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Russian language

Not to be confused with the Rusyn language.
"Great Russian" redirects here. Not to be confused with Great Russia.

Russian
русский язык[a]
Pronunciation[ˈruskʲɪj jɪˈzɨk] (listen)
Native toRussia, other areas of the former Soviet Union
RegionRussian-speaking world
EthnicityRussians
Native speakers
150 million (2012)[1]
L2 speakers: 110 million (2012)[1]
Early forms
Cyrillic (Russian alphabet)
Russian Braille
Official status
Official language in

As inter-ethnic language but with no official status, or as official in regional level


Organizations
Recognised minority
language in
Regulated byRussian Language Institute[22] at the Russian Academy of Sciences
Language codes
ISO 639-1ru
ISO 639-2rus
ISO 639-3rus
Glottologruss1263
Linguasphere53-AAA-ea < 53-AAA-e
(varieties: 53-AAA-eaa to 53-AAA-eat)
GeographicalExtentOfRussianLanguage.png
  Russian is a majority language

  Russian is a minority language

  Russian is a spoken language

Russian (русский язык, russkij jazyk, IPA: [ˈruskʲɪj jɪˈzɨk]) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living East Slavic languages,[h] and is also a part of the larger Balto-Slavic languages. It was the de facto and de jure[24] official language of the former Soviet Union.[25] Russian has remained an official language in independent Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and is still commonly used as a lingua franca in Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and to a lesser extent in the Baltic states and Israel.[26][27][28][29]

Russian has over 258 million total speakers worldwide.[30] It is the most spoken Slavic language,[31] and the most spoken native language in Europe,[32] as well as the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia.[31] It is the world's seventh-most spoken language by number of native speakers, and the world's eighth-most spoken language by total number of speakers.[33] Russian is one of two official languages aboard the International Space Station,[34] as well as one of the six official languages of the United Nations.[35]

Russian is written using the Russian alphabet of the Cyrillic script; it distinguishes between consonant phonemes with 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 reduction of unstressed vowels. Stress, which is often unpredictable, is not normally indicated orthographically,[36] though an optional acute accent may be used to mark stress – such as to distinguish between homographic words (e.g. замо́к (zamók, 'lock') and за́мок (zámok, 'castle')), or to indicate the proper pronunciation of uncommon words or names.


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  1. ^ a b Russian at Ethnologue (21st ed., 2018) closed access
  2. ^ "Article 68. Constitution of the Russian Federation". Constitution.ru. Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  3. ^ "Article 17. Constitution of the Republic of Belarus". President.gov.by. May 11, 1998. Archived from the original on May 2, 2007. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  4. ^ Nazarbaev, N. (December 4, 2005). "Article 7. Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan". Constcouncil.kz. Archived from the original on October 20, 2007. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  5. ^ "Официальный сайт Правительства КР". Gov.kg. Archived from the original on December 22, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  6. ^ "КОНСТИТУЦИЯ РЕСПУБЛИКИ ТАДЖИКИСТАН". prokuratura.tj. Parliament of Tajikistan. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  7. ^ Юрий Подпоренко (2001). "Бесправен, но востребован. Русский язык в Узбекистане". Дружба Народов. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  8. ^ Шухрат Хуррамов (September 11, 2015). "Почему русский язык нужен узбекам?". 365info.kz. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  9. ^ Евгений Абдуллаев (2009). "Русский язык: жизнь после смерти. Язык, политика и общество в современном Узбекистане". Неприкосновенный запас. Archived from the original on June 23, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  10. ^ "Article 16. Legal code of Gagauzia (Gagauz-Yeri)". Gagauzia.md. August 5, 2008. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  11. ^ "Конституция Республики Абхазия". January 18, 2009. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  12. ^ "Russian Language To Get Official Status In Nagorno-Karabakh". Radiofreeeurope/Radioliberty. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  13. ^ "КОНСТИТУЦИЯ РЕСПУБЛИКИ ЮЖНАЯ ОСЕТИЯ" [CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH OSSETIA]. August 11, 2009. Archived from the original on August 11, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  14. ^ "Law of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic on the Functioning of Languages on the Territory of the Moldavian SSR". U.S. English Foundation Research. 2016. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016.
  15. ^ Ethnic Groups and Religious department, Fujian Provincial Government (September 13, 2022). "少数民族的语言文字有哪些？". fujian.gov.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  16. ^ "Romania : Languages of Romania". Ethnologue.com. February 19, 1999. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  17. ^ a b c "List of declarations made with respect to treaty No. 148 (Status as of: 21/9/2011)". Council of Europe. Archived from the original on May 22, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  18. ^ "National Minorities Policy of the Government of the Czech Republic". Vlada.cz. Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  19. ^ "Președintele CCM: Constituția nu conferă limbii ruse un statut deosebit de cel al altor limbi minoritare". Deschide.md. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  20. ^ Русский язык в Монголии стал обязательным [Russian language has become compulsory in Mongolia] (in Russian). New Region. September 21, 2006. Archived from the original on October 9, 2008. Retrieved May 16, 2009.
  21. ^ Article 10 Archived May 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine 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."
  22. ^ "Russian Language Institute". Ruslang.ru. Archived from the original on July 19, 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  23. ^ Magocsi, Paul Robert (1996). "Language and National Survival". Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas. Franz Steiner Verlag. 44 (1): 83–85. JSTOR 41049661.
  24. ^ Since 1990
  25. ^ Constitution and Fundamental Law of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1977: Section II, Chapter 6, Article 36
  26. ^ "Russian Language Enjoying a Boost in Post-Soviet States". Gallup.com. August 1, 2008. Archived from the original on May 18, 2010. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  27. ^ Арефьев, Александр (2006). Падение статуса русского языка на постсоветском пространстве. Демоскоп Weekly (in Russian) (251). Archived from the original on March 8, 2013.
  28. ^ Spolsky & Shohamy 1999, p. 236.
  29. ^ Isurin 2011, p. 13.
  30. ^ "Russian". Ethnologue. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  31. ^ a b "Russian". University of Toronto. Retrieved July 9, 2021. 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.
  32. ^ "The 10 Most Spoken Languages in Europe". Tandem. September 12, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  33. ^ "The World's Most Widely Spoken Languages". Saint Ignatius High School. Cleveland, Ohio. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
  34. ^ Wakata, Koichi. "My Long Mission in Space". JAXA. Retrieved July 18, 2021. 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.
  35. ^ "Official Languages". United Nations. Retrieved July 16, 2021. 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.
  36. ^ Timberlake 2004, p. 17.