The ''Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language'' (), commonly known as ''Dal's Explanatory Dictionary'' (), is a major

explanatory dictionary An explanatory dictionary or defining dictionary is a dictionary that provides definitions of word meanings at its entries. It may give additional information on pronunciation, grammar, etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin an ...

of the

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

. It contains about 220,000 words and 30,000 proverbs (3rd edition). It was collected, edited and published by

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. Accor ...

Vladimir Ivanovich Dal (; 1801–1872), one of the most prominent

lexicographers This list contains people who contributed to the field of lexicography, the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries. __NOTOC__ A * Maulvi Abdul Haq (India/Pakistan, 1872–1961) Baba-e-Urdu, English-Urdu dictionary *Ivar Aasen (Norway, 181 ...

and folklore collectors of the 19th century. ''Dal's Explanatory Dictionary'' of the Great Russian language was the only substantial dictionary printed repeatedly (1935, 1955) in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in compliance with the old rules of spelling and alphabet, which were repealed in 1918.

History and features

The author shows his specific understanding of the Russian language on the cover, using the old spelling ''Толковый словарь живаго великорускаго языка'' (with single "s" in "Russian"). However, this is a unique ''spelling'' deviation from the standard grammar, on which Dal insisted. In his speeches at the

Russian Geographical Society The Russian Geographical Society (), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection with research programs in fields including oceanography, ethnography, ecology and stati ...

(traditionally published with his forewords in a preface) Dal opposes the "illiterate" distortion of words in vulgar parlance. However he distinguishes between these distortions and regional dialectical variations, which he collected meticulously over decades of travel from European Russia to Siberia. Another principle on which Dal insisted rigorously was the rejection of transliterated/transcribed foreign-language

roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

base word A root (also known as a root word or radical) is the core of a word that is irreducible into more meaningful elements. In morphology, a root is a morphologically simple unit which can be left bare or to which a prefix or a suffix can attach. The ...

s, in favour of Russian roots. However certain

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

s like "''проспект''" (

Prospekt (street) Prospekt ( rus, проспе́кт, p=prɐˈspʲekt, a=Ru-проспект.ogg) is a Slavic term for a broad, multi-lane and very long straight street in urban areas,Baudouin de Courtenay insisted as editor of the third edition on including new and obscene words (in total around 20,000). Although this was criticised, this version sold well. There was a fourth edition in 1912–1914. Later these versions were censored during the communist rule.

1935

The fifth edition (1935) was supported by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

and had a high cultural significance, since it was printed in the old "spelling" ( repealed in 1918), thus providing continuity in the perception of pre-revolutionary literature by new generations. This edition was based on the second edition (1880–1883). The Baudouin de Courtenay edition was never reprinted in Soviet times.

1955

In 1955, the dictionary was reprinted in the Soviet Union again with a circulation of 100,000. This sixth edition relied also on that of 1880–1883 (i.e. without obscene words). Copies of the second edition were used as the source for the

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

(photographically reproduced) reprint. However, this was not an exact reproduction of an original: derivatives of the root (''jew'') were removed from page 541 of volume 1. This ambiguous censorship stems from controversy over the use of two roots used concurrently in Russian and in many other European languages. Although Russian ''жид'' is equivalent to , English: ''jew''; while corresponds to and English: ''hebrew'', the first form (widely used in Russian literature through the 19th century ( Lermontov,

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works " The Nose", " Viy", "The Overcoat", and " Nevsky Prosp ...

et al.)) was later considered an expletive with a tinge of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. To ensure "political correctness", the 1955 editors decided to remove the entire entry, keeping the original page numbers by increasing the line spacing on the censored page.

List

* * * * * *

Sources

*Terras, Victor, ''Handbook of Russian Literature'' (Yale University Press, 1990),

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Explanatory Dictionary Of The Living Great Russian Language Russian dictionaries