Plant names in the Dictionary of the Russian Academy (1789–1794): Sources and lexicographic representation principles

The 18th century was the time of dramatic transformations in various life spheres of the Russian Empire. Significant changes occurred in scientific knowledge as well. After founding the Academy of Sciences and creating botanical and apothecary gardens in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Astrakhan, and Tobolsk, scientific botany was being established and botanical terminology was being formed. In 1789-1794, the Dictionary of the Russian Academy (DRA) was published. It was the first academic dictionary, and many famous natural scientists of that time participated in its compilation. The project authors actively used their predecessors’ works. Since DRA was conceived as a normative dictionary, not all phytonyms could be included. A thorough discussion of the materials preceded the work on the explanatory part. The headwords selection was based on analogous tables. They contain approximately 55,000 headwords; more than 1,800 are plant names, names of plant parts (such as apple), and adjectives derived from them. In analogous tables, we find references to the travels by 1.1. Lepekhin, P.S. Pallas, and I.G. Gmelin. Many of these references are confirmed on addressing the sources. Depending on the volume, 30% to 70% phytonyms from the analogous tables were included in DRA. DRA entries describing flora and fauna are notable for their encyclopedic style and include Linnaean Latin taxonomic names. Researchers see the reason in the fact that these entries were taken from a natural science reference work - the Lexicon of Natural History, compiled by 1.1. Lepekhin at that time. DRA also included phytonyms from the works by S.P. Krasheninnikov. Synonymous names with various geographical or stylistic marks could be explained independently of each other in different dictionary entries or through references from one entry to another. In DRA, as in other lexicographic works, there are looped references and so-called “blind links” leading to non-existing dictionary entries. To find the denotation of a phytonym without interpretation, researchers often need to address other texts containing the lexemes of interest. We are especially grateful to the project participants M.M. Pirogovskaya, O.S. Belichenko, and G.A. Molkov for valuable comments. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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