ABOUT RUSSIAN MENTALITY REFLECTION IN EXPLANATORY DICTIONARIES (basing on V.I. Dal’s dictionary and “Russian Mentality Dictionary” edited by V.V. Kolesov)

Lexical item SOUL in Russian language dictionaries as basic component of Russian national mentality is considered; revealing peculiarities of the lexical meaning notion in dictionaries let widen culturological and lingual knowledge and make conclusion about specifics of author’s lexical and graphic notion of word meaning of SOUL. Considering the dictionary entry structure, traditional and individual-authorial nature of lingual material presentation, saving and reflecting mental Russian peoples’ image for many centuries. Existence of special lexical worldview and the connected phenomenon of “mentality” is maintained. It is a way of behaviour, thinking, world perception, factor of concrete epoch reality building, i. e. worldview. During reviewing lexical unit SOUL in “Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language” by V.I. Dal and “Russian Mentality Dictionary” edited by V.V. Kolesov different aspect are compared: word explanation, its idiomology, illustrative materials. It is proved, that being dominant in national behaviour, the content of word SOUL is widened; the lexical unit SOUL reflects certain features of Russian person’s character, their ideas and feelings. Active use and multi-variant interpretations of lexical unit SOUL let it have ethnic market.

mentality, concept, soul, explanatory dictionary