Obituary
The eminent scientist-linguist and public worker, professor and honoured worker of sciences of RSFR and DASR Uneizat Meilanova died after the long illness in 28 of June on 2001.
U. Meilanova was born in village Kasumkent in 1925. After the ending of S.Stalski Daghestan Pedagogical Institute (modern Daghestan State University) she was sent to Moscow Institute of Linguistics of USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1952 she was a first woman in her republic which supported the candidate thesis. In 1965 U. Meilanova supported the doctor's thesis too in Institute of Linguistics of Georgian Academy of Sciences and became the first woman-doctor in Daghestan.
All her life she worked in Daghestan Institute of history, language and literature. Besides this she was a head of chair of common and Daghestanian linguistics of DSU and was the editor of the journal “The women of Daghestan”.
During her long scientifical life she was working out the actual problems of Daghestanian linguistics. From the 50-ies she worked on Daghestanian dialectology. On this case she published the three monographies: 1. “The esseis of Lezgian dialectology” (Moscow, 1964); 2. “ The Guney dialect – the base of Lezgy literary language” (Mahachkala,1974) and 3. “The Kuzuny subdialect of Kuba dialect of Lezgy language” (published in two last edittions of Tbilisi Annual of Ibero-Caucasian linguistics). She prepared for publishing in abroad the monography “The comparative-historical researches of the dialects of Lezgy language”. First by her was made “The dialectological dictionary of Lezgy lnguage”, which includes the material of twelve dialectical unites, united in three dialects: Kjure, Samur and Kuba. The work presents as a modern condition of the lexical fund of the Lezgy dialects also gives the materials of the preceding researches. Thus, the dictionary has a character of the comparative-historical researches.
Under her guidance a collective monography “The comparative-historical lexic of Daghestanian languages” was published (Moscow, 1971). U. Meilanova worked on the problems of phonetics, morphology and syntax. She published the monography “The morphological and syntactic characteristic of the cases of Lezgy language” (Mahachkala, 1960). Under her guidance a collective work “The grammar of the modern Lezgy language” was made. U. Meilanova made the code of orthographical rules of Lezgy language, which was entered in “Orthographical dictionary of Lezgy language” (co-author R. Gaigarov).
From daghestanian scientists U. Meilanova was a manager of the international project of “The linguistical atlas of Europe”.
The section of non-writing languages of Daghestan was opened in the Institute of History, Language and Literature on 1968. She was the head of this section till 1990. During this time she had made a great work in studing of grammar, lexics and dialects of the non-writing languages of Daghestan.
By her methodology and scientifical guidance the dictionaries of the non-writing languages were made. The first of them was the “Budukh-Russian dictionary” published by U. Meilanova in 1984. She also prepared for publishing the dialectological and terminological dictionaries of Lezgy language.
U. Meilanova known as an author of about 200 scientific works (6 monographies among them) published in the scientifical centers of our country and abroad. Her scientifical articles have published in English, German, Chinese, Korean and Portuguese.
U. Meilanova was a member of several scientifical departments at the section of literature and language in the Academy of Sciences of USSR. She was a member of specializing department of supporting the doctor’s thesis in T. Shevchenko Kiev University, Nizami Baku Institute, Kabardo-Balkaria State University. She was a member of the editorial board of “The Annual of Ibero-Caucasian Linguistics” (Tbilisi) from its beginning. In 1998 she was deserwed the Arn.Chikobava international prize.
U. Meilanova was known as a great publik worker. During the years she was elected member of commettee of soviet women and for her hard work was awarded a golden medal of commettee of solidarity of Asian and African countries.
During the last period of her life U. Meilanova was a member of Daghestan Institute of Language, Literature and Art.