The Uppercase Rule as a Peripheral Zone of Russian Orthography

Abstract

The article analyzes orthographical rules of the Russian language in a taxonomical aspect and views them as a system organized according to the principle of a “core” and “periphery”. The article substantiates the point of view that some rules belong to the periphery zone of Russian orthography. The authors define the criteria that place the uppercase rule in the peripheral zone. Among those criteria, the main ones are the following: the uppercase letter usage rules are not based on the three main principles of the Russian orthography, the system of rules rests on artificial bases and possesses a high degree of variability.It is also important that a writer can take advantage of the rules common in different periods to fulfill their objectives. The shift of the capital letter use rules to the peripheral zone poses two important challenges to spellers. First, there is a need to develop a linguistic basis for this rule. Secondly, it is necessary to identify the “core” and “periphery” within the rule and rework the current norms of Russian spelling in this area on the basis of new approaches.