Some problems of describing language composites and their initial components in explanatory lexicography

The article deals with some problems of modern explanatory lexicography of the initial components of compound words performing the attributive function and words that incorporate such components into their structure. The relevance of this topic is due to the increasing amount of this type of new words in the modern Russian language, the lack of a unified approach to such words in the theory of word-formation and lexicography, and an attempt to find criteria for incorporating them into dictionaries. The empirical material for this research was collected in the Integrum database and extracted from modern explanatory dictionaries. The purpose of the article is to identify problems with representing this vocabulary in explanatory dictionaries within the framework of the project entitled “Dictionary of the Russian Language of the XXI Century”. The objectives include the discussion of the following aspects: selection of words with this structure for explanatory dictionaries; interpretation of the category of complex and compound words in modern explanatory lexicography and grammar; etymologization of derived (borrowed) compound words; lexicographic procedures for the compound words with dual spelling (Latin and Cyrillic); different practices of compound words spelling (concatenated, separated or hyphenated). The research methodology included the methods of analytical review, lexicographic definition, and classification.