On Gaps and Inaccuracies in the Description of Religious Vocabulary (Lexicographer’s Notes)

The notes deal with the issue of incomplete and inaccurate descriptions of modern religious vocabulary in the explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language. Several topics related to this issue are discussed: the polysemy of the word автокефалия (“autocephaly”, e. g. получить автокефалию “to get autocephaly” and управлять автокефалией “to manage the autocephaly”), the normativity of the verb phrase венчать брак (‘of marriage: to canonically bless, consecrate, performing such a rite’), the addition of derivative words to the dictionary word list, such as апсидный (“apsidal”) и постовой (“lenten”, ‘related to the church fast’), and the transitivity of the verb кадить (“to incense”). The importance of careful analysis of both official and unofficial church usage in relation to general standard speech is emphasized, as well as the need to revise some traditional dictionary descriptions. Specific examples are provided in the context of the interrelationship between concepts such as system, usage, and norm (lexical and grammatical). It has been shown that in order to adequately understand the place of a lexical unit within the language system, as well as its functioning in speech and its normative status, it is beneficial to consult a wide range of dictionary sources. These include linguistic dictionaries (both modern and historical) as well as encyclopedias (both universal and specialized). The sources for linguistic material can be stylistically and genre-diverse, including scientific (particularly theological) and popular science texts, journalism (for example newspapers) and artistic literature. These texts can be official or everyday, written or oral (such as sermons or interviews with the clergy).