How Loanwords Influence the Russian Language

10:51, March 7, 2023

A philologist talks about language culture and why we cannot avoid loanwords

The misuse of loanwords, which have analogues in the Russian language, can have a contaminating effect on it. However, it is impossible to completely avoid borrowings, since a significant part of them is firmly rooted in the modern vocabulary. Anna Plotnikova, the Director of the Department of Philology at the Ural Federal University, spoke at a TASS press conference about the changes in the law from the point of view of philologists.

"Borrowed words make up a significant part of the modern vocabulary of the Russian language. Without them, the language cannot function. Some of these words we do not even recognize as borrowed. The law regulates the use of borrowed words, which have analogues, while using Russian as the state language. This is quite right, because the misuse of such words creates a bad impression of the person and the organization that uses them excessively in titles of any kind. For example, today there is the so-called office, corporate jargon, where many words are simply replaced. It is indeed worth trying to control this practice. We should think about the language culture and the fact that such words should not spoil our language if they have analogues," says Anna Plotnikova.

A significant part of modern loanwords came to us from the English language. Anna Plotnikova explains that some words have the potential to work. For example, "cringe" has no literal counterpart in Russian. In addition, borrowings often appear in the language in connection with some major events. For example, the coronavirus created a large number of thematic vocabularies: "antivaxer", "corona dissident". However, most of these words will not stand the test of time and will eventually fall into disuse.

According to Anna Plotnikova, the creation of a language culture is the best way to promote compliance with the norms of the Russian language. For this purpose it is necessary to ensure that the urban space around us conforms to these norms. It is also necessary to systematically hold cultural events related to our language in the educational environment.

Reference

On February 28, 2023 Vladimir Putin, the president of the Russian Federation, signed the law. Its purpose is to stimulate the observance of the norms of the Russian literary language and to control the use of foreign borrowings. The law introduces such concepts as normative dictionaries, grammars and reference books, which define the norms of the Russian language as the state language.

The news article was translated by UrFU International Marketing Office. 
info.international@urfu.ru, +7 (343) 375-45-19