ABOUT THE APPLICATION “GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES” IN RUSSIAN-CHINESE DICTIONARIES PUBLISHED IN RUSSIA AND CHINA

Abstract

. Comparison of Russian-Chinese dictionaries created in Russia and China revealed a number of differences. Unlike Russian dictionaries, Chinese dictionaries contain more geographical names, they are more diverse, Chinese equivalents of Russian toponyms are not transcribed. There are more Russian toponyms in Chinese dictionaries, and there are more Chinese toponyms in Russian dictionaries. The compilers of Russian dictionaries were not attentive to the changes of toponyms on the world map, which led to the appearance in Russian dictionaries of many old names without any notes, whereas in Chinese dictionaries modern names are often indicated in parentheses. Both Russian and Chinese dictionaries of the XX century indicate traditional Chinese names as an equivalent for those administrative units that used to be part of China and are now part of Russia, while in the dictionaries of both countries in the XXI century, the Chinese equivalent is a transcription of the Russian name in hieroglyphs. Unlike Russian lexicographers, Chinese ones provide a lot of encyclopedic information that is not included in the lists of geographical names of Russian dictionaries.