Orthoepic dictionaries of the russian language: the problems of the genre


2020. № 3 (25), 219-227

M.L. Kalenchuk Vinogradov Russian Language Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia, Moscow) mkalenchuk@yandex.ru

Abstract:

The article draws attention to the fact that two types of orthoepic dictionaries that do not compete with each other exist in modern Russian lexicography — fundamental dictionaries of the academic sense and dictionaries of pronunciation difficulties. The difference between these dictionaries is primarily in the motivation of users when accessing them, as well as in the system of normative evaluation of sound variants and the amount of orthoepic information offered. A dictionary of pronunciation difficulties is necessary for a native speaker when he begins to doubt the correctness of the choice of pronunciation or accent. A person can doubt the choice only when he is aware of the very existence of a choice. At the same time, the actual number of pronounceable variants is incomparably greater than the variants that are noticeable for a native speaker. The conscious pronunciation options include accentological and phonemic options, while the invisible ones include sound and options related to the presence or absence of additional stress, as well as any phonetic compressions and deformations of the word in the speech stream. Fundamental dictionaries differ from dictionaries of pronunciation difficulties not only by selecting phenomena based on the principle of awareness / unconsciousness by native speakers. Fundamental dictionaries have a complex and dissected scale of normative evaluation. They are aimed at a professional linguist; they must present a real orthoepic problem and show the structure of complex sections of the system in a way that is understandable for a trained reader.