“300 Alati”: A Multimedia Latin-Russian Dictionary of Popular Latin Quotations

The article aims to outline the project of creating a multimedia Latin-Russian dictionary of popular Latin quotations. This term includes various idiomatic units of the Latin language, ranging from separate words to complete sentences. The dictionary began as a project in the course of General and Computational Lexicography and its creation was assisted by the students in the program of General and Applied Linguistics at Tomsk State University. As such, one of its defining features is that the dictionary functions both as the product and the means of educating linguistics students. One of its principal objectives is to aid first-year students in learning the so-called “phraseological minimum” in Latin. One of the tasks in creating the “300 alati” dictionary was the implementation of such functions as providing information in various formats (using multiple media formats) and creating a non-linear system of transition between blocks of information (hypertext linking). The authors chose ABBYY Lingvo as the optimal shell that provided the required functional capacity. The article provides a brief comparative review of the existing print and electronic analogs to the present dictionary: dictionaries of popular Latin words and expressions, collected aphorisms and websites. The principles for selecting particular quotations take into account the target audience of the dictionary and how often the phrase is referenced, which reflects its significance for the contemporary society and culture. In the development of the macro- and microstructure of the dictionary, the authors took into account the resources offered by the ABBYY Lingvo shell and the types of mark-up it normally used, and the needs of the end user- the student of Latin (which explains the appearance of the grammar field with a complete explanation of the grammar of the phrase). The microstructure of the dictionary entry of the “300 alati” dictionary includes seven fields: 1. Entry identity. 2. Audio recording of the phrase in Latin. 3. Translation to Russian. 4. Author’s name. 5. Grammatical commentary. 6. Historical and cultural commentary. 7. Examples of usage. The innovative character of the “300 alati” dictionary manifests itself in a number of features. The dictionary makes use of the functions offered by the electronic format, such as hyperlinking the entries and integrating multimedia files. These functions were taken into consideration at the stage of planning the dictionary, which is not the case when print dictionaries are converted into electronic versions. The architecture of the dictionary is oriented towards the end user-a student of Latin: the entry fields include updated content and usage information, expressive pronunciation of the Latin phrase and a memorable characteristic of the phrase’s author. The dictionary combines linguistic (semantic and grammatical) information, as is customary in all modern dictionaries. The entries also include a vast amount of encyclopedic information, namely, historical and cultural commentary and encyclopedic entries about the authors. The entry also includes a contemporary usage field with examples from literary and non-literary domains, including various semiotic systems, in order to provide a fuller reflection of how popular Latin quotations are understood and used today. The authors hope that innovations provided in the dictionary “300 alati” will help to make it a lexicographic product relevant to many customers with a secure place among the state-of-the-art electronic dictionaries.

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