LINGUISTIC PRINCIPLES FOR COMPILING A NATIONAL ASSOCIATIVE DICTIONARY: QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE STUDY

Abstract

Scientific and technological advancements are increasingly transitioning to digital formats, enhancing the accessibility of research outputs and expanding their capacity to address theoretical and practical challenges. Lexicographic works, online language databases, corpora, and related computational tools form a core linguistic foundation. Among them, associative dictionaries, which capture the linguistic consciousness of an entire ethnic group, play a notable role in artificial intelligence and language learning systems by modelling native speakers’ thought patterns, logical processes, and grammatical structures.

This article aims to systematize the structure of national associative dictionaries that reflect the values and cultural specificities of the Kazakh ethnos; to summarize their compilation practices, algorithms, and linguistic principles; to provide additional insights; and to determine their significance based on concrete linguistic material. The central research objective is to develop a new aspect-oriented format of Kazakh associative dictionaries that meets contemporary demands, given the need for both quantitative and qualitative growth. It also seeks to gather and analyse linguistic data illustrating national linguistic consciousness and “associative” memory.

A free associative experiment method was employed in dictionary compilation. Responses to stimuli underwent qualitative and quantitative analysis, with linguistic and axiological features examined through bio-social variables such as age, gender, region, and profession. Based on the proposed principles, dictionary entries were created, systematizing data that portray the Kazakh people’s national character, cognitive traits, and elements of a naïve linguistic worldview.

The study underscores that developing theoretical linguistic principles for practical lexicographic products is a key task in dictionary research. In the 21st century, with rapid ICT development and globalization, formulating principles for national associative dictionaries supports synchronic study of the Kazakh language while preserving the nation’s spiritual and material culture, traditions, and ethnocultural semantics.