The paper deals with the issue of compiling the Southwestern dialect dictionaries. Asurvey of the history of the dialect dictionaries from the mid-nineteenth century to the present isgiven. The scientific background and principles of compiling the dictionaries in question areanalyzed. Special attention is given to dictionary register, dictionary entry structure, description ofsemantic properties of registered words, illustrative material, word passport.It has been established that many aspects of the Hutsul dialects are reflected in differentlexicographical works, though a big academic dictionary still needs to be written. There exist bigdifferential dictionaries of the Boyko, Bukovynian, Upper Dniestrian dialects. The Transcarpathianand Lemko dialects are less closely studied in this respect. There have been carried out somelexicographical studies of the Podillian, Pokuttian, Southern Volynian dialects and the dialects ofthe Sian river basin; further research is certainly needed to provide a firm basis for compilingdictionaries of these dialects