M. V. Lomonosov’s "Russian Grammar" as the first rulebook of Russian orthography

Abstract

The paper analyses the 1757 and 1765 editions of "Russian Grammar" and on this basis aims to formulate M. V. Lomonosov’s orthographic program as well as specific spelling rules set forth in his grammatical piece of work. An important objective of this research is to trace the influence of the Lomonosov rules on the orthographic practice in the XVIIIth–XIXth centuries and works by the great scientist’s followers. As a result, the study identified the enormous significance of Lomonosov’s works for the formation of the Russian literary language spelling standards. Not all rules prescribed in the Grammar were supported in common usage and stood the test of time, for instance, including the prefix s- (Russian с-) to the rule concerning the prefixes ending in z- (Russian з-). Nonetheless, the scientist deserves much credit as he laid the fundamental groundwork for the Russian literary language spelling standards. M. V. Lomonosov was the first to formulate the basic orthographic principles; he made it a rule to spell roots according to their derivation ("po proizvozhdeniyu"); in addition, the scientist insisted on the uniformity of spelling prefixes and suffixes; finally, he suggested standardising the spelling of Russian endings by contrast with Church Slavonic ones. The norms prescribed in the "Russian Grammar" treatise underpin all the later Russian spelling rulebooks and are still relevant nowadays.