The Beginnings of Lexicological Concepts in the Age of Enlightenment

Abstract

Several projects were drafted to develop the conceptual frameworks for the dictionaries emerging during the Hungarian linguistic reform and the Reform Era, as well as for the presentation of the Hungarian vocabulary of the time. An influential plan was submitted to the Marczibányi Competition in 1817 by József Teleki, who would become the first President of the Hungarian Scholarly Society established in 1830. In 1834, the Society printed for its members the draft of the encyclopaedic dictionary based largely on Teleki’s work. Several proposals had been submitted for the 1817 contest, another impactful project coming from Ferenc Verseghy. After presenting the context, my paper will compare and contrast these two proposals, offering some insights into both contemporary thinking on the subject of the Hungarian and the emerging scientific environment.