Creating a database of Russian dialects and prospects for dialectometric studies

Abstract

The necessity to transfer from the paper-based Dialectological Atlas of the Russian Language, published 30 years ago, to an electronic database is substantiated. This would make the information contained in the atlas available to a large number of users and ensure on-the-fly information retrieval, isogloss plotting, and finding dialects with a specified set of properties. It would also be possible to use state-of-the-art analytical tools for dialectological data, including mathematical methods, particularly cluster algorithms and multidimensional scaling, widely used in dialectometric studies in the West.