The "Historical Dictionary of the Belarusian Language" is the only reference book in national humanities, which reflects the richness of the Belarusian language vocabulary of the 14th-18th centuries as full as possible. It is a reliable source of information about the past of Belarus. The Dictionary also contains the richest information about the social and economic life, material and spiritual culture of the Belarusian people in this historical period. More than 75,000 words from chronicles, chronographs, military and knightly novels, memoirs, scientific and religious works, and many other written historical sources have been recorded in the Dictionary.
From the 1960s, A.I. Zhuravsky and A.N. Bulyko, Corresponding Members of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, guided the work on development of the Dictionary concept, creation of its basic file cabinet, preparation of entries, etc. Several generations of gifted Belarusian linguists made their invaluable contribution to the development of this fundamental project. Therefore, the "Historical Dictionary of the Belarusian Language" has become a real project of the century for the Belarusian humanities.
The Dictionary has a scientific, practical and social significance. Its materials are widely used in the works devoted to the formation and evolution of the lexical system of the Belarusian language, characteristics of the vocabulary of the Old Belarusian monuments; in practice of teaching; in implementation of interdisciplinary projects on the East Slavic languages and peoples interaction, etc.
The "Historical Dictionary of the Belarusian Language" is used in the activities aimed at preserving, transferring and popularizing the historical and cultural heritage of the Belarusian people. Its publication strengthens the status of the Belarusian humanities at the international level.
The presentation will be attended by the leadership of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, former and current employees of the Yakub Kolas Institute of Linguistics, university teachers, and representatives of scientific community of the country.