APPLIED LINGUISTICS AT THE ORDER OF THE BADGE OF HONOUR INSTITUTE OF HISTORY, LANGUAGE AND LTERATURE OF THE UFRC RAS: KEY MILESTONES
Authors:   Order of the Badge of Honour Institute of History, Language and Literature UFRC RAS (Ufa), Sirazitdinov Zinnur A. 
Published: June 2024

The article analyzes the development of applied linguistics within the framework of Bashkir linguistics, as well as the formation of this field. Most researchers working in the field of applied linguistics consider it to be a multidisciplinary field that encompasses all existing research. However, there is still no clear definition of what constitutes this term. In the article, applied linguistics is defined as referring to areas that involve the use of mathematical methods, computer-aided text processing, and the creation and analysis of linguistic databases. These areas have been active fields of research at the Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences for over 30 years. The first steps towards this goal in the Bashkir linguistics were taken by the group “Automation of Lexicography”, which was founded in 1991. During its 11-year existence, the team developed frequency dictionaries for the language in the works of classical Bashkir literature by D. Yulty, as well as frequency dictionaries on different styles of Bashkir, primary school textbooks, and other materials. Due to the widespread adoption of computer technologies, which required the creation of standards for software, localization, support for operating systems, and promotion of the Bashkir language online, a laboratory for linguistics and information technology has been established on the basis of this group. The laboratory successfully completed these tasks: they presented standards for keyboard layouts and code tables; they participated in the localization of Lexicon, FineReader, Mozilla, Disco Commander and Chameleon programs; and they created national fonts and implemented language support for Windows and Linux operating systems. These works were the foundation for the full functionality of the language in the digital world. On their basis, the laboratory developed a terminological database operating on the internet, an information system for the Machine Fund of the Bashkir language, and corpus projects on prose, journalist and folklore texts in the Bashkir language. Based on these latter projects, certain issues regarding the syntactic structures of proverbs and sayings in the national language have been investigated. In order to continue dialectological research and to create a database of dialects of the national language, the laboratory was transformed into the Department of Applied Linguistics and Dialectology in 2022. Today, the department continues to work on corpus projects of the Bashkir language and collects expedition materials for a geographic information database on regional dialects. Based on these materials, a great deal of scientific work is carried out to clarify problems of the function of oral Bashkir speech within the media, as well as to determine phonetic and lexico-grammatical characteristics of the Northwest dialect.