Terminological miscellany of the Ministry of Ways (1918): view from the standpoint of the XXI century
Authors: Vydaichuk Tetiana 
Published: December 2024

Background. The 20s of the 20th century was a “golden decade” for creating a new linguistic face of Ukraine, which in linguistics was marked by a surge in the creation of terminological dictionaries of various branches of science and special spheres of professional activity. This type of practical linguistic activity ensured the distancing of the Ukrainian language from the structure of Russian, made it possible to overcome the dependence on the language of the empire in linguistic practice, and contributed to the development of lexical, terminological, grammatical and word-forming resources of the Ukrainian language for various spheres of communication.Scientists still have not established the exact number of terminological dictionaries published at that time because even today, we find new lexicographical works, such as the “Terminological miscellany of the Ministry of Ways. P⁰1” (Kyiv: Printing House of the Ministry of Ways, 1918), which became the object of scientific research in this article.Сontribution to the research field. Lexicographical monument of the Ukrainian language at the beginning of the 20th century. “Terminological miscellany of the Ministry of Ways. P⁰1” is introduced into the linguistic circulation for the first time. Thanks to the found and researched monument of the Ukrainian language, the present study may contribute to a more complete description of Ukrainian terminology and lexicography at the beginning of the 20th century.In the article, the miscellany-dictionary is analyzed regarding the language policy and language planning of the Ukrainian National People’s Republic. The lexical material is described from the point of view of the Ukrainian language at the beginning of the 20th century. Special attention is paid to the spelling practice of the monument because it is about the period of searching for a unified spelling system for the all-Ukrainian literary language.The combination of findings provides some support for the conceptual opinion that the language policy of the Ukrainian People’s Republic was wellthought-out, well-planned, and contributed to overcoming dependence on the language of the former tsarist empire and the establishment of the multi-functionality of the Ukrainian language.One of the issues arising from the article’s conclusions is quite debatable: whether the Ukrainian language would have a different vector of development, other systemic characteristics, or examples of deformation of linguistic thinking if it were not for the repeated destructive influence of the Russian language already in Soviet times.Purpose. To find out the significance of the compilation of the formation and development of the Ukrainian literary language for the national terminology and lexicography of the relevant time, determine its role as an instrument of the language policy of the Ukrainian People’s Republic.Methods. The article relies primarily on the descriptive method, modeling and interpretation method for searching, systematizing, summarizing, and explaining the obtained data. The comparative-historical method, comparative method, and the analysis of dictionary definitions were partly applied.Results. “Terminological miscellany of the Ministry of Ways. P⁰1” became the forerunner of terminological and technical academic dictionaries of the 20s-30s of the 20th century. It reproduces information both from the field of technical knowledge and from the field of record keeping and contemporary life; it is a unique source of evidence not only about the lexical richness of the Ukrainian language but also about the linguistic thinking of Ukrainians, about the contemporary society — its intellectual, cultural, political and social and economic existence. The dictionary-miscellany, despite its small volume — 64 pages, panoramically reproduces the search for ways of further development of the Ukrainian language in the tumultuous and tragic decades of Ukrainian history, the search for the principles of preservation, enrichment, and normalization of the language system at all its levels.Discussion. “Terminological miscellany of the Ministry of Ways. P⁰1” is a monument of the Ukrainian language of the beginning of the 20th century, which surprises with its unusualness and wealth of expressive means, the courage, and originality of the Ukrainian-centric worldview, the thoughtfulness of the implementation of the language policy of the Ukrainian National People’s Republic as its tool. Realizing the need to study the Ukrainian language as a linguistic phenomenon and understanding the value of monuments of the Ukrainian language, especially those to which access of linguists was closed during the times of the Ukrainian SSR, we consider it necessary to find such works and put them into scientific circulation, and make them public.