A Word on “Etymological Dictionary of the Tatar Language” »

Research in the field of etymology demands from a specialist in-depth knowledge, vast erudition, language skills, extensive work experience. Therefore, there are not many works in this area in Tatar linguistics. Rifkat Gazizzyanovich Akhmetyanov is a linguist who devoted his life to this particular field of linguistics. His “Eymological Dictionary of the Tatar Language” is a long-awaited work not only for the Tatar humanitarians, but also for the whole Turkic world and researchers of the history and language of the ethnic groups neighboring with the Tatars. This is the first fundamental etymological dictionary in Tatar linguistics. The two-volume dictionary contains information about the origin and formation of approximately 10 300 words, not counting their numerous variants. First of all, the author’s intention was to give an etymological analysis of the lexical structure of the Tatar literary language. Therefore, the dictionary contains all the root words of the three-volume explanatory dictionary of the Tatar language, published in 1977–1981. Special attention was also given to actively developing etymology of dialect vocabulary linking the Tatar language with other Turkic languages or borrowed from other languages. In general, each entry is composed of vocable, its translation into Russian, dialectal variants with their values, indications of source language (if it is a borrowing), area of distribution, i.e. parallels of analyzed lexema, first of all, from the Turkic or, in certain cases, from the Slavic and Finno-Ugric and other languages (if it is not a borrowing). If the etymology of the word is clear, the author points out it. If it causes some controversy, he cites the opinion of authoritative researchers, expresses his attitude and so on. The huge linguistic material based on the consistent scientific principles, studied in details and recorded in the dictionary, allows us to form an opinion on the influence of other languages on the Tatar one at different times as well as on the extent of this influence. This correspondingly contributes to a greater awareness of the past of the Tatar people, its history and culture.