When did the Russian national language develop? Formation and development of the Russian national language. Groups of words by usage and origin

The Russian language is the national language of the Russian people, the state language of the Russian Federation, which is used as a means of interethnic communication in Russia and in the near abroad. At present, the Russian language is one of the languages ​​of European and world significance. Together with English, French, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic, it is recognized as the official and working language of the United Nations. More than 250 million people study the modern Russian literary language in almost 100 countries of the world.

The national Russian language is a means of written and oral communication of the Russian nation. Along with the integrity of the territory, economic life and mental make-up, language is the leading indicator of the historical community of people, which is usually called the term "nation". The national language is a historical category, it is formed during the formation of the nation, its development from the nationality.

The Russian national language, according to family ties that arose and formed in the process of historical development, belongs to the Slavic group of the Indo-European family of languages. By origin, it is associated with the common Slavic (Proto-Slavic), which stood out from the 3rd millennium BC. from the Indo-European base language and until the 2nd half of the 1st millennium AD. (until the 5th-6th centuries AD) served as a means of communication for all Slavic tribes. During the period of existence of a single common Slavic language, the main features inherent in all Slavic languages ​​developed. The long existence of the common Slavic (proto-Slavic) language (over three thousand years) as a single dialect of all Slavic tribes explains the high degree of closeness between modern Slavic languages.

Approximately in VI-VII AD. the common Slavic unity broke up, and on the basis of the common Slavic language, the East Slavic (Old Russian), West Slavic (Polish, Slovak, Czech, Serbal Luzhitsky, etc.) and South Slavic (Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene, Rusyn and dead Old Slavonic) languages ​​were formed. The Old Russian language was spoken by the East Slavic tribes, which in the 9th century formed the Old Russian nationality within the boundaries of the Kievan state. With the strengthening of feudal fragmentation, the overthrow of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, and also as a result of the collapse of the Kiev state in the XIV-XV centuries, the Great Russian, Little Russian and Belarusian nationalities are formed, and on the basis of the once single Old Russian language, three independent languages ​​​​appear: Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian, which, with the formation of nations, took shape in national languages.

Ukrainian Russian Belarusian

The Russian national language begins to take shape in the 17th century in connection with the development of capitalist relations and the development of the Russian people into a nation. The phonetic system, grammatical structure and basic vocabulary of the Russian national language is inherited from the language of the Great Russian people, which was formed as a result of the interaction of the North Great Russian and South Great Russian dialects. The center of this interaction was Moscow, located at the junction of the south and north of the European part of Russia. It was the Moscow business vernacular that had a significant impact on the development of the national language. During this period, the development of new dialectal features of dialects stops, the influence of the Church Slavonic language weakens, a literary language of a democratic type develops, based on the traditions of the business language of Moscow.

In the 18th century, through the efforts of progressively minded circles of society, the creation of a single national Russian language began (until the 18th century, the so-called Slavic-Russian language, which absorbed the culture of the Old Slavonic language, was used in fiction, official business documents). There is a democratization of the language, i.e. its vocabulary, grammatical structure includes elements of lively oral speech, lively colloquial speech of the merchants, service people, clergy and literate peasants, there is a gradual liberation of the language from the Church Slavonic language, the formation of a scientific language, Russian scientific terminology. In all these processes, the great Russian scientist M.V. Lomonosov took an active part, who did immeasurably much to streamline the Russian language: he creates the first in Russian "Russian Grammar", in which for the first time he presents the scientific system of the Russian language, creates a set of grammatical rules, demonstrates the richest possibilities of the language, seeks permission from Catherine II to lecture at the university in Russian, creates Russian scientific and technical terminology (he owns the words atmosphere, degree, matter, electricity, thermometer, circumstance, ignition and etc.). Lomonosov pointed out two features of the Russian language that made it one of the most important world languages ​​- "the vastness of the places where it dominates" and "its own space and contentment." In the Petrine era, due to the appearance of many new objects and phenomena in the life of society, the vocabulary of the Russian language is updated and enriched. The influx of foreign words from Polish, French, Dutch, Italian, German into Russian was so huge that Peter I was forced to issue a decree regulating the use of borrowings and prescribing "to write everything in Russian, without using foreign words and terms", since from their abuses "the case itself is impossible to comprehend." By the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century, the preferred use of native Russian elements in speech and writing becomes a sign of patriotism, respect for one's nation, one's culture.

Throughout the 19th century, there were disputes about what should be considered the basis of the Russian national language, how to relate to the common language and vernacular. The famous Russian writer, the founder of Russian sentimentalism, the author of "Poor Lisa" and "The History of the Russian State" N.M. Karamzin and his supporters believed that the Russian language was too difficult to express thoughts and needed to be processed. The transformation of the language, in their opinion, should be guided by European languages, especially French, follow the path of liberating the language from the influence of Church Slavonic speech, creating new words, eliminating archaic and professional Slavonicisms, special terms of various crafts and sciences, and rude vernacular. Karamzin created and put into active use the word love, humanity, public, future, industry, general benefit and others that we still use today. Opponent N.M. Karamzin became the Slavophiles, headed by A.S. Shishkov, a writer, public figure, minister of education, who considered the Old Slavonic language the primitive language of all mankind and the basis of the Russian national language. The dispute about language between Slavophiles and Westernizers was resolved in the works of the great Russian writers of the 19th century A.S. Griboyedov and I.A. Krylov, who showed what inexhaustible possibilities live folk speech has, how rich, original and original the language of folklore is.

A.S. Pushkin is rightly called the creator of the modern Russian literary language. It was he who introduced folk speech into his poetry, believing that any word is acceptable in poetry if it accurately and figuratively expresses the concept, conveys the meaning. The poet believed that "true taste does not consist in the unconscious rejection of such and such a word, such and such a turn, but in a sense of proportion and conformity." Nobody before Pushkin wrote in a realistic language and did not introduce ordinary everyday vocabulary into a poetic text. It was Pushkin who used the common language as a treasure trove of language.

In the first decades of the 19th century, the formation of the Russian national language was completed, but the process of processing the national language continued in order to create unified grammatical, lexical, spelling, orthoepic norms, which are theoretically substantiated in the works of Russian linguists Vostokov, Buslaev, Potebnya, Fortunatov, Shakhmatov, are described and are approved in the Russian grammars of Grech, Grot, Vostokov, etc.

In the 19th century, an unprecedented flourishing of Russian literature and the Russian language took place. The work of Gogol, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, L. Tolstoy, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Ostrovsky, Chekhov and other writers and poets, the achievements of Russian scientists Mendeleev, Dokuchaev, Pirogov, Klyuchevsky and others contributed to the further development and enrichment of the Russian national language. His vocabulary is replenished (worldview, humanity, lack of rights, serf-owner, etc.), phraseology is enriched, the stock of international terminology is expanding (intellectual, progress, international, communism, culture, civilization, etc.), scientific and journalistic functional styles are being formed. The richness and diversity of the Russian language is reflected in the historical, etymological, synonymous dictionaries that appeared in the 19th century, in the dictionary of foreign words.

In 1863-1866. the four-volume "Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language" by V.I.Dal was published, which included over 200 thousand words. Professor P.P. Chervinsky rightly called this dictionary an “eternal book”, since its content is not subject to time.

Interesting changes take place in the Russian language in the 20th century, which can be chronologically divided into 2 periods: 1 - from October 1917. to April 1985; 2 - since April 1985 to 2000 The first period is associated with the October Revolution, which introduced fundamental changes in all levels of life of Russian society and was reflected in the most interesting processes in the language: the departure into the passive stock of many words denoting concepts that had gone into oblivion, associated with the former political and economic way of life and Orthodoxy (tsar, province , volost, policeman, merchant, nobleman, pilgrimage, bishop, Mother of God, annunciation, twelfth holidays, Christmas Eve, Christmas time, etc.). During this period, many new words appeared denoting the realities of a new life (district committee, Komsomol member, propaganda team, Central Committee, Gorono, MTS, drummer, Stakhanovite, etc.). During the years of Soviet power, the main principle of the name was the renaming (Petersburg - Petrograd - Leningrad, Ekaterinodar - Krasnodar, Samara - Kuibyshev, Sobornaya street - named after Lenin, Bazovskaya street named after Zhdanov, Bursakovskaya street (named after F.Ya Bursak, ataman of the Black Sea Cossack army) - Krasnoarmeyskaya, etc.). Such a renaming reflected the desire of the party and government leaders through the language, the word to influence the public consciousness, trying to connect the name change with the illusion of constant qualitative change in society itself. In addition, new names appear associated with the desire to reflect a new ideology in the language: Ninel, Oktyabrina, Vladilena, Rem, Kim, Dazdraperma, etc. Ideologization in the language also manifested itself in the so-called “opposite interference”, which meant the perception of reality through constant contrast, the opposition of the perception of phenomena of reality in our country, in the socialist world, and in them, in the capitalist one, for example: we have democracy, brotherhood, peace , friendship, equality, brotherhood, a bright future, they have corruption, mafia, racketeering, genocide, drug addiction, exploitation, decaying capitalism, etc.

The second period of the twentieth century is associated with perestroika, which also made its own adjustments to the development of the modern Russian language. The change in the political and economic way of life, the fall of the "Iron Curtain" affected, first of all, the vocabulary of the language. Vocabulary reflecting all spheres of society's life has come into active use: politics, economics, culture, medicine, religion, everyday life, etc., for example: inauguration, post-Soviet, impeachment, clearing, barter, manager, image, clip maker, hospice, immunodeficiency , Jehovist, karmic, cheeseburger, yogurt, case, etc. Many words returned to the active vocabulary that were either not used during the years of Soviet power or were in the passive vocabulary: city hall, rent, governess, police, lord, vigil, communion and many others.

The modern Russian language of the 21st century is characterized by the following trends:

1. In modern Russian society, the type of communication has changed: monologue communication (one speaks, and everyone listens and performs) has been replaced by dialogic communication. The change in the communicative type of communication is a consequence of the socio-political orientation of society.

2. As a result, the role of oral speech and its dialogization has significantly expanded, i.e. increase in the dialogue of various types of communication, expansion of the functions of dialogic speech in the structure of communication, development of new types and forms of dialogue, formation of new rules for dialogic communication.

3. Pluralization of communication: the formation of traditions of coexistence of different points of view when discussing various, especially acute problems; development of a democratic, tolerant (that is, tolerant) attitude towards opposing views, opponents, points of view.

4. Personification of communication, that is, the development of individual uniqueness of those who communicate, the formation of dissimilarity in the expression and design of ideas and thoughts by different people, an increase in the number of unique personal "communicative images".

5. The prevailing changes in vocabulary and phraseology: the growth of the vocabulary of such thematic areas as "market economy", "politics", "show business", "household appliances", etc.

6. Increase in borrowed vocabulary in all areas of communication.

7. Restructuring in the system of forms of existence of the Russian language: intensive development of the oral form of the language and expansion of its functions; differentiation of the written form by communicative spheres, formation of the specifics of the written text in various professional fields, especially in the field of business commercial correspondence.

8. Activation of minor forms of language existence - jargons (youth, computer, criminal, musical, sports, etc.).

9. Formation in the stylistic system of the language of a new functional subsystem - national slang, which occupies an intermediate place between colloquial and reduced vocabulary, which is understood as national jargon, that is, a set of lexical and phraseological units that are well-known and used regardless of age, profession and social status, bearing reduced stylistic character and having expressiveness (for example, bucks, blockage, zadolbat, hangout, unfasten, disassembly, indifference, alignment, for free, dead number, etc.).

In general, analyzing modern processes and trends in the Russian language, they can be considered as the development and evolution of the language, occurring within the language according to its own laws and reflecting the adaptation of the language to the changing conditions of its functioning under the influence of external factors.

Control questions

1. Christianization of Rus' and its role in the development of the language.

2. Eternal truths: winged words, proverbs and sayings of biblical origin.

3. The theory of "three calms" by M.V. Lomonosov and its role in the development of the national Russian language.

4. The reformatory nature of A.S. Pushkin's creativity in the process of creating the modern Russian literary language.

5. Features of the development of the Russian language of the Soviet period (1917 - April 12985).

6. Features of the development of the Russian language at the end of the twentieth century (April 1985 - the end of the twentieth century).

7. How do you understand the term "language" and what are the points of view on the issue of the origin of the language?

8. Analyze the units and levels of the language.

9. What is the systematic nature of the language? Justify your answer.

10. What functions does the language perform in society?

11. Prove that language is historically changeable and socially conditioned.

12. Tell us about the origin of the Russian language and the stages of its development.

13. What is the role of M.V. Lomonosov in the history of the development of the Russian language?

14. Why is A.S. Pushkin considered the creator of the modern Russian literary language?

15. What is the role of the Bible and Old Slavonicisms in the formation of the modern Russian language?

16. Name the features of the Russian language of the Soviet period.

17. What features are characteristic of the Russian language at the end of the 20th century?

18. Name the trends in the modern Russian language at the beginning of the 21st century.

Language features

The question of the functions of language is closely connected with the problem of the origin of language. What reasons, what living conditions of people contributed to its origin, its formation? What is the purpose of language in the life of society? These questions were answered not only by linguists, but also by philosophers, logicians, and psychologists.

The appearance of language is closely connected with the formation of man as a thinking being. Language arose naturally and is a system that is necessary both for an individual (individual) and society (collective). As a result, the language is inherently multifunctional.

Thus, the language helps people to share experiences, transfer their knowledge, organize any work, build and discuss plans for joint activities.

Language also serves as a means of consciousness, promotes the activity of consciousness and reflects its result. Language is involved in the formation of the thinking of the individual (individual consciousness) and the thinking of society (social consciousness). This is a cognitive function.

The development of language and thinking is an interdependent process. The development of thinking contributes to the enrichment of the language, new concepts require new names; the improvement of the language entails the improvement of thinking.

Language, moreover, helps to preserve and transmit information, which is important both for the individual and for the whole society. In written monuments (chronicles, documents, memoirs, fiction, newspapers), in oral folk art, the life of the nation, the history of native speakers of a given language is recorded. In this regard, there are three main functions of the language:

Communicative;

Cognitive (cognitive, epistemological);

Accumulative (epistemic).

Additional functions are manifested in speech and are determined by the structure of the speech act, i.e. the presence of the addresser, the addressee (participants of communication) and the subject of the conversation. Let's name two such functions: emotional (expresses the internal state of the speaker, his feelings) and volitional (the function of influencing listeners).

The magical function of language has been known since ancient times. This is due to the idea that some words, expressions have magical powers, are able to change the course of events, influence a person’s behavior, his fate. In the religious and mythological consciousness, formulas of prayers, spells, conspiracies, divination, and curses primarily possess such power.

Since language serves as a material and form of artistic creation, it is legitimate to speak of the poetic function of language. Thus, the language performs a wide variety of functions, which is explained by its use in all spheres of life and activity of a person and society.

Russian language is the national language of the Russian people

Language is created by the people and serves them from generation to generation. In its development, the language goes through several stages and depends on the degree of development of the ethnos (Greek ethnos - people). At an early stage, a tribal language is formed, then the language of the people and, finally, the national one.

The national language is formed on the basis of the national language, which ensures its relative stability. It is the result of the process of the formation of a nation and at the same time a prerequisite and condition for its formation.

By its nature, the national language is heterogeneous. This is explained by the heterogeneity of the ethnos itself as a community of people. First, people unite on a territorial basis, place of residence. As a means of communication, rural residents use a dialect - one of the varieties of the national language. A dialect, as a rule, is a collection of smaller units - dialects that have common linguistic features and serve as a means of communication for residents of nearby villages and farms. Territorial dialects have their own characteristics, which are found at all levels of the language: in the sound system, vocabulary, morphology, syntax, word formation. The dialect exists only in oral form.

The presence of dialects is the result of feudal fragmentation during the formation of Ancient Rus', then the Russian state. In the era of capitalism, despite the expansion of contacts between speakers of different dialects, and the formation of a national language, territorial dialects remain, although they undergo some changes. In the 20th century, especially in the second half, in connection with the development of the mass media (press, radio, cinema, television, intervision), the process of degradation of dialects, their disappearance, is underway. The study of dialects is of interest:

From a historical point of view: dialects retain archaic features that are not reflected in the literary language;

From the point of view of the formation of the literary language: on the basis of what main dialect and then the national language did the literary language develop; what features of other dialects it borrows; how the literary language influences the dialects in the future and how the dialects influence the literary language.

Secondly, social causes contribute to the unification of people: common profession, occupation, interests, social status. For such societies, the social dialect serves as a means of communication. Since the social dialect has many varieties, in the scientific literature, the terms jargon and slang are also used to name them.

Jargon is the speech of social and professional groups of people. It is used by sailors, electronics engineers, computer scientists, athletes, actors, students. Unlike territorial dialects, jargon does not have phonetic and grammatical features peculiar only to it. Jargon is characterized by the presence of specific vocabulary and phraseology.

Some slang words and set expressions are becoming widespread and are used to give expressiveness and expressiveness to speech. For example: a bum, a homeless person, a breaker, a green, grandmas, a biker, a party, chaos, reach the handle, take it to the gun. Separate words and phrases are not currently perceived as jargon, since they have long entered the literary language and are colloquial or neutral. For example: cheat sheet, mood, rocker, sneakers, be on a roll.

Sometimes the word slang is used as a synonym for the word jargon. So, for example, they talk about student, school slang, meaning jargon.

The main purpose of slang is to make speech incomprehensible to strangers. The lower classes of society are primarily interested in this: thieves, swindlers, cheaters. There was also professional slang. It helped artisans (tailors, tinsmiths, saddlers ...), as well as walkers (peddlers who sold small goods peddling and hauling in small towns, villages, villages) when talking with their own to hide from outsiders the secrets of the craft, the secrets of their business.

IN AND. Dal, in the first volume of the Explanatory Dictionary, in an article with the title word afenya, ofenya, gives an example of the slang speech of merchants: This means: It's time to sleep, midnight, soon the roosters will crow.

In addition to territorial and social dialects, the national language includes vernacular.

Vernacular is one of the forms of the national Russian language, which does not have its own signs of a systemic organization and is characterized by a set of linguistic forms that violate the norms of the literary language. The carriers of vernacular (citizens with a low level of education) do not realize such a violation of the norms, they do not catch, do not understand the difference between non-literary and literary forms.

Spacious are:

In phonetics: driver, put, sentence; ridiculitis, kolidor, rezetka, drushlag;

In morphology: my callus, with marmalade, doing, on the beach, driver, without a coat, run, lie down, lie down;

In vocabulary: a pedestal instead of a pedestal, a semi-clinic instead of a polyclinic.

Common speech, like territorial and social dialects, has only an oral form.

The concept of the Russian literary language

The highest form of the national language is the literary language. It is presented in oral and written form. It is characterized by the presence of norms that cover all levels of the language (phonetics, vocabulary, morphology, syntax). The literary language serves all spheres of human activity: politics, culture, office work, legislation, everyday communication.

The norms of the literary language are reflected in the dictionaries: orthoepic, spelling, explanatory, dictionaries of difficulties, phrases.

Literary language has two forms - oral and written. They differ in four ways:

1 Form of implementation.

2. Attitude towards the addressee.

3. Generation of form.

4. The nature of the perception of oral and written speech.

When implementing each of the forms of the literary language, the writer or speaker selects words, combinations of words to express his thoughts, and makes sentences. Depending on the material from which speech is built, it acquires a bookish or colloquial character. This also distinguishes the literary language as the highest form of the national language from its other varieties. Let's compare for example the proverbs: Desire is stronger than coercion and Hunting is stronger than bondage. The idea is the same, but framed differently. In the first case, the verbal nouns na - nie (desire, compulsion) are used, giving the speech a bookish character, in the second - the words hunting, more than that, giving a touch of colloquialism. It is not difficult to assume that the first proverb will be used in a scientific article, a diplomatic dialogue, and the second in a casual conversation. Consequently, the sphere of communication determines the selection of linguistic material, and it, in turn, forms and determines the type of speech.

Book speech is built according to the norms of the literary language, their violation is unacceptable; sentences must be complete, logically related to each other. In book speech, abrupt transitions from one thought that is not brought to its logical conclusion to another are not allowed. Among the words there are abstract, bookish words, including scientific terminology, official business vocabulary.

Colloquial speech is not so strict in observing the norms of the literary language. It allows the use of forms that qualify in dictionaries as colloquial. The text of such speech is dominated by common vocabulary, colloquial; preference is given to simple sentences, participial and adverbial phrases are avoided.

So, the functioning of the literary language in the most important areas of human activity; the various means for transmitting information embedded in it; availability of oral and written forms; the distinction and opposition of bookish and colloquial speech - all this gives reason to consider the literary language as the highest form of the national language.

I want to draw your attention to the features that characterize the functioning of the literary language at the beginning of the 21st century.

First, the composition of participants in mass communication has never been so numerous and diverse.

Secondly, official censorship has almost disappeared, so people express their thoughts more freely, their speech becomes more open, confidential, and relaxed.

Thirdly, speech begins to dominate spontaneous, spontaneous, not prepared in advance.

Fourth, the diversity of communication situations leads to a change in the nature of communication. It is freed from rigid formality, it becomes more relaxed.

New conditions for the functioning of the language, the emergence of a large number of unprepared public speeches lead not only to the democratization of speech, but also to a sharp decline in its culture.

On the pages of the periodical press, in the speech of educated people, jargon, colloquial elements and other extra-literary means poured in: grandmas, piece, piece, stolnik, baldness, pump out, launder, unfasten, scroll and many others. Even in official speech, the words tusovka, disassembly, lawlessness, the last word in the meaning of "lawlessness without limits" have gained particular popularity.

For speakers, public speakers, the measure of admissibility has changed, if not completely absent. Cursing, "obscene language", "unprintable word" today can be found on the pages of independent newspapers, free publications, in the texts of works of art. In stores, at book fairs, dictionaries are sold that contain not only slang, thieves, but also obscene words.

There are quite a few people who say that swearing and swearing are considered a characteristic, distinctive feature of the Russian people. If we turn to oral folk art, proverbs and sayings, it turns out that it is not entirely legitimate to say that the Russian people consider swearing an integral part of their lives. Yes, people are trying to somehow justify it, to emphasize that scolding is a common thing: Scolding is not a reserve, and without it not for an hour; Swearing is not smoke - the eye will not eat out; Hard words break no bones. It seems to even help in the work, you can’t do without it: You won’t swear, you won’t do the job; Without swearing, you can't unlock the lock in the cage.

But I think something else is more important: Argue, argue, but scolding is a sin; Do not scold: what comes out of a person, then he will be filthy; Swearing is not resin, but akin to soot: it doesn’t cling, it stains like that; With abuse people dry, and with praise they get fat; You won’t take it with your throat, you won’t beg with abuse.

This is not only a warning, this is already a condemnation, this is a ban.

The Russian literary language is our wealth, our heritage. He embodied the cultural and historical traditions of the people. We are responsible for his condition, for his fate.

Language is the most important factor in the national identification of a person, which forms the characteristics of perception, the ability to think and speak, evaluate ...

History of the Russian language: origin, distinctive features and interesting facts

By Masterweb

Language is the most important factor in the national identification of a person, which forms the characteristics of perception, the ability to think and speak, evaluate the world around. The history of the Russian language is rooted in the events of 1.5-2 thousand years ago, which favored its creation. Today it is recognized as the richest language in the world and the fifth largest population that speaks it.

How did the Russian language appear

In prehistoric times, Slavic tribes spoke completely different dialects. The ancestors of the Slavs lived on the lands washed by the rivers Dnieper, Vistula and Pripyat. By the middle of the 1st century A.D. e. tribes occupied all territories from the Adriatic to the lake. Ilmen in the northeastern part of the European continent.

The history of the emergence and development of the Russian language dates back to about 2-1 thousand years BC. e., when the Proto-Slavic dialect was separated from the group of Indo-European languages.

Scientists conventionally divide the Old Russian language into 3 groups according to the ethnic linguistic component:

• South Russian (Bulgarians, Slovenes, Serbo-Croats);
• Western Russian (Poles, Czechs, Pomors, Slovaks);
• Central Russian (Eastern).

Modern norms of vocabulary and grammar in the Russian language were formed as a result of the interaction of many East Slavic dialects that were common in the territory of Ancient Rus' and the Church Slavonic language. Greek culture also had a great influence on the written form.

Theories of the origin of the Russian language

There are several theories, the main of which connect the beginning of the history of the Russian language with the ancient Indian Sanskrit and the Old Norse language.

In accordance with the first, experts consider the ancient Sanskrit language closest to Russian, which was spoken only by Indian priests and scientists, which indicates that it was introduced from outside. According to a Hindu legend, which is even studied in the theosophical universities of India, in ancient times 7 white-skinned teachers came to the Himalayas from the North, who presented Sanskrit.

With his help, the foundations of the Brahmin religion were laid, which is still one of the mass religions, and Buddhism was created through it. Until now, the Brahmins call the Russian North the ancestral home of mankind and even make a pilgrimage there.

As linguists note, 60% of Sanskrit words completely coincide with Russian in their pronunciation. Many scientific works were devoted to this issue, including the ethnographer N. R. Guseva. She has been studying the phenomenon of similarity between the Russian language and Sanskrit for many years, calling the latter a simplified version frozen for 4-5 millennia. The only difference between them is the writing method: Sanskrit is written in hieroglyphs, which scientists call the Slavic-Aryan runes.

Another theory of the history of the origin of the Russian language puts forward the hypothesis that the word "Rus" itself and the language have Old Norse roots. According to historians, the Greeks called the Norman tribes "dews" until the 9th-10th centuries, and only in the 10th-11th centuries. this name passed to the Varangian squads, who came to the territory of Rus'. It was from them that the future great princes of Ancient Rus' originated. For example, in old birch bark letters of the 11th-13th centuries. Novgorodians consider the territory of the Eastern Slavs near Kyiv and Chernigov to be Rus. And only from the 14th century. when fighting with enemy troops in the annals, they determine their belonging to the Russians.

Cyril and Methodius: the creation of the alphabet

The history of the Russian language, which was formed in writing, originates in the 9th century, in the era of the formation of Kievan Rus. The alphabet that existed then in Greece could not fully convey the features of the Slavic language, therefore, in 860-866. Emperor of Byzantium Michael the 3rd ordered the creation of a new alphabet for the Old Church Slavonic language. In this way, he wanted to simplify the translation of Greek religious manuscripts into Slavonic.

Scientists attribute the success of creating its literary form to the Christian preachers Cyril and Methodius, who went to preach in Moravia and, observing fasting and prayers, acquired the Glagolitic alphabet after 40 days. According to legend, it was faith that helped the brothers preach Christianity to the uneducated peoples of Rus'.

At that time, the Slavic alphabet consisted of 38 letters. Later, the Cyrillic alphabet was finalized by their followers, using the Greek uncial script and charter. Both alphabets almost coincide in the sound of the letters, the difference lies in the form of writing.

It was the swiftness with which the spread of Russian writing in Rus' that subsequently contributed to the fact that this language became one of the leading ones in its era. This also contributed to the unification of the Slavic peoples, which took place during the 9th-11th centuries.

Period 12-17 centuries

One of the well-known monuments of literature of the period of Ancient Rus' was the "Tale of Igor's Campaign", which tells about the campaign of Russian princes against the Polovtsian army. Its authorship is still unknown. The events described in the poem took place in the 12th century. in the era of feudal fragmentation, when the Mongol-Tatars and the Polish-Lithuanian conquerors raged in their raids.

This period includes the next stage in the history of the development of the Russian language, when it was divided into 3 ethno-linguistic groups, the dialectical features of which have already been formed:

• Great Russian;
• Ukrainian;
• Belarusian.

In the 15th century on the European territory of Russia, there were 2 main groups of dialects: southern and northern dialects, each of which had its own characteristics: akanye or okanye, etc. During this period, several intermediate Central Russian dialects were born, among which Moscow was considered classic. Periodicals and literature began to appear on it.

The formation of Muscovite Rus' served as an impetus for the reform of the language: sentences became shorter, everyday vocabulary and folk proverbs and sayings were widely used. In the history of the development of the Russian language, the era of the beginning of book printing played a big role. An illustrative example was the work "Domostroy", published in the middle of the 16th century.

In the 17th century, in connection with the flourishing of the Polish state, a lot of terms came from the field of technology and jurisprudence, with the help of which the Russian language passed the stage of modernization. By the beginning of the 18th century in Europe, the French influence was strongly felt, which gave impetus to the Europeanization of the high society of the Russian state.

Proceedings of M. Lomonosov

The common people did not learn Russian writing, and the nobles studied foreign languages ​​more: German, French, etc. Primers and grammar until the 18th century. were made only in the Church Slavonic dialect.

The history of the Russian literary language originates from the reform of the alphabet, during which Tsar Peter the Great reviewed the 1st edition of the new alphabet. It happened in 1710.

The leading role was played by the scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, who wrote the first "Russian Grammar" (1755). He gave the literary language its final form by merging Russian and Slavic elements.

Lomonosov established a coherent system of styles and combined all of its varieties, using oral speech, orders and some regional variations, introduced a new system of versification, which still remains the main force and part of Russian poetry.

He also wrote a work on rhetoric and an article in which the scientist successfully used the lexical and grammatical richness of the Church Slavonic language. Lomonosov also wrote about the three main styles of poetic language, in which high was considered a work with the greatest use of Slavicisms.

During this period, the democratization of the language takes place, its composition and vocabulary are enriched by literate peasants, the oral speech of representatives of the merchant class and the lower strata of the clergy. The first most detailed textbooks on the literary Russian language were published by the writer N. Grech in the 1820s.

In noble families, the native language was studied mainly by boys who were trained to serve in the army, because they were to command soldiers from the common people. The girls, on the other hand, studied French, and spoke Russian only to communicate with the servants. So, the poet A. S. Pushkin grew up in a French-speaking family, and spoke his native language only with his nanny and grandmother. Later, he studied Russian with the priest A. Belikov and the local clerk. Education at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum was also conducted in the native language.

In the 1820s, in the high society of Moscow and St. Petersburg, an opinion was formed that it was indecent to speak Russian, especially in front of ladies. However, the situation soon changed.

Century XIX - the century of Russian literature

The beginning of the heyday and fashion for the Russian language was a costume ball, which in 1830 was held in the Anichkov Palace. On it, the maid of honor of the Empress read the poem "Cyclops", specially written for the celebration by A. S. Pushkin.

In defense of the native language, Tsar Nicholas 1st spoke out, who ordered from now on to conduct all correspondence and office work in it. All foreigners, upon entering the service, were obliged to take an exam for knowledge of Russian, and it was also prescribed to speak it at court. Emperor Alexander III put forward the same demands, but at the end of the 19th century. English came into fashion, which was taught to noble and royal children.

A great influence on the history of the development of the Russian language in the 18-19 centuries. Russian writers who became popular then: D. I. Fonvizin, N. M. Karamzin, G. R. Derzhavin, N. V. Gogol, I. S. Turgenev, in poetry - A. S. Pushkin and M. Yu. Lermontov. With their works, they showed all the beauty of their native speech, using it freely and freeing them from stylistic restrictions. In 1863 V. I. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language was published.

Borrowings

In the history of the Russian language, there are many facts about its growth and enrichment when borrowing a large number of words of foreign origin in the vocabulary. Some of the words came from Church Slavonic. At different times in history, the degree of influence of the neighboring language community was different, but this always helped the introduction of new words and phrases.

In contact with European languages ​​for a long time, many words came into Russian speech from them:

• from Greek: beet, crocodile, bench, as well as most names;
• from the Scythians and the Iranian group: dog, paradise;
• some names came from Scandinavians: Olga, Igor, etc.;
• from Turkic: diamond, trousers, fog;
• from Polish: jar, duel;
• French: beach, conductor;
• from Dutch: orange, yacht;
• from the Romano-Germanic languages: algebra, tie, dance, powder, cement;
• from Hungarian: hussar, saber;
• musical and culinary terms were borrowed from Italian: pasta, balance, opera, etc.;
• from English: jeans, sweater, tuxedo, shorts, jam, etc.

The borrowing of technical and other terms gained mass importance in the late 19th and 20th century as new techniques and technologies developed, especially from the English language.

For its part, the Russian language gave the world many words that are now considered international: matryoshka, vodka, samovar, satellite, tsar, dacha, steppe, pogrom, etc.

XX century and the development of the Russian language

In 1918, a reform of the Russian language was carried out, in which the following changes were introduced to the alphabet:

• the letters "yat", "fita", "decimal" were removed and replaced with "E", "F" and "I";
• canceled hard sign at the ends of words;
• it is indicated in prefixes to use the letters "s" before deaf consonants and "z" - before voiced ones;
• adopted changes in the endings and cases of some words;
• "Izhitsa" itself disappeared from the alphabet even before the reform.

The modern Russian language was approved in 1942, in the alphabet of which 2 letters "E" and "Y" were added, since then it has already consisted of 33 letters.

By the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, in connection with universal compulsory education, the widespread use of the press, mass media, cinema and television, the majority of the Russian population began to speak the standard Russian literary language. The influence of dialects is occasionally felt only in the speech of older people who live in remote rural areas.

Many linguists and scientists believe that the Russian language is unique in its richness and expressiveness, and that its existence arouses interest all over the world. This is evidenced by statistics that recognize him as the 8th most common language on the planet, because it is spoken by 250 million people.

The most interesting facts from the history of the development of the Russian language briefly:

• it is included in 6 working languages ​​in the United Nations (UN);
• ranks 4th in the world in the list of the most translated into other languages;
• large Russian-speaking communities live not only in the countries of the former USSR, but also in Turkey, Israel, the USA, etc.;
• when studying Russian by foreigners, it is considered one of the most difficult, along with Chinese and Japanese;
• the oldest books written in Old Russian: the Novgorod Codex (beginning of the 11th century) and the Ostrovir Gospel (1057) - in Church Slavonic;
• has a unique alphabet, extraordinary types and cases, many rules and even more exceptions to them;
• in the Old Slavonic alphabet, the first letter was "I";
• the youngest letter "E", which appeared only in 1873;
• in the Russian alphabet, some letters are similar to Latin ones, and 2 of them cannot be pronounced "b" and "b" at all;
• in Russian there are words that begin with "Y", but these are geographical names;
• in 1993, the longest word in the world out of 33 letters “X-ray electrocardiographic” got into the Guinness Book of Records, and already in 2003 - out of 39 letters “highly contemplating”;
• in Russia, 99.4% of the population is fluent in their native language.

A Brief History of the Russian Language: Facts and Dates

Summing up all the data, you can create a chronological sequence of facts that happened from ancient times to the present day in the formation of the modern language:

The given brief history of the Russian language reflects the course of events rather conditionally. After all, the development and improvement of oral and written forms of speech, the publication of printed publications and literary masterpieces took place at different times, gradually gaining more and more popularity among various segments of the Russian population.

As the history and general characteristics of the Russian language testify, its development has been carried out over thousands of years, and enrichment through new words and expressions occurs under the influence of socio-political life, especially in the last 100 years. In the 21st century, its replenishment is actively influenced by the media and the Internet.

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National language- a means of written and oral communication of the nation. Along with the integrity of the territory, economic life and mental make-up, language is the leading indicator of the historical community of people, which is usually called the term "nation". National language- a historical category, it is formed during the formation of a nation, its development from a nationality.

Russian national language by family ties that have arisen and formed in the process of historical development, belongs to the Slavic group of the Indo-European family of languages. In this group, there are three subgroups:

- East Slavic(Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian),

- West Slavic(Czech, Slovak, Polish, Kashubian, Serbo-Lusatian and dead Polabian languages),

- South Slavic(Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene, Ruthenian and dead Old Church Slavonic).

In terms of prevalence, Slavic languages ​​​​rank fifth in the world (after Chinese, Indian, Germanic and Romance languages). Today they are spoken by 280 million people. The Russian literary language dominates among other Slavic languages ​​in terms of the number of speakers. Together with English, French, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic, it is recognized as the official and working language of the United Nations. More than 250 million people study the modern Russian literary language in almost 100 countries of the world.

Slavic languages ​​come from single Proto-Slavic language, separated from the Indo-European base language long before our era. During the period of existence of a single Proto-Slavic language, the main features inherent in all Slavic languages ​​developed. Approximately in the VI-VII centuries. n. e. Proto-Slavic unity broke up, and the Eastern Slavs began to use a relatively unified East Slavic (Old Russian or the language of Kievan Rus) language. With the strengthening of feudal fragmentation and the overthrow of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, the Great Russian, Little Russian and Belarusian nationalities are formed, and by the XIV-XV centuries the language of the Great Russian nationality is formed with the Rostov-Suzdal and Vladimir dialects at the core.

The Russian national language begins to take shape in the XVII century in connection with the development of capitalist relations and the development of the Russian people into a nation. The phonetic system, grammatical structure and basic vocabulary of the Russian national language is inherited from the language of the Great Russian people, formed as a result of the interaction of the North Great Russian and South Great Russian dialects. Moscow, located at the junction of the south and north of the European part of Russia, has become the center of this interaction. It was the Moscow business vernacular that had a significant impact on the development of the national language. During the period of its formation, firstly, the development of new dialect features in dialects stops, although the old dialect features turn out to be very stable. Secondly, the influence of the Church Slavonic language is weakening. Thirdly, a literary language of a democratic type is developing, based on the traditions of the business language of Moscow.

An important stage in the development of the Russian national language was XVIII century. The Slavic-Russian language - the Russian language with a large proportion of Old Slavonic and Church Slavonic elements - was then used in fiction, official business documents, and scientific treatises. required democratization of the language the introduction into its system of elements of the lively colloquial speech of the merchants, service people, the clergy and literate peasants. In society, there is an understanding of the role of the Russian language as a distinctive feature of the people, the desire to maintain its authority, to prove its viability as a means of communication, education, science and art. Played a significant role in this M. V. Lomonosov. He creates the "Russian Grammar", which has a theoretical (ordering the literary language) and practical (development of rules for the use of its elements) value. “All sciences,” he explains, “have a need for grammar. Stupid oratorio, tongue-tied poetry, unfounded philosophy, incomprehensible history, dubious jurisprudence without grammar.

Lomonosov pointed to two features of the Russian language that made it one of the most important world languages ​​- "the vastness of the places where it dominates" and "its own space and contentment." echoes him and VC. Trediakovsky, calling his article on eloquence "A word about rich, different, skillful and dissimilar ornate". In the era of Peter the Great, due to the appearance in Russia of many new objects and phenomena, the vocabulary of the Russian language is updated and enriched. This flow was so huge that even a decree was needed Peter I regulating the use of borrowings. By the end of the XVIII - beginning of the XIX century. the preferential use of primordially Russian elements in oral and written speech becomes a sign of respect for the Russian nation, and L.N. Tolstoy, who live at this time (“War and Peace”), mostly speak their native language. The Karamzin period in the development of the Russian national language is characterized by the struggle for the establishment of a single language norm in it. At the same time, he N.M. Karamzin and its supporters believed that it was necessary to focus on European languages ​​​​(French), free the Russian language from the influence of Church Slavonic speech, create new words, expand the semantics of already used words in order to denote new objects, phenomena, processes that appear in the life of society (mostly secular). . Opponent N.M. Karamzin became Slavophil A.S. Shishkov, who believed that the Old Slavonic language should become the basis of the Russian national language.

dispute over language Slavophiles and Westerners was brilliantly resolved in the work of the great Russian writers of the early 19th century. A.S. Griboyedov and I.A. Krylov showed the inexhaustible possibilities of live colloquial speech, the originality and richness of Russian folklore.

The creator of the national Russian language was A.S. Pushkin. In poetry and prose, the main thing, in his opinion, is “a sense of proportion and conformity” - any element will be appropriate if it accurately conveys a thought or feeling. By the first decades of the 19th century the formation of the Russian national language was completed. However, the process of processing the national language continues in order to create unified grammatical, lexical, spelling and orthoepic norms, numerous dictionaries are published, the largest of which was a four-volume "Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language" V.I. Dahl.

After the October Revolution important changes are taking place in the Russian language. Firstly, a huge layer of secular and religious vocabulary that was very relevant before the revolution is “dying out”. The new power destroys objects, phenomena, processes, and at the same time the words denoting them disappear: monarch, gendarme, police officer, privatdozent, footman, heir to the throne, seminary, sexton, Eucharist, and so on. Millions of believing Russians cannot use Christian terminology without fear (Ascension, Mother of God, Savior, Assumption, etc.), and these words live secretly, implicitly among the people, waiting for the hour of their revival.

On the other hand, a huge number of new words appear (often these are complex abbreviations) reflecting changes in politics and the economy: food tax, cultural enlightenment, educational program, Soviets, Kolchak, Chekist, party fees, collective farm, Council of People's Commissars, commander, food requisitioning, etc.

As one of the most striking distinctive features of the Russian language of the Soviet period, researchers note interference of the opposite, renaming of the denotation(lat. denotare - mark, designate) - an object or phenomenon. The essence of the interference of the opposing lies in the fact that two opposing lexical systems are formed that positively and negatively characterize the same phenomena that exist on opposite sides of the barricades, in the world of capitalism and in the world of socialism: scouts and spies, liberators and invaders, partisans and terrorists.

Among the features of the language post-Soviet period the most important are: replenishment of the vocabulary with new elements (borrowed vocabulary); the return to use of words that seemed to have forever lost such an opportunity (religious vocabulary); the emergence of new meanings for well-known words; the disappearance, along with objects and phenomena, of words characterizing Soviet reality; the destruction of the system formed as a result of the interference of the opposite.

Russian language is the language of the Russian nation, the language of the Russian people. National language is a language spoken by a historically established group of people living in a common territory, connected by a common economy, culture, and lifestyle. National language includes not only literary (i.e., standardized) language , but also dialects, vernacular, jargons, professionalisms.

The arrangement of words, their meanings, the meaning of their combinations contain that information about the world and people, which introduces one to the spiritual wealth created by many generations of ancestors.
Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky wrote that "every word of the language, each of its forms is the result of a person's thoughts and feelings, through which the nature of the country and the history of the people are reflected in the word." The history of the Russian language, according to V. Küchelbecker, "will reveal ... the character of the people who speak it." That is why all the means of the language help to most accurately, clearly and figuratively express the most complex thoughts and feelings of people, all the diversity of the world around

Education and development of the national language is a complex, lengthy process. The history of the Russian national language begins since the 17th century, when the Russian nation was finally formed. The further development of the Russian national language is directly related to the development of the history and culture of the people. The Russian national language was formed on the basis of the dialects of Moscow and its environs. The literary language forms the basis of the national language and is obliged to maintain its internal unity despite the difference in the means of expression used. The creator of the Russian literary language is A. Pushkin, which connected the literary Russian language of previous eras with the common spoken language. The language of the Pushkin era has basically survived to this day.
Literary language exists in two varieties - oral and written. The main advantages of the Russian national language are embodied in Russian fiction.
The peculiarity of the Russian national language is that it is the state language in Russia and serves as a means of interethnic communication between the peoples of the Russian Federation.

What is meant by official language? This is usually native majority language or a significant part of the population of the state and therefore the most used in it. It is a language (or languages) where the government communicates with the population . It publishes laws and other legal acts, official documents, minutes and transcripts of meetings are written, office work is carried out in state bodies and official correspondence. It's language official signboards and announcements, seals and stamps, marking of domestic goods, road signs and names of streets and squares. It is also the main language of education and training in schools and other educational institutions. The state language is mainly used on television and radio, in the publication of newspapers and magazines. The state power guarantees care for its all-round development, ensures its active use in the political, cultural and scientific spheres.

The Russian language performs, among others, function of interethnic communication, without which it would be impossible to have the necessary connections in everyday life and at work for people of different nationalities living in the same region. The Russian language has become a means of interethnic communication historically, due to the actual recognition of it as such by all the numerous peoples of our vast state.
The overwhelming majority of Russian citizens, regardless of their nationality, know and actively use the Russian language. This is an effective means of consolidating society and strengthening its unity. At the present stage, it is difficult to solve the problem of interethnic communication without the Russian language. Playing the role of an intermediary between all the languages ​​of the peoples of Russia, the Russian language helps to solve the problems of the political, economic and cultural development of the country.

In international relations, states use world languages, legally proclaimed by the United Nations as official and working languages. These languages ​​are English, French, Russian, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic. In any of these six languages, interstate political, economic, scientific and cultural contacts can be carried out, international meetings, forums, conferences can be held, correspondence and office work can be conducted. The world significance of the Russian language is due to the richness and expressiveness of its vocabulary, sound system, word formation, syntax.

The Russian language has become a universally recognized world language since the middle of the 20th century. Its global significance is due to the fact that it is one of the richest languages ​​in the world, in which the greatest fiction has been created. Russian is one of the Indo-European languages, related to many Slavic languages. Many words of the Russian language entered the languages ​​of the peoples of the world without translation. These borrowings from the Russian language or through it have been observed for a long time. Back in the 16th-17th centuries, Europeans learned such words as kremlin, tsar, boyar, cossack, caftan, hut, verst, balalaika, kopeck, pancake, kvass, etc. . Later in Europe the words spread Decembrist, samovar, sundress, ditty, etc. . As evidence of attention to changes in the socio-political life of Russia, such words as perestroika, glasnost, etc. have entered the languages ​​of the peoples of the world.