COMPLETE WORKS OF VÁCLAV MACHEK

Review of: Ilona Janyšková, Helena Karlíková, Eva Havlová, Radoslav Večerka (Eds.). (2011). Sebrané spisy Václava Machka, 1–2. [Collected works of Václav Machek] Praha : Nakladatelství Lidovénoviny. 2296 p.

Reviewed in this article is the two-volume monograph Sebrané spisy Václava Machka, whose 2300 pages contain a collection of complete works (except for 4 books) of the greatest Czech 20th century etymologist, Václav Machеk (1894–1965). The technical aspect of its structure is described first: over 400 works (retyped originals with primary pagination on margins) are sorted by type in three groups (studies and articles; reviews, notes, comments, discussions; in memoriams); then chapters with his hitherto unpublished university lectures and those dedicated to editorial and reviewing activities; Machek’s complete bibliography (428 numerated items, organized so as to serve as the contents of the monograph), as well as a bibliography about Machek (212 unnumerateditems) and finally exhaustive registers of names, terms and words by languages. In further course the thematic fields Machek covered (besides etymology, also phonology, word-formation, grammar, syntax, comparative mythology) are surveyed and his methodology is illustrated with the example of his interpretation of PSl *dętelina. Finally, this monograph is viewed in the context of some similar recently published collections of works of distinguished Slavic etymologists (Todorov, Bezlaj, Szymańsky, Trubachev, Boryś, Sławski, Varbot). It is concluded that the editors have done a great job of not only compiling Machek’s entire opus — which is precious for wide Slavistic readership — but also of organizing the monograph to function interactively, thus bearing the mark of the electronic age it appears in.