Russia adopts law on Russian language integrity

The State Duma adopted a law protecting the Russian language from excessive foreign borrowings. This is not about everyday life but about using the language as a state language.

“It is not allowed to use words and expressions that do not comply with the norms of the modern Russian literary language (including obscene language), except for foreign words that have no commonly used analogues in the Russian language and a list of which is contained in standard dictionaries,” the document says.

“The draft federal law introduces such concepts as normative dictionaries, normative grammars and normative reference books that fix the norms of the modern Russian literary language when it is used as the state language of the Russian Federation,” the document specifies.

The government commission on the Russian language will determine the list of such dictionaries and reference books.

In addition, the law introduces a mandatory linguistic examination of draft normative acts for their compliance with the norms and rules of the Russian language.

The law's authors have provided an additional list of non-strictly mandatory areas where the features of the use of the Russian language and foreign words will be established. Here - the sphere of education, the media, the screening of films in cinemas, and the public performance of works. This includes intended information for consumers, advertising, and state and municipal systems.