On the problem of the lexicographic representation of diminutives in the Serbian-Russian dictionary
Authors: Shapich Yulia 
Published: October 2024

The article is a comparison of diminutives and functionally similar lexical
units in Serbian and Russian languages (hereinafter SL and RL).
Crosslinguistic lexical comparison is conducted as a preparation for a large
bilingual Serbian-Russian dictionary, which is a part of the project on
comparative lexicology and lexicography. The article deals with the
lexico-semantic category, which in the SL consists of the two subcategories,
diminutives and terms of endearment, while in the Russian linguistic
tradition it is united under the name diminutives. Lexical units of this
group consist of motivated derivatives formed by affixation with a common
primary semantics of diminution in relation to the norm. In terms of
grammar, this group consists mainly of nouns, followed by adjectives and
adverbs, as well as diminutive verbs in Serbian. The analysis of lexical
items beginning with the letters A and B with qualifiers ???.
?diminutives?, ???. ?a term of endearment? or ? ???. ??????? ?in diminutive
meaning? from the one-volume Dictionary of the Serbian Language of Matica
Srpska (2018), as well as their potential equivalents in the RL, apart from
classification differences, reveals a number of inconsistencies at the
level of functions and pragmatics of the units in SL and RL, which make
their lexicographic representation difficult. Although the frequency of
diminutives is higher in RL, the formal equivalent of the SL derivative is
sometimes expressed through a synonym (a synonym of the derivative word is
searched for and its diminutive form is built), a hyperonym or a syntagm. In
the Russian part of the dictionary, the difference between meanings of
diminutives and terms of endearment may be neutralized, since Russian
derivatives carry a whole paradigm of potential connotations, which are
actualized only in communicative situations. Not all communicative
situations coincide with those in SL - for example, in RL the use of
diminutives in polite communication is known. The lexicographic problem lies
not only in finding a suitable congruent form, but also in the fact that by
identifying lexemes in the dictionary one can impose on the Serbian lexeme
connotations from RL that it did not possess in SL. An additional difficulty of semantics is related to the adequacy of interpretation of
diminutives in SL formed from polysemantic words. Namely, it is not always
obvious whether ?diminution? refers to one of several separated meanings or
to all meanings, because there is no qualifier referring to it, there is no
illustration of usage, and the electronic corpus of SL does not provide an
adequate number of usage examples. The paper also describes the problem of
possible narrowing of the meaning of a lexeme. Finally, the stylistic status
of the units is unequal: in RL derivatives with diminutives and / or meaning
of subjective evaluation belong mainly to the verbal and colloquial style
(and are limitedly recorded in dictionaries), while in SL diminutives are
?accepted? in the language and dictionary, which means that they demonstrate
a higher degree of lexicalization. The problem of representing diminutives
and other lexical structures in a bilingual dictionary should be considered
on a broader linguistic material and at the level of the methodology of
bilingual lexicography.