Ideographic dictionary of architecture and design terminology of the Russian language

The article discusses reasons for compiling a dictionary of architectural and design terms in the Russian language. The topicality of creating it is connected with the brisk growth of design activity, the branching out of a new training program, Design of Architectural Environment, and the absence of a linguistic terminological dictionary of this professional sphere. The aim of the article is to describe the conception of an ideographic dictionary of Russian architectural and design terminology. The dictionary is based on the special language of architecture and design selected from terminological reference books, educational materials and research literature, commercial catalogues, professional weblogs, websites, and e-commerce sites. The dictionary defines not only terms, but also terminoids, preterms and quasi-terms, and pays special attention to the foreign terminological units and neologisms. This is caused by the under-investigated functional lexis of the architectural environment design sphere, variability and movability of its concepts and terms. The research methods and techniques used in the study are: the lexicographical method with the research techniques of thematic (ideographic) arrangement, definition, componential and contextual analyses. The chosen type of an ideographic dictionary defined its marco-structure: it is represented by a system of thematic groups, subgroups and microgroups, contributes to the development of a holistic professional worldview, and facilitates work with the dictionary. The microstructure shows the content of a lexical entry including core and optional components as well as its design. The core components include the headword with its variants, their stresses and pronunciation features, information on the word’s grammar, its definition and examples of its usage in professional speech. The optional components (etymology, derivatives, terminological collocations with the headword, analogues, synonyms and illustrations) are used as supplementary characteristics of a lexical item if available. Definitions are made by the principle of generic, genetic, operational and contextual explanations with elements of encyclopedic information. The dictionary is intended for linguists, terminologists, students and teachers of the disciplines of the Design of the Architectural Environment training programs, and is of interest to professionals in this field