The spelling of short forms of verbal adjectives ending in -нный/-nniy: н/n or нн/nn (from materials of the academic description of Russian orthography)

Abstract

The article examines one of the unresolved spelling issues, namely the formulation of a clear rule for spelling н/n or нн/nn in short forms of verbal adjectives ending in -нный/-nniy. This rule should correspond to lexicographic data, consistent writing practices, and the historical direction of the changes in the spelling of individual units. The criteria and structure of the rule have been revised. The traditional rule is based on the dichotomy "participle (н/n)/adjective (нн/ nn)", but it makes several possible exceptions for adjectives. Moreover, there are numerous examples of spelling one н/n in short forms of adjectives. The paper outlines the new rule and the reasons for its introduction. The criteria for selecting the correct spelling and the rule structure have been modified. The main criterion is the word stress in the short forms of participles and verbal adjectives ending in -нный/-nniy: 1) if the word stress is placed on the suffix only in the masculine form, there is one letter н/n (хорошо сложён, сложена, -о, -ы, / horosho slozhyon, slozhena, -o, -y / engl.: wellbuilt; навострён, навострена, -о, -ы / navostryon, navostrena, -o, -y / engl.: sharpened or concentrated); 2) if the word stress is placed on the suffix in all forms, there are two letters нн/nn (утончён, утончённа, -o, -ы / utonchyon, utonchyonna, -o, -y / engl.: refined; непринуждён, непринуждённа, -о, -ы / neprinuzhdyon, neprinuzhdyonna, -o, -y / engl.: relaxed); 3) if the suffix remains unstressed in all short forms, there is one letter н/n (атрофированы, востребованы, пресыщена / atrofirovany, vostrebovany, presyshchena / engl.: atrophied, in demand, satiated). Additionally, there are 100 words whose spelling is determined by referring to a dictionary. These lexemes fall into three groups. In the first group, the criterion for choosing the correct spelling is the grammatical category of the participle/adjective (люди собраны на митинг – люди собранны, серьезны / lyudi sobrany na miting – lyudi sobranny, seriozny / engl.: people are gathered for a meeting – people are concentrated, serious). As for the second group, participles are spelt with one н/n (пауза выдержана / pausa vyderzhana / engl.: a pause is made); adjectives are spelt with both н/n and нн/nn (пьеса выдержана в духе… – она выдержанна / pyesa vyderzhana v dukhe… – ona vyderzhanna / engl.: the play is in the spirit of… – she is unperturbed) depending on the meaning conveyed. The third group includes those words spelt with нн/nn which do not correlate with participles (восторженны, отчаянны / vostorzhenny, otchayanny / engl.: enraptured, desperate). The analysis of writing practices made it possible to review the codifications of several words provided in dictionaries. These lexemes have been classified as a separate group.