The Importance of the Development of Compilation of Monolingual Dictionaries (by the Example of the Explanatory Dictionary of the Kazakh Language)

Abstract

There are many types of dictionaries depending on the purpose and scope of use. Among them, a special place is occupied by monolingual explanatory dictionaries, which reflect the vocabulary of the cultural life of the people as a whole. Explanatory dictionaries are a real resource that collects the vocabulary of a language in one place. The creation and improvement of monolingual dictionaries has its own unique features. Therefore, it is important to continue the tradition of employing the basics of lexicography in explanatory dictionaries, expand them, republish them, and constantly update them. The article emphasizes the importance of constantly updating the explanatory dictionary and improving its vocabulary articles. In particular, the 15-volume “Dictionary of the Kazakh Literary Language”, prepared by the Akhmet Baitursynuly Institute of Linguistics in the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2011, was selected. This dictionary is an example of creating an explanatory dictionary, reflecting existing traditions and practices of scientific creation of dictionaries. In addition, the article also discusses such issues as ways to enrich the content of dictionary entries by selecting the examples from works of art, examples of spelling complex words, conventional abbreviations; it also provides various explanations of individual concepts for dictionary entries. Particular attention is paid to explaining political terms such as “sovet” (Soviet) and “tarikh” (history) associated with the Soviet era.