"A Three Language Marine Dictionary" by A. S. Shishkov in translation history
Translated lexicography in 18th century Russia was rich and wide, thereby it played a prominent role in the spread of knowledge. The rise of dictionary making in the field of navigation began in the following century and A. S. Shishkov was a pioneer here as he was the author of the first and the only multilanguage marine dictionary in Russia in the 18th century. A. S. Shishkov left a bright mark in Russian history as an admiral and a historiographer of the navy, a man of letters and a statesman as well as a lexicographer. The linguistic side of navigation attracted A. S. Shishkov from his young days as greatly as the service in the navy, which in its turn led to continuous work on dictionary making and translation. “A Three Language Marine Dictionary” consists of an introduction, English-Russian, French-Russian and Russian-English-French dictionaries. The study of the introduction has shown that A. S. Shishkov took two marine dictionaries by French authors as sources for his own one. These were an English-French dictionary of marine terminology by D. Lescallier and an explanatory marine dictionary by Ch. Romme. The analysis of “A Three Language Marine Dictionary” and the above-mentioned dictionaries has revealed that the translated part of Shishkov’s dictionary occupies less than half of it, therefore it should be recognized as an original lexicographic work of the 18th century. The translated and borrowed pieces demonstrate the mechanism and the nature of influence of foreign sources on the development of lexicography in Russia. In conclusion there are some facts to point out how A. S. Shishkov’s translation of the French book “Marine Art” by Ch. Romme became a key source of terminology and comparative information about French and Russian shipbuilding.