The scholarly legacy of V. D. Chernyak and problems of modern Russian studies: outcomes of the conference ‘Word. Dictionary. Language: Marking the 80th anniversary of the birth of professor Valentina Danilovna Chernyak, doctor of philology’

Abstract

This article marks the 80^th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding linguist Professor Valentina D. Chernyak, providing a detailed overview of the conference dedicated to her memory. The authors outline the key aspects of Chernyak’s research work.

The article examines Chernyak’s role in shaping specific fields of research within lexicology and lexicography, the culture of speech, the methodological aspects of studying the Russian language, and the linguistic analysis of literary texts. It also highlights a collection of Chernyak’s selected scientific works, spanning more than half a century of her scholarly activity.

The plenary session, the commemorative evening, and the panel discussions were exceptionally fruitful. The article provides a detailed account of the principal papers presented, focusing particularly on the keynote address by N. V. Kozlovskaya, Doctor of Philology, Head of the Department of the Russian Language and Leading Researcher at the Institute of Linguistic Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which opened the plenary session. This paper, titled ‘The Herzen School of Functional Lexicology: A Linguistic and Methodological Aspect’, traced the history of Herzen University’s school of lexicology and the evolution of the field that later came to be known as ‘functional lexicology’. N. V. Kozlovskaya outlined the core concepts of the communicative approach to the study of word semantics, which were formulated, substantiated, and developed by the representatives of this scientific school: the modification of lexical meaning components; the actual meaning of a word; strong and weak context; the semantic density of a text; the thematic homogeneity of vocabulary; the associative method of describing semantics; the aesthetic transformation of semantics; the thematic grid of a text; and the associative-semantic field of a text.

The article also focuses on the report titled ‘The Lexemes “Dictionary” and “Synonym” in the History of the Modern Russian Language (Based on the Panchronistic Corpus of the Russian Language)’, delivered by E. V. Grudeva, Doctor of Philology, Professor and Director of the Humanities Institute at Cherepovets State University. This report directly addressed two of the most important concepts in Chernyak’s research work.

The conference’s main panel sessions are reviewed, including the roundtable discussion ‘Remembering a Friend and a Teacher’, ‘Russian Lexicography and V. D. Chernyak’s Concept’, ‘Issues of Functional Lexicology of the Russian Language’, and ‘Grammar and Text’.

The article also examines the tradition and continuity of Chernyak’s scientific school.