"Life itself acquainted me with and made me become an intimate friend of language…" (to the V. I. Dal’s 220th anniversary of the birth)

Abstract

This paper devoted to V. I. Dal’s 220th birthday anniversary presents a short review of his creative, professional activity in the context of compiling "The Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language". Being exemplified by a brief scientific discussion which dates back to the end of the XIXth century, the role of this Dictionary in the history of the academic explanatory lexicography development is highlighted in greater detail. The aim of the study was to generalise the well-known facts about V. I. Dal and his Dictionary as well as to refer to lesser-known sources. V. I. Dal contributed significantly to each of the spheres in which he was creatively or professionally involved: he was a naval officer, a doctor, a writer, and a civil servant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. All Dal’s professional and creative experience as well as his in-depth knowledge of folklife had an impact on the structure, form, and content of the Dictionary: they made it the yardstick and exemplar of Russian lexicography. This thesis is expounded in the course of studying I. Kh. Pachmann’s critical "Memorandum" (1899) concerning the commencement of the work on the "Shakhmatov’s revision" of the academic "Dictionary of the Russian Language". Additionally, this "Memorandum" provides certain evaluation of Dal’s edition from the perspective of its educational potential that could be exploited in school education. Despite the drawbacks revealed by his contemporaries, V. I. Dal’s dictionary inadvertently became the yardstick and exemplar in the discussion of the moot issues arising during the initiation of the new academic project. It is this dictionary that influenced the further development of explanatory academic lexicography.