphasize. He also reminded of the fact that the Slovene language was thriving, blossoming into infinity and beyond. "We have to protect that which the Slovene language has managed to gain, and find a modus vivendi, the best possible," he added.

An advocate of the inclusion of new vocabulary
Toporišič strongly opposed the theoretical and ideological narrowness of some of the older linguists and actively introduced new structural concepts and vocabulary. At that time he was reputed as a polemic and individualist, which made it more difficult for his new work to be introduced in schools, even though it was mostly backed by experts.

Jože Toporišič worked on phonetics, morphology and word formation, syntax, stylistics, orthography and pronunciation, as well as dialectology. He also researched the history of the standard language and was also a critic. He is the author of a number of school textbooks and more than two thousand articles on linguistics and stylistics. Toporišič also translated from Serbo-Croatian. He also translated the Bohorič alphabet from Latin.

M. K., MMC;
translated by K. J.