Review: Oxford Russian Dictionaries

[Andrew Jameson]

The Oxford Russian Dictionary. Third Edition.
Russian-English edited by Marcus Wheeler and Boris Unbegaun.
English-Russian edited by Paul Falla. Revised and updated by
Della Thompson.
Oxford University press, 2000, 1295 p. ISBN 0-19-860160-3
(hbk only) GBP30, $55.

The Concise Oxford Russian Dictionary. Revised edition.
Thematic Wordfinder prepared by David Taylor.
Guide to Exploring the Internet prepared by Geoffrey Rolfe.
Oxford University Press, 1998, 1007 p. ISBN 0-19-860152-2
(hbk only) GBP17.99, $35.

The Pocket Oxford Russian Dictionary. Second edition.
Russian-English compiled by Jessie Coulson.
English Russian compiled by Nigel Rankin and Della Thompson.
Revised and updated by Colin Howlett.
Oxford University Press, 1994, re-issued in paper 2000, 623 p.
ISBN 0-19-860150-6 (pbk) GBP9.99, $11.95.

The Oxford Colour Russian Dictionary.
Compiled by Della Thompson.
With word games supplement.
Oxford University Press, 1998, 506 p. ISBN 0-19-860211-1
(vinyl) GBP7.99 ($ not quoted).

The Oxford Starter Russian Dictionary.
Edited by Della Thompson.
Oxford University Press, 1997, 302 p. ISBN 0-19-860032-1
(pbk) GBP7.99, $9.95.

The Oxford Russian Minidictionary
Edited by Della Thompson.
Oxford University Press, 1995, 696 p. ISBN 0-19-864188-5
(vinyl) GBP4.99 ($ not quoted).

This justly famous series of Russian/English dictionaries sets
the standard for all others. It has been a real pleasure to watch
the range growing over the years, from the first large-format Oxford
Russian-English dictionary of 1972, the separate English-Russian
volume of 1984 and their combination in definitive form in 1993.
Each of these was an event in the world of Russian studies.
>From the first volume, compiled by Marcus Wheeler, edited by
Boris Unbegaun, D. P. Costello and W. F. Ryan, all other
members of the series have sprung, although it took some time
to provide for all the different sectors of the market. The combined
dictionary of 1993 re-appears in this millennium year in a major
new edition (the third, counting from the beginning) symptomatic
of the present rate of development of the Russian language. The
Concise, number two in the series, appeared relatively late, in
1996, with a new edition in 1998. The Pocket Dictionary, now
number three in the series, started life as a small portable vinyl
volume in 1981, but in 1994 became the substantial book it now
is, and sits a little uneasily with the Pocket name. Meanwhile a
Minidictionary was invented in 1995 which is truly pocketable. For
learners a Starter's Dictionary with grammatical information
appeared in 1997, and in 1998 the vinyl Colour dictionary appeared
(having started life as the Oxford Paperback Russian dictionary
in 1996).

It has taken Oxford some time and some adjustment to create the
full range of dictionaries, as defined by the excellent Collins
series serving the "big four" foreign languages. However the definition
of the purpose of each member of the series is now quite
clear. Starting with the great dictionary, which offers 180,000 words
and 290,000 translations, and in line with the general trend towards
the internationalisation of dictionaries, several substantial improvements
have been made in the third edition. The dictionary has been made
much more useful to Russian speakers by expanding the provision
of sense indicators in the R-E half of the dictionary, and by providing
inflectional information for English headwords. The pronunciation of
each English headword in IPA was of course already there in the
second edition. In addition much more information is now given about
American spelling and usage and the labels US and Br. are extensively
used. It goes without saying that the text has been considerably
updated to reflect the huge changes that have taken place in Russian
reality since the demise of Communism. The text has been completely
re-set with headwords in bold thick type, and a printed version of a
thumb index has been added to aid searching. There are also tables
of Russian declensions and conjugations and English irregular verbs.
While there is at the moment no thematic supplement on communicative
functions, as in the Collins series, this may come in course of time.
Likewise sections on numerals, arithmetic, measures, times and dates
could usefully be added. In sum, this is for now the ultimate Russian
/English bilingual dictionary, essential for all translators, academics
and advanced students of the language.

The Concise is an abridgement of the great dictionary, reduced to
about 120,000 words and phrases. It is intended for English-speaking
users studying at college or university level, and does not include the
Russian-friendly features of the great dictionary, except that English
pronunciations are given in IPA. It is a general work and so technical,
archaic and slang terms are included sparingly, but an effort has been
made to give good coverage of idioms, phrases and syntactic information.
The thematic wordfinder offers 11 pages of spoken and written functions,
dealing with presenting an argument, environment, society, business,
telephone use, media and arts. This will be an interesting area to develop
in the future, perhaps using a more comprehensive set of communicative
functions. This would be invaluable for students writing essays, or others
writing letters or reports. Lastly, the Concise offers a six page guide to
exploring the Internet. The presence of this guide shows Oxford's good
intentions, but the obvious problem of a rapidly changing scene makes
it a risky venture. Several basic statements are plainly wrong now, and
may cause the unwary user to attempt unnecessary operations. Netscape
is not the only browser which works with Cyrillic. Microsoft Windows
software is generally Cyrillic-compatible and there is no need to download
and install Cyrillic fonts, they come as standard (but they do need to
be "activated"). Other material about search engines, Russian websites
and computer jargon is reasonably useful. One area where students
could ask for and receive useful current information is hardly mentioned:
email discussion lists and/or newsgroups. If Oxford were able to keep
some updateable Russian-information files on their own website, and
these dictionary pages could refer students to them, how much more
satisfactory the situation would be. Never mind, this is an excellent
dictionary for quick reference for all but the most abstruse terms.
The addition of a printed "thumb index" would be welcome.

The rationale of the Pocket is to cater for English-speakers without
advanced knowledge of Russian, and no particular linguistic interest
in it. It is intended for students, tourists and business travellers who
need basic meanings in their area of interest. English headwords
are given in IPA and some geographical names are included, although
on examining the text this reviewer did not find very many. Maybe,
with expansion, coverage of this area could become a feature of this
particular dictionary, since it is the logical choice for the traveller to
take in his/her luggage (but not in a pocket - it is still quite heavy).
With 70,000 words and 120,000 translations the coverage is still
very wide. Beyond the "Using this dictionary" introduction, the Pocket
has no special features or appendices.

The Colour has a more cosy feeling with its small light format,
vinyl cover and headwords in mid-blue. It is not helpful to the
Russian learner of English, having no IPA spelling of English
headwords or English verb information. It is transparently for the
English educational market, with its supplement of word games
in the centre, and (very brief) summary of grammatical information at
the back. The word games are intended to give practice in dictionary
use. The coverage is 45,000 words and 65,000 translations, which
takes it well over what the average school might use. However an
important feature for schools in the E-R section is the way different
meanings of English words are flagged before giving a Russian
translation, in an effort to avoid the pitfalls of uncritical vocabulary
choice. Having identified the correct translation, the user can then
move to the R-E section, which contains carefully chosen
grammatical information on each word. In the case of this dictionary,
the candidate for expansion is the summary of Russian grammar,
which could form a useful adjunct to the dictionary's likely use.
It is very much a learner's dictionary, and well adapted for this
purpose.

With the Colour dictionary, why do we need the Starter? The
Starter is, in truth, difficult to define. It is more like a learner's
resource book than a dictionary. It has an open page layout with,
on the E-R side, many examples in short phrases, and page-long
articles on difficult points (Russian names; the translation of "get"),
and, on the R-E side, there is not only information on grammar but
also cultural explanations where Russian life differs from English.
The learner is encouraged to cross-refer for the information s/he
needs. The vocabulary chosen betrays that the Starter is intended
for the English-speaking adult learner market, with its emphasis
on practical travel and interpersonal functions. Other things the
Starter contains are a pronunciation guide, a well-explained
glossary of grammar terms and a set of exercises on using the
dictionary. The grammar guide is 14 pages long and includes 29
numbered paradigms of word endings, keyed to all relevant words
in the R-E side of the dictionary. Because of its unusual structure,
the number of words the Starter contains is not given and might
be difficult to calculate. The whole is a remarkable attempt to
re-think the conventional dictionary from the point of view of the
learner and is highly recommended to adult education teachers
(who may however need to tactfully "educate" their adult students
in its use) and to those who may, for whatever reason, be studying
Russian on their own.

The Mini is the only genuine pocket dictionary in the series, and
is incredible value if the price is really as low as stated. This
is difficult to tell, as the OUP website, although excellent and
easy to use, has several inaccuracies and the Russian dictionary
section needs to be completed and checked (www.oup.co.uk).
Although listed as Beginners level, it has 45,000 words and 65,000
translations and would serve as a pocket aid for English-speaking
students, tourists and business, indeed any but the most advanced
users. It is not designed to be useful to Russian native speakers,
however, with no English pronunciation given or English verb tables.
It is strong on idiomatic phrases and claims to be the most up-to-date
dictionary of its type. Given that it is now nearly six years old, it
could well be time to consider an update. Useful appendices on
spelling rules, adjectives, nouns and verbs are included.

How to sum up this amazing series? Coming from a variety of origins,
Oxford has now assembled a set of dictionaries for Russian which is
comparable to the brand leaders Collins for French, German, Italian
and Spanish. It is notable that Oxford has done this entirely through
its own resources, whereas Collins has for the most part entered
into partnerships with top European publishers. How far a Russian
partnership might be possible for Oxford remains conjectural, but
probably conditions are not yet right for such arrangements. However,
even with this avenue of development blocked, there are interesting
possibilities for future development. The sophisticated sections on
spoken and written functions, so highly praised in the Collins Spanish
Dictionary, could be one way for the great dictionary to proceed.
Certain stylistic themes in Offord, Using Russian, or the treatment
of numerals, measures and their many ramifications as in Gerhart,
The Russian's World could offer food for thought. Russian-friendliness
and maybe US awareness could be extended to the Concise. The
student-oriented functional appendices in the Concise should be
extended, making use of the space left by the internet section,
which, on balance, should be dropped (leaving perhaps an OUP
website with updated information and effective links). The Pocket,
(missing at the moment from the website) described as designed for
non-linguists, could contain elements of geographical information,
cultural briefing and business etiquette as befit its stated purpose.
It may be useful to extend the grammar summary in the Colour
dictionary. The Starter and the Mini, each with their own special qualities,
are fine as they are, with the prize for innovation going to the Oxford
Starter Russian Dictionary. All in all, the Oxford Russian Dictionary
series is a great achievement.

Andrew Jameson
Chair, Russian Committee, ALL
Reviews Editor, Rusistika
Listowner, allnet, cont-ed-lang, russian-teaching
1 Brook Street, Lancaster LA1 1SL   UK
Tel: 01524 32371  (+44 1524 32371)

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