Proverbs of Peter the Great’s Time in the V. P. Zhukov’s Dictionary

Abstract

The article emphasizes the importance of the “Dictionary of Russian Proverbs and Sayings”, compiled by V. P. Zhukov, for
Russian and general paroemiology and paroemiography. A compiler’s innovative, unconventional understanding of the
term proverb is noted, to which the author attributed vague proverbs like Money is a matter of time. The main lexicographic
parameters, which this dictionary is based on, are characterized: 1) consistent presentation of interpretations to
each figurative proverb in the absence of them for vague proverbs, i.e. sayings; 2) detailed contextual illustrations from
classical and modern literature for each proverb, confirming its semantization; 3) consistent historicism in indicating the
chronological sequence of recording Russian paroemias. The last goal is achieved by V. P. Zhukov in three ways. First, the
arrangement of the quotation material with an implicit primary use of the authors’ chronological sequence: first – the works of
the classics, then – contextual quotations from the Soviet literature. Secondly, by giving references to the 18th century
literature and the corresponding contextual illustrations at the end of the dictionary entry. Finally, a reference to the main
Russian paroemiological collections in their chronological order. Particular attention in the article is paid to the diachronic
aspect, which is implied in the dictionaries by references to the paroemiological collections of Peter the Great’s time: specific
examples demonstrate the meaning of different variant types (morphological, derivational, syntactic and lexical), recorded in
the P. K. Simonyi’s collection of ancient Russian proverbs, which V. P. Zhukov consistently refers to. Therefore, the dictionary of
V. P. Zhukov remains a powerful impetus for future research in Russian historical paroemiology.