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In Belarus, Russian is a second state language alongside Belarusian per the Constitution of Belarus.^[1] 77% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 67% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.^[2]

In Estonia, Russian is spoken by 29.6% of the population according to a 2011 estimate from the World Factbook,^[3] and is officially considered a foreign language.^[1] School education in the Russian language is a very contentious point in Estonian politics, but as of 2019 promises have been given that such schools will remain open in the near future.^[4]

In Latvia, Russian is officially considered a foreign language.^[1] 55% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 26% used it as ntry, and 29 million active speakers.^[5] 65% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 38% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.^[2] On 5 September 2017, Ukraine's Parliament passed a new education law which bars primary education to all students in any language but Ukrainian.^[6] The law faced criticism from officials in Russia.^[7]^[8]

In the 20th century, Russian was a mandatory language taught in the schools of the members of the old Warsaw Pact and in other countries that used to be satellites of the USSR. According to the Eurobarometer 2005 survey,^[9] fluency in Russian remains fairly high (20–40%) in some countries, in particular those where the people speak a Slavic language and thereby have an edge in learning Russian ^{[further explanation needed]} (namely, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Bulgaria).

Significant Russian-speaking groups also exist in Western Europe. These have been fed by several waves of immigrants since the beginning of the 20th century, each with its own flavor of language. The United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Norway, and Austria have significant Russian-speaking communities.

Asia

In Armenia, Russian has no official status, but it is recognized as a minority language under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.^[1] 30% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 2% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.^[2]

In Azerbaijan, Russian has no official status, but is a lingua franca of the country.^[1] 26% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 5% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.^[2]

In China, Russian has no official status, but it is spoken by the small Russian communities in the northeastern Heilongjiang province.

In Georgia, Russian has no official status, but it is recognized as a minority language under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.^[1] Russian is the language of 9% of the population according to the World Factbook.^[10] Ethnologue cites Russian as the country's de facto working language.^[11]

In Kazakhstan, Russian is not a state language, but according to article 7 of the Constitution of Kazakhstan its usage enjoys equal status to that of the Kazakh language in state and local administration.^[1] The 2009 census reported that 10,309,500 people, or 84.8% of the population aged 15 and above, could read and write well in Russian, and understand the spoken language.^[12]

In Kyrgyzstan, Russian is a co-official language per article 5 of the Constitution of Kyrgyzstan.^[1] The 2009 census states that 482,200 people speak Russian as a native language, or 8.99% of the population.^[13] Additionally, 1,854,700 residents of Kyrgyzstan aged 15 and above fluently speak Russian as a second language, or 49.6% of the population in the age group.^[13]

In Tajikistan, Russian is the language of inter-ethnic communication under the Constitution of Tajikistan and is permitted in official documentation.^[1] 28% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 7% used it as the main language with family, friends or at work.^[2] The World Factbook notes that Russian is widely used in government and business.^[3]

In Turkmenistan, Russian lost its status as the official lingua franca in 1996.^[1] Russian is spoken by 12% of the population according to an undated estimate from the World Factbook.^[3] Nevertheless, the Turkmen state press and websites regularly publish material in Russian and there is the Russian-language newspaper Neytralny Turkmenistan, the television channel TV4, and there are schools like Joint Turkmen-Russian Secondary School.

In Uzbekistan, Russian is the language of inter-ethnic communication.^[14]^[15]^[16] It has some official roles, being permitted in official documentation and is the lingua franca of the country and the language of the elite.^[1]^[17] Russian is spoken by 14.2% of the population according to an undated estimate from the World Factbook.^[3]

In 2005, Russian was the most widely taught foreign language in Mongolia,^[18] and was compulsory in Year 7 onward as a second foreign language in 2006.^[19]

Russian is also spoken in Israel. The number of native Russian-speaking Israelis numbers around 1.5 million Israelis,^[20] 15% of the population.^[21] The Israeli press and websites regularly publish material in Russian and there are Russian newspapers, television stations, schools, and social media outlets based in the country.^[22] There is an Israeli TV channel mainly broadcasting in Russian with Israel Plus. See also Russian language in Israel.

Russian is also spoken as a second language by a small number of people in Afghanistan.^[23]

In Vietnam, Russian has been added in the elementary curriculum along with Chinese and Japanese and were named as "first foreign languages" for Vietnamese students to learn, on equal footing with English.^[24]

North America

The language was first introduced in North America when Russian explorers voyaged into Alaska and claimed it for Russia during the 18th century. Although most Russian colonists left after the United States bought the land in 1867, a handful stayed and preserved the Russian language in this region to this day, although only a few elderly speakers of this unique dialect are left.^[25] In Nikolaevsk, Alaska, Russian is more spoken than English. Sizable Russian-speaking communities also exist in North America, especially in large urban centers of the U.S. and Canada, such as New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles, Nashville, San Francisco, Seattle, Spokane, Toronto, Calgary, Baltimore, Miami, Chicago, Denver, and Cleveland. In a number of locations they issue their own newspapers, and live in ethnic enclaves (especially the generation of immigrants who started arriving in the early 1960s). Only about 25% of them are ethnic Russians, however. Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the overwhelming majority of Russophones in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn in New York City were Russian-speaking Jews. Afterward, the influx from the countries of the former Soviet Union changed the statistics somewhat, with ethnic Russians and Ukrainians immigrating along with some more Russian Jews and Central Asians. According to the United States Census, in 2007 Russian was the primary language spoken in the homes of over 850,000 individuals living in the United States.^[26]

In the second half of the 20th century, Russian was the most popular foreign language in Cuba. Besides being taught at universities and schools, there were also educational programs on the radio and TV. However, starting January 2019 the Cuban television opens an educational program devoted to the Russian language. This project is fully entitled to be called an anticipated one, because the Russian – Cuban collaboration is a strategic direction actively developed as more and more young people are interested in the Russian language, the Education navigator informs. The Havana State University has started a bachelor's specialization called the Russian Language and the Second Foreign Language. There is also the Russian language department, where students can scrutinize e-books without internet connection. Additional courses on the Russian language are open at two schools of the Cuban capital city.^[27] An estimated 200,000 people speak the Russian language in Cuba, on the account that more than 23,000 Cubans who took higher studies in the former Soviet Union and later in Russia, and another important group of people who studied at military schools and technologists, plus the nearly 2,000 Russians residing in Cuba and their descendants.^{[citation needed]}

Dialects

Russian is a rather homogeneous language, in dialectal variation, due to the early political centralization under Moscow's rule, compulsory education, mass migration from rural to urban areas in the 20th century, and other factors. The standard language is used in written and spoken form almost everywhere in the country, from Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg in the West to Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the East, the enormous distance between notwithstanding.

Despite leveling after 1900, especially in matters of vocabulary and phonetics, a number of dialects still exist in Russia. Some linguists divide the dialects of Russian into two primary regional groupings, "Northern" and "Southern", with Moscow lying on the zone of transition between the two. Others divide the language into three groupings, Northern, Central (or Middle), and Southern, with Moscow lying in the Central region.^[28]^[29] All dialects are also divided into two main chronological categories: the dialects of primary formation (the territory of the Grand Duchy of Moscow roughly consists of the modern Central and Northwestern Federal districts) and secondary formation (other territories where Russian was brought by migrants from primary formation territories or adopted by the local population). Dialectology within Russia recognizes dozens of smaller-scale variants. The dialects often show distinct and non-standard features of pronunciation and intonation, vocabulary, and grammar. Some of these are relics of ancient usage now completely discarded by the standard language.

The Northern Russian dialects and those spoken along the Volga River typically pronounce unstressed /o/ clearly, a phenomenon called okanye (оканье).^[29] Besides the absence of vowel reduction, some dialects have high or diphthongal /e⁓i̯ɛ/ in place of Proto-Slavic *ě and /o⁓u̯ɔ/ in stressed closed syllables (as in Ukrainian) instead of Standard Russian /e/ and /o/.^[29] Another Northern dialectal morphological feature is a post-posed definite article -to, -ta, -te similarly to that existing in Bulgarian and Macedonian.^[29]

In the Southern Russian dialects, instances of unstressed /e/ and /a/ following palatalized consonants and preceding a stressed syllable are not reduced to [ɪ] (as occurs in the Moscow dialect), being instead pronounced [a] in such positions (e.g. несли is pronounced [nʲaˈslʲi], not [nʲɪsˈlʲi]) – this is called yakanye (яканье).^[29]^[30] Consonants include a [[Voiced velar fricative|fricative /ɣ/]], a [[semivowel|semivowel /w⁓u̯/]] and /x⁓xv⁓xw/, whereas the Standard and Northern dialects have the consonants /ɡ/, /v/, and final /l/ and /f/, respectively.^[29] The morphology features a palatalized final /tʲ/ in 3rd person forms of verbs (this is unpalatalized in the Standard and Northern dialects).^[29]^[31] Some of these features such as akanye and yakanye, a debuccalized or lenited /ɡ/, a [[semivowel|semivowel /w⁓u̯/]] and palatalized final /tʲ/ in 3rd person forms of verbs are also present in modern Belarusian and some dialects of Ukrainian (Eastern Polesian), indicating a linguistic continuum.

The city of Veliky Novgorod has historically displayed a feature called chokanye or tsokanye (чоканье or цоканье), in which /tɕ/ and /ts/ were switched or merged. So, цапля (tsaplya, 'heron') has been recorded as чапля (chaplya). Also, the second palatalization of velars did not occur there, so the so-called ě² (from the Proto-Slavic diphthong *ai) did not cause /k, ɡ, x/ to shift to /ts, dz, s/; therefore, where Standard Russian has цепь ('chain'), the form кепь [kʲepʲ] is attested in earlier texts.

Among the first to study Russian dialects was Lomonosov in the 18th century. In the 19th, Vladimir Dal compiled the first dictionary that included dialectal vocabulary. Detailed mapping of Russian dialects began at the turn of the 20th century. In modern times, the monumental Dialectological Atlas of the Russian Language (Диалектологический атлас русского языка – Dialektologichesky atlas russkogo yazyka), was published in three folio volumes 1986–1989, after four decades of preparatory work.

Comparison with other Slavic languages

There is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian, and a moderate degree of it across all modern Slavic languages, at least at the conversational level.^[32]

Derived languages

Balachka, a dialect spoken in Krasnodar region, Don, Kuban, and Terek, brought by relocated Cossacks in 1793 and is based on the southwest Ukrainian dialect. During the Russification of the aforementioned regions in the 1920s to 1950s, it was replaced by the Russian language.
Fenya, a criminal argot of ancient origin, with Russian grammar, but with distinct vocabulary
Medny Aleut language, an extinct mixed language that was spoken on Bering Island and is characterized by its Aleut nouns and Russian verbs
Padonkaffsky jargon, a slang language developed by padonki of Runet
Quelia, a macaronic language with Russian-derived basic structure and part of the lexicon (mainly nouns and verbs) borrowed from German
Runglish, a Russian-English pidgin. This word is also used by English speakers to describe the way in which Russians attempt to speak English using Russian morphology and/or syntax.
Russenorsk, an extinct pidgin language with mostly Russian vocabulary and mostly Norwegian grammar, used for communication between Russians and Norwegian traders in the Pomor trade in Finnmark and the Kola Peninsula
Surzhyk, a range of mixed (macaronic) sociolects of Ukrainian and Russian languages used in certain regions of Ukraine and adjacent lands.
Trasianka, a heavily russified variety of Belarusian used by a large portion of the rural population in Belarus
Taimyr Pidgin Russian, spoken by the Nganasan on the Taimyr Peninsula

Alphabet

Russian is written using a Cyrillic alphabet. The Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters. The following table gives their upper case forms, along with IPA values for each letter's typical sound:

А /a/	Б /b/	В /v/	Г /ɡ/	Д /d/	Е /je/	Ё /jo/	Ж /ʐ/	З /z/	И /i/	Й /j/
К /k/	Л /l/	М /m/	Н /n/	О /o/	П /p/	Р /r/	С /s/	Т /t/	У /u/	Ф /f/
Х /x/	Ц /ts/	Ч /tɕ/	Ш /ʂ/	Щ /ɕː/	Ъ /-/	Ы /ɨ/	Ь /ʲ/	Э /e/	Ю /ju/	Я /ja/

Older letters of the Russian alphabet include ⟨ѣ⟩, which merged to ⟨е⟩ (/je/ or /ʲe/); ⟨і⟩ and ⟨ѵ⟩, which both merged to ⟨и⟩ (/i/); ⟨ѳ⟩, which merged to ⟨ф⟩ (/f/); ⟨ѫ⟩, which merged to ⟨у⟩ (/u/); ⟨ѭ⟩, which merged to ⟨ю⟩ (/ju/ or /ʲu/); and ⟨ѧ⟩ and ⟨ѩ⟩, which later were graphically reshaped into ⟨я⟩ and merged phonetically to /ja/ or /ʲa/. While these older letters have been abandoned at one time or another, they may be used in this and related articles. The yers ⟨ъ⟩ and ⟨ь⟩ originally indicated the pronunciation of ultra-short or reduced /ŭ/, /ĭ/.

Transliteration

Because of many technical restrictions in computing and also because of the unavailability of Cyrillic keyboards abroad, Russian is often transliterated using the Latin alphabet. For example, мороз ('frost') is transliterated moroz, and мышь ('mouse'), mysh or myš'. Once commonly used by the majority of those living outside Russia, transliteration is being used less frequently by Russian-speaking typists in favor of the extension of Unicode character encoding, which fully incorporates the Russian alphabet. Free programs are available offering this Unicode extension, which allow users to type Russian characters, even on Western 'QWERTY' keyboards.^[33]

Computing

The Russian alphabet has many systems of character encoding. KOI8-R was designed by the Soviet government and was intended to serve as the standard encoding. This encoding was and still is widely used in UNIX-like operating systems. Nevertheless, the spread of MS-DOS and OS/2 (IBM866), traditional Macintosh (ISO/IEC 8859-5) and Microsoft Windows (CP1251) meant the proliferation of many different encodings as de facto standards, with Windows-1251 becoming a de facto standard in Russian Internet and e-mail communication during the period of roughly 1995–2005.

All the obsolete 8-bit encodings are rarely used in the communication protocols and text-exchange data formats, having been mostly replaced with UTF-8. A number of encoding conversion applications were developed. "iconv" is an example that is supported by most versions of Linux, Macintosh and some other operating systems; but converters are rarely needed unless accessing texts created more than a few years ago.

In addition to the modern Russian alphabet, Unicode (and thus UTF-8) encodes the Early Cyrillic alphabet (which is very similar to the Greek alphabet), and all other Slavic and non-Slavic but Cyrillic-based alphabets.

Orthography

The current spelling follows the major reform of 1918, and the final codification of 1956. An update proposed in the late 1990s has met a hostile reception, and has not been formally adopted. The punctuation, originally based on Byzantine Greek, was in the 17th and 18th centuries reformulated on the French and German models.^{[citation needed]}

According to the Institute of Russian Language of the Russian Academy of Sciences, an optional acute accent (знак ударения) may, and sometimes should, be used to mark stress. For example, it is used to distinguish between otherwise identical words, especially when context does not make it obvious: замо́к (zamók – "lock") – за́мок (zámok – "castle"), сто́ящий (stóyashchy – "worthwhile") – стоя́щий (stoyáshchy – "standing"), чудно́ (chudnó – "this is odd") – чу́дно (chúdno – "this is marvellous"), молоде́ц (molodéts – "well done!") – мо́лодец (mólodets – "fine young man"), узна́ю (uznáyu – "I shall learn it") – узнаю́ (uznayú – "I recognize it"), отреза́ть (otrezát – "to be cutting") – отре́зать (otrézat – "to have cut"); to indicate the proper pronunciation of uncommon words, especially personal and family names, like афе́ра (aféra, "scandal, affair"), гу́ру (gúru, "guru"), Гарси́я (García), Оле́ша (Olésha), Фе́рми (Fermi), and to show which is the stressed word in a sentence, for example Ты́ съел печенье? (Tý syel pechenye? – "Was it you who ate the cookie?") – Ты съе́л печенье? (Ty syél pechenye? – "Did you eat the cookie?) – Ты съел пече́нье? (Ty syel pechénye? "Was it the cookie you ate?"). Stress marks are mandatory in lexical dictionaries and books for children or Russian learners.

Phonology

The phonological system of Russian is inherited from Common Slavonic; it underwent considerable modification in the early historical period before being largely settled around the year 1400.

The language possesses five vowels (or six, under the St. Petersburg Phonological School), which are written with different letters depending on whether the preceding consonant is palatalized. The consonants typically come in plain vs. palatalized pairs, which are traditionally called hard and soft. The hard consonants are often velarized, especially before front vowels, as in Irish and Marshallese. The standard language, based on the Moscow dialect, possesses heavy stress and moderate variation in pitch. Stressed vowels are somewhat lengthened, while unstressed vowels tend to be reduced to near-close vowels or an unclear schwa. (See also: vowel reduction in Russian.)

The Russian syllable structure can be quite complex, with both initial and final consonant clusters of up to four consecutive sounds. Using a formula with V standing for the nucleus (vowel) and C for each consonant, the maximal structure can be described as follows:

(C)(C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C)

However, Russian has a constraint on syllabification such that syllables cannot span multiple morphemes.

Clusters of four consonants are not very common, especially within a morpheme. Some examples are: взгляд ([vzglʲat] vzglyad, 'glance'), государств ([gəsʊˈdarstf] gosudarstv, 'of the states'), строительств ([strɐˈitʲɪlʲstf] stroitelstv, 'of the constructions').

Consonants

Consonant phonemes
	Labial		Alveolar /Dental		Post- alveolar		Palatal	Velar
	plain	pal.	plain	pal.	plain	pal.	Palatal	plain	pal.
Nasal	m	mʲ	n	nʲ
Stop	p b	pʲ bʲ	t d	tʲ dʲ				k ɡ	kʲ ɡʲ
Affricate			ts			tɕ
Fricative	f v	fʲ vʲ	s z	sʲ zʲ	ʂ ʐ	ɕː ʑː		x ɣ	xʲ ɣʲ
Approximant			ɫ	lʲ			j
Trill			r	rʲ

Russian is notable for its distinction based on palatalization of most of its consonants. While /k, ɡ, x/ do have palatalized allophones [kʲ, ɡʲ, xʲ], only /kʲ/ might be considered a phoneme, though it is marginal and generally not considered distinctive. The only native minimal pair that argues for /kʲ/ being a separate phoneme is это ткёт ([ˈɛtə tkʲɵt] eto tkyot – "it weaves") – этот кот ([ˈɛtət kot], etot kot – "this cat"). Palatalization means that the center of the tongue is raised during and after the articulation of the consonant. In the case of /tʲ/ and /dʲ/, the tongue is raised enough to produce slight frication (affricate sounds; cf. Belarusian ць, дзь, or Polish ć, dź). The sounds /t, d, ts, s, z, n, rʲ/ are dental, that is, pronounced with the tip of the tongue against the teeth rather than against the alveolar ridge.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	(ɨ)	u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

Russian has five or six vowels in stressed syllables, /i, u, e, o, a/ and in some analyses /ɨ/, but in most cases these vowels have merged to only two to four vowels when unstressed: /i, u, a/ (or /ɨ, u, a/) after hard consonants and /i, u/ after soft ones.

Grammar

Russian has preserved an Indo-European synthetic-inflectional structure, although considerable levelling has occurred. Russian grammar encompasses:

a highly fusional morphology
a syntax that, for the literary language, is the conscious fusion of three elements:^[34]
- a polished vernacular foundation;^{[clarification needed]}
- a Church Slavonic inheritance;
- a Western European style.^{[clarification needed]}

The spoken language has been influenced by the literary one but continues to preserve characteristic forms. The dialects show various non-standard grammatical features,^[35] some of which are archaisms or descendants of old forms since discarded by the literary language.

In terms of actual grammar, there are three tenses in Russian – past, present, and future – and each verb has two aspects (perfective and imperfective). Russian nouns each have a gender – either feminine, masculine, or neuter, indicated by spelling at the end of the word. Words change depending on both their gender and function in the sentence. Russian has six cases: Nominative (for the subject of the sentence), Accusative (for direct objects), Dative (for indirect objects), Genitive (to indicate possession), Instrumental (to indicate 'with' or 'by means of'), and Prepositional (used after a preposition). Verbs of motion in Russian – such as 'go', 'walk', 'run', 'swim', and 'fly' – use the imperfective or perfective form to indicate a single or return trip, and also use a multitude of prefixes to add more meaning to the verb.

Vocabulary

See History of the Russian language for an account of the successive foreign influences on Russian.

The number of listed words or entries in some of the major dictionaries published during the past two centuries, are as follows:^[36]^[37]

Work	Year	Words	Notes
Academic dictionary, I Ed.	1789–1794	43,257	Russian and Church Slavonic with some Old Russian vocabulary.
Academic dictionary, II Ed	1806–1822	51,388	Russian and Church Slavonic with some Old Russian vocabulary.
Academic dictionary, III Ed.	1847	114,749	Russian and Church Slavonic with Old Russian vocabulary.
Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language (Dahl's)	1880–1882	195,844	44,000 entries lexically grouped; attempt to catalogue the full vernacular language. Contains many dialectal, local, and obsolete words.
Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language (Ushakov's)	1934–1940	85,289	Current language with some archaisms.
Academic Dictionary of the Russian Language (Ozhegov's)	1950–1965 1991 (2nd ed.)	120,480	"Full" 17-volumed dictionary of the contemporary language. The second 20-volumed edition was begun in 1991, but not all volumes have been finished.
Lopatin's dictionary	1999–2013	≈200,000	Orthographic, current language, several editions
Great Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language	1998–2009	≈130,000	Current language, the dictionary has many subsequent editions from the first one of 1998.
Russian Wiktionary	11 October 2021	442,533	Number of entries in the category Русский язык (Russian language)

History and examples

The history of the Russian language may be divided into the following periods:^[38]

Judging by the historical records, by approximately 1000 AD the predominant ethnic group over much of modern European Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus was the Eastern branch of the Slavs, speaking a closely related group of dialects. The political unification of this region into Kievan Rus' in about 880, from which modern Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus trace their origins, established Old East Slavic as a literary and commercial language. It was soon followed by the adoption of Christianity in 988 and the introduction of the South Slavic Old Church Slavonic as the liturgical and official language. Borrowings and calques from Byzantine Greek began to enter the Old East Slavic and spoken dialects at this time, which in their turn modified the Old Church Slavonic as well.

The Ostromir Gospels of 1056 is the second oldest East Slavic book known, one of many medieval illuminated manuscripts preserved in the Russian National Library.

Dialectal differentiation accelerated after the breakup of Kievan Rus' in approximately 1100. On the territories of modern Belarus and Ukraine emerged Ruthenian and in modern Russia medieval Russian. They became distinct since the 13th century, i.e. following the division of the land between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Poland in the west and independent Novgorod and Pskov feudal republics plus numerous small duchies (which came to be vassals of the Tatars) in the east.

The official language in Moscow and Novgorod, and later, in the growing Muscovy, was Church Slavonic, which evolved from Old Church Slavonic and remained the literary language for centuries, until the Petrine age, when its usage became limited to biblical and liturgical texts. Russian developed under a strong influence of Church Slavonic until the close of the 17th century; afterward the influence reversed, leading to corruption of liturgical texts.

The political reforms of Peter the Great (Пётр Вели́кий, Pyótr Velíky) were accompanied by a reform of the alphabet, and achieved their goal of secularization and Westernization. Blocks of specialized vocabulary were adopted from the languages of Western Europe. By 1800, a significant portion of the gentry spoke French daily, and German sometimes. Many Russian novels of the 19th century, e.g. Leo Tolstoy's (Лев Толсто́й) War and Peace, contain entire paragraphs and even pages in French with no translation given, with an assumption that educated readers would not need one.

The modern literary language is usually considered to date from the time of Alexander Pushkin (Алекса́ндр Пу́шкин) in the first third of the 19th century. Pushkin revolutionized Russian literature by rejecting archaic grammar and vocabulary (so-called высо́кий стиль — "high style") in favor of grammar and vocabulary found in the spoken language of the time. Even modern readers of younger age may only experience slight difficulties understanding some words in Pushkin's texts, since relatively few words used by Pushkin have become archaic or changed meaning. In fact, many expressions used by Russian writers of the early 19th century, in particular Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov (Михаи́л Ле́рмонтов), Nikolai Gogol (Никола́й Го́голь), Aleksander Griboyedov (Алекса́ндр Грибое́дов), became proverbs or sayings which can be frequently found even in modern Russian colloquial speech.

Winter Evening

Reading of excerpt of Pushkin’s "Winter Evening" (Зимний вечер), 1825.

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Russian text	Pronunciation	Transliteration
Зи́мний ве́чер	[ˈzʲimnʲɪj ˈvʲetɕɪr]	Zímny vécher
Бу́ря мгло́ю не́бо кро́ет,	[ˈburʲə ˈmɡɫoju ˈnʲɛbə ˈkroɪt]	Búrya mglóyu nébo króyet,
Ви́хри сне́жные крутя́;	[ˈvʲixrʲɪ ˈsʲnʲɛʐnɨɪ krʊˈtʲa]	Víkhri snézhnyye krutyá,
То, как зверь, она́ заво́ет,	[ˈto kaɡ zvʲerʲ ɐˈna zɐˈvoɪt]	To, kak zver, oná zavóyet,
То запла́чет, как дитя́,	[ˈto zɐˈpɫatɕɪt, kaɡ dʲɪˈtʲa]	To zapláchet, kak dityá,
То по кро́вле обветша́лой	[ˈto pɐˈkrovlʲɪ ɐbvʲɪtˈʂaɫəj]	To po króvle obvetsháloy
Вдруг соло́мой зашуми́т,	[ˈvdruk sɐˈɫoməj zəʂʊˈmʲit]	Vdrug solómoy zashumít,
То, как пу́тник запозда́лый,	[ˈto ˈkak ˈputʲnʲɪɡ zəpɐˈzdaɫɨj]	To, kak pútnik zapozdály
К нам в око́шко застучи́т.	[ˈknam vɐˈkoʂkə zəstʊˈtɕit]	K nam v okóshko zastuchít.

The political upheavals of the early 20th century and the wholesale changes of political ideology gave written Russian its modern appearance after the spelling reform of 1918. Political circumstances and Soviet accomplishments in military, scientific, and technological matters (especially cosmonautics), gave Russian a worldwide prestige, especially during the mid-20th century.

During the Soviet period, the policy toward the languages of the various other ethnic groups fluctuated in practice. Though each of the constituent republics had its own official language, the unifying role and superior status was reserved for Russian, although it was declared the official language only in 1990.^[39] Following the break-up of the USSR in 1991, several of the newly independent states have encouraged their native languages, which has partly reversed the privileged status of Russian, though its role as the language of post-Soviet national discourse throughout the region has continued.

The Russian language in the world declined after 1991 due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and decrease in the number of Russians in the world and diminution of the total population in Russia (where Russian is an official language), however this has since been reversed.^[40]^[41]^[42]

Recent estimates of the total number of speakers of Russian
Source	Native speakers	Native rank	Total speakers	Total rank
G. Weber, "Top Languages", Language Monthly, 3: 12–18, 1997, ISSN 1369-9733	160,000,000	8	285,000,000	5
World Almanac (1999)	145,000,000	8 (2005)	275,000,000	5
SIL (2000 WCD)	145,000,000	8	255,000,000	5–6 (tied with Arabic)
CIA World Factbook (2005)	160,000,000	8

According to figures published in 2006 in the journal "Demoskop Weekly" research deputy director of Research Center for Sociological Research of the Ministry of Education and Science (Russia) Arefyev A. L.,^[43] the Russian language is gradually losing its position in the world in general, and in Russia in particular.^[41]^[44]^[45]^[46] In 2012, A. L. Arefyev published a new study "Russian language at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries", in which he confirmed his conclusion about the trend of weakening of the Russian language after the Soviet Union's collapse in various regions of the world (findings published in 2013 in the journal "Demoskop Weekly").^[40]^[47]^[48]^[49] In the countries of the former Soviet Union the Russian language was being replaced or used in conjunction with local languages.^[40]^[50] Currently, the number of speakers of Russian in the world depends on the number of Russians in the world and total population in Russia.^[40]^[41]^[42]

The changing proportion of Russian speakers in the world (assessment Aref'eva 2012)^[40]^[49]^: 387
Year	worldwide population, million	population Russian Empire, Soviet Union and Russian Federation, million	share in world population, %	total number of speakers of Russian, million	share in world population, %
1900	1,650	138.0	8.4	105	6.4
1914	1,782	182.2	10.2	140	7.9
1940	2,342	205.0	8.8	200	7.6
1980	4,434	265.0	6.0	280	6.3
1990	5,263	286.0	5.4	312	5.9
2004	6,400	146.0	2.3	278	4.3
2010	6,820	142.7	2.1	260	3.8
2020	7,794	143.7	1,8	256	3.3

Notes

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Русскоязычие распространено не только там, где живут русские". demoscope.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 October 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Languages". The World Factbook. Archived from the original on 13 May 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
^ ERR (2019-09-10). "Mailis Reps haridusest: venekeelsed koolid ei kao". ERR (in Estonian). Retrieved 2020-08-19.
^ "Падение статуса русского языка на постсоветском пространстве". demoscope.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 25 October 2016.
^ Genin, Aaron (28 March 2019). "Upcoming Elections and Ukrainian "Ultra-nationalism"". The California Review. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
^ "Ukraine defends education reform as Hungary promises 'pain'". The Irish Times. 27 September 2017.
^ "Ukrainian Language Bill Facing Barrage Of Criticism From Minorities, Foreign Capitals". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 24 September 2017.
^ "Europeans and their Languages" (PDF). europa.eu. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2009.
^ Georgia. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
^ Russian at Ethnologue (21st ed., 2018)
^ "Results of the 2009 National Population Census of the Republic of Kazakhstan" (PDF). Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Population And Housing Census Of The Kyrgyz Republic Of 2009" (PDF). UN Stats. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
^ Cite error: The named reference AA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Шухрат Хуррамов was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference AB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Law on Official Language" (PDF). Government of Uzbekistan. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
^ Brooke, James (15 February 2005). "For Mongolians, E Is for English, F Is for Future". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
^ Cite error: The named reference auto was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ К визиту Нетаньяху: что Россия может получить от экономики Израиля Archived 13 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine Алексей Голубович, Forbes Russia, 9 March 2017
^ Goble, Paul (12 June 2019). "Window on Eurasia – New Series: Percentage of Native Speakers of Russian Higher in Israel than in Most Former Soviet Republics". Window on Eurasia -- New Series. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
^ "Russians in Israel".
^ Awde and Sarwan, 2003
^ "Vietnam to add Chinese, Russian to elementary school curriculum". 20 September 2016.
^ "Ninilchik". languagehat.com. 1 January 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
^ "Language Use in the United States: 2007, census.gov" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
^ "Russian language returns to Cuba".
^ David Dalby. 1999–2000. The Linguasphere Register of the World's Languages and Speech Communities. Linguasphere Press. Pg. 442.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Sussex & Cubberley 2006, pp. 521–526.
^ "The Language of the Russian Village" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
^ "The Language of the Russian Village" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
^ Sussex & Cubberley, p. 3.
^ Caloni, Wanderley (15 February 2007). "RusKey: mapping the Russian keyboard layout into the Latin alphabets". The Code Project. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
^ Can Russians from different locations of the country https://www.rbth.com/education/328851-dialects-russian-language/amp
^ "Can Russians from different parts of the country understand each other?". www.rbth.com. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
^ What types of dictionaries exist? Archived 17 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine from www.gramota.ru (in Russian)
^ "{section.caption}". yarus.asu.edu.ru. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
^ Лопатин В. В., Улуханов И. С. (2005). "Восточнославянские языки. Русский язык". Языки мира. Славянские языки. М.: Academia. pp. 448–450. ISBN 978-5-87444-216-3.
^ "Закон СССР от 24 April 1990 О языках народов СССР" Archived 8 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine (The 1990 USSR Law about the Languages of the USSR) (in Russian)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Демографические изменения - не на пользу русскому языку" (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c Арефьев, А. Меньше россиян — меньше русскоговорящих (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
^ ^a ^b "журнал "Демоскоп". Где есть потребность в изучении русского языка". Mof.gov.cy (in Russian). 23 May 2012. Archived from the original on 5 April 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
^ Арефьев, А. Л. Сведения об авторе (in Russian). Socioprognoz.ru. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
^ Арефьев, А. В странах Азии, Африки и Латинской Америки наш язык стремительно утрачивает свою роль (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
^ Арефьев, А. Будет ли русский в числе мировых языков в будущем? (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
^ Арефьев, А. Падение статуса русского языка на постсоветском пространстве (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
^ Все меньше школьников обучаются на русском языке (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
^ Русский Язык На Рубеже Xx-Ххi Веков (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
^ ^a ^b Русский язык на рубеже XX-XXI веков Archived 15 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine — М.: Центр социального прогнозирования и маркетинга, 2012. — 482 стр.
^ журнал "Демоскоп". Русский язык — советский язык?. Demoscope.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

Sources

In English

M.A. O'Brien, New English–Russian and Russian–English Dictionary (New Orthography), New York, The Language Library 1944, Dover Publications.
Comrie, Bernard S.; Stone, Gerald; Polinsky, Maria (1996). The Russian Language in the Twentieth Century (2nd ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-824066-2.
Carleton, T. R. (1991). Introduction to the Phonological History of the Slavic Languages. Columbus, Ohio: Slavica Press.
Cubberley, P. (2002). Russian: A Linguistic Introduction (1st ed.). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-79641-5.
Iliev, Iv. The Russian Genitive of Negation and Its Japanese Counterpart. International Journal of Russian Stidies. 1, 2018 (In Print)
Sussex, Roland; Cubberley, Paul (2006). The Slavic languages. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-22315-7.
Timberlake, Alan (2004). A Reference Grammar of Russian. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-77292-1.
Timberlake, Alan (1993). "Russian". In Comrie, Bernard; Corbett, Greville G. (eds.). The Slavonic languages. London, England; New York, NY: Routledge. pp. 827–886. ISBN 978-0-415-04755-5.
Wade, Terence (2000). Holman, Michael (ed.). A Comprehensive Russian Grammar (2nd ed.). Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-631-20757-3.

In Russian

журнал «Демоскоп Weekly» № 571 – 572 14 – 31 октября 2013. А. Арефьев. Тема номера: сжимающееся русскоязычие. Демографические изменения - не на пользу русскому языку
Русский язык на рубеже XX-XXI веков — М.: Центр социального прогнозирования и маркетинга, 2012. — 482 стр. Аннотация книги в РУССКИЙ ЯЗЫК НА РУБЕЖЕ XX-XXI ВЕКОВ
журнал «Демоскоп Weekly» № 329 – 330 14 – 27 апреля 2008. К. Гаврилов. Е. Козиевская. Е. Яценко. Тема номера: русский язык на постсоветских просторах. Где есть потребность в изучении русского языка
журнал «Демоскоп Weekly» № 251 – 252 19 июня – 20 августа 2006. А. Арефьев. Тема номера: сколько людей говорят и будут говорить по-русски? Будет ли русский в числе мировых языков в будущем?
Жуковская Л. П. (отв. ред.) Древнерусский литературный язык и его отношение к старославянскому. — М.: «Наука», 1987.
Иванов В. В. Историческая грамматика русского языка. — М.: «Просвещение», 1990.
Новиков Л. А. Современный русский язык: для высшей школы. — М.: Лань, 2003.
Филин Ф. П. О словарном составе языка Великорусского народа. // Вопросы языкознания. — М., 1982, No. 5. — С. 18—28

External links

The dictionary definition of Appendix:Russian Swadesh list at Wiktionary
Oxford Dictionaries Russian Dictionary
Template:Curlie
USA Foreign Service Institute Russian basic course
Национальный корпус русского языка National Corpus of the Russian Language (in Russian)
Russian Language Institute Language regulator of the Russian language (in Russian)

[fundeh1-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[demoscope329-2] "Русскоязычие распространено не только там, где живут русские". demoscope.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 October 2016.

[bookoffact-3] "Languages". The World Factbook. Archived from the original on 13 May 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2015.

[4] ERR (2019-09-10). "Mailis Reps haridusest: venekeelsed koolid ei kao". ERR (in Estonian). Retrieved 2020-08-19.

[demoscope251-5] "Падение статуса русского языка на постсоветском пространстве". demoscope.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 25 October 2016.

[6] Genin, Aaron (28 March 2019). "Upcoming Elections and Ukrainian "Ultra-nationalism"". The California Review. Retrieved 16 July 2019.

[7] "Ukraine defends education reform as Hungary promises 'pain'". The Irish Times. 27 September 2017.

[8] "Ukrainian Language Bill Facing Barrage Of Criticism From Minorities, Foreign Capitals". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 24 September 2017.

[9] "Europeans and their Languages" (PDF). europa.eu. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2009.

[10] Georgia. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.

[ethn-11] Russian at Ethnologue (21st ed., 2018)

[kazcensus-12] "Results of the 2009 National Population Census of the Republic of Kazakhstan" (PDF). Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit. Retrieved 31 October 2015.

[kyrcen-13] "Population And Housing Census Of The Kyrgyz Republic Of 2009" (PDF). UN Stats. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2015.

[AA-14] Cite error: The named reference AA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Шухрат_Хуррамов-15] Cite error: The named reference Шухрат Хуррамов was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[AB-16] Cite error: The named reference AB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[UZB-17] "Law on Official Language" (PDF). Government of Uzbekistan. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2016.

[18] Brooke, James (15 February 2005). "For Mongolians, E Is for English, F Is for Future". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2009.

[auto-19] Cite error: The named reference auto was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[20] К визиту Нетаньяху: что Россия может получить от экономики Израиля Archived 13 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine Алексей Голубович, Forbes Russia, 9 March 2017

[21] Goble, Paul (12 June 2019). "Window on Eurasia – New Series: Percentage of Native Speakers of Russian Higher in Israel than in Most Former Soviet Republics". Window on Eurasia -- New Series. Retrieved 12 June 2019.

[22] "Russians in Israel".

[23] Awde and Sarwan, 2003

[24] "Vietnam to add Chinese, Russian to elementary school curriculum". 20 September 2016.

[25] "Ninilchik". languagehat.com. 1 January 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

[26] "Language Use in the United States: 2007, census.gov" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

[27] "Russian language returns to Cuba".

[28] David Dalby. 1999–2000. The Linguasphere Register of the World's Languages and Speech Communities. Linguasphere Press. Pg. 442.

[FOOTNOTESussexCubberley2006521–526-29] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Sussex & Cubberley 2006, pp. 521–526.

[30] "The Language of the Russian Village" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2011.

[31] "The Language of the Russian Village" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2011.

[32] Sussex & Cubberley, p. 3.

[33] Caloni, Wanderley (15 February 2007). "RusKey: mapping the Russian keyboard layout into the Latin alphabets". The Code Project. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2011.

[34] Can Russians from different locations of the country https://www.rbth.com/education/328851-dialects-russian-language/amp

[35] "Can Russians from different parts of the country understand each other?". www.rbth.com. Retrieved 16 February 2020.

[36] What types of dictionaries exist? Archived 17 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine from www.gramota.ru (in Russian)

[37] "{section.caption}". yarus.asu.edu.ru. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2020.

[38] Лопатин В. В., Улуханов И. С. (2005). "Восточнославянские языки. Русский язык". Языки мира. Славянские языки. М.: Academia. pp. 448–450. ISBN 978-5-87444-216-3.

[39] "Закон СССР от 24 April 1990 О языках народов СССР" Archived 8 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine (The 1990 USSR Law about the Languages of the USSR) (in Russian)

[demoscope.ru-40] "Демографические изменения - не на пользу русскому языку" (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.

[autogenerated20130215-1-41] Арефьев, А. Меньше россиян — меньше русскоговорящих (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

[Mof.gov.cy-42] "журнал "Демоскоп". Где есть потребность в изучении русского языка". Mof.gov.cy (in Russian). 23 May 2012. Archived from the original on 5 April 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

[43] Арефьев, А. Л. Сведения об авторе (in Russian). Socioprognoz.ru. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

[44] Арефьев, А. В странах Азии, Африки и Латинской Америки наш язык стремительно утрачивает свою роль (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

[autogenerated2-45] Арефьев, А. Будет ли русский в числе мировых языков в будущем? (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

[46] Арефьев, А. Падение статуса русского языка на постсоветском пространстве (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

[47] Все меньше школьников обучаются на русском языке (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.

[48] Русский Язык На Рубеже Xx-Ххi Веков (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.

[autogenerated20130213-1-49] Русский язык на рубеже XX-XXI веков Archived 15 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine — М.: Центр социального прогнозирования и маркетинга, 2012. — 482 стр.

[50] журнал "Демоскоп". Русский язык — советский язык?. Demoscope.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{pp-move|small=yes}}
 {{distinguish|Rusyn language|text=the [[Rusyn language]], related to Ukrainian}}
+{{short description|East Slavic language}}I[[File:Ukraine census 2001 Russian.svg|thumb|right|240px|Percentage of people in [[Ukraine]] with Russian as their native language according to a 2001 [[census]] ([[Administrative divisions of Ukraine|by region]])]]
-{{short description|East Slavic language}}
-{{Infobox language
-| name             = Russian
-| nativename       = {{lang|ru|русский язык}}{{NoteTag|On the history of using "русский" ("''russkiy''") and "российский" ("''rossiyskiy''") as the Russian adjectives denoting "Russian", see: [[Oleg Trubachyov]]. 2005. Русский&nbsp;– Российский. История, динамика, идеология двух атрибутов нации (pp. 216–227). В поисках единства. Взгляд филолога на проблему истоков Руси., 2005. {{cite web |url=http://krotov.info/libr_min/19_t/ru/bachev.htm |access-date=25 January 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140218214456/http://krotov.info/libr_min/19_t/ru/bachev.htm |archive-date=18 February 2014 |script-title=ru:РУССКИЙ - РОССИЙСКИЙ}}. On the 1830s change in the Russian name of the Russian language and its causes, see: [[Tomasz Kamusella]]. 2012. The Change of the Name of the Russian Language in Russian from Rossiiskii to Russkii: Did Politics Have Anything to Do with It? (pp.&nbsp;73–96). ''Acta Slavica Iaponica''. Vol 32, {{cite web |url=http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/publictn/acta/32/04Kamusella.pdf |title=The Change of the Name of the Russian Language in Russian from Rossiiskii to Russkii: Did Politics Have Anything to Do with It? |access-date=7 January 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518165147/http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/publictn/acta/32/04Kamusella.pdf |archive-date=18 May 2013}}}}<br/>''russkiy yazyk''
-| pronunciation    = {{IPA-ru|ˈruskʲɪj jɪˈzɨk||Ru-russkiy jizyk.ogg}}
-| states           = [[Russia]]
-| ethnicity        = [[Russians]]
-| region           = [[Geographical distribution of Russian speakers|Russian-speaking world]]
-| speakers         = {{Significant figures|154|2}} million
-| date             = 2012
-| ref              = e21
-| speakers2        = [[Second language|L2 speakers]]: {{Significant figures|110.4|2}} million (2012)<ref name=e21/>
-| familycolor      = Indo-European
-| fam2             = [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]]
-| fam3             = [[Slavic languages|Slavic]]
-| fam4             = [[East Slavic languages|East Slavic]]
-| ancestor         = [[Old East Slavic]]
-| script           = [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]] ([[Russian alphabet]])<br/>[[Russian Braille]]
-| nation           =
-{{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=[[List of territorial entities where Russian is an official language|5 UN member states]]|
-|[[Russia]] <small>(state)</small><ref name=RusConst>{{cite web |url=http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-01.htm |title=Article 68. Constitution of the Russian Federation |website=Constitution.ru |access-date=18 June 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606071041/http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-01.htm |archive-date=6 June 2013}}</ref><br/>
-[[Belarus]] <small>(state)</small><ref name=Belarus>{{cite web |url=http://president.gov.by/en/press19329.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502115338/http://president.gov.by/en/press19329.html|archive-date=2 May 2007 |title=Article 17. Constitution of the Republic of Belarus |website=President.gov.by |date=11 May 1998 |access-date=18 June 2013}}</ref><br/>
-[[Kazakhstan]] <small>(co-official)</small><ref name=Kazakhstan>{{cite web |first=N. |last=Nazarbaev
-|url=http://www.constcouncil.kz/eng/norpb/constrk/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020060732/http://www.constcouncil.kz/eng/norpb/constrk/ |archive-date=20 October 2007 |title=Article 7. Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan |website=Constcouncil.kz |date=4 December 2005 |access-date=18 June 2013}}</ref><br/>
-[[Kyrgyzstan]] <small>(co-official)</small><ref name=Kyrgyzstan>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.kg/ky|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222125830/http://www.gov.kg/?page_id=263|url-status=dead|title=Официальный сайт Правительства КР|archive-date=22 December 2012|website=Gov.kg|access-date=16 February 2020}}</ref><br/>
-[[Tajikistan]] <small>(as inter-ethnic language designated by the constitution)</small><ref>{{cite web |title=КОНСТИТУЦИЯ РЕСПУБЛИКИ ТАДЖИКИСТАН |url=http://prokuratura.tj/ru/legislation/the-constitution-of-the-republic-of-tajikistan.html |website=prokuratura.tj |publisher=Parliament of Tajikistan |access-date=9 January 2020}}</ref>
-}}
-<br />{{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=Used as inter-ethnic language but with no official status, or [[List_of_countries_and_territories_where_Russian_is_an_official_language#Status_in_dependencies_or_regions|as official in regional level]]|
-[[Turkmenistan]] <small>(inter-ethnic)</small><br/>
-[[Uzbekistan]] <small>(inter-ethnic)</small>{{NoteTag|Under the laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Russian language is not offered any status in terms of official language. The provisions only state that "Under request of citizens the text of document compiled by state notary or person acting as a notary shall be issued on Russian and if possible on other acceptable language" {{cite web |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b4d328.html |title=Uzbekistan: Law "On Official Language" |access-date=13 November 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508060700/https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b4d328.html |archive-date=7 May 2019}}}} <ref name="AA">{{cite web |author=Юрий Подпоренко |title=Бесправен, но востребован. Русский язык в Узбекистане |url=http://mytashkent.uz/2015/04/27/bespraven-no-vostrebovan-russkij-yazyk-v-uzbekistane/ |year=2001 |publisher=Дружба Народов |access-date=27 May 2016 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513012627/http://mytashkent.uz/2015/04/27/bespraven-no-vostrebovan-russkij-yazyk-v-uzbekistane/ |archive-date=13 May 2016}}</ref><ref name="Шухрат Хуррамов">{{cite web|author=Шухрат Хуррамов|title=Почему русский язык нужен узбекам? |url=http://365info.kz/2015/09/russkij-yazyk-v-uzbekistane/|date=11 September 2015 |website=365info.kz |access-date=27 May 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701175737/http://365info.kz/2015/09/russkij-yazyk-v-uzbekistane/ |archive-date=1 July 2016}}</ref><ref name="AB">{{cite web |author=Евгений Абдуллаев |title=Русский язык: жизнь после смерти. Язык, политика и общество в современном Узбекистане |url=http://magazines.russ.ru/nz/2009/4/ab21.html |year=2009 |publisher=Неприкосновенный запас |access-date=27 May 2016|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623201807/http://magazines.russ.ru/nz/2009/4/ab21.html|archive-date=23 June 2016}}</ref><br/>
-[[Moldova]]:
-* [[Gagauzia]] <small>(co-official)</small><ref name=Gagauzia>{{cite web |url=http://www.gagauzia.md/pageview.php?l=en&idc=389&id=240 |title=Article 16. Legal code of Gagauzia (Gagauz-Yeri) |website=Gagauzia.md |date=5 August 2008 |access-date=18 June 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513170728/http://www.gagauzia.md/pageview.php?l=en&idc=389&id=240 |archive-date=13 May 2013}}</ref>
-* [[Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester|Left Bank of the Dniester]] <small>(co-official)</small>
-[[Ukraine]]:
-* [[Autonomous Republic of Crimea]]{{NoteTag|The status of [[Crimea]] and of the city of [[Sevastopol]] is [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|under dispute between Russia and Ukraine]] since March 2014; Ukraine and the majority of the international community consider Crimea to be an [[autonomous republic]] of Ukraine and Sevastopol to be one of Ukraine's [[cities with special status]], whereas Russia, on the other hand, considers Crimea to be a [[federal subject of Russia]] and Sevastopol to be one of Russia's three [[federal cities of Russia|federal cities]].}}}}
-<br />{{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=[[List of territorial entities where Russian is an official language|Partially recognized states]]|
-[[Abkhazia]]<ref name="partialrecognition">Abkhazia and South Ossetia are only [[international recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia|partially recognized countries]]</ref><small>(co-official)</small><ref name=Abkhazia>{{Cite web|url=http://www.abkhaziagov.org/ru/state/sovereignty|title=Конституция Республики Абхазия|date=18 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118213155/http://www.abkhaziagov.org/ru/state/sovereignty|access-date=16 February 2020|archive-date=18 January 2009}}</ref><br/>
-[[Artsakh]] <small>(co-official)</small> <ref name="partialrecognition2">The Republics of Artsakh, Donetsk, Lugansk and Transnistria are only recognized by other [[states with limited recognition|non-UN member states]]</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Russian Language To Get Official Status In Nagorno-Karabakh |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-language-official-status-nagorno-karabakh/31169752.html |website=RFERL |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref><br/>
-[[Donetsk People's Republic]]<ref name="partialrecognition2"/><small>(state)</small><ref name="2020/03/06/russkij">{{cite web |script-title=ru:Русский признали в ДНР единственным государственным языком |url=https://rg.ru/2020/03/06/russkij-priznali-v-dnr-edinstvennym-gosudarstvennym-iazykom.html |trans-title=Russian language became the sole state language in the DPR |website=[[Rossiyskaya Gazeta|Российская газета]] |language=ru|access-date=7 March 2020}}</ref><br/>
-[[Lugansk People's Republic]]<ref name="partialrecognition2"/><small>(state)</small><ref>{{Cite news |script-title=ru:Парламент ЛНР признал русский язык единственным государственным в республике |language=ru |trans-title=LPR legislature adopted Russian language as the sole state language of the republic |agency=Interfax |publication-date=3 June 2020 |url=https://www.interfax.ru/world/711580 |access-date=2020-06-05}}</ref><br/>
-[[South Ossetia]]<ref name="partialrecognition"/><small>(state)</small><ref name=Ossetia>{{cite web |url=http://cominf.org/node/1127818105 |date=11 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090811021536/http://cominf.org/node/1127818105 |title=КОНСТИТУЦИЯ РЕСПУБЛИКИ ЮЖНАЯ ОСЕТИЯ |trans-title=CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH OSSETIA |access-date=5 April 2021 |archive-date=11 August 2009}}</ref><br/>
-[[Transnistria]] <small>(co-official)</small><ref name="partialrecognition2"/><ref name="Law of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic on the Functioning of Languages on the Territory of the Moldavian SSR">{{cite web |url=http://usefoundation.org/view/436 |title=Law of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic on the Functioning of Languages on the Territory of the Moldavian SSR |publisher=U.S. English Foundation Research |date=2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921034927/http://usefoundation.org/view/436 |archive-date=21 September 2016 }}</ref>}}
-<br />{{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=Organizations|
-[[United Nations]]
-* [[International Atomic Energy Agency|IAEA]]
-* [[International Civil Aviation Organization|ICAO]]
-* [[UNESCO]]
-* [[World Health Organization|WHO]]
-[[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]]<br/>
-[[Eurasian Economic Union|EAEU]]<br/>
-[[Collective Security Treaty Organization|CSTO]]<br/>
-[[Shanghai Cooperation Organisation|SCO]]<br/>
-[[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]]<br/>
-[[Antarctic Treaty Secretariat|ATS]]<br/>
-[[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]]}}
-| minority         = {{collapsible list|
-[[Romania]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=RO |title=Romania : Languages of Romania |website=Ethnologue.com |date=1999-02-19 |access-date=2016-01-28}}</ref><br/>
-[[Armenia]]<ref name=No148>{{cite web |url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CM=8&DF=23/01/05&CL=ENG&VL=1 |title=List of declarations made with respect to treaty No. 148 (Status as of: 21/9/2011) |publisher=[[Council of Europe]] |access-date=22 May 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522083136/http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CM=8&DF=23%2F01%2F05&CL=ENG&VL=1 |archive-date=22 May 2012}}</ref><br/>
-[[Poland]]<ref name=No148/><br/>
-[[Czech Republic]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vlada.cz/en/pracovni-a-poradni-organy-vlady/rnm/historie-a-soucasnost-rady-en-16666/ |title=National Minorities Policy of the Government of the Czech Republic |publisher=Vlada.cz |access-date=22 May 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607051111/http://www.vlada.cz/en/pracovni-a-poradni-organy-vlady/rnm/historie-a-soucasnost-rady-en-16666/ |archive-date=7 June 2012}}</ref><br/>
-[[Slovakia]]<ref name=No148/><br/>
-[[Latvia]]<ref name="2011 census">{{cite web|url=https://www.csb.gov.lv/en/statistics/statistics-by-theme/population/census/search-in-theme/1442-home-latvian-spoken-62-latvian-population|title=At home Latvian is spoken by 62% of Latvian population; the majority – in Vidzeme and Lubāna county |date=26 August 2013 |publisher=[[Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia]]}}</ref><br/>
-[[Moldova]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://deschide.md/ro/stiri/politic/78929/Pre%C8%99edintele-CCM-Constitu%C8%9Bia-nu-confer%C4%83-limbii-ruse-un-statut-deosebit-de-cel-al-altor-limbi-minoritare.htm |title=Președintele CCM: Constituția nu conferă limbii ruse un statut deosebit de cel al altor limbi minoritare |publisher=Deschide.md |access-date=22 January 2021}}</ref><br/>
-[[Mongolia]]<ref name="auto">{{cite news|date=21 September 2006|script-title=ru:Русский язык в Монголии стал обязательным|language=ru|trans-title=Russian language has become compulsory in Mongolia|agency=New Region|url=http://www.nr2.ru/83966.html|url-status=dead|access-date=16 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009170315/http://www.nr2.ru/83966.html|archive-date=9 October 2008}}</ref><br/>
-[[Ukraine]]<ref name="UAConstitution">[http://www.rada.gov.ua/const/conengl.htm#r1 Article 10] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521190059/http://www.rada.gov.ua/const/conengl.htm |date=May 21, 2011}} of the Constitution says: "The state language of Ukraine is the Ukrainian language. The State ensures the comprehensive development and functioning of the Ukrainian language in all spheres of social life throughout the entire territory of Ukraine. In Ukraine, the free development, use and protection of Russian, and other languages of national minorities of Ukraine, is guaranteed."</ref><br/>
-}}
-| agency           = [[Russian Language Institute]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ruslang.ru/agens.php?id=aims |title=Russian Language Institute |website=Ruslang.ru |access-date=16 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719234135/http://www.ruslang.ru/agens.php?id=aims |archive-date=19 July 2010}}</ref> at the [[Russian Academy of Sciences]]
-| iso1             = ru
-| iso2             = rus
-| iso3             = rus
-| lingua           = 53-AAA-ea < [[East Slavic languages|53-AAA-e]]<br/>(varieties: 53-AAA-eaa to 53-AAA-eat)
-| map              = Idioma ruso.PNG
-| mapcaption       = Areas where Russian is the majority language (medium blue) or a minority language (light blue)
-| map2             = Countries Where Russian is Official or Widely Spoken.png
-| mapcaption2      = States where Russian is an official language (dark blue) or spoken as a first or second language by 30% or more of the population (teal)
-| notice           = [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
-| glotto           = russ1263
-| glottorefname    = Russian
-}}
-'''Russian''' ({{lang|ru|русский язык}}, <small>[[Romanization of Russian|tr.]]</small> ''russkiy yazyk'') is an [[East Slavic languages|East Slavic language]] native to [[Russia]] in [[Eastern Europe]]. It is a part of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language family]], and is one of four living East Slavic languages, and also part of the larger [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic branch]]. Russian is an [[official language]] in [[Russia]], [[Belarus]], [[Kazakhstan]], and [[Kyrgyzstan]], and is used widely as a [[lingua franca]] throughout the [[Caucasus]], [[Central Asia]], and to some extent in the [[Baltic states]] and [[Ukraine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/109228/russian-language-enjoying-boost-postsoviet-states.aspx|title=Russian Language Enjoying a Boost in Post-Soviet States|publisher=Gallup.com|date=1 August 2008|access-date=16 May 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518073110/http://www.gallup.com/poll/109228/Russian-Language-Enjoying-Boost-PostSoviet-States.aspx|archive-date=18 May 2010}}</ref><ref name=demoscope>{{cite journal|last=Арефьев|first=Александр|script-title=ru:Падение статуса русского языка на постсоветском пространстве|journal=Демоскоп Weekly|year=2006|issue=251|url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema01.php|language=ru|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308114703/http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema01.php|archive-date=8 March 2013}}</ref> It was the [[De facto#National languages|''de facto'' language]] of the [[Soviet Union]] until its [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolution]];<ref name="USSR">[[1977 Soviet Constitution|Constitution and Fundamental Law of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]], 1977: Section II, Chapter 6, Article 36</ref> and continues to be used in public life with varying proficiency in most of the [[post-Soviet states]].
-Russian has over 258 million total speakers worldwide,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/rus|title=Russian|publisher=Ethnologue|access-date=August 10, 2020}}</ref> and is the most spoken [[Slavic languages|Slavic language]],<ref name="language"/> the most spoken [[native language]] in Europe,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tandem.net/10-most-spoken-languages-europe|title=The 10 Most Spoken Languages in Europe|work=[[Tandem (app)|Tandem]]|date=12 September 2019|access-date=31 May 2021}}</ref> as well as the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia.<ref name="language">{{cite web|url=https://learn.utoronto.ca/programs-courses/languages-and-translation/language-learning/russian|title=Russian|publisher=[[University of Toronto]]|quote="Russian is the most widespread of the Slavic languages and the largest native language in Europe. Of great political importance, it is one of the official languages of the United Nations – making it a natural area of study for those interested in geopolitics."|access-date=9 July 2021}}</ref> Large numbers of Russian speakers are residents of other countries, such as [[Languages of Israel|Israel]] and [[Mongolia#Languages|Mongolia]]. It is the world's [[List of languages by number of native speakers|seventh-most spoken language by number of native speakers]], and the world's [[List of languages by total number of speakers|eighth-most spoken language by total number of speakers]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The World's Most Widely Spoken Languages |url=http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm |website=Saint Ignatius High School |access-date=17 February 2012 |location=Cleveland, Ohio |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927062910/http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011}}</ref> Russian is the second-most used language on the [[Internet]] after [[English language|English]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_language|title=Usage statistics of content languages for websites|website=W3Techs|access-date=17 July 2021}}</ref> and is one of two official languages aboard the [[International Space Station]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Wakata|first=Koichi|author-link=Koichi Wakata|url=https://global.jaxa.jp/article/special/expedition/wakata01_e.html|title=My Long Mission in Space|publisher=[[JAXA]]|quote="The official languages on the ISS are English and Russian, and when I was speaking with the Flight Control Room at JAXA's Tsukuba Space Center during ISS systems and payload operations, I was required to speak in either English or Russian."|access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref> as well as one of the six [[official languages of the United Nations]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/our-work/official-languages|title=Official Languages|publisher=[[United Nations]]|quote="There are six official languages of the UN. These are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. The correct interpretation and translation of these six languages, in both spoken and written form, is very important to the work of the Organization, because this enables clear and concise communication on issues of global importance."|access-date=16 July 2021}}</ref>
-Russian is written using the [[Cyrillic script]]; it distinguishes between [[consonant]] [[phoneme]]s with [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatal]] [[secondary articulation]] and those without—the so-called "soft" and "hard" sounds. Almost every consonant has a hard or soft counterpart, and the distinction is a prominent feature of the language. Another important aspect is the [[vowel reduction|reduction]] of [[stress (linguistics)|unstressed]] [[vowel]]s. [[Stress (linguistics)|Stress]], which is unpredictable, is not normally indicated [[Orthography|orthographically]],{{sfn|Timberlake|2004|p=17}} though an optional [[acute accent]] may be used to mark stress, such as to distinguish between [[homograph]]ic words, e.g. [[:ru:Замок (устройство)|замо́к]] (''zamók'' – a 'lock') and [[:ru:Замок (строение)|за́мок]] (''zámok'' – a 'castle'), or to indicate the proper pronunciation of uncommon words or names.
-== Classification ==
-Russian is an [[East Slavic language]] of the wider [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European family]]. It is a descendant of the language used in [[Kievan Rus']], a loose conglomerate of [[East Slavs|East Slavic]] tribes from the late 9th to the mid 13th centuries. From the point of view of [[spoken language]], its closest relatives are [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] and [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]], <ref>{{cite web |title=Most similar languages to Russian |url=http://www.ezglot.com/most-similar-languages.php?l=rus |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525141518/http://www.ezglot.com/most-similar-languages.php?l=rus |archive-date=25 May 2017}}</ref> the other three languages in the East Slavic branch. In many places in eastern and southern [[Ukraine]] and throughout [[Belarus]], these languages are spoken interchangeably, and in certain areas traditional bilingualism resulted in language mixtures such as [[Surzhyk]] in eastern Ukraine and [[Trasianka]] in [[Belarus]]. An East Slavic [[Old Novgorod dialect]], although it vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is sometimes considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. Also Russian has notable lexical similarities with Bulgarian due to a common [[Church Slavonic]] influence on both languages, and because of later interaction in the 19th and 20th centuries, Bulgarian grammar differs markedly from Russian.{{sfn|Sussex|Cubberley|2006|pp=477–478, 480}} In the 19th century (in Russia until 1917), the language was often called "[[Great Russian language|Great Russian]]" to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called "White Russian" and Ukrainian, then called "Little Russian".
-The [[vocabulary]] (mainly abstract and literary words), principles of word formations, and, to some extent, inflections and literary style of Russian have been also influenced by [[Church Slavonic language|Church Slavonic]], a developed and partly Russified form of the [[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]] [[Old Church Slavonic]] language used by the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. However, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the [[Church Slavonic]] forms are in use, with many different meanings. ''For details, see [[Russian phonology]] and [[History of the Russian language]].''
-Over the course of centuries, the vocabulary and literary style of Russian have also been influenced by Western and Central European languages such as [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Latin]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[German language|German]], [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]], and [[English language|English]],<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Russian Language |first=Ellis Hovell |last=Minns |author-link=Ellis Minns|volume=23 |pages=912–914}}</ref> and to a lesser extent the languages to the south and the east: [[Uralic languages|Uralic]], [[Turkic languages|Turkic]],<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Turkic Languages of Central Asia: Problems of Planned Culture Contact by Stefan Wurm |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=392–394 |jstor=610442 |last=Waterson |first=Natalie |year=1955 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00111954}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://roa.rutgers.edu/files/491-0102/491-0102-GOUSKOVA-0-0.PDF |title=Falling Sonoroty Onsets, Loanwords, and Syllable contact |access-date=4 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505092913/http://roa.rutgers.edu/files/491-0102/491-0102-GOUSKOVA-0-0.PDF |archive-date=5 May 2015}}</ref> [[Persian language|Persian]],<ref>{{cite web |author1=Aliyeh Kord Zafaranlu Kambuziya |author2=Eftekhar Sadat Hashemi |url=http://roa.rutgers.edu/content/article/files/1317_hashemi_1.pdf|title=Russian Loanword Adoptation in Persian; Optimal Approach |website=roa.rutgers.edu |year=2010 |access-date=4 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505092721/http://roa.rutgers.edu/content/article/files/1317_hashemi_1.pdf |archive-date=5 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Iraj Bashiri |url=https://www.academia.edu/10442551|title=Russian Loanwords in Persian and Tajiki Language |website=academia.edu |year=1990|access-date=4 May 2015|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530193133/http://www.academia.edu/10442551/Russian_Loanwords_in_Persian_and_Tajiki_Languages |archive-date=30 May 2016}}</ref> [[Arabic language|Arabic]], and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]].<ref>Colin Baker, Sylvia Prys Jones [https://books.google.com/books?id=YgtSqB9oqDIC&pg=PA219&dq=russian+loanwords+in+hebrew&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=Y75GVbmtKomuUe25gbAJ&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=russian%20loanwords%20in%20hebrew&f=false ''Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320151848/https://books.google.com/books?id=YgtSqB9oqDIC&pg=PA219&dq=russian+loanwords+in+hebrew&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=Y75GVbmtKomuUe25gbAJ&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw |date=20 March 2018}} pp 219 Multilingual Matters, 1998 {{ISBN|1-85359-362-1}}</ref>
-According to the [[Defense Language Institute]] in [[Monterey, California]], Russian is classified as a level III language in terms of learning difficulty for native [[English language|English]] speakers, requiring approximately 1,100 hours of immersion instruction to achieve intermediate fluency.<ref>{{cite web|last=Thompson|first=Irene|title=Language Learning Difficulty|url=http://aboutworldlanguages.com/language-difficulty|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20140527094808/http://aboutworldlanguages.com/language-difficulty|archive-date=27 May 2014|access-date=25 May 2014|website=mustgo}}</ref> It is also regarded by the [[United States Intelligence Community]] as a "hard target" language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in [[American foreign policy|U.S. world policy]].
-== Standard Russian ==
-{{Main|Moscovian dialect}}
-Feudal divisions and conflicts, and other obstacles to the exchange of goods and ideas that ancient Russian principalities before and especially during Mongol rule, strengthened dialectical differences and for a while prevented the emergence of the standardized national language. The formation of the unified and centralized Russian state in 15th and 16th centuries and the gradual (re)emergence of a common political, economic, and cultural space have created the need for a common standard language. The initial impulse for the standardization came from the government bureaucracy for the lack of a reliable tool of communication in administrative, legal, and judicial affairs became an obvious practical problem. The earliest attempts at standardizing Russian were made based on the so-called Moscow official or chancery language, during the 15th to 17th centuries.<ref name=":0"/> Since then the trend of language policy in Russia has been standardization in both the restricted sense of reducing dialectical barriers between ethnic Russians, and the broader sense of expanding the use of Russian alongside or in favour of other languages.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|last=Kadochnikov|first=Denis V.|title=Languages, Regional Conflicts and Economic Development: Russia|date=2016|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-137-32505-1_20|work=The Palgrave Handbook of Economics and Language|pages=538–580|editor-last=Ginsburgh|editor-first=Victor|place=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-1-137-32505-1_20|isbn=978-1-349-67307-0|access-date=2021-02-16|editor2-last=Weber|editor2-first=Shlomo}}</ref>
-The current standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the ''modern Russian literary language'' ({{lang|ru|современный русский литературный язык}} – "sovremenny russky literaturny yazyk"). It arose in the beginning of the 18th century with the modernization reforms of the Russian state under the rule of [[Peter the Great]], and developed from the Moscow ([[Central Russian dialects|Middle or Central Russian]]) dialect substratum under the influence of some of the previous century's Russian chancery language.
-[[Mikhail Lomonosov]] first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755; in 1783 the [[Russian Academy]]'s first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. During the end of the 18th and 19th centuries, a period known as the "Golden Age", the grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation of the Russian language was stabilized and standardized, and it became the nationwide literary language; meanwhile, Russia's world-famous literature flourished.
-Prior to the [[Bolshevik Revolution]], the spoken form of the Russian language was that of the nobility and urban bourgeoise. Russian peasants - the great majority of the population - continued to speak in their own dialects. However, the peasant's speech was never systematically studied, as it was generally regarded by philologists as simply a source of folklore, and an object of curiosity. <ref>Nakhimovsky, A. D. (2019). ''The Language of Russian Peasants in the Twentieth Century: A Linguistic Analysis and Oral History''. United Kingdom: Lexington Books. (Chapter 1)</ref> This was acknowledged by the noted Russian dialectologist [[Nikolai Karinsky]] (1873–1935) who toward the end of his life wrote: “Scholars of Russian dialects mostly studied phonetics and morphology. Some scholars and collectors compiled local dictionaries... We have almost no studies of lexical material or the syntax of Russian dialects.”<ref>Nakhimovsky, A. D. (2019). ''The Language of Russian Peasants in the Twentieth Century: A Linguistic Analysis and Oral History''. United Kingdom: Lexington Books. (p.2)</ref>
-Post-1917, Marxist linguists had no interest in the multiplicity of peasant dialects, and regarded their language as a relic of the rapidly disappearing past, not worthy of scholarly attention. Nakhimovsky quotes the Soviet academicians A.M Ivanov and L.P Yakubinsky, writing in 1930:
-<blockquote><small>The language of peasants has a motley diversity inherited from feudalism...On its way to becoming proletariat peasantry brings to the factory and the industrial plant their local peasant dialects with their phonetics, grammar and vocabulary... the very process of recruiting workers from peasants and the mobility of worker population generate another process: the liquidation of peasant inheritance by way of leveling the particulars of local dialects. On the ruins of peasant multilingua, in the context of developing heavy industry, a qualitatively new entity can be said to emerge—the general language of the working class... capitalism has the tendency of creating the general urban language of a given society.<ref>''Ibid.''(p.3)</ref></small></blockquote>
-By the mid-20th century,{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the compulsory education system that was established by the [[Soviet government]]{{when|date=November 2021}}{{by whom|date=November 2021}}. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features (such as fricative {{IPA|[ɣ]}} in [[Southern Russian dialects]]) are still observed in colloquial speech.
-== Geographic distribution ==
-{{Main|Geographical distribution of Russian speakers}}
-[[File: Russian ex-USSR 2004.PNG|thumb|upright=1.8|Competence of Russian in countries of the former Soviet Union (except Russia), 2004]]
-In 2010, there were 259.8 million speakers of Russian in the world: in Russia – 137.5 million, in the [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]] and Baltic countries – 93.7 million, in Eastern Europe – 12.9 million, Western Europe – 7.3 million, Asia – 2.7 million, Middle East and North Africa – 1.3 million, Sub-Saharan Africa – 0.1 million, Latin America – 0.2 million, U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand – 4.1 million speakers. Therefore, the Russian language is the [[Languages by number of native speakers|seventh-largest in the world by number of speakers]], after English, Mandarin, Hindi-Urdu, Spanish, French, Arabic and Portuguese.<ref name="demoscope.ru">{{cite web|title=Демографические изменения - не на пользу русскому языку|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/tema02.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805090035/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/tema02.php|archive-date=5 August 2014|access-date=23 April 2014|publisher=Demoscope.ru|language=ru}}</ref><ref name="Ethnologue-rating-2018">{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/size|title=Statistical Summaries. Summary by language size. Language size|date=21 February 2018|editor=Lewis, M. Paul |editor2=Gary F. Simons |editor3=Charles D. Fennig|work=[[Ethnologue|Ethnologue: Languages of the World]] |edition=21st |location=Dallas|publisher=[[SIL International]]|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Арефьев А. Л. Сжимающееся русскоязычие">{{cite web|author=Арефьев А. Л.|date=31 October 2013|title=Сжимающееся русскоязычие. Демографические изменения — не на пользу русскому языку|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/tema02.php|work=[[Демоскоп Weekly]]|language=ru|number=571–572}}</ref>
-Russian is one of the [[Official languages of the United Nations|six official languages]] of the [[United Nations]]. Education in Russian is still a popular choice for both Russian as a second language (RSL) and native speakers in [[Russia]], and in many former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics.<ref name=gallup2008>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/112270/Russias-Language-Could-Ticket-Migrants.aspx |title=Russia's Language Could Be Ticket in for Migrants |date=28 November 2008 |publisher=[[The Gallup Organization|Gallup]] |access-date=26 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140928191526/http://www.gallup.com/poll/112270/russias-language-could-ticket-migrants.aspx |archive-date=28 September 2014}}</ref>
-=== Europe ===
-[[File:Ukraine census 2001 Russian.svg|thumb|right|240px|Percentage of people in [[Ukraine]] with Russian as their native language according to a 2001 [[census]] ([[Administrative divisions of Ukraine|by region]])]]
 In [[Belarus]], Russian is a second state language alongside Belarusian per the [[Constitution of Belarus]].<ref name="fundeh1"/> 77% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 67% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.<ref name="demoscope329">{{cite web|title=Русскоязычие распространено не только там, где живут русские|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema03.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023011719/http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema03.php|archive-date=23 October 2016|website=demoscope.ru|language=ru}}</ref>
 In [[Estonia]], Russian is spoken by 29.6% of the population according to a 2011 estimate from the World Factbook,<ref name=bookoffact/> and is officially considered a foreign language.<ref name="fundeh1"/> School education in the Russian language is a very contentious point in Estonian politics, but as of 2019 promises have been given that such schools will remain open in the near future.<ref>{{Cite web|last=ERR|date=2019-09-10|title=Mailis Reps haridusest: venekeelsed koolid ei kao|url=https://www.err.ee/978833/mailis-reps-haridusest-venekeelsed-koolid-ei-kao|access-date=2020-08-19|website=ERR|language=et}}</ref>
-In [[Latvia]], Russian is officially considered a foreign language.<ref name="fundeh1"/> 55% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 26% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.<ref name="demoscope329"/> On 18 February 2012, Latvia held a [[2012 Latvian constitutional referendum|constitutional referendum]] on whether to adopt Russian as a second official language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.cvk.lv/pub/public/28361.html/|title=Referendum on the Draft Law 'Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia'|publisher=Central Election Commission of Latvia|year=2012|access-date=2 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502013728/http://web.cvk.lv/pub/public/28361.html|archive-date=2 May 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to the Central Election Commission, 74.8% voted against, 24.9% voted for and the voter turnout was 71.1%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tn2012.cvk.lv/|title=Results of the referendum on the Draft Law 'Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia'|language=lv|publisher=Central Election Commission of Latvia|year=2012|access-date=2 May 2012}}</ref> Starting in 2019, instruction in [[Russian language in Latvia|Russian language]] will be gradually discontinued in private colleges and universities in [[Latvia]], and in general instruction in Latvian public high schools.<ref>{{cite news |title=Latvia pushes majority language in schools, leaving parents miffed |url=https://www.dw.com/en/latvia-pushes-majority-language-in-schools-leaving-parents-miffed/a-45385830 |agency=Deutsche Welle |date=8 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Moscow threatens sanctions against Latvia over removal of Russian from secondary schools |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/03/moscow-threatens-sanctions-against-latvia-removal-russian-secondary/ |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=3 April 2018}}</ref>
+In [[Latvia]], Russian is officially considered a foreign language.<ref name="fundeh1"/> 55% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 26% used it as ntry, and 29 million active speakers.<ref name="demoscope251">{{cite web|title=Падение статуса русского языка на постсоветском пространстве|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema01.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025204352/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema01.php|archive-date=25 October 2016|website=demoscope.ru|language=ru}}</ref> 65% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 38% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.<ref name="demoscope329" /> On 5 September 2017, Ukraine's Parliament passed a [[Ukrainization#2017 law "On Education"|new education law]] which bars primary education to all students in any language but [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://calrev.org/2019/03/28/upcoming-elections-and-ukrainian-ultra-nationalism/?v=7516fd43adaa|title=Upcoming Elections and Ukrainian "Ultra-nationalism"|last=Genin|first=Aaron|date=28 March 2019|work=The California Review|access-date=16 July 2019}}</ref> The law faced criticism from officials in Russia.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ukraine defends education reform as Hungary promises 'pain' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/ukraine-defends-education-reform-as-hungary-promises-pain-1.3235916 |work=The Irish Times |date=27 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ukrainian Language Bill Facing Barrage Of Criticism From Minorities, Foreign Capitals |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-language-legislation-minority-languages-russia-hungary-romania/28753925.html |work=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] |date=24 September 2017}}</ref>
-In [[Lithuania]], Russian has no official or any legal status, but the use of the language has some presence in certain areas. A large part of the population, especially the older generations, can speak Russian as a foreign language.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://in.mfa.lt/in/en/news/statistics-lithuania-785-of-lithuanians-speak-at-least-one-foreign-language|title=Statistics Lithuania: 78.5% of Lithuanians speak at least one foreign language &#124; News &#124; Ministry of Foreign Affairs}}</ref> However, English has replaced Russian as ''[[lingua franca]]'' in Lithuania and around 80% of young people speak English as the first foreign language.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://investlithuania.com/news/employees-fluent-in-three-languages-its-the-norm-in-lithuania/|title=Employees fluent in three languages – it's the norm in Lithuania}}</ref> In contrast to the other two Baltic states, Lithuania has a relatively small Russian-speaking minority (5.0% as of 2008).<ref name="andrlik">{{cite web|title=''Ethnic and Language Policy of the Republic of Lithuania: Basis and Practice'', Jan Andrlík|url=http://alppi.eu/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Andrlik_2009.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403213425/http://alppi.eu/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Andrlik_2009.pdf|archive-date=3 April 2016}}</ref>
-In [[Moldova]], Russian is considered to be the language of inter-ethnic communication under a Soviet-era law.<ref name="fundeh1"/> 50% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 19% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.<ref name="demoscope329"/>
-According to the [[Russian Census (2010)|2010 census in Russia]], Russian language skills were indicated by 138 million people (99.4% of the respondents), while according to the [[Russian Census (2002)|2002 census]] – 142.6 million people (99.2% of the respondents).<ref>{{cite web|date=8 November 2011|title=Демоскоп Weekly. Об итогах Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года. Сообщение Росстата|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2011/0491/perep01.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018055149/http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2011/0491/perep01.php|archive-date=18 October 2014|access-date=23 April 2014|publisher=Demoscope.ru|language=ru}}</ref>
-In [[Ukraine]], Russian is seen as a language of inter-ethnic communication, and a minority language, under the 1996 [[Constitution of Ukraine]].<ref name="fundeh1"/> According to estimates from Demoskop Weekly, in 2004 there were 14,400,000 native speakers of Russian in the country, and 29 million active speakers.<ref name="demoscope251">{{cite web|title=Падение статуса русского языка на постсоветском пространстве|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema01.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025204352/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema01.php|archive-date=25 October 2016|website=demoscope.ru|language=ru}}</ref> 65% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 38% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.<ref name="demoscope329"/> On 5 September 2017, Ukraine's Parliament passed a [[Ukrainization#2017 law "On Education"|new education law]] which bars primary education to all students in any language but [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://calrev.org/2019/03/28/upcoming-elections-and-ukrainian-ultra-nationalism/?v=7516fd43adaa|title=Upcoming Elections and Ukrainian "Ultra-nationalism"|last=Genin|first=Aaron|date=28 March 2019|work=The California Review|access-date=16 July 2019}}</ref> The law faced criticism from officials in Russia.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ukraine defends education reform as Hungary promises 'pain' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/ukraine-defends-education-reform-as-hungary-promises-pain-1.3235916 |work=The Irish Times |date=27 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ukrainian Language Bill Facing Barrage Of Criticism From Minorities, Foreign Capitals |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-language-legislation-minority-languages-russia-hungary-romania/28753925.html |work=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] |date=24 September 2017}}</ref>
 In the 20th century, Russian was a mandatory language taught in the schools of the members of the old [[Warsaw Pact]] and in other [[Communist state|countries]] that used to be satellites of the USSR. According to the Eurobarometer 2005 survey,<ref>{{cite web|year=2006|title=Europeans and their Languages|url=http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/pdf/doc631_en.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090521033643/http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/pdf/doc631_en.pdf|archive-date=21 May 2009|website=europa.eu}}</ref> fluency in Russian remains fairly high (20–40%) in some countries, in particular those where the people speak a [[Slavic language]] and thereby have an edge in learning Russian {{Explain|reason=give some clear explanations and citations where other Slavic speakers claim how Russian is far easier for them than for example english|date=August 2020}} (namely, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Bulgaria).
@@ Line 181: / Line 44: @@
 In the second half of the 20th century, Russian was the most popular foreign language in [[Cuba]]. Besides being taught at universities and schools, there were also educational programs on the radio and TV. However, starting January 2019 the Cuban television opens an educational program devoted to the Russian language. This project is fully entitled to be called an anticipated one, because the Russian – Cuban collaboration is a strategic direction actively developed as more and more young people are interested in the Russian language, the Education navigator informs. The [[Havana State University]] has started a bachelor's specialization called the Russian Language and the Second Foreign Language. There is also the Russian language department, where students can scrutinize e-books without internet connection. Additional courses on the Russian language are open at two schools of the Cuban capital city.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://russkiymir.ru/en/news/244089/ |title=Russian language returns to Cuba}}</ref> An estimated 200,000 people speak the Russian language in Cuba, on the account that more than 23,000 Cubans who took higher studies in the former Soviet Union and later in Russia, and another important group of people who studied at military schools and technologists, plus the nearly 2,000 Russians residing in Cuba and their descendants.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}
-== As an international language ==
-{{See also|Russophone|List of official languages by institution|Internet in Russian}}
-Russian is one of the official languages (or has similar status and interpretation must be provided into Russian) of the following:
-{{col-begin|width=auto}}
-* [[United Nations]]
-* [[International Atomic Energy Agency]]
-* [[World Health Organization]]
-* [[International Civil Aviation Organization]]
-* [[UNESCO]]
-* [[World Intellectual Property Organization]]
-* [[International Telecommunication Union]]
-* [[World Meteorological Organization]]
-* [[Food and Agriculture Organization]]
-* [[International Fund for Agricultural Development]]
-* [[International Criminal Court]]
-* [[International Olympic Committee]]
-* [[Universal Postal Union]]
-{{col-break}}
-* [[World Bank]]
-* [[Commonwealth of Independent States]]
-* [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]]
-* [[Shanghai Cooperation Organisation]]
-* [[Eurasian Economic Community]]
-* [[Collective Security Treaty Organization]]
-* [[Antarctic Treaty Secretariat]]
-* [[International Organization for Standardization]]
-* [[International Mathematical Olympiad]]
-* [[Warsaw Pact]] (defunct)
-* [[Comecon|Council for Mutual Economic Assistance]] (defunct)
-{{col-end}}
-The Russian language is also one of two official languages aboard the [[International Space Station]] – [[NASA]] astronauts who serve alongside Russian cosmonauts usually take Russian language courses. This practice goes back to the [[Apollo-Soyuz]] mission, which first flew in 1975.
-In March 2013, it was announced that Russian is now the second-most used language on the Internet after English. People use the Russian language on 5.9% of all websites, slightly ahead of German and far behind English (54.7%). Russian is used not only on 89.8% of [[.ru]] sites, but also on 88.7% of sites with the former Soviet Union domain [[.su]]. The websites of former Soviet Union nations also use high levels of Russian: 79.0% in Ukraine, 86.9% in Belarus, 84.0% in Kazakhstan, 79.6% in Uzbekistan, 75.9% in Kyrgyzstan and 81.8% in Tajikistan. However, Russian is the sixth-most used language on the top 1,000 sites, behind [[English language|English]], [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], and [[Japanese language|Japanese]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Russian is now the second most used language on the web|url=http://w3techs.com/blog/entry/russian_is_now_the_second_most_used_language_on_the_web|work=W3Techs|publisher=Q-Success|access-date=17 June 2013|author=Matthias Gelbmann|date=19 March 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6GrRWRdLY?url=http://w3techs.com/blog/entry/russian_is_now_the_second_most_used_language_on_the_web|archive-date=24 May 2013}}</ref>
 == Dialects ==
@@ Line 540: / Line 366: @@
 During the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] period, the policy toward the languages of the various other ethnic groups fluctuated in practice. Though each of the constituent republics had its own official language, the unifying role and superior status was reserved for Russian, although it was declared the [[official language]] only in 1990.<ref>[http://legal-ussr.narod.ru/data01/tex10935.htm "Закон СССР от 24 April 1990 О языках народов СССР"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508201331/http://legal-ussr.narod.ru/data01/tex10935.htm |date=8 May 2016}} (The 1990 USSR Law about the Languages of the USSR) {{in lang|ru}}</ref> Following the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|break-up of the USSR]] in 1991, several of the newly independent states have encouraged their native languages, which has partly reversed the privileged status of Russian, though its role as the language of post-Soviet national discourse throughout the region has continued.
-The Russian language in the world declined after 1991 due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and decrease in the number of [[Russians]] in the world and diminution of the total population in [[Russia]] (where Russian is an official language), however this has since been reversed.<ref name="demoscope.ru"/><ref name=autogenerated20130215-1/><ref name="Mof.gov.cy">{{cite web|date=23 May 2012|title=журнал "Демоскоп". Где есть потребность в изучении русского языка|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema04.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405005201/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema04.php|archive-date=5 April 2013|access-date=18 June 2013|website=Mof.gov.cy|language=ru}}</ref>
+The Russian language in the world declined after 1991 due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and decrease in the number of [[Russians]] in the world and diminution of the total population in [[Russia]] (where Russian is an official language), however this has since been reversed.<ref name="demoscope.ru">{{cite web|title=Демографические изменения - не на пользу русскому языку|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/tema02.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805090035/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/tema02.php|archive-date=5 August 2014|access-date=23 April 2014|publisher=Demoscope.ru|language=ru}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated20130215-1/><ref name="Mof.gov.cy">{{cite web|date=23 May 2012|title=журнал "Демоскоп". Где есть потребность в изучении русского языка|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema04.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405005201/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema04.php|archive-date=5 April 2013|access-date=18 June 2013|website=Mof.gov.cy|language=ru}}</ref>
 {| class="wikitable" style="width: 620px; margin: auto; margin: auto;"

v t e Russian language
History	Old Church Slavonic Church Slavonic Old East Slavic In Ukraine Russification
Writing	Alphabet Orthography Spelling rules Reforms Romanization (transliteration) Cursive Computer Russification Morse code Braille
Features	Grammar Declension Animacy Reduplication Phonology Vowel reduction
Literature	Pushkin House Formalism Science fiction and fantasy
Dialects	Northern Pomor Central Moscow Trasianka Southern Balachka Surzhyk
Pidgins, creoles, cants and mixed languages	Alaskan Russian Fenya Kyakhta Russian–Chinese Pidgin Mednyj Aleut Padonkaffsky jargon (Olbanian) Russenorsk Solombala English–Russian Pidgin Surzhyk Trasianka
Region	Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Israel Latvia Ukraine History United States
Other	Russophone Russian Language Institute Russkiy Mir Foundation Runglish List of topics