History of the formation of the Russian literary language. Formation of the modern Russian literary language

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History of the Russian literary language- formation and transformation of the Russian language used in literary works. The oldest surviving literary monuments date back to the 11th century. IN XVIII-XIX centuries this process took place against the background of the opposition of the Russian language, which the people spoke, to French, the language of the nobles. The classics of Russian literature actively explored the possibilities of the Russian language and were innovators of many language forms. They emphasized the richness of the Russian language and often pointed out its advantages over foreign languages. On the basis of such comparisons, disputes have repeatedly arisen, for example, disputes between Westerners and Slavophiles. IN Soviet times it was emphasized that the Russian language is the language of the builders of communism, and during the reign of Stalin, a campaign was carried out to combat cosmopolitanism in literature. Conversion of Russian literary language continues to this day.

Folklore

Oral folklore (folklore) in the form of fairy tales, epics, proverbs and sayings is rooted in distant history. They were passed on from mouth to mouth, their content was polished in such a way that the most stable combinations remained, and linguistic forms were updated as the language developed. Oral creativity continued to exist even after the advent of writing. In modern times, worker and urban, as well as army and blatnoy (prison camp) folklore were added to peasant folklore. Currently, oral folk art is most expressed in anecdotes. Oral folk art also influences the written literary language.

Development of the literary language in ancient Rus'

The introduction and spread of writing in Rus', leading to the creation of the Russian literary language, is usually associated with Cyril and Methodius.

Thus, in ancient Novgorod and other cities in the 11th-15th centuries, birch bark letters were in use. Most of the surviving birch bark letters are private letters of a business nature, as well as business documents: wills, receipts, bills of sale, court records. There are also church texts and literary and folklore works (spells, school jokes, riddles, household instructions), educational records (alphabet books, warehouses, school exercises, children's drawings and doodles).

Church Slavonic writing, introduced by Cyril and Methodius in 862, was based on the Old Church Slavonic language, which in turn was derived from South Slavic dialects. The literary activity of Cyril and Methodius consisted of translating the books of the Holy Scriptures, New and Old Testament. The disciples of Cyril and Methodius translated into Church Slavonic from Greek a large number of religious books. Some researchers believe that Cyril and Methodius introduced not the Cyrillic alphabet, but the Glagolitic alphabet; and the Cyrillic alphabet was developed by their students.

The Church Slavonic language was a book language, not a colloquial one, the language of church culture, which spread among many Slavic peoples. Church Slavonic literature spread among Western Slavs(Moravia), South Slavs (Bulgaria), in Wallachia, parts of Croatia and the Czech Republic and, with the adoption of Christianity, in Rus'. Because Church Slavonic language differed from spoken Russian, church texts were subject to changes during correspondence and were Russified. The scribes corrected Church Slavonic words, bringing them closer to the Russian ones. At the same time, they introduced features of local dialects.

To systematize Church Slavonic texts and introduce uniform language norms in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the first grammars were written - the grammar of Laurentius Zizaniya (1596) and the grammar of Meletius Smotrytsky (1619). The process of formation of the Church Slavonic language was basically completed in late XVII century, when Patriarch Nikon corrected and systematized liturgical books. Liturgical books of Russian Orthodoxy have become the norm for all Orthodox peoples .

As Church Slavonic religious texts spread in Rus', literary works gradually began to appear that used the writing of Cyril and Methodius. The first such works date back to the end of the 11th century. These are “The Tale of Bygone Years” (1068), “The Tale of Boris and Gleb”, “The Life of Theodosius of Pechora”, “The Tale of Law and Grace” (1051), “The Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh” (1096) and “The Tale of Igor’s Host” (1185-1188). These works are written in a language that is a mixture of Church Slavonic and Old Russian.

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Reforms of the Russian literary language of the 18th century

“The beauty, splendor, strength and richness of the Russian language is abundantly clear from books written in past centuries, when our ancestors did not only know any rules for writing, but they hardly even thought that they existed or could exist,” - stated Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov

Most important reforms Russian literary language and 18th-century versification systems were made by Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov. In the city he wrote a “Letter on the Rules of Russian Poetry,” in which he formulated the principles of new versification in Russian. In a polemic with Trediakovsky, he argued that instead of cultivating poetry written according to patterns borrowed from other languages, it is necessary to use the capabilities of the Russian language. Lomonosov believed that it was possible to write poetry with many types of feet - two-syllable (iamb and trochee) and three-syllable (dactyl, anapest and amphibrachium), but considered it wrong to replace feet with pyrrhic and spondean. Such innovation by Lomonosov sparked a discussion in which Trediakovsky and Sumarokov actively participated. Three adaptations of Psalm 143, performed by these authors, were published in the city, and readers were invited to speak out which of the texts they considered the best.

However, Pushkin’s statement is known, in which Lomonosov’s literary activity is not approved: “His odes ... are tiresome and inflated. His influence on literature was harmful and is still reflected in it. Pompousness, sophistication, aversion to simplicity and precision, the absence of any nationality and originality - these are the traces left by Lomonosov.” Belinsky called this view “surprisingly true, but one-sided.” According to Belinsky, “In Lomonosov’s time we did not need folk poetry; then the great question - to be or not to be - for us was not a question of nationality, but of Europeanism... Lomonosov was the Peter the Great of our literature.”

In addition to the contribution to poetic language Lomonosov was also the author of scientific Russian grammar. In this book, he described the riches and possibilities of the Russian language. Lomonosov's grammar was published 14 times and formed the basis for Barsov's Russian grammar course (1771), who was Lomonosov's student. In this book, Lomonosov, in particular, wrote: “Charles the Fifth, the Roman Emperor, used to say that it is decent to speak Spanish with God, French with friends, German with enemies, Italian with the female sex. But if he Russian language was skillful, then, of course, he would have added to this that it is decent for them to speak with all of them, for he would have found in him the splendor of Spanish, the liveliness of French, the strength of German, the tenderness of Italian, in addition to the richness and strong brevity of Greek in images and Latin language." It is interesting that Derzhavin later expressed something similar: “The Slavic-Russian language, according to the testimony of foreign aestheticians themselves, is not inferior either to Latin or to Greek in fluency, surpassing all European languages: Italian, French and Spanish, and even more so German.”

Modern Russian literary language

Alexander Pushkin is considered the creator of the modern literary language, whose works are considered the pinnacle of Russian literature. This thesis remains dominant, despite the significant changes that have occurred in the language over the almost two hundred years that have passed since the creation of his largest works, and the obvious stylistic differences between the language of Pushkin and modern writers.

Meanwhile, the poet himself points to the primary role of N. M. Karamzin in the formation of the Russian literary language; according to A. S. Pushkin, this glorious historian and writer “freed the language from the alien yoke and returned it to freedom, turning it to the living sources of folk words".

"Great, mighty..."

Turgenev owns, perhaps, one of the most famous definitions of the Russian language as “great and powerful.”

In days of doubt, in days of painful thoughts about the fate of my homeland, you alone are my support and support, oh great, mighty, truthful and free Russian language! Without you, how can one not fall into despair at the sight of everything that is happening at home? But one cannot believe that such a language was not given to a great people!(I. S. Turgenev)

Charles V, the Roman Emperor, used to say that it is decent to speak Spanish with God, French with friends, German with enemies, and Italian with women. But if he were skilled in the Russian language, then of course he would have added that it is decent for them to speak with all of them. For I would find in it: great... ...the strength of German, the tenderness of Italian, and, on top of that, the richness and strong brevity of Greek and Latin in its depiction.

see also

	Portal "Russian language "
	in Wikiquote
	in Wikisource
	History of the Russian literary language on Wikimedia Commons

Notes

Russian language

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See what “History of the Russian literary language” is in other dictionaries:

Dictionary of modern Russian literary language- “Dictionary of the Modern Russian Literary Language” (SSRL; Big Academic Dictionary, BAS) is an academic normative explanatory historical dictionary of the Russian literary language in 17 volumes, published from 1948 to 1965. Reflects... ... Wikipedia

History of literary Russian language- History of the Russian literary language, the formation and transformation of the Russian language used in literary works. The oldest surviving literary monuments date back to the 11th century. In *** centuries it spread in Rus'... ... Wikipedia

The history of the Russian literary language as an independent one scientific discipline arose in the 20th century. Although the study of the features of the Russian literary language dates back to a very early period, since “vague and one-sided, but vitally effective, practical ideas about the process historical development language invariably accompany the evolution of the Russian book language and precede the emergence scientific history Russian literary language".

Since the 18th century, observations have been made on the connections of the Russian literary language with other Slavic and European languages, on the composition of the Church Slavonic language, its similarities with the Russian language and its differences from it.

To understand the national specificity of the Russian literary language, the creation of the “Russian Grammar” by M.V. Lomonosov in 1755 was extremely important. The publication of the “Dictionary of the Russian Academy” (1789-1794), the emergence of M.V. Lomonosov’s teaching on the three styles of the Russian literary language, set out in the discussion “On the Use of Church Books,” “Rhetoric” and “Russian Grammar,” since the creator theory for the first time pointed out the basic elements of Russian literary national language, anticipating Pushkin's stylistics. (4, p. 18).

The question of the origin of the Russian literary language has not been resolved by experts; moreover, they claim that the final solution is not close.

Such close interest in the problems of the origin of the Russian literary language is explained by the fact that the entire concept of it depends on one or another understanding of the process of formation of the Old Russian literary language. further development, the formation of the national literary language from the 17th to the 19th centuries (6, p. 53).

The history of the Russian literary language clearly convinces that the language reacted very sensitively to various changes in the history of the people and, above all, in public life, that the history of the appearance and use of many words and expressions finds its justification in the development of social thought. So, for example, in the 40s - 60s of the 19th century, words such as socialism, communism, constitution, reaction, progress, etc. came into general use (5, p. 4).

As a result October revolution The composition of native speakers of the literary language expanded significantly, since already in the first years after the revolution, masses of workers who previously did not have the opportunity to do so began to become familiar with the literary language.

During the Soviet era, the relationship between the literary language and dialects changed. If earlier dialects had a certain influence on the literary language, then after the revolution, thanks to the powerful development of culture and the dissemination of knowledge through schools, theatre, cinema, radio, the population began to actively engage in the means of literary expression. In this regard, many features of local dialects began to quickly disappear; remnants of the old dialects are now preserved in the village mainly among the older generation.

The Russian literary language freed itself in the Soviet era from the influence of class jargons that existed in the past and, to a certain extent, influenced the norms of the literary language. (5, p. 415).

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, bibliographic reviews were published that summed up the study of the Russian literary language. Kotlyarevsky A.A. Old Russian writing: Experience of bibliological presentation of the history of its study. - 1881; Bulich S.K. Essay on the history of linguistics in Russia. - 1904; Yagich I.V. History of Slavic philology. - 1910.

In the 20th century, the history of the Russian literary language becomes the subject of special attention.

V.V. Vinogradov did especially a lot to create the science of the Russian literary language, the list of whose main works on the history of the Russian literary language and the language of writers includes more than twenty works. (4, p. 19).

The works of G. O. Vinokur left a deep mark on the development of the history of the Russian literary language: “Russian literary language in the first half of the 18th century,” 1941; "Russian language", 1945; "On the history of rationing of Russian written language in the 18th century." 1947; and etc.

To solve the problems of the origin of the Russian literary language, the formation of the Russian national language great importance had research by L.P. Yakubinsky - “History Old Russian language", published in 1953, and " Brief essay the origin and initial development of the Russian national literary language", published in 1956.

The works of F.P. Filin are devoted to the question of the origin of the Russian literary language, the problems of the formation of the Russian national language, and the history of the Russian literary language of the older period (the Moscow state).

The richness and power of the Russian literary language was created thanks to the continuous influence of the living national language on the literary language. The language of Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Saltykov - Shchedrin, L. Tolstoy and many other luminaries of the Russian figurative word owes its brightness, strength, captivating simplicity primarily to the living sources of folk speech.

Thus, the history of the Russian literary language is, first of all, the history of a continuous and ever-developing process of literary processing of the wealth of the national language and creative enrichment and replenishment of them through new linguistic-stylistic values. (5, p. 46).

The Russian language of the era of Muscovite Rus' (XIV-XVII centuries) had a complex history. Dialect features continued to develop. Two main dialect zones have taken shape - Northern Great Russian (approximately to the north of the Pskov - Tver - Moscow line, to the south Nizhny Novgorod) and South Great Russian (south from the indicated line to the Belarusian and Ukrainian regions) dialects, overlapping with other dialect divisions. Intermediate Central Russian dialects arose, among which the Moscow dialect began to play a leading role. Initially it was mixed, then it developed into a coherent system. The following became characteristic of him: akanye; pronounced reduction of vowels of unstressed syllables; plosive consonant "g"; ending "-ovo", "-evo" in genitive case singular masculine and neuter gender in pronominal declension; hard ending “-t” in 3rd person verbs of the present and future tense; forms of the pronouns “me”, “you”, “myself” and a number of other phenomena. The Moscow dialect is gradually becoming exemplary and forms the basis of the Russian national literary language.

The written language remains colorful. Religion and beginnings scientific knowledge mainly served Book Slavic, ancient Bulgarian in origin, which experienced a noticeable influence of the Russian language, divorced from the colloquial element. The language of statehood (the so-called business language) was based on Russian folk speech, but did not coincide with it in everything. It developed speech cliches, often including purely bookish elements; its syntax, unlike spoken language, was more organized, with the presence of bulky complex sentences; the penetration of dialectal features into it was largely prevented by standard all-Russian norms. Written language was varied in terms of linguistic means fiction. From ancient times big role played spoken language folklore, serving until the XVI-XVII centuries. all segments of the population. This is evidenced by its reflection in ancient Russian writing (tales about Belogorod jelly, about Olga’s revenge and others in “The Tale of Bygone Years”, folklore motifs in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, vivid phraseology in “Prayer” by Daniil Zatochnik, etc. ), as well as archaic layers of modern epics, fairy tales, songs and other types of oral folk art.

During the period of the Moscow State of the XIV-XVI centuries. The main styles of the Russian literary language were clearly defined:

• 1. Literary and artistic (going back to The Tale of Igor’s Campaign);
• 2. Documentary-business style (these include ancient treaties, charters, “Russian Truth”);
• 3. Journalistic style (correspondence between Ivan the Terrible and Kurbsky).
• 4. Production-professional style (various types of manuals and guidelines for housekeeping).
• 5. Epistolary style.

Second half of the 16th century. in the Moscow state was marked by such a great event, which had valuable cultural and historical significance, as the appearance of the first printed books. Printing was of great importance for the fate of the Russian literary language, culture and education. First printed books became church books, primers, grammars, dictionaries. In 1708, a civil alphabet was introduced, in which secular literature was printed.

Since the 17th century the tendency towards convergence between book and spoken language is intensifying. In petitions, in various kinds of private letters and letters, words and expressions of an everyday nature, not previously encountered in book speech, are increasingly being used. For example, in “The Life of Archtotop Avvakum” the colloquial elements of Russian colloquial speech are presented very fully. Non-vernacular words and expressions are used here ( lying on his belly, suddenly shouting, fools, there are a lot of fleas and lice etc.), but also colloquial meanings of well-known words.

In the XVIII and early XIX centuries Secular writing became widespread, church literature gradually moved into the background and, finally, became the lot of religious rituals, and its language turned into a kind of church jargon. Scientific, technical, military, nautical, administrative and other terminology developed rapidly, which caused a large influx of words and expressions from Western European languages ​​into the Russian language. The impact was especially great from the second half of the 18th century. began to influence Russian vocabulary and phraseology French. The collision of heterogeneous linguistic elements and the need for a common literary language raised the problem of creating unified national language norms. The formation of these norms took place in a bitter struggle different trends. Democratic-minded sections of society sought to bring the literary language closer to the people's speech, while the reactionary clergy tried to preserve the purity of the archaic “Slovenian” language, incomprehensible to the general population. At the same time, an excessive passion for foreign words began among the upper strata of society, which threatened to clog the Russian language. A major role was played by the language theory and practice of M.V. Lomonosov, the author of "Russian Grammar" - the first detailed grammar of the Russian language, who proposed to distribute various speech means depending on the purpose of literary works into high, medium and low "calms".

Development of grammatical science in the second half of the 18th century. and in the first decades of the 19th century. led to the emergence of two main points of view on grammatical phenomena: structural-grammatical and logical-semantic. In the 18th century The Russian language is becoming a literary language with generally recognized norms, widely used in both book and colloquial speech. M.V. Lomonosov, V.K. Trediakovsky, D.I. Fonvizin, G.R. Derzhavin, A.N. Radishchev, N.M. Karamzin and other Russian writers prepared the way for great reform A.S. Pushkin.

XIX century can be considered the first period of development of the modern literary Russian language. The beginning of the stage of development of the modern Russian literary language is considered to be the time of the work of the great Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, who is sometimes called the creator of the modern Russian literary language. Pushkin's language and writers of the 19th century V. is a classic example of literary language up to the present day. The creative genius of Pushkin synthesized into unified system various speech elements: Russian folk, Church Slavonic and Western European, and the Russian folk language, especially its Moscow variety, became the cementing basis. The modern Russian literary language begins with Pushkin, and rich and diverse linguistic styles (artistic, journalistic, scientific, etc.) are closely related to each other. All-Russian phonetic, grammatical and lexical norms, mandatory for all those who speak a literary language, are determined, the lexical system is developed and enriched. Slav Cyrillic colloquial literary

In his work, Pushkin was guided by the principle of proportionality and conformity. He did not reject any words because of their Old Slavonic, foreign or common origin. He considered any word acceptable in literature, in poetry, if it accurately, figuratively expresses the concept, conveys the meaning. But he opposed the thoughtless passion for foreign words, as well as the desire to replace mastered foreign words with artificially selected or composed Russian words.

If scientific and literary works Lomonosov's era looks rather archaic in its language, then the works of Pushkin and all the literature after him became the literary basis of the language we speak today. A.S. Pushkin streamlined artistic media Russian literary language, significantly enriched it. He managed, based on various manifestations of the folk language, to create in his works a language that was perceived by society as literary. “At the name of Pushkin, the thought of a Russian national poet immediately dawns on me,” wrote N.V. Gogol. “He, as if in the lexicon, contained all the wealth, strength and flexibility of our language. He is more than anyone else, he further pushed its boundaries and more showed all its space."

Of course, since the time of A.S. Pushkin, a lot of time has passed and a lot has changed, including the Russian language: some of it has left, a lot of new words have appeared. Although great poet did not leave us a grammarian; he was the author of not only artistic, but also historical and journalistic works, and clearly distinguished between the author’s speech and characters, i.e. practically laid the foundations for the modern functional-style classification of the literary Russian language.

End of the 19th century and to the present day - the second period of development of the modern literary Russian language. This period is characterized by well-established language norms, however, these standards are being improved to this day. Such Russian writers of the 19th-20th centuries also played a major role in the development and formation of the modern Russian literary language. as A.S. Griboyedov, M.Yu. Lermontov, N.V. Gogol, I.S. Turgenev, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, M. Gorky, A.P. Chekhov and others

From the second half of the 20th century. on the development of the literary language and the formation of its functional styles- scientific, journalistic and others - public figures, representatives of science and culture are also beginning to exert influence.

Development of phonetic, grammatical and lexical norms The modern Russian literary language is governed by two related trends: established traditions, which are considered exemplary, and the constantly changing speech of native speakers. Established traditions are the use of speech means in the language of writers, publicists, theater artists, masters of cinema, radio, television and other means of mass communication. For example, the exemplary “Moscow pronunciation”, which became all-Russian, was developed in late XIX- early 20th century at the Moscow Art and Maly theaters. It changes, but its foundations are still considered unshakable.

History of the Russian literary language

“The beauty, splendor, strength and richness of the Russian language is abundantly clear from books written in past centuries, when our ancestors did not only know any rules for writing, but they hardly even thought that they existed or could exist,” - claimedMikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov .

History of the Russian literary language- formation and transformation Russian language used in literary works. The oldest surviving literary monuments date back to the 11th century. In the 18th-19th centuries, this process took place against the background of the opposition of the Russian language, which the people spoke, to the French language nobles. Classics Russian literature actively explored the possibilities of the Russian language and were innovators of many language forms. They emphasized the richness of the Russian language and often pointed out its advantages over foreign languages. On the basis of such comparisons, disputes have repeatedly arisen, for example disputes between Westerners And Slavophiles. In Soviet times it was emphasized that Russian language- language of builders communism, and during the reign Stalin campaign against cosmopolitanism in literature. The transformation of the Russian literary language continues to this day.

Folklore

Oral folk art (folklore) in the form fairy tales, epics, proverbs and sayings are rooted in distant history. They were passed on from mouth to mouth, their content was polished in such a way that the most stable combinations remained, and linguistic forms were updated as the language developed. Oral creativity continued to exist even after the advent of writing. IN New time to the peasant folklore worker and urban, as well as army and criminal (prison camp) were added. Currently, oral folk art is most expressed in anecdotes. Oral folk art also influences the written literary language.

Development of the literary language in ancient Rus'

The introduction and spread of writing in Rus', which led to the creation of the Russian literary language, is usually associated with Cyril and Methodius.

So, in ancient Novgorod and other cities in the 11th-15th centuries they were in use birch bark letters. Most of the surviving birch bark letters are private letters of a business nature, as well as business documents: wills, receipts, bills of sale, court records. There are also church texts and literary and folklore works (spells, school jokes, riddles, household instructions), educational records (alphabet books, warehouses, school exercises, children's drawings and doodles).

Church Slavonic writing, introduced by Cyril and Methodius in 862, was based on Old Slavonic language, which in turn originated from South Slavic dialects. The literary activity of Cyril and Methodius consisted of translating the books of Holy Scripture of the New and Old Testaments. The disciples of Cyril and Methodius translated into Church Slavonic language There are a large number of religious books from Greek. Some researchers believe that Cyril and Methodius did not introduce Cyrillic alphabet, A Glagolitic; and the Cyrillic alphabet was developed by their students.

The Church Slavonic language was a book language, not a spoken language, the language of church culture, which spread among many Slavic peoples. Church Slavonic literature spread among the Western Slavs (Moravia), the Southern Slavs (Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania), in Wallachia, parts of Croatia and the Czech Republic and, with the adoption of Christianity, in Rus'. Since the Church Slavonic language differed from spoken Russian, church texts were subject to changes during correspondence and were Russified. The scribes corrected Church Slavonic words, bringing them closer to the Russian ones. At the same time, they introduced features of local dialects.

To systematize Church Slavonic texts and introduce uniform language norms in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the first grammars were written - grammar Lavrentia Zizania(1596) and grammar Meletius Smotrytsky(1619). The process of formation of the Church Slavonic language was basically completed at the end of the 17th century, when Patriarch Nikon The liturgical books were corrected and systematized.

As Church Slavonic religious texts spread in Rus', literary works gradually began to appear that used the writing of Cyril and Methodius. The first such works date back to the end of the 11th century. This " The Tale of Bygone Years" (1068), " The Legend of Boris and Gleb", "Life of Theodosius of Pechora", " A Word on Law and Grace" (1051), " Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh" (1096) and " A Word about Igor's Campaign"(1185-1188). These works are written in a language that is a mixture of Church Slavonic with Old Russian.

Reforms of the Russian literary language of the 18th century

The most important reforms of the Russian literary language and system of versification of the 18th century were made Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov. IN 1739 he wrote a “Letter on the Rules of Russian Poetry,” in which he formulated the principles of new versification in Russian. In controversy with Trediakovsky he argued that instead of cultivating poetry written according to patterns borrowed from other languages, it was necessary to use the capabilities of the Russian language. Lomonosov believed that it was possible to write poetry with many types of feet - disyllabic ( iambic And trochee) and trisyllabic ( dactyl,anapaest And amphibrachium), but considered it wrong to replace feet with pyrrhichias and spondees. This innovation by Lomonosov sparked a discussion in which Trediakovsky and Sumarokov. IN 1744 three transcriptions of the 143rd were published psalm written by these authors, and readers were invited to comment on which text they considered the best.

However, Pushkin’s statement is known, in which Lomonosov’s literary activity is not approved: “His odes ... are tiresome and inflated. His influence on literature was harmful and is still reflected in it. Pompousness, sophistication, aversion to simplicity and precision, the absence of any nationality and originality - these are the traces left by Lomonosov.” Belinsky called this view “surprisingly true, but one-sided.” According to Belinsky, “In Lomonosov’s time we did not need folk poetry; then the great question - to be or not to be - for us was not a question of nationality, but of Europeanism... Lomonosov was the Peter the Great of our literature.”

In addition to his contributions to poetic language, Lomonosov was also the author of a scientific Russian grammar. In this book, he described the riches and possibilities of the Russian language. Grammar Lomonosov was published 14 times and formed the basis for Barsov’s Russian grammar course (1771), who was a student of Lomonosov. In this book, Lomonosov, in particular, wrote: “Charles the Fifth, the Roman Emperor, used to say that it is decent to speak Spanish with God, French with friends, German with enemies, Italian with the female sex. But if he were skilled in the Russian language, then, of course, he would have added that it is decent for them to speak with all of them, for he would have found in him the splendor of Spanish, the liveliness of French, the strength of German, the tenderness of Italian, in addition to the richness and strength in the images brevity of Greek and Latin." I wonder what Derzhavin later expressed a similar opinion: “The Slavic-Russian language, according to the testimony of foreign aestheticians themselves, is not inferior either in courage to Latin or in smoothness to Greek, surpassing all European ones: Italian, French and Spanish, and even more so German.”

Modern Russian literary language

He is considered the creator of the modern literary language Alexander Pushkin. whose works are considered the pinnacle of Russian literature. This thesis remains dominant, despite the significant changes that have occurred in the language over the almost two hundred years that have passed since the creation of his largest works, and the obvious stylistic differences between the language of Pushkin and modern writers.

Meanwhile, the poet himself pointed out the primary role N. M. Karamzina in the formation of the Russian literary language, according to A.S. Pushkin, this glorious historian and writer “freed the language from an alien yoke and returned it to freedom, turning it to the living sources of the people’s word.”

« Great, mighty…»

I. S. Turgenev belongs, perhaps, to one of the most famous definitions of the Russian language as “great and mighty”:

In days of doubt, in days of painful thoughts about the fate of my homeland, you alone are my support and support, oh great, mighty, truthful and free Russian language! Without you, how can one not fall into despair at the sight of everything that is happening at home? But one cannot believe that such a language was not given to a great people!