This information is presented in a user-friendly format worked out by Richard L. Leed and Slava Paperno of Cornell University. The format is a simplified version of the format in the Explanatory Combinatorial Dictionary proposed by Igor A. Mel'chuk and Alexander K. Zholkovsky. However, our dictionary differs from that model in that it is bilingual, and therefore contains English translations instead of explicit explanations of the sense of the Russian words and expressions.
Combinatorial (or collocational) dictionaries are a relatively new construct. Their theoretical foundation is the notion that standard word combinations, or collocations, can be described in a systematic way. The notion of lexical functions introduced by Mel'chuk and Zholkovsky in 1965 is fundamental for a systematic description of this sort. The term was inspired by the mathematical notion of function. In mathematics, if one knows a function and its argument, one can predict the value of this function (e.g. the square of 2 is predictably 4). Mel'chuk and Zholkovsky proposed a set of lexical functions which correspond to regular relationships between lexical units. If one knows a lexical function and a word (the argument), one can find the appropriate collocation or lexeme to yield a certain meaning (the value of the function). For example, the function we might call "high degree" with the word criticism has the value keen (criticism); with the word smoker it has the value heavy (smoker), with the word trouble it has the value deep (trouble), etc.
To compare using a collocational dictionary with an ordinary one we might take the word grade as an example. What verb is used to say what the teacher does to a grade? In English, a teacher gives a grade. What is the value of this function in Russian? In a non-collocational dictionary, one has to look up the word give and try to find a suitable translation among its many usages. In a collocational dictionary one looks up the Russian word for grade отмљтка, and then finds the phrase стђвить отмљтку under the appropriate heading. The heading will reflect the relationship between the words grade and give. This relationship (this lexical function) can be described as the verb used for a typical action of which отмљтка is the object and teacher is the subject. The heading in the dictionary might be "What the teacher does."
Under a similar heading in the entry for экзђмен "examination," one will find the Russian equivalent of the phrase to give an exam, i.e. принимђть экзђмен. Clearly, this does not mean that the Russian for give is either стђвить or принимђть, whose normal meanings, when not used as values of lexical functions, are not give, but put and accept.
When the subject of the verb is "student," the same relationship supplies the verbs получђть for отмљтка and сдавђть for экзђмен, whose normal meanings are receive and submit, respectively. Again, finding these expressions in a collocational dictionary is much more straightforward than searching through all possible translations of to get (a grade) and to take (an exam) in an ordinary dictionary, where the correct value may not be provided in any case.
Native speakers of a language know these collocations. Language learners have to ask a native speaker or use a collocational dictionary.
The user of a collocational dictionary of the simplified type represented by this book need know nothing about lexical functions themselves, but it is important to note that this dictionary is organized according to some reasonable principle — it is not merely a miscellaneous collection of phrases. Each entry in the dictionary contains a section entitled Lexical Relationships and the headings and sub-headings under this rubric represent lexical functions (or their classes).
The Morphology section is taken from the dictionary 5000 Russian Words by Richard L. Leed and Slava Paperno. The reader is referred to that work for a detailed explanation of its structure. For our purposes here, let us note merely the following:
The headword is followed by two capital letters. The first represents the stress in the singular forms and the second in the plural forms. "S" stands for stress on the stem and "E" stands for stress on the ending. If the word is characterized by having a vowel inserted before zero ending (as in бёдер, the genitive plural of бедрћ), it is noted in parentheses. Irregular forms (in stress, endings, or stem) come next. Then comes information on gender, animacy, and part of speech. For example, "бедрћ ES (е) NPlur. бёдра; n.in.noun" stands for the singular forms бедрћ, бедрђ, бедрљ... and the plural forms бёдра, бёдер, бёдрах... of the neuter inanimate noun. If there are any deviations in particular phrases or expressions, they are listed last (for example, see рукђ).
In the Syntax section we describe how the actants of the word are expressed. Most of our words have only one actant — the "possessor" of the particular part of the body. However, words such as кћжа "skin," крћвь "blood," and пћт "sweat" have a second actant as well — place (e.g. кћжа на спинљ "the skin on one's back").
For parts of the body that come in pairs we also describe the syntactic constructions which are possible for restrictive modifiers, i.e. modifiers that specify which of the two members of the pair is being spoken of (e.g. лљвая пїтка "the left heel," пїтка лљвой ногќ "the heel of the left foot," and пїтка на лљвой ногљ, literally "the heel on the left foot").
The section on Lexical Relationships is the one that contains collocations. They are grouped together semantically under various headings, often with further subdivisions: one group consists of expressions describing the appearance of the body part, another is devoted to sensations, another to movements, etc. For further details on how they are organized, see section two of the following essay, The Human Body and Linguistics. Under Lexical Relationships you will also find synonyms, diminutives, augmentatives, syntactic derivatives, generic terms, etc.
Expressions to be included in this dictionary have been selected according to the following two criteria:
On the one hand, we have included a number of free expressions in addition to set phrases. For example, the entry нћс "nose" includes expressions such as нћс мёрзнет "one's nose is cold," отморћженный нћс, обморћженный нћс "frost-bitten nose," растирђть нћс "to rub one's nose," etc. The reason for this is that our aim was to present all of the common expressions that are used to describe the typical properties of each of these parts of the body, as well as the typical situations in which they occur, and some of these common expressions are free.
On the other hand, we have excluded idioms containing the names of parts of the body, e.g. не вќдеть дђльше сћбственного нћса "to be narrow- minded," lit. "to be unable to see further than one's own nose," or бІть с кљм-то на дрџжеской ногљ "to be on friendly terms with somebody," lit. "to be on a friendly foot with somebody." The criterion for excluding such expressions is that the bodypart meaning of the word does not show up in the meaning of the idiom.
Many of the collocations in this dictionary contain verbs. When a verb is cited, its imperfective form is listed first, separated from its perfective partner, if any exists, by a slash. If no partner exists for a given expression, that fact is rendered by the abbreviations no Pf. or no Impf. If an action-type perfective is in common use, it is listed with a label indicating what type it is, namely, Pf-once for semelfactives, Pf-awhile for restrictives, and Pf-begin for inceptives.
Finally, a word about the English translations. The intention is to render the meaning of the Russian word or phrase, not to list all possible translations or to pursue the sometimes impossible task of finding the exactly corresponding set phrase in English. This is a dictionary of Russian collocations, not English ones. For this reason the translations may sometimes be more literal than an expert translator would wish for.
An electronic version of this dictionary is available from Lexicon Bridge Publishers. For information, send e-mail to LBPInfo@lexiconbridge.com.