Igor' Marchenko (University of Groningen) and Roman Ron’ko (HSE University; Vinogradov Russian Language Institute, RAS) Database of the Dialectological Atlas of the Russian language and the classification of Russian dialects

In this talk, we will provide an overview of the key functions of the Database of the Dialectological Atlas of the Russian Language (https://da.ruslang.ru/). Additionally, we will present two case studies that utilize this resource. The first case study assesses the stability of dialects using the database alongside dialect corpora, focusing on the dialect vocabulary spoken in a set of villages in the Zapadnodvinsky district of the Tver region. The second is devoted to the classification of Russian dialects using dialectometric methods, specifically multidimensional scaling (MDS). This study draws on data from the Dialectological Atlas of the Russian Language in its entirety, offering four classifications based on individual linguistic levels—morphology, phonetics, syntax, and lexis—as well as a comprehensive classification that accounts for all linguistic features reflected in the atlas. The primary focus of the study will be on distinguishing the differences between eastern and western Russian dialects based on the database materials, as well as offering a historical interpretation of this dialect division.