View source for Russian language

{{short description|East Slavic language}}
{{distinguish|Rusyn language|text=the [[Rusyn language]]}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Great Russian language|Great Russia}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{pp-move}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Russian
| states           = [[Russia]], other areas of the [[Geographical distribution of Russian speakers|Russian-speaking world]]
| nativename       = {{lang|ru|русский язык}}{{efn|On the history of using "русский" ("''russkiy''") and "российский" ("''rossiyskiy''") as the Russian adjectives denoting "Russian", see: [[Oleg Trubachyov]]. 2005. Русский{{nbs}}– Российский. История, динамика, идеология двух атрибутов нации (pp. 216–227). В поисках единства. Взгляд филолога на проблему истоков Руси., 2005. {{cite web|url=http://krotov.info/libr_min/19_t/ru/bachev.htm|access-date=25 January 2014|language=ru|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140218214456/http://krotov.info/libr_min/19_t/ru/bachev.htm|archive-date=18 February 2014|script-title=ru:РУССКИЙ – РОССИЙСКИЙ}}. On the 1830s change in the Russian name of the Russian language and its causes, see: [[Tomasz Kamusella]]. 2012. The Change of the Name of the Russian Language in Russian from Rossiiskii to Russkii: Did Politics Have Anything to Do with It? (pp.{{nbs}}73–96). ''Acta Slavica Iaponica''. Vol 32, {{cite web|url=http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/publictn/acta/32/04Kamusella.pdf|title=The Change of the Name of the Russian Language in Russian from Rossiiskii to Russkii: Did Politics Have Anything to Do with It?|access-date=7 January 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518165147/http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/publictn/acta/32/04Kamusella.pdf|archive-date=18 May 2013}}}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|ru|ˈruskʲɪj jɪˈzɨk||Ru-russkiy jizyk.ogg}}
| region           = 
| ethnicity        = 
| speakers         = [[L1 speakers|L1]]: {{Significant figures|145.166390|3}} million (2020–2023)
| date             = 
| ref              = <ref name="e28">{{e28|rus}}</ref>
| speakers2        = [[L2 speakers|L2]]: {{Significant figures|108.197160|3}} million (2012–2020)<ref name="e28"/><br/>Total: {{sigfig|253.363550|3}} million (2012–2023)<ref name="e28"/>
| speakers_label   = Speakers
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]]
| fam3             = [[Slavic languages|Slavic]]
| fam4             = [[East Slavic languages|East Slavic]]
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]
| ancestor2        = [[Proto-Balto-Slavic language|Proto-Balto-Slavic]]
| ancestor3        = [[Proto-Slavic language|Proto-Slavic]]
| ancestor4        = [[Old East Slavic]]
| ancestor5        = {{ill|Old Russian language|lt=Old Russian|ru|Старорусский язык|v=sup}} or Middle Russian
| script           = [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]] ([[Russian alphabet]])<br/>[[Russian Braille]]
| nation           = {{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=[[List of countries and territories where Russian is an official language|5 UN member states]]|
|
* Russia (state)<ref name=RusConst>{{cite web |url=http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-01.htm |title=Article 68. Constitution of the Russian Federation |website=Constitution.ru |access-date=18 June 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606071041/http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-01.htm |archive-date=6 June 2013}}</ref>
* [[Belarus]] (co-official)<ref name=Belarus>{{cite web |url=http://president.gov.by/en/press19329.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502115338/http://president.gov.by/en/press19329.html|archive-date=2 May 2007 |title=Article 17. Constitution of the Republic of Belarus |website=President.gov.by |date=11 May 1998 |access-date=18 June 2013}}</ref>
* [[Kazakhstan]] (co-official)<ref name=Kazakhstan>{{cite web |first=N. |last=Nazarbaev
| url=http://www.constcouncil.kz/eng/norpb/constrk/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020060732/http://www.constcouncil.kz/eng/norpb/constrk/ |archive-date=20 October 2007 |title=Article 7. Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan |website=Constcouncil.kz |date=4 December 2005 |access-date=18 June 2013}}</ref><br/>
* [[Kyrgyzstan]] (co-official)<ref name=Kyrgyzstan>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.kg/ky|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222125830/http://www.gov.kg/?page_id=263|url-status=dead|title=Официальный сайт Правительства КР|archive-date=22 December 2012|website=Gov.kg|access-date=16 February 2020}}</ref>
* [[Tajikistan]] (as inter-ethnic language designated by the constitution)<ref>{{cite web |last1=User |first1=Super |title=КОНСТИТУЦИЯ РЕСПУБЛИКИ ТАДЖИКИСТАН |url=http://prokuratura.tj/ru/legislation/the-constitution-of-the-republic-of-tajikistan.html |website=prokuratura.tj |publisher=Parliament of Tajikistan |access-date=9 January 2020 |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224035434/http://prokuratura.tj/ru/legislation/the-constitution-of-the-republic-of-tajikistan.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

<br />{{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=[[List of countries and territories where Russian is an official language#Status in dependencies or regions|Official on regional level]]|
* [[Moldova]]:
** [[Gagauzia]] (co-official)<ref name=Gagauzia>{{cite web |url=http://www.gagauzia.md/pageview.php?l=en&idc=389&id=240 |title=Article 16. Legal code of Gagauzia (Gagauz-Yeri) |website=Gagauzia.md |date=5 August 2008 |access-date=18 June 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513170728/http://www.gagauzia.md/pageview.php?l=en&idc=389&id=240 |archive-date=13 May 2013}}</ref>
** [[Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester|Left Bank of the Dniester]] (co-official)
* [[Ukraine]]:
** [[Autonomous Republic of Crimea]] (co-official){{efn|The status of [[Crimea]] and of the city of [[Sevastopol]] is [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|under dispute between Russia and Ukraine]] since March 2014; Ukraine and the majority of the international community consider Crimea to be an [[autonomous republic]] of Ukraine and Sevastopol to be one of Ukraine's [[cities with special status]], whereas Russia, on the other hand, considers Crimea to be a [[federal subject of Russia]] and Sevastopol to be one of Russia's three [[federal cities of Russia|federal cities]]}}}}

<br />{{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=[[List of countries and territories where Russian is an official language|Partially recognized states]]|

* [[Abkhazia]]{{efn|Abkhazia and South Ossetia are only [[international recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia|partially recognized countries]].|name=AbkhaziaSouthOssetia}} (co-official)<ref name=Abkhazia>{{Cite web|url=http://www.abkhaziagov.org/ru/state/sovereignty|title=Конституция Республики Абхазия|date=18 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118213155/http://www.abkhaziagov.org/ru/state/sovereignty|access-date=16 February 2020|archive-date=18 January 2009}}</ref>
* [[South Ossetia]]{{efn|name=AbkhaziaSouthOssetia}} (co-official)<ref name=Ossetia>{{cite web |url=http://cominf.org/node/1127818105 |date=11 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090811021536/http://cominf.org/node/1127818105 |title=КОНСТИТУЦИЯ РЕСПУБЛИКИ ЮЖНАЯ ОСЕТИЯ |trans-title=Constitution of the Republic of South Ossetia |access-date=5 April 2021 |archive-date=11 August 2009}}</ref>
* [[Transnistria]] (state)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://usefoundation.org/view/436 |title=Law of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic on the Functioning of Languages on the Territory of the Moldavian SSR |publisher=U.S. English Foundation Research |date=2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921034927/http://usefoundation.org/view/436 |archive-date=21 September 2016 }}</ref>}}

<br />{{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=Organizations|
[[United Nations]]:
* [[International Atomic Energy Agency|IAEA]]
* [[International Civil Aviation Organization|ICAO]]
* [[UNESCO]]
* [[World Health Organization|WHO]]
[[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]]<br/>
[[Eurasian Economic Union|EAEU]]<br/>
[[Collective Security Treaty Organization|CSTO]]<br/>
[[Shanghai Cooperation Organisation|SCO]]<br/>
[[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]]<br/>
[[Antarctic Treaty Secretariat|ATS]]<br/>
[[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]]}}
| minority         = {{collapsible list|
[[Romania]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=RO |title=Romania : Languages of Romania |website=Ethnologue.com |date=19 February 1999 |access-date=28 January 2016 |archive-date=31 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131170434/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=RO |url-status=live }}</ref><br/>
[[Armenia]]<ref name=No148>{{cite web |url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CM=8&DF=23/01/05&CL=ENG&VL=1 |title=List of declarations made with respect to treaty No. 148 (Status as of: 21/9/2011) |publisher=[[Council of Europe]] |access-date=22 May 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522083136/http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CM=8&DF=23%2F01%2F05&CL=ENG&VL=1 |archive-date=22 May 2012}}</ref><br/>
[[Czech Republic]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vlada.cz/en/pracovni-a-poradni-organy-vlady/rnm/historie-a-soucasnost-rady-en-16666/ |title=National Minorities Policy of the Government of the Czech Republic |publisher=Vlada.cz |access-date=22 May 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607051111/http://www.vlada.cz/en/pracovni-a-poradni-organy-vlady/rnm/historie-a-soucasnost-rady-en-16666/ |archive-date=7 June 2012}}</ref><br/>
[[Slovakia]]<ref name=No148/><br/>
[[Moldova]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://deschide.md/ro/stiri/politic/78929/Pre%C8%99edintele-CCM-Constitu%C8%9Bia-nu-confer%C4%83-limbii-ruse-un-statut-deosebit-de-cel-al-altor-limbi-minoritare.htm |title=Președintele CCM: Constituția nu conferă limbii ruse un statut deosebit de cel al altor limbi minoritare |publisher=Deschide.md |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=29 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129050215/https://deschide.md/ro/stiri/politic/78929/Pre%C8%99edintele-CCM-Constitu%C8%9Bia-nu-confer%C4%83-limbii-ruse-un-statut-deosebit-de-cel-al-altor-limbi-minoritare.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><br/>
[[Ukraine]]<ref name="UAConstitution">[http://www.rada.gov.ua/const/conengl.htm#r1 Article 10] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521190059/http://www.rada.gov.ua/const/conengl.htm |date=21 May 2011}} 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."</ref><br/>
[[China]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fujian.gov.cn/hdjl/hdjlzsk/mzzjt/mz/202209/t20220913_5991001.htm|title=少数民族的语言文字有哪些？|language=zh|website=fujian.gov.cn|date=13 September 2022|access-date=28 October 2022|author=Ethnic Groups and Religious department, Fujian Provincial Government|archive-date=28 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221028081421/http://fujian.gov.cn/hdjl/hdjlzsk/mzzjt/mz/202209/t20220913_5991001.htm|url-status=live|quote="我国已正式使用和经国家批准推行的少数民族文字有19种，它们是...俄罗斯文..."}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_sjzl/wenzi/202108/t20210827_554992.html|title=中国语言文字概况（2021年版）|language=zh|website=moe.gov.cn|date=27 August 2021|access-date=18 December 2023|author=[[Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China]]|quote="...属于印欧语系的是属斯拉夫语族的俄语..."|archive-date=4 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104031557/http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_sjzl/wenzi/202108/t20210827_554992.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}
| agency           = [[Russian Language Institute|V.V. Vinogradov Russian Language Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ruslang.ru/agens.php?id=aims |title=Russian Language Institute |website=Ruslang.ru |access-date=16 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719234135/http://www.ruslang.ru/agens.php?id=aims |archive-date=19 July 2010}}</ref>
| iso1             = ru
| iso2             = rus
| iso3             = rus
| lingua           = 53-AAA-ea < [[East Slavic languages|53-AAA-e]]<br/>(varieties: 53-AAA-eaa to 53-AAA-eat)
| image            = 
| map              = Idioma ruso.PNG
| mapsize          = 
| mapcaption       = {{legend|#0080FE|Majority of Russian speakers}}
{{legend|#88C4FE|Minority of Russian speakers}}
| notice           = [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
| glotto           = russ1263
| glottorefname    = Russian
| map2             = 
| mapcaption2      = 
}}

'''Russian'''{{Efn|{{langx|ru|Русский язык|Russkiy yazyk|label=none}}, {{IPA|ru|ˈruskʲɪj jɪˈzɨk|pron|Ru-russkiy jizyk.ogg}}}} is an [[East Slavic language]] belonging to the [[Balto-Slavic]] branch of the [[Indo-European language family]]. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages,{{efn|Including [[Rusyn language|Rusyn]], which is sometimes classified as a [[dialect]] of [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] in Ukraine.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Magocsi|first=Paul Robert|title=Language and National Survival|volume=44|number=1|journal=Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas|publisher=[[Franz Steiner Verlag]]|pages=83–85|date=1996|jstor=41049661}}</ref>}} and is the native language of the [[Russians]]. It was the ''de facto'' and ''de jure''{{efn|From 1990.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marten |first1=Heiko F. |last2=Rießler |first2=Michael |last3=Saarikivi |first3=Janne |last4=Toivanen |first4=Reetta |title=Cultural and Linguistic Minorities in the Russian Federation and the European Union: Comparative Studies on Equality and Diversity |date=6 January 2015 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-10455-3 |page=283 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6u4SBgAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>}} [[De facto#National languages|official language]] of the former [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="USSR">[[1977 Soviet Constitution|Constitution and Fundamental Law of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]], 1977: Section II, Chapter 6, Article 36</ref> Russian has remained an [[official language]] of the [[Russia|Russian Federation]], [[Belarus]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], and [[Tajikistan]], and is still commonly used as a [[lingua franca]] in [[Ukraine]], [[Moldova]], the [[Caucasus]], [[Central Asia]], and to a lesser extent in the [[Baltic states]] and [[Russian language in Israel|Israel]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/109228/russian-language-enjoying-boost-postsoviet-states.aspx|title=Russian Language Enjoying a Boost in Post-Soviet States|publisher=Gallup |date=1 August 2008|access-date=16 May 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518073110/http://www.gallup.com/poll/109228/Russian-Language-Enjoying-Boost-PostSoviet-States.aspx|archive-date=18 May 2010}}</ref><ref name="demoscope">{{cite journal |last=Арефьев |first=Александр |year=2006 |title= |script-title=ru:Падение статуса русского языка на постсоветском пространстве |trans-title=The decline of the status of the Russian language in the post-Soviet space |url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema01.php |url-status=live |journal=Демоскоп Weekly |language=ru |issue=251 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308114703/http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema01.php |archive-date=8 March 2013}}</ref>{{sfn|Spolsky|Shohamy|1999|p=236}}{{sfn|Isurin|2011|p=13}}

Russian has over 253 million total speakers worldwide.<ref name="e28"/> It is the [[List of languages by number of speakers in Europe|most spoken native language in Europe]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tandem.net/10-most-spoken-languages-europe|title=The 10 Most Spoken Languages in Europe|work=[[Tandem (app)|Tandem]]|date=12 September 2019|access-date=31 May 2021|archive-date=2 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602215325/https://www.tandem.net/10-most-spoken-languages-europe|url-status=live}}</ref> the most spoken [[Slavic languages|Slavic language]],<ref name="language"/> and the most geographically widespread language of [[Eurasia]].<ref name="language">{{cite web|url=https://learn.utoronto.ca/programs-courses/languages-and-translation/language-learning/russian|title=Russian|publisher=[[University of Toronto]]|quote="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."|access-date=9 July 2021|archive-date=28 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628022427/https://learn.utoronto.ca/programs-courses/languages-and-translation/language-learning/russian|url-status=live}}</ref> It is the world's [[List of languages by number of native speakers|seventh-most spoken language by number of native speakers]], and the world's [[List of languages by total number of speakers|ninth-most spoken language by total number of speakers]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The World's Most Widely Spoken Languages |url=http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm |website=Saint Ignatius High School |access-date=17 February 2012 |location=Cleveland, Ohio |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927062910/http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011}}</ref> Russian is one of two official languages aboard the [[International Space Station]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Wakata|first=Koichi|author-link=Koichi Wakata|url=https://global.jaxa.jp/article/special/expedition/wakata01_e.html|title=My Long Mission in Space|publisher=[[JAXA]]|quote="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."|access-date=18 July 2021|archive-date=26 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426232353/https://global.jaxa.jp/article/special/expedition/wakata01_e.html|url-status=live}}</ref> one of the six [[official languages of the United Nations]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/our-work/official-languages|title=Official Languages|publisher=United Nations|quote="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."|access-date=16 July 2021|archive-date=13 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713075145/https://www.un.org/en/our-work/official-languages|url-status=live}}</ref> as well as the [[Languages used on the Internet|fourth most widely used language]] on the [[Internet]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Most used languages online by share of websites 2024 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/262946/most-common-languages-on-the-internet/ |website=Statista.com |access-date=12 April 2024 |language=en |archive-date=27 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427100253/https://www.statista.com/statistics/262946/most-common-languages-on-the-internet/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Russian is written using the [[Russian alphabet]] of the [[Cyrillic script]]; it distinguishes between consonant [[phoneme]]s with [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatal]] [[secondary articulation]] and those without—the so-called "soft" and "hard" sounds. Almost every [[consonant]] has hard-soft counterparts, and the distinction is a prominent feature of the language, which is usually shown in writing not by a change of the consonant but rather by changing the following vowel. Another important aspect is the [[vowel reduction|reduction]] of unstressed [[vowel]]s. [[Stress (linguistics)|Stress]], which is often unpredictable, is not normally indicated [[orthographically]],{{sfn|Timberlake|2004|p=17}} though an optional [[acute accent]] may be used to mark stress – such as to distinguish between [[homograph]]ic words (e.g. {{lang|ru|замо́к}} [{{Lang|ru-latn|zamók}}, 'lock'] and {{lang|ru|за́мок}} [{{Lang|ru-latn|zámok}}, 'castle']), or to indicate the proper pronunciation of uncommon words or proper nouns.

== Classification ==
Russian is an [[East Slavic language]] of the wider [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European family]].{{sfn|Rakhlin|Kornilov|Grigorenko|2017|p=396}} [[Old East Slavic]] (or Old Russian) is the parent language of the modern Russian, [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] and [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] languages.{{sfn|Rakhlin|Kornilov|Grigorenko|2017|p=396}}{{sfn|Cubberley|2002|pp=15–16}}{{sfn|Comrie|2002|p=63}} In many places in eastern and southern Ukraine and throughout Belarus, these languages are spoken interchangeably, and in certain areas traditional bilingualism resulted in language mixtures such as ''[[surzhyk]]'' in eastern Ukraine and ''[[trasianka]]'' in Belarus. The [[Old Novgorod dialect|Novgorod dialect]], a historical variety of Russian with unique northwestern dialectal features, is sometimes considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian.{{sfn|Schallert|2024|p=605}}{{sfn|Schaeken|2018|p=186}} Also, Russian has notable lexical similarities with [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] due to a common [[Church Slavonic]] influence on both languages, but because of later developments in the 19th and 20th centuries, modern Bulgarian grammar differs markedly from Russian.{{sfn|Sussex|Cubberley|2006|pp=477–478, 480}}

Over the course of centuries, the vocabulary and literary style of Russian have also been influenced by Western and Central European languages such as Greek, [[Latin]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], German, French, Italian, and English,<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Russian Language |first=Ellis Hovell |last=Minns |author-link=Ellis Minns|volume=23 |pages=912–914}}</ref> and to a lesser extent the languages to the south and the east: [[Uralic languages|Uralic]], [[Turkic languages|Turkic]],<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Turkic Languages of Central Asia: Problems of Planned Culture Contact by Stefan Wurm |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=392–394 |jstor=610442 |last=Waterson |first=Natalie |year=1955 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00111954|issn=0041-977X}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://roa.rutgers.edu/files/491-0102/491-0102-GOUSKOVA-0-0.PDF |title=Falling Sonoroty Onsets, Loanwords, and Syllable contact |access-date=4 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505092913/http://roa.rutgers.edu/files/491-0102/491-0102-GOUSKOVA-0-0.PDF |archive-date=5 May 2015}}</ref> [[Persian language|Persian]],<ref>{{cite web |author1=Aliyeh Kord Zafaranlu Kambuziya |author2=Eftekhar Sadat Hashemi |url=http://roa.rutgers.edu/content/article/files/1317_hashemi_1.pdf|title=Russian Loanword Adoptation in Persian; Optimal Approach |website=roa.rutgers.edu |year=2010 |access-date=4 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505092721/http://roa.rutgers.edu/content/article/files/1317_hashemi_1.pdf |archive-date=5 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Iraj Bashiri |url=https://www.academia.edu/10442551|title=Russian Loanwords in Persian and Tajiki Language |website=academia.edu |year=1990|access-date=4 May 2015|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530193133/http://www.academia.edu/10442551/Russian_Loanwords_in_Persian_and_Tajiki_Languages |archive-date=30 May 2016}}</ref> [[Arabic]], and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]].<ref>Colin Baker, Sylvia Prys Jones [https://books.google.com/books?id=YgtSqB9oqDIC&dq=russian+loanwords+in+hebrew&pg=PA219 ''Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320151848/https://books.google.com/books?id=YgtSqB9oqDIC&pg=PA219&dq=russian+loanwords+in+hebrew&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=Y75GVbmtKomuUe25gbAJ&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw |date=20 March 2018}} pp 219 Multilingual Matters, 1998 {{ISBN|1-85359-362-1}}</ref>

According to the [[Defense Language Institute]] in [[Monterey, California]], Russian is classified as a [[DLI levels|level III language]] in terms of learning difficulty for native English speakers, requiring approximately 1,100 hours of immersion instruction to achieve intermediate fluency.<ref>{{cite web|last=Thompson|first=Irene|title=Language Learning Difficulty|url=http://aboutworldlanguages.com/language-difficulty|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20140527094808/http://aboutworldlanguages.com/language-difficulty|archive-date=27 May 2014|access-date=25 May 2014|website=mustgo}}</ref>

== Standard Russian ==
{{Main|Moscow dialect}}
	
Feudal divisions and conflicts created obstacles between the Russian principalities before and especially during Mongol rule. This strengthened dialectal differences, and for a while, prevented the emergence of a standardized national language. The formation of the unified and centralized Russian state in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the gradual re-emergence of a common political, economic, and cultural space created the need for a common standard language. The initial impulse for standardization came from the government bureaucracy for the lack of a reliable tool of communication in administrative, legal, and judicial affairs became an obvious practical problem. The earliest attempts at standardizing Russian were made based on the so-called Moscow official or chancery language, during the 15th to 17th centuries.<ref name="Kadochnikov-2016"/> Since then, the trend of language policy in Russia has been standardization in both the restricted sense of reducing dialectical barriers between ethnic Russians, and the broader sense of expanding the use of Russian alongside or in favour of other languages.<ref name="Kadochnikov-2016">{{Citation|last=Kadochnikov|first=Denis V.|title=Languages, Regional Conflicts and Economic Development: Russia|date=2016|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-137-32505-1_20|work=The Palgrave Handbook of Economics and Language|pages=538–580|editor-last=Ginsburgh|editor-first=Victor|place=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-1-137-32505-1_20|isbn=978-1-349-67307-0|access-date=16 February 2021|editor2-last=Weber|editor2-first=Shlomo|archive-date=22 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240122222530/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-137-32505-1_20|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The current standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the ''modern Russian literary language'' ({{langx|ru|современный русский литературный язык|sovremenny russky literaturny yazyk|label=none}}), or ''Contemporary Standard Russian''.{{sfn|Cubberley|2002|p=336}} It arose at the beginning of the 18th century with the modernization reforms of the Russian state under the rule of [[Peter the Great]] and developed from the Moscow ([[Central Russian dialects|Middle or Central Russian]]) dialect substratum under some influence of the Russian chancery language.<ref name="Kadochnikov-2016" /> The Moscow dialect had a northern dialectal base, but after Moscow became the center of a unified state, the attraction of southern dialectal speakers led to the emergence of a transitional dialect group.{{sfn|Cubberley|2002|p=16}}

Prior to the [[Bolshevik Revolution]], the spoken form of the Russian language was that of the nobility and the urban bourgeoisie. Russian peasants, the great majority of the population, continued to speak in their own dialects. However, the peasants' speech was never systematically studied, as it was generally regarded by philologists as simply a source of folklore and an object of curiosity.<ref>Nakhimovsky,{{nbs}}A.{{nbs}}D.{{nbs}}(2019).{{nbs}}''The Language of Russian Peasants in the Twentieth Century: A Linguistic Analysis and Oral History''.{{nbs}}United Kingdom:{{nbs}}Lexington Books. (Chapter 1)</ref> This was acknowledged by the noted Russian dialectologist [[Nikolai Mikhailovich Karinsky|Nikolai Karinsky]], who toward the end of his life wrote: "Scholars of Russian dialects mostly studied phonetics and morphology. Some scholars and collectors compiled local dictionaries. We have almost no studies of lexical material or the syntax of Russian dialects."<ref>Nakhimovsky,{{nbs}}A.{{nbs}}D.{{nbs}}(2019).{{nbs}}''The Language of Russian Peasants in the Twentieth Century: A Linguistic Analysis and Oral History''.{{nbs}}United Kingdom:{{nbs}}Lexington Books. (p.2)</ref>

After 1917, Marxist linguists had no interest in the multiplicity of peasant dialects and regarded their language as a relic of the rapidly disappearing past that was not worthy of scholarly attention. Nakhimovsky quotes the Soviet academicians A.M Ivanov and L.P Yakubinsky, writing in 1930:

<blockquote>The language of peasants has a motley diversity inherited from feudalism. On its way to becoming proletariat peasantry brings to the factory and the industrial plant their local peasant dialects with their phonetics, grammar, and vocabulary, and the very process of recruiting workers from peasants and the mobility of the worker population generate another process: the liquidation of peasant inheritance by way of leveling the particulars of local dialects. On the ruins of peasant multilingual, in the context of developing heavy industry, a qualitatively new entity can be said to emerge—the general language of the working class... capitalism has the tendency of creating the general urban language of a given society.<ref>''Ibid.''(p.3)</ref></blockquote>

== Geographic distribution ==
{{Main|Geographical distribution of Russian speakers}}
[[File:Ruština ve světě.svg|thumb|Hemisphere view of countries where Russian is an official language and countries where it is spoken as a first or second language by at least 30% of the population but is not an official language]]

[[File:Russian ex-USSR 2004.PNG|thumb|upright=1.8|Competence of Russian in countries of the former Soviet Union (except Russia), 2004]]

In 2010, there were 259.8 million speakers of Russian in the world: in Russia – 137.5 million, in the [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]] and Baltic countries – 93.7 million, in Eastern Europe – 12.9 million, Western Europe – 7.3 million, Asia – 2.7 million, in the Middle East and North Africa – 1.3 million, Sub-Saharan Africa – 0.1 million, Latin America – 0.2 million, U.S., [[Canada]], Australia, and [[New Zealand]] – 4.1 million speakers. Therefore, the Russian language is the [[Languages by number of native speakers|seventh-largest in the world by the number of speakers]], after English, Mandarin, [[Hindi]]-Urdu, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Portuguese.<ref name="demoscope.ru">{{cite web |title=Демографические изменения – не на пользу русскому языку |trans-title=Demographic changes are not in favor of the Russian language |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/tema02.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805090035/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/tema02.php |archive-date=5 August 2014 |access-date=23 April 2014 |publisher=Demoscope.ru |language=ru}}</ref><ref name="Ethnologue-rating-2018">{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/size|title=Statistical Summaries. Summary by language size. Language size|date=21 February 2018|editor=Lewis, M. Paul|editor2=Gary F. Simons|editor3=Charles D. Fennig|work=[[Ethnologue|Ethnologue: Languages of the World]]|edition=21st|location=Dallas|publisher=[[SIL International]]|language=en|access-date=6 January 2019|archive-date=26 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226040016/https://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/size|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Арефьев А. Л. |date=31 October 2013 |title=Сжимающееся русскоязычие. Демографические изменения — не на пользу русскому языку |trans-title=Shrinking Russian-speaking population: Demographic changes are not in favor of the Russian language |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/tema02.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805090035/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/tema02.php |archive-date=5 August 2014 |access-date=23 January 2014 |work=Демоскоп Weekly |language=ru |number=571–572}}</ref>

Russian is one of the [[Official languages of the United Nations|six official languages]] of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a popular choice for both Russian as a second language (RSL) and native speakers in Russia, and in many former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics.<ref name=gallup2008>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/112270/Russias-Language-Could-Ticket-Migrants.aspx |title=Russia's Language Could Be Ticket in for Migrants |date=28 November 2008 |publisher=[[The Gallup Organization|Gallup]] |access-date=26 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140928191526/http://www.gallup.com/poll/112270/russias-language-could-ticket-migrants.aspx |archive-date=28 September 2014}}</ref>

=== Europe ===
[[File:BelarusHomeLanguages2009.PNG|thumb|right|Languages spoken at home in [[Belarus]] (according to the [[2009 Belarusian census]]) (green — Belarusian, blue — Russian) ([[Districts of Belarus|by raion]])]]
[[File:Russophone population in Estonia.png|thumb|right|Percentage of Russian speakers in [[Estonia]] (according to the 2000 Estonian census)]]
[[File:Use of Russian language at home in Latvia (2011).svg|thumb|200px|Percentage of Russian speakers in different regions of [[Latvia]] (according to the {{Interlanguage link|2011 Latvian census|lt=2011 census|lv|2011. gada tautas skaitīšana Latvijā}})]]
[[File:UkraineNativeRussianLanguageCensus2001detailed.png|thumb|right|Percentage of people in [[Ukraine]] with Russian as their native language (according to the [[Languages of Ukraine#2001 national census|2001 Ukrainian census]])]]
In [[Belarus]], Russian is a second state language alongside Belarusian per the [[Constitution of Belarus]].<ref name="fundeh1"/> 77% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 67% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.<ref name="demoscope329">{{cite web |title=Русскоязычие распространено не только там, где живут русские |trans-title=The Russian language is spoken not only where ethnic Russians live |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema03.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023011719/http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema03.php |archive-date=23 October 2016 |website=demoscope.ru |language=ru}}</ref> According to the [[2019 Belarusian census]], out of 9,413,446 inhabitants of the country, 5,094,928 (54.1% of the total population) named Belarusian as their native language, with 61.2% of ethnic Belarusians and 54.5% of [[Poles in Belarus#Current situation|ethnic Poles]] declaring Belarusian as their native language. In everyday life in the Belarusian society the Russian language prevails, so according to the 2019 census 6,718,557 people (71.4% of the total population) stated that they speak Russian at home, for ethnic Belarusians this share is 61.4%, for [[Russians in Belarus|Russians]] — 97.2%, for [[Ukrainians in Belarus|Ukrainians]] — 89.0%, for Poles — 52.4%, and for [[Jews in Belarus|Jews]] — 96.6%; 2,447,764 people (26.0% of the total population) stated that the language they usually speak at home is Belarusian, among ethnic Belarusians this share is 28.5%; the highest share of those who speak Belarusian at home is among ethnic Poles — 46.0%.<ref>{{cite web |title=Общая численность населения, численность населения по возрасту и полу, состоянию в браке, уровню образования, национальностям, языку, источникам средств к существованию по Республике Беларусь |trans-title=Total population, population by age and sex, marital status, level of education, nationality, language, and sources of livelihood in the Republic of Belarus |url=https://belstat.gov.by/upload/iblock/471/471b4693ab545e3c40d206338ff4ec9e.pdf |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004235333/https://www.belstat.gov.by/upload/iblock/471/471b4693ab545e3c40d206338ff4ec9e.pdf |archivedate=4 October 2020 |access-date=6 October 2020}}</ref>

In [[Estonia]], Russian is spoken by 29.6% of the population, according to a 2011 estimate from the World Factbook,<ref name=bookoffact/> and is officially considered a foreign language.<ref name="fundeh1"/> School education in the Russian language is a very contentious point in Estonian politics, and in 2022, the parliament approved a bill to close up all Russian language schools and kindergartens by the school year. The transition to only Estonian language schools and kindergartens will start in the 2024–2025 school year.<ref>{{Cite web|website=[[Eesti Rahvusringhääling|ERR]]|date=12 December 2022|title=Riigikogu kiitis heaks eestikeelsele õppele ülemineku|trans-title=The Riigikogu approved the transition to Estonian-language education|url=https://www.err.ee/1608817708/riigikogu-kiitis-heaks-eestikeelsele-oppele-ulemineku|language=Estonian|access-date=2 February 2023|archive-date=2 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202094203/https://www.err.ee/1608817708/riigikogu-kiitis-heaks-eestikeelsele-oppele-ulemineku|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=13 December 2022|title=Estonia's Russian schools to switch to Estonian-language schooling|website=[[Estonian World]]|url=https://estonianworld.com/knowledge/estonias-russian-schools-to-switch-to-estonian-language-schooling/ |access-date=2 June 2024}}</ref>

In [[Latvia]], Russian is officially considered a foreign language.<ref name="fundeh1"/> 55% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 26% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.<ref name="demoscope329"/> On 18 February 2012, Latvia held a [[2012 Latvian constitutional referendum|constitutional referendum]] on whether to adopt Russian as a second official language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.cvk.lv/pub/public/28361.html/|title=Referendum on the Draft Law 'Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia'|publisher=Central Election Commission of Latvia|year=2012|access-date=2 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502013728/http://web.cvk.lv/pub/public/28361.html|archive-date=2 May 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to the Central Election Commission, 74.8% voted against, 24.9% voted for and the voter turnout was 71.1%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tn2012.cvk.lv/|title=Results of the referendum on the Draft Law 'Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia'|language=lv|publisher=Central Election Commission of Latvia|year=2012|access-date=2 May 2012|archive-date=15 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415075014/http://www.tn2012.cvk.lv/|url-status=live}}</ref> Starting in 2019, [[Russian language in Latvia|instruction in Russian]] will be gradually discontinued in private colleges and universities in Latvia, and in general instruction in Latvian public high schools.<ref>{{cite news |title=Latvia pushes majority language in schools, leaving parents miffed |url=https://www.dw.com/en/latvia-pushes-majority-language-in-schools-leaving-parents-miffed/a-45385830 |agency=Deutsche Welle |date=8 September 2018 |access-date=7 August 2019 |archive-date=23 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123223709/https://www.dw.com/en/latvia-pushes-majority-language-in-schools-leaving-parents-miffed/a-45385830 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Moscow threatens sanctions against Latvia over removal of Russian from secondary schools |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/03/moscow-threatens-sanctions-against-latvia-removal-russian-secondary/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/03/moscow-threatens-sanctions-against-latvia-removal-russian-secondary/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=3 April 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> On 29 September 2022, [[Saeima]] passed in the final reading amendments that state that all schools and kindergartens in the country are to transition to education in [[Latvian language|Latvian]]. From 2025, all children will be taught in Latvian only.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bnn-news.com/latvia-to-gradually-transition-to-education-only-in-official-language-238962|title=Latvia to gradually transition to education only in official language|date=29 September 2022|access-date=21 November 2023|archive-date=5 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205153814/https://bnn-news.com/latvia-to-gradually-transition-to-education-only-in-official-language-238962|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sheremet |first=Anhelina |date=13 May 2022 |title=In Latvia, from 2025, all children will be taught in Latvian only |url=https://babel.ua/en/news/78675-in-latvia-from-2025-all-children-will-be-taught-in-latvian-only |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121114406/https://babel.ua/en/news/78675-in-latvia-from-2025-all-children-will-be-taught-in-latvian-only |archive-date=21 November 2023 |website=Бабель}}</ref> On 28 September 2023, Latvian deputies approved The National Security Concept, according to which from 1 January 2026, all content created by Latvian public media (including [[Public Broadcasting of Latvia|LSM]]) should be only in Latvian or a language that "belongs to the European cultural space". The financing of Russian-language content by the state will cease, which the concept says create a "unified information space". However, one inevitable consequence would be the closure of public media broadcasts in Russian on LTV and Latvian Radio, as well as the closure of LSM's Russian-language service.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 September 2023 |title=Saeima approves updated National Security concept for Latvia |url=https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/defense/28.09.2023-saeima-approves-updated-national-security-concept-for-latvia.a525735/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121114206/https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/defense/28.09.2023-saeima-approves-updated-national-security-concept-for-latvia.a525735/ |archive-date=21 November 2023 |website=Eng.LSM.lv}}</ref>

In [[Lithuania]], Russian has no official or legal status, but the use of the language has some presence in certain areas. A large part of the population, especially the older generations, can speak Russian as a foreign language.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://in.mfa.lt/in/en/news/statistics-lithuania-785-of-lithuanians-speak-at-least-one-foreign-language|title=Statistics Lithuania: 78.5% of Lithuanians speak at least one foreign language &#124; News |website= Ministry of Foreign Affairs |date=27 September 2013 |access-date=28 December 2020|archive-date=6 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106145651/https://in.mfa.lt/in/en/news/statistics-lithuania-785-of-lithuanians-speak-at-least-one-foreign-language|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, English has replaced Russian as a second language in Lithuania and around 80% of young people speak English as their first foreign language.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://investlithuania.com/news/employees-fluent-in-three-languages-its-the-norm-in-lithuania/|title=Employees fluent in three languages – it's the norm in Lithuania |publisher=Outsourcing&More |date=26 September 2018 |first1=Rūta |last1=Labalaukytė |website=Invest Lithuania |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019201722/https://investlithuania.com/news/employees-fluent-in-three-languages-its-the-norm-in-lithuania/ |archive-date= 19 October 2023 }}</ref> In contrast to the other two Baltic states, Lithuania has a relatively small Russian-speaking minority (5.0% {{as of|2008|lc=y}}).<ref name="andrlik">{{cite web|title=Ethnic and Language Policy of the Republic of Lithuania: Basis and Practice |first1=Jan |last1=Andrlík|url=http://alppi.eu/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Andrlik_2009.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403213425/http://alppi.eu/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Andrlik_2009.pdf|archive-date=3 April 2016}}</ref> According to the [[2011 Lithuanian census]], Russian was the native language for 7.2% of the population.<ref>Statistics Lithuania census 2011: {{cite web |url=https://osp.stat.gov.lt/documents/10180/217110/Gyv_kalba_tikyba.pdf |title=Gyventojai pagal tautybę, gimtąją kalbą ir tikybą |website=Oficialiosios statistikos portalas |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404074611/https://osp.stat.gov.lt/documents/10180/217110/Gyv_kalba_tikyba.pdf |archive-date= 4 April 2023 }}</ref>

In [[Moldova]], Russian was considered to be the language of interethnic communication under a Soviet-era law.<ref name="fundeh1"/> On 21 January 2021, the [[Constitutional Court of Moldova]] declared the law unconstitutional and deprived Russian of the status of the language of interethnic communication.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 January 2021 |title=The Court examined the constitutionality of the Law on the Usage of Languages Spoken on the Territory of the Republic of Moldova |url=https://www.constcourt.md/libview.php?l=en&idc=7&id=2067&t=/Media/News/The-Court-examined-the-constitutionality-of-the-Law-on-the-Usage-of-Languages-Spoken-on-the-Territory-of-the-Republic-of-Moldova |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022191049/https://www.constcourt.md/libview.php?l=en&idc=7&id=2067&t=/Media/News/The-Court-examined-the-constitutionality-of-the-Law-on-the-Usage-of-Languages-Spoken-on-the-Territory-of-the-Republic-of-Moldova |archive-date=22 October 2021 |website=Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Tanas |first=Alexander |date=21 January 2021 |title=Moldovan court overturns special status for Russian language |language=en-US |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-moldova-language-idUSKBN29Q2J0/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121095432/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-moldova-language-idUSKBN29Q2J0/ |archive-date= 21 November 2023 }}</ref> 50% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 19% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.<ref name="demoscope329"/> According to the [[2014 Moldovan census]], Russians accounted for 4.1% of Moldova's population, 9.4% of the population declared Russian as their native language, and 14.5% said they usually spoke Russian.<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 March 2017 |title=The Population of the Republic of Moldova at the time of the Census was 2 998 235 |url=https://statistica.gov.md/en/the-population-of-the-republic-of-moldova-at-the-time-12_896.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121100936/https://statistica.gov.md/en/the-population-of-the-republic-of-moldova-at-the-time-12_896.html |archive-date=21 November 2023 |website=National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova}}</ref>

According to the [[Russian Census (2010)|2010 census in Russia]], Russian language skills were indicated by 138 million people (99.4% of the respondents), while according to the [[Russian Census (2002)|2002 census]] – 142.6 million people (99.2% of the respondents).<ref>{{cite web |date=8 November 2011 |title=Демоскоп Weekly. Об итогах Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года. Сообщение Росстата |trans-title=On the Results of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census. A Report by Rosstat |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2011/0491/perep01.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018055149/http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2011/0491/perep01.php |archive-date=18 October 2014 |access-date=23 April 2014 |publisher=Demoscope.ru |language=ru}}</ref>

In [[Ukraine]], Russian is a significant minority language. According to estimates from Demoskop Weekly, in 2004 there were 14,400,000 native speakers of Russian in the country, and 29 million active speakers.<ref name="demoscope251">{{cite web |title=Падение статуса русского языка на постсоветском пространстве |trans-title=The decline of the status of the Russian language in the post-Soviet space |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema01.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025204352/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema01.php |archive-date=25 October 2016 |website=demoscope.ru |language=ru}}</ref> 65% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 38% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.<ref name="demoscope329"/> On 5 September 2017, Ukraine's Parliament passed a [[Ukrainization#2017 law "On Education"|new education law]] which requires all schools to teach at least partially in Ukrainian, with provisions while allow indigenous languages and languages of national minorities to be used alongside the national language.<ref>{{cite web |title=New education law becomes effective in Ukraine |url=https://www.unian.info/society/2159231-new-education-law-becomes-effective-in-ukraine.html |website=www.unian.info |date=28 September 2017 |access-date=22 March 2023 |language=en |archive-date=27 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627202400/https://www.unian.info/society/2159231-new-education-law-becomes-effective-in-ukraine.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The law faced criticism from officials in Russia and Hungary.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ukraine defends education reform as Hungary promises 'pain' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/ukraine-defends-education-reform-as-hungary-promises-pain-1.3235916 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=27 September 2017 |access-date=7 August 2019 |archive-date=24 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324150210/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/ukraine-defends-education-reform-as-hungary-promises-pain-1.3235916 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ukrainian Language Bill Facing Barrage Of Criticism From Minorities, Foreign Capitals |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-language-legislation-minority-languages-russia-hungary-romania/28753925.html |work=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] |date=24 September 2017 |access-date=7 August 2019 |archive-date=31 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331162824/https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-language-legislation-minority-languages-russia-hungary-romania/28753925.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The 2019 [[Law of Ukraine "On protecting the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language"]] gives priority to the [[Ukrainian language]] in more than 30 spheres of public life: in particular in [[public administration]], media, education, science, culture, advertising, [[Service (economics)|services]]. The law does not regulate private communication.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Про забезпечення функціонування української мови як державної |trans-title=On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language |url=https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2704-19#Text |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502182619/https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2704-19#Text |archive-date=2 May 2020 |access-date=21 November 2023 |website=Офіційний вебпортал парламенту України |language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=16 May 2019 |title=Кому варто боятися закону про мову? |trans-title=Who should be afraid of the language law? |url=http://language-policy.info/2019/05/komu-varto-boyatysya-zakonu-pro-movu/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518152707/http://language-policy.info/2019/05/komu-varto-boyatysya-zakonu-pro-movu/ |archive-date=18 May 2019 |access-date=14 May 2022 |website=Портал мовної політики |language=uk}}</ref> A poll conducted in March 2022 by [[Sociological group "RATING"|RATING]] in the territory controlled by Ukraine found that 83% of the respondents believe that Ukrainian should be the only state language of Ukraine. This opinion dominates in all macro-regions, age and language groups. On the other hand, before the war, almost a quarter of Ukrainians were in favour of granting Russian the status of the state language, while after the beginning of Russia's invasion the support for the idea dropped to just 7%. In peacetime, the idea of raising the status of Russian was traditionally supported by residents of the [[Southern Ukraine|south]] and [[Eastern Ukraine|east]]. But even in these regions, only a third of the respondents were in favour, and after [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russia's full-scale invasion]], their number dropped by almost half.<ref>{{cite web |title=Шосте загальнонаціональне опитування: мовне питання в Україні (19 березня 2022) |trans-title=Sixth nationwide survey: the language question in Ukraine (March 19, 2022) |url=https://ratinggroup.ua/research/ukraine/language_issue_in_ukraine_march_19th_2022.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230824150442/https://ratinggroup.ua/research/ukraine/language_issue_in_ukraine_march_19th_2022.html |archive-date=24 August 2023 |access-date=27 August 2023 |language=uk}}</ref> According to the survey carried out by [[Sociological group "RATING"|RATING]] in August 2023 in the territory controlled by Ukraine and among the refugees, almost 60% of the polled usually speak Ukrainian at home, about 30% – Ukrainian and Russian, only 9% – Russian. Since March 2022, the use of Russian in everyday life has been noticeably decreasing. For 82% of respondents, Ukrainian is their mother tongue, and for 16%, Russian is their mother tongue. [[Internally displaced person|IDPs]] and [[Ukrainian refugee crisis (2022–present)|refugees living abroad]] are more likely to use both languages for communication or speak Russian. Nevertheless, more than 70% of IDPs and refugees consider Ukrainian to be their native language.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Соціологічне дослідження до Дня Незалежності УЯВЛЕННЯ ПРО ПАТРІОТИЗМ ТА МАЙБУТНЄ УКРАЇНИ |trans-title=Sociological Survey for Independence Day: PERCEPTIONS OF PATRIOTISM AND THE FUTURE OF UKRAINE |url=https://ratinggroup.ua/files/ratinggroup/reg_files/rating_independence_august_2023.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227002638/https://ratinggroup.ua/files/ratinggroup/reg_files/rating_independence_august_2023.pdf |archive-date=27 December 2023 |access-date=21 November 2023 |language=uk}}</ref>

In the 20th century, Russian was a mandatory language taught in the schools of the members of the old [[Warsaw Pact]] and in other [[Communist state|countries]] that used to be satellites of the USSR. According to the Eurobarometer 2005 survey,<ref>{{cite web|year=2006|title=Europeans and their Languages|url=http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/pdf/doc631_en.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090521033643/http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/pdf/doc631_en.pdf|archive-date=21 May 2009|website=europa.eu}}</ref> fluency in Russian remains fairly high (20–40%) in some countries, in particular former Warsaw Pact countries.

=== Caucasus ===
In [[Armenia]], Russian has no official status, but it is recognized as a minority language under the [[Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities]].<ref name="fundeh1"/> 30% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 2% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.<ref name="demoscope329"/>

In [[Azerbaijan]], Russian has no official status, but is a ''lingua franca'' of the country.<ref name="fundeh1">{{cite web |url=http://www.fundeh.org/files/publications/90/vedenie_obshchee_sostoyanie_russkogo_yazyka.pdf |title=Введение |access-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122143/http://www.fundeh.org/files/publications/90/vedenie_obshchee_sostoyanie_russkogo_yazyka.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> 26% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 5% used it as the main language with family, friends, or at work.<ref name="demoscope329"/>

In [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], Russian has no official status, but it is recognized as a minority language under the [[Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities]].<ref name="fundeh1"/> Russian is the language of 9% of the population according to the World Factbook.<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/georgia/ Georgia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204222544/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/georgia/ |date=4 February 2021 }}. ''[[The World Factbook]]''. [[Central Intelligence Agency]].</ref> Ethnologue cites Russian as the country's de facto working language.<ref name="ethn">{{Ethnologue21|rus|Russian}}</ref>

=== Asia ===
In [[China]], Russian has no official status, but it is spoken by the [[Russians in China|small Russian communities]] in the northeastern [[Heilongjiang]] and the northwestern [[Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region]]. Russian was also the main foreign language taught in school in China between 1949 and 1964.

In [[Kazakhstan]], Russian is not a state language, but according to article 7 of the [[Constitution of Kazakhstan]] its usage enjoys equal status to that of the [[Kazakh language]] in state and local administration.<ref name="fundeh1"/> The 2009 census reported that 10,309,500 people, or 84.8% of the population aged 15 and above, could read and write well in Russian, and understand the spoken language.<ref name=kazcensus>{{cite web |title=Results of the 2009 National Population Census of the Republic of Kazakhstan |url=http://liportal.giz.de/fileadmin/user_upload/oeffentlich/Kasachstan/40_gesellschaft/Kaz2009_Analytical_report.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615010100/https://liportal.giz.de/fileadmin/user_upload/oeffentlich/Kasachstan/40_gesellschaft/Kaz2009_Analytical_report.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 June 2021 |publisher=Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit |access-date=31 October 2015 }}</ref> In October 2023, Kazakhstan drafted a media law aimed at increasing the use of the Kazakh language over Russian, the law stipulates that the share of the state language on television and radio should increase from 50% to 70%, at a rate of 5% per year, starting in 2025.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Kazakhstan drafts media law to increase use of Kazakh language over Russian|agency=Agence France-Presse|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/06/kazakhstan-drafts-media-law-to-increase-use-of-kazakh-language-over-russian|website=The Guardian|id=0261-3077|date=6 October 2023|accessdate=28 October 2023|language=en-GB|archive-date=28 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028002220/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/06/kazakhstan-drafts-media-law-to-increase-use-of-kazakh-language-over-russian|url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[Kyrgyzstan]], Russian is a co-official language per article 5 of the [[Constitution of Kyrgyzstan]].<ref name="fundeh1"/> The 2009 census states that 482,200 people speak Russian as a native language, or 8.99% of the population.<ref name=kyrcen>{{cite web|title=Population And Housing Census Of The Kyrgyz Republic Of 2009 |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sources/census/2010_phc/Kyrgyzstan/A5-2PopulationAndHousingCensusOfTheKyrgyzRepublicOf2009.pdf |publisher=UN Stats |access-date=1 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710092216/http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sources/census/2010_PHC/Kyrgyzstan/A5-2PopulationAndHousingCensusOfTheKyrgyzRepublicOf2009.pdf |archive-date=10 July 2012}}</ref> Additionally, 1,854,700 residents of Kyrgyzstan aged 15 and above fluently speak Russian as a second language, or 49.6% of the population in the age group.<ref name=kyrcen/>

In [[Tajikistan]], Russian is the language of inter-ethnic communication under the [[Constitution of Tajikistan]] and is permitted in official documentation.<ref name="fundeh1"/> 28% of the population was fluent in Russian in 2006, and 7% used it as the main language with family, friends or at work.<ref name="demoscope329"/> The World Factbook notes that Russian is widely used in government and business.<ref name="bookoffact">{{cite web |title=Languages |url=https://www.hannasles.com/languages/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523002924/https://www.hannasles.com/russian-translation-services/ |archive-date=23 May 2022 |access-date=26 April 2015 |publisher=The World Factbook}}</ref>

In [[Turkmenistan]], Russian lost its status as the official ''lingua franca'' in 1996.<ref name="fundeh1"/> Among 12%<ref name=bookoffact/> of the population who grew up in the Soviet era can speak Russian; other generations of citizens do not have any knowledge of Russian. Primary and secondary education by Russian is almost non-existent.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bekmurzaev |first1=Nurbek |title=Russian Language Status in Central Asian Countries |date=28 February 2019 |url=https://cabar.asia/en/russian-language-status-in-central-asian-countries |publisher=Central Asian Bureau for Analytical Reporting |access-date=22 June 2022 |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920173149/https://cabar.asia/en/russian-language-status-in-central-asian-countries |url-status=live }}</ref>

In [[Uzbekistan]], Russian is spoken by 14.2% of the population according to an undated estimate from the World Factbook.<ref name=bookoffact/>

In 2005, Russian was the most widely taught foreign language in Mongolia,<ref>{{cite news |first=James |last=Brooke |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |title=For Mongolians, E Is for English, F Is for Future |date=15 February 2005 |access-date=16 May 2009 |url=https://nytimes.com/2005/02/15/international/asia/15mongolia.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614225411/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/15/international/asia/15mongolia.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all |archive-date=14 June 2011}}</ref> and was compulsory in Year 7 onward as a second foreign language in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|date=21 September 2006|script-title=ru:Русский язык в Монголии стал обязательным|language=ru|trans-title=Russian language has become compulsory in Mongolia|agency=New Region|url=http://www.nr2.ru/83966.html|url-status=dead|access-date=16 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009170315/http://www.nr2.ru/83966.html|archive-date=9 October 2008}}</ref>

Around 1.5{{nbs}}million Israelis spoke Russian {{as of|2017|lc=y}}.<ref>[http://www.forbes.ru/finansy-i-investicii/340519-rossiysko-izrailskie-ekonomicheskie-svyazi-ne-tolko-neft-na К визиту Нетаньяху: что Россия может получить от экономики Израиля] [Ahead of Netanyahu’s visit: What can Russia gain from Israel’s economy?]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313125416/http://www.forbes.ru/finansy-i-investicii/340519-rossiysko-izrailskie-ekonomicheskie-svyazi-ne-tolko-neft-na|date=13 March 2017}} Алексей Голубович, Forbes Russia, 9 March 2017</ref> The Israeli [[Mass media|press]] and websites regularly publish material in Russian and there are Russian newspapers, television stations, schools, and social media outlets based in the country.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/russians-in-israel|title= Russians in Israel|access-date= 11 July 2019|archive-date= 11 July 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190711133459/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/russians-in-israel/|url-status= live}}</ref> There is an Israeli TV channel mainly broadcasting in Russian with [[Israel Plus]]. See also [[Russian language in Israel]].

Russian is also spoken as a second language by a small number of people in [[Afghanistan]].<ref>Awde and Sarwan, 2003</ref>

In [[Vietnam]], Russian has been added in the elementary curriculum along with Chinese and Japanese and were named as "first foreign languages" for Vietnamese students to learn, on equal footing with English.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Vnexpress |url=https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/vietnam-to-add-chinese-russian-to-elementary-school-curriculum-3470743.html |title=Vietnam to add Chinese, Russian to elementary school curriculum |work=VnExpress International – Latest news, business, travel and analysis from Vietnam |date=20 September 2016 |access-date=12 July 2019 |archive-date=12 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712121639/https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/vietnam-to-add-chinese-russian-to-elementary-school-curriculum-3470743.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== North America ===
{{See also|Russian language in the United States}}
The Russian language was first introduced in North America when [[Russian explorers]] voyaged into [[Alaska]] and claimed it for Russia during the 18th century. Although most Russian colonists left after the United States bought the land in 1867, a handful stayed and preserved the Russian language in this region to this day, although only a few elderly speakers of this unique dialect are left.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://languagehat.com/ninilchik/ |title=Ninilchik |publisher=languagehat.com |date=1 January 2009 |access-date=18 June 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107112220/http://languagehat.com/ninilchik/ |archive-date=7 January 2014}}</ref> In [[Nikolaevsk, Alaska]], Russian is more spoken than English. Sizable Russian-speaking communities also exist in North America, especially in large urban centers of the US and Canada, such as [[Russian Americans in New York City|New York City]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Boston]], [[Los Angeles]], [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], [[San Francisco]], [[Seattle]], [[Spokane, Washington|Spokane]], [[Toronto]], [[Calgary]], [[History of the Russians in Baltimore|Baltimore]], [[Miami]], [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], [[Chicago]], [[Denver]], and [[Cleveland]]. In a number of locations they issue their own newspapers, and live in [[ethnic enclave]]s (especially the generation of immigrants who started arriving in the early 1960s). Only about 25% of them are ethnic Russians, however. Before the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], the overwhelming majority of [[Russophone]]s in [[Brighton Beach, Brooklyn]] in New York City were Russian-speaking Jews. Afterward, the influx from the countries of the former [[Soviet Union]] changed the statistics somewhat, with ethnic Russians and Ukrainians immigrating along with some more Russian Jews and Central Asians. According to the [[United States Census]], in 2007 Russian was the primary language spoken in the homes of over 850,000 individuals living in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|title=Language Use in the United States |date=April 2010 |first1=Hyon B. |last1=Shin |first2=Robert A. |last2=Kominski |website=Census Bureau  |url=https://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/data/acs/ACS-12.pdf |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614060228/http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/data/acs/ACS-12.pdf|archive-date=14 June 2013|access-date=18 June 2013}}</ref>

== As an international language ==
{{See also|Russophone|List of official languages by institution|Internet in Russian}}

Russian is one of the official languages (or has similar status and interpretation must be provided into Russian) of the following:

{{div col}}
* [[United Nations]]
* [[International Atomic Energy Agency]]
* [[World Health Organization]]
* [[International Civil Aviation Organization]]
* [[UNESCO]]
* [[World Intellectual Property Organization]]
* [[International Telecommunication Union]]
* [[World Meteorological Organization]]
* [[Food and Agriculture Organization]]
* [[International Fund for Agricultural Development]]
* [[International Criminal Court]]
* [[International Olympic Committee]]
* [[Universal Postal Union]]
* [[World Bank]]
* [[Commonwealth of Independent States]]
* [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]]
* [[Shanghai Cooperation Organisation]]
* [[Eurasian Economic Community]]
* [[Collective Security Treaty Organization]]
* [[Antarctic Treaty Secretariat]]
* [[International Organization for Standardization]]
* [[International Mathematical Olympiad]]
{{div col end}}

The Russian language is also one of two official languages aboard the [[International Space Station]] – [[NASA]] astronauts who serve alongside Russian cosmonauts usually take Russian language courses. This practice goes back to the [[Apollo–Soyuz]] mission, which first flew in 1975.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wakata|first=Koichi|author-link=Koichi Wakata|url=https://global.jaxa.jp/article/special/expedition/wakata01_e.html|title=My Long Mission in Space|publisher=[[JAXA]]|quote="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."|access-date=1 June 2024|archive-date=26 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426232353/https://global.jaxa.jp/article/special/expedition/wakata01_e.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 2013, Russian was found to be the second-most used language on websites after English. Russian was the language of 5.9% of all websites, slightly ahead of German and far behind English (54.7%). Russian was used not only on 89.8% of [[.ru]] sites, but also on 88.7% of sites with the former Soviet Union domain [[.su]]. Websites in former Soviet Union member states also used high levels of Russian: 79.0% in Ukraine, 86.9% in Belarus, 84.0% in Kazakhstan, 79.6% in Uzbekistan, 75.9% in Kyrgyzstan and 81.8% in Tajikistan. However, Russian was the sixth-most used language on the top 1,000 sites, behind English, Chinese, French, German, and Japanese.<ref>{{cite web|title=Russian is now the second most used language on the web|url=http://w3techs.com/blog/entry/russian_is_now_the_second_most_used_language_on_the_web|work=W3Techs|publisher=Q-Success|access-date=17 June 2013|author=Matthias Gelbmann|date=19 March 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130412034448/http://w3techs.com/blog/entry/russian_is_now_the_second_most_used_language_on_the_web|archive-date=12 April 2013}}</ref>

On 13 October 2023, the [[CIS Council of Heads of State]] signed the Treaty on the Establishment of the International Organization for the Russian Language and adopted the Statement on Support and Promotion of the Russian Language as a Language of Interethnic Communication.<ref>{{cite web |date=13 October 2023 |title=Совет глав государств СНГ подписал Договор об учреждении Международной организации по русскому языку и принял Заявление о поддержке и продвижении русского языка как языка межнационального общения |trans-title=The Council of Heads of State of the CIS signed an agreement establishing the International Organization for the Russian Language and adopted a statement in support of promoting Russian as a language of interethnic communication |url=https://e-cis.info/news/564/112780/ |access-date=6 January 2025 |website=[[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS Internet Portal]] |language=Russian}}</ref>

== Dialects ==
{{Main|Russian dialects|Moscow dialect|Pomor dialect}}
[[File:Dialects of Russian language-ru.png|thumb|upright=1.35|
Russian dialects in 1915
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
Northern dialects
{{legend|#587942|1. [[Arkhangelsk]] dialect}}
{{legend|#3E7D6D|2. [[Olonets]] dialect}}
{{legend|#45AD96|3. [[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]] dialect}}
{{legend|#69A74B|4. [[Kirov, Kirov Oblast|Viatka]] dialect}}
{{legend|#61C57A|5. [[Vladimir, Russia|Vladimir]] dialect}}
{{col-break}}
Central dialects
{{legend|#F587C1|6. [[Moscow dialect]]}}
{{legend|#D172A2|7. [[Tver]] dialect}}
Southern dialects
{{legend|#FF9B06|8. [[Oryol|Orel]] (Don) dialect}}
{{legend|#FF7D26|9. [[Ryazan]] dialect}}
{{legend|#FFAA71|10. [[Tula, Russia|Tula]] dialect}}
{{legend|#F2D273|11. [[Smolensk]] dialect}}
Other
{{legend|#40956C|12. Northern Russian dialect with [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] influences}}
{{legend|#ECBD00|13. [[Slobozhan dialect|Slobozhan]] and [[Steppe dialect|Steppe]] dialects of [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]}}
{{legend|#FFD93E|14. Steppe dialect of Ukrainian with Russian influences ([[Balachka]])}}
{{col-end}}]]

Despite [[Dialect levelling|leveling]] after 1900, especially in matters of vocabulary and phonetics, a number of dialects still exist in Russia. Some linguists divide the dialects of Russian into two primary regional groupings, "Northern" and "Southern", with Moscow lying on the zone of transition between the two. Others divide the language into three groupings, [[Northern Russian dialects|Northern]], [[Central Russian dialects|Central]] (or Middle), and [[Southern Russian dialects|Southern]], with Moscow lying in the Central region.<ref>David Dalby. 1999–2000. ''The Linguasphere Register of the World's Languages and Speech Communities''. Linguasphere Press. Pg. 442.</ref>{{sfn|Sussex|Cubberley|2006|pp=521–526}}{{sfn|Cubberley|2002|p=313}}

The [[Northern Russian dialects]] and those spoken along the [[Volga River]] typically pronounce unstressed {{IPA|/o/}} clearly, a phenomenon called [[vowel reduction in Russian#Back vowels|okanye]] ({{lang|ru|оканье}}).{{sfn|Sussex|Cubberley|2006|pp=521–526}} Besides the absence of vowel reduction, some dialects have [[high vowel|high]] or [[diphthong]]al {{IPA|/e⁓i̯ɛ/}} in place of {{proto|slavic|ě}} and {{IPA|/o⁓u̯ɔ/}} in stressed closed syllables (as in Ukrainian) instead of Standard Russian {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/o/}}, respectively.{{sfn|Sussex|Cubberley|2006|pp=521–526}} Another Northern dialectal morphological feature is a post-posed definite article ''-to'', ''-ta'', ''-te'' similar to that existing in Bulgarian and Macedonian.{{sfn|Sussex|Cubberley|2006|pp=521–526}}

In the [[Southern Russian dialects]], instances of unstressed {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/a/}} following [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized]] consonants and preceding a stressed syllable are not reduced to {{IPA|[ɪ]}} (as occurs in the Moscow dialect), being instead pronounced {{IPA|[a]}} in such positions (e.g. {{wikt-lang|ru|несл'''и'''}} is pronounced {{IPA|[nʲaˈslʲi]}}, not {{IPA|[nʲɪsˈlʲi]}}) – this is called [[yakanye]] ({{lang|ru|яканье}}).{{sfn|Sussex|Cubberley|2006|pp=521–526}}<ref>{{cite web|title=The Language of the Russian Village|language=ru|url=http://www.gramota.ru/book/village/map13.html|access-date=10 November 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607225323/http://gramota.ru/book/village/map13.html|archive-date=7 June 2012}}</ref> Consonants include a [[Voiced velar fricative|fricative {{IPA|/ɣ/|cat=no}}]], a [[semivowel|semivowel {{IPA|/w⁓u̯/|cat=no}}]] and {{IPA|/x⁓xv⁓xw/}}, whereas the Standard and Northern dialects have the consonants {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, {{IPA|/v/}}, and final {{IPA|/l/}} and {{IPA|/f/}}, respectively.{{sfn|Sussex|Cubberley|2006|pp=521–526}} The morphology features a palatalized final {{IPA|/tʲ/}} in 3rd person forms of verbs (this is unpalatalized in the Standard and Northern dialects).{{sfn|Sussex|Cubberley|2006|pp=521–526}}<ref>{{cite web|title=The Language of the Russian Village|language=ru|url=http://www.gramota.ru/book/village/map14.html|access-date=10 November 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212213519/http://www.gramota.ru/book/village/map14.html|archive-date=12 February 2012}}</ref>

== Comparison with other Slavic languages ==
During the [[Proto-Slavic language|Proto-Slavic]] (Common Slavic) times all Slavs spoke one mutually intelligible language or group of dialects.<ref>Context and the Lexicon in the Development of Russian Aspect, By Neil Bermel, p 16</ref> There is a high degree of [[mutual intelligibility]] between Russian, [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] and [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], and a moderate degree of it in all modern Slavic languages, at least at the conversational level.<ref>Sussex & Cubberley, p. 3.</ref><ref>[https://www.ezglot.com/most-similar-languages.php?l=rus Similar languages to Russian] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225055107/https://www.ezglot.com/most-similar-languages.php?l=rus |date=25 February 2021 }}, EZ Glot</ref>

== Derived languages ==
* [[Balachka]], a Ukrainian dialect spoken in Krasnodar region, Don, [[Kuban]], and [[Terek River|Terek]], brought by relocated [[Ukrainian Cossacks|Cossacks]] in 1793 and is based on the so-called "southwest Russian" dialect (Ukrainian dialect). During the Russification of the aforementioned regions in the 1920s to 1950s, it was replaced by the Russian language.
* [[Esperanto etymology|Esperanto]] has some words of Russian and Slavic origin and some features of its grammar could be derived from Russian.<ref name="Kiselman">{{cite journal |url=http://www2.math.uu.se/~kiselman/pau2008.pdf |journal=Prace Komisji Spraw Europejskich PAU |volume=II |pages=39–56 |editor=Andrzej Pelczar |location=Krakow |publisher=Polska Akademia Umieje ̨tno ́sci |date=2008 |author=Christer Kiselman |title=Esperanto: its origins and early history |language=en |access-date=4 October 2022 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304222655/http://www2.math.uu.se/~kiselman/pau2008.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Fenya]], a criminal [[argot]] of ancient origin, with Russian grammar, but with distinct vocabulary
* [[Lojban]], Russian is one of its six source languages, weighed for the number of Russian speakers in 1985.<ref name="Lojban">{{cite book |last1=Cowan |first1=John Woldemar |author1-link=John W. Cowan |title=The Shape Of Words To Come: Lojban Morphology – The Lojban Reference Grammar |url=https://lojban.github.io/cll/4/14/ |via=lojban.github.io |access-date=4 October 2022 |language=en |date=1997 |publisher=Logical Language |isbn=0-9660283-0-9 |archive-date=12 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112115705/http://lojban.github.io/cll/4/14/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Medny Aleut language]], an extinct [[mixed language]] that was spoken on [[Bering Island]] and is characterized by its [[Aleut]] nouns and Russian verbs
* [[Padonkaffsky jargon]], a slang language developed by [[padonki]] of [[Runet]]
* [[Quelia]], a [[macaronic language]] with Russian-derived basic structure and part of the [[lexicon]] (mainly nouns and verbs) borrowed from German
* [[Runglish]], a Russian-English pidgin. This word is also used by English speakers to describe the way in which Russians attempt to speak English using Russian morphology or syntax.
* [[Russenorsk language|Russenorsk]], an extinct [[pidgin]] language with mostly Russian vocabulary and mostly [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] grammar, used for communication between [[Russians]] and Norwegian traders in the Pomor trade in [[Finnmark]] and the [[Kola Peninsula]]
* [[Surzhyk]], a range of mixed (macaronic) sociolects of Ukrainian and Russian languages used in certain regions of Ukraine and adjacent lands.
* [[Trasianka]], a heavily russified variety of [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] used by a large portion of the rural population in Belarus
* [[Taimyr Pidgin Russian]], spoken by the [[Nganasan people|Nganasan]] on the [[Taymyr Peninsula|Taimyr Peninsula]]
* [[Alaskan Russian]], a dialect of Russian spoken in some parts of the [[US]] state of [[Alaska]]

== Alphabet ==
{{Main|Russian alphabet|Russian Braille}}

[[File:Azbuka 1574 by Ivan Fyodorov.png|thumb|A page from Azbuka ([[Alphabet book]]), the first East Slavic printed textbook. Printed by [[Ivan Fyodorov (printer)|Ivan Fyodorov]] in 1574 in Lviv. This page features the [[Cyrillic script]].]]

Russian is written using a [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]] alphabet. The [[early Cyrillic alphabet]] was adapted to Russian from [[Old Church Slavonic]].{{sfn|Rakhlin|Kornilov|Grigorenko|2017|p=401}} The first attempt at [[Reforms of Russian orthography|reforming Russian orthography]] was carried out in 1708–1710.{{sfn|Rakhlin|Kornilov|Grigorenko|2017|p=401}} The last major reform was carried out in 1917–1918.{{sfn|Rakhlin|Kornilov|Grigorenko|2017|p=401}}

The Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters. The following table gives their forms, along with [[help:IPA|IPA]] values for each letter's typical sound:

{| cellpadding="4" style="margin:auto; text-align:center;"
|-
| {{lang|ru|[[A (Cyrillic)|А]]}}а<br/>{{IPA|/a/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Be (Cyrillic)|Б]]}}б<br/>{{IPA|/b/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Ve (Cyrillic)|В]]}}в<br/>{{IPA|/v/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Ge (Cyrillic)|Г]]}}г<br/>{{IPA|/ɡ/}}||{{lang|ru|[[De (Cyrillic)|Д]]}}д<br/>{{IPA|/d/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Ye (Cyrillic)|Е]]}}е<br/>{{IPA|/je/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Yo (Cyrillic)|Ё]]}}ё<br/>{{IPA|/jo/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Zhe (Cyrillic)|Ж]]}}ж<br/>{{IPA|/ʐ/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Ze (Cyrillic)|З]]}}з<br/>{{IPA|/z/}}||{{lang|ru|[[I (Cyrillic)|И]]}}и<br/>{{IPA|/i/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Short I|Й]]}}й<br/>{{IPA|/j/}}
|-
| {{lang|ru|[[Ka (Cyrillic)|К]]}}к<br/>{{IPA|/k/}}||{{lang|ru|[[El (Cyrillic)|Л]]}}л<br/>{{IPA|/l/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Em (Cyrillic)|М]]}}м<br/>{{IPA|/m/}}||{{lang|ru|[[En (Cyrillic)|Н]]}}н<br/>{{IPA|/n/}}||{{lang|ru|[[O (Cyrillic)|О]]}}о<br/>{{IPA|/o/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Pe (Cyrillic)|П]]}}п<br/>{{IPA|/p/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Er (Cyrillic)|Р]]}}р<br/>{{IPA|/r/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Es (Cyrillic)|С]]}}с<br/>{{IPA|/s/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Te (Cyrillic)|Т]]}}т<br/>{{IPA|/t/}}||{{lang|ru|[[U (Cyrillic)|У]]}}у<br/>{{IPA|/u/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Ef (Cyrillic)|Ф]]}}ф<br/>{{IPA|/f/}}
|-
| {{lang|ru|[[Kha (Cyrillic)|Х]]}}х<br/>{{IPA|/x/<!-- do not change it to "kh", the symbol between slashes is not transliteration, this is phonemic transcription in IPA! -->}}||{{lang|ru|[[Tse (Cyrillic)|Ц]]}}ц<br/>{{IPA|/ts/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Che (Cyrillic)|Ч]]}}ч<br/>{{IPA|/tɕ/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Sha (Cyrillic)|Ш]]}}ш<br/>{{IPA|/ʂ/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Shcha (Cyrillic)|Щ]]}}щ<br/>{{IPA|/ɕː/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Hard sign|Ъ]]}}ъ<br/>{{IPA|/-/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Yery|Ы]]}}ы<br/> {{IPA|/ɨ/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Soft sign|Ь]]}}ь<br/>{{IPA|/ʲ/}}||{{lang|ru|[[E (Cyrillic)|Э]]}}э<br/>{{IPA|/e/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Yu (Cyrillic)|Ю]]}}ю<br/>{{IPA|/ju/}}||{{lang|ru|[[Ya (Cyrillic)|Я]]}}я<br/>{{IPA|/ja/}}
|}

Older letters of the Russian alphabet include {{Angle bracket|{{lang|orv|ѣ}}}}, which merged to {{Angle bracket|{{lang|ru|е}}}} ({{IPA|/je/}} or {{IPA|/ʲe/}}); {{Angle bracket|{{lang|orv|і}}}} and {{Angle bracket|{{lang|orv|ѵ}}}}, which both merged to {{Angle bracket|{{lang|ru|и}}}} ({{IPA|/i/}}); {{Angle bracket|{{lang|orv|ѳ}}}}, which merged to {{Angle bracket|{{lang|ru|ф}}}} ({{IPA|/f/}}); {{Angle bracket|{{lang|orv|ѫ}}}}, which merged to {{Angle bracket|{{lang|ru|у}}}} ({{IPA|/u/}}); {{Angle bracket|{{lang|orv|ѭ}}}}, which merged to {{Angle bracket|{{lang|ru|ю}}}} ({{IPA|/ju/}} or {{IPA|/ʲu/}}); and {{Angle bracket|{{lang|orv|ѧ}}}} and {{Angle bracket|{{lang|orv|ѩ}}}}, which later were graphically reshaped into {{Angle bracket|{{lang|ru|я}}}} and merged phonetically to {{IPA|/ja/}} or {{IPA|/ʲa/}}. While these older letters have been abandoned at one time or another, they may be used in this and related articles. The [[yer]]s {{Angle bracket|{{lang|ru|ъ}}}} and {{Angle bracket|{{lang|ru|ь}}}} originally indicated the pronunciation of ''ultra-short'' or ''reduced'' {{IPA|/ŭ/}}, {{IPA|/ĭ/}}.

=== Transliteration ===
{{Further|Romanization of Russian}}

Because of many technical restrictions in computing and also because of the unavailability of Cyrillic keyboards abroad, Russian is often transliterated using the Latin alphabet. For example, {{wikt-lang|ru|мороз}} ('frost') is transliterated ''moroz'', and {{wikt-lang|ru|мышь}} ('mouse'), ''mysh'' or ''myš{{'}}''. Once commonly used by the majority of those living outside Russia, transliteration is being used less frequently by Russian-speaking typists in favor of the extension of Unicode [[character encoding]], which fully incorporates the Russian alphabet. Free programs are available offering this [[Unicode]] extension, which allow users to type Russian characters, even on Western 'QWERTY' keyboards.<ref>{{cite web |last=Caloni |first=Wanderley |title=RusKey: mapping the Russian keyboard layout into the Latin alphabets |url=http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/11940/RusKey-mapping-the-Russian-keyboard-layout-into-th |date=15 February 2007 |access-date=28 January 2011 |publisher=[[The Code Project]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301121842/http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/11940/RusKey-mapping-the-Russian-keyboard-layout-into-th |archive-date=1 March 2012}}</ref>

=== Computing ===
{{Main article|History of computing in the Soviet Union}}
The Russian language was first introduced to computing after the [[Automatic Digital Computer M-1|M-1]], and [[MESM]] models were produced in 1951.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Tracing the Origins of the First Soviet Computers, Beyond Legends |first1=Giovanni A. |last1=Cignoni |first2=Sergei P. |last2=Prokhorov |journal=[[IEEE Annals of the History of Computing]] |volume=45 |issue=4 |date=October–December 2023 |pages=85–91 |doi=10.1109/MAHC.2023.3326668 |bibcode=2023IAHC...45d..85C }}</ref>

=== Orthography ===
{{Main|Russian orthography}}

According to the [[Institute of Russian Language]] of the [[Russian Academy of Science]], an optional [[acute accent]] ({{lang|ru|знак ударения}}) may, and sometimes should, be used to mark [[stress (linguistics)|stress]]. For example, it is used 

to distinguish between otherwise identical words, especially when context does not make it obvious: 

{{lang|ru|замо́к}} (''zamók'' – "lock") – {{lang|ru|за́мок}} (''zámok'' – "castle"), 

{{lang|ru|сто́ящий}} (''stóyashchy'' – "worthwhile") – {{lang|ru|стоя́щий}} (''stoyáshchy'' – "standing"),
 
{{lang|ru|чудно́}} (''chudnó'' – "this is odd") – {{lang|ru|чу́дно}} (''chúdno'' – "this is marvellous"),
 
{{lang|ru|молоде́ц}} (''molodéts'' – "well done!") – {{lang|ru|мо́лодец}} (''mólodets'' – "fine young man"),

{{lang|ru|узна́ю}} (''uznáyu'' – "I shall learn it") – {{lang|ru|узнаю́}} (''uznayú'' – "I recognize it"),

{{lang|ru|отреза́ть}} (''otrezát'' – "to be cutting") – {{lang|ru|отре́зать}} (''otrézat'' – "to have cut"); 

to indicate the proper pronunciation of uncommon words, especially personal and family names, like
 
{{lang|ru|афе́ра}} (''aféra'', "scandal, affair"),
 
{{lang|ru|гу́ру}} (''gúru'', "guru"), {{lang|ru|Гарси́я}} (''García''),
 
{{lang|ru|Оле́ша}} (''Olésha''), {{lang|ru|Фе́рми}} (''Fermi''),
 
and to show which is the stressed word in a sentence, for example
 
{{lang|ru|Ты́ съел печенье?}} (''Tý syel pechenye?'' – "Was it ''you'' who ate the cookie?") –
 
{{lang|ru|Ты съе́л печенье?}} (''Ty syél pechenye?'' – "Did you ''eat'' the cookie?) –

{{lang|ru|Ты съел пече́нье?}} (''Ty syel pechénye?'' "Was it the ''cookie'' you ate?").
 
Stress marks are mandatory in lexical dictionaries and books for children or Russian learners.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341623843|first=Sviatlana|last=Karpava|title=Lexical stress assignment and reading skills of Russian heritage children}}</ref>

== Phonology ==
{{Main|Russian phonology}}

The Russian [[syllable]] structure can be quite complex, with both initial and final consonant clusters of up to four consecutive sounds. Using a formula with V standing for the nucleus (vowel) and C for each consonant, the maximal structure can be described as follows:

(C)(C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C)

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|- style="font-size: 90%;"
|+ Consonant phonemes
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | 
! colspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="2" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]<br/>/[[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! colspan="2" | [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br/>alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
! plain
! [[Palatalization (phonetics)|pal.]]
! plain
! [[Palatalization (phonetics)|pal.]]
! plain
! [[Palatalization (phonetics)|pal.]]
! plain
! [[Palatalization (phonetics)|pal.]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|mʲ}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
| {{IPA link|nʲ}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! voiceless
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|pʲ}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
| {{IPA link|tʲ}}
|
|
|
| {{IPA link|k}}
| {{IPA link|kʲ}}
|-
! voiced
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|bʲ}}
| {{IPA link|d}}
| {{IPA link|dʲ}}
|
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
| {{IPA link|ɡʲ}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Affricate]]
|
|
| {{IPA link|t͡s}}
| ({{IPA link|t͡sʲ}})
|
| {{IPA link|t͡ɕ}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
! voiceless
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|fʲ}}
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|sʲ}}
| {{IPA link|ʂ}}
| {{IPA link|ɕ}}ː
|
| {{IPA link|x}}
| {{IPA link|xʲ}}
|-
! voiced
| {{IPA link|v}}
| {{IPA link|vʲ}}
| {{IPA link|z}}
| {{IPA link|zʲ}}
| {{IPA link|ʐ}}
| ({{IPA link|ʑ}}ː)
|
| ({{IPA link|ɣ}})
| ({{IPA link|ɣʲ}})
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɫ}}
| {{IPA link|lʲ}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|
| {{IPA link|r}}
| {{IPA link|rʲ}}
|
|
|
|
|
|}

Russian is notable for its distinction based on [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalization]] of most of its consonants. The phoneme /{{IPA|ts}}/ is generally considered to be always hard; however, loan words such as [[Zürich|Цюрих]] and some other neologisms contain /{{IPA|tsʲ}}/ through the word-building processes (e.g., фрицёнок ["фриц" plus diminutive "ёнок"], шпицята ["шпиц" plus diminutive "ята"]). Palatalization means that the center of the [[tongue]] is raised toward the [[palate]] during and after the articulation of the consonant. In the case of {{IPA|/tʲ/}} and {{IPA|/dʲ/}}, the tongue is raised enough to produce slight frication (affricate sounds; cf. Belarusian ць, дзь, or Polish ć, dź). The sounds {{IPA|/t, d, ts, s, z, n, rʲ/}} are [[dental consonant|dental]], that is, pronounced with the tip of the tongue against the teeth rather than against the [[alveolar ridge]]. According to some linguists, the "plain" consonants are velarized as in [[Irish language|Irish]], something which is most noticeable when it involves a labial before a hard vowel, such as мы, {{IPA|/mˠɨː/}}, "we" , or бэ, {{IPA|/bˠɛ/}}, "the letter Б".

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; float: left; margin-right: 1em;"
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! style="text-align: left;" | [[Close vowel|Close]]
| style="font-size:90%" | {{IPA link|i}}
| style="font-size:90%" | ({{IPA link|ɨ}})
| style="font-size:90%" | {{IPA link|u}}
|-
! style="text-align: left;" | [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| style="font-size:90%" | {{IPA link|e̞|e}}
|
| style="font-size:90%" | {{IPA link|o̞|o}}
|-
! style="text-align: left;" | [[Open vowel|Open]]
|
| style="font-size:90%" | {{IPA link|ä|a}}
|
|}

[[File:Russian vowel chart.svg|thumb|Russian vowel chart by {{Harvcoltxt|Trofimov|Jones|1923|p=55}}]]

Russian has five or six vowels in stressed syllables, {{IPA|/i, u, e, o, a/}}, and in some analyses {{IPA|/ɨ/}}, but in most cases these vowels have merged to only two to four vowels when unstressed: {{IPA|/i, u, a/}} (or {{IPA|/ɨ, u, a/}}) after hard consonants and {{IPA|/i, u/}} after soft ones. These vowels have several [[allophones]], which are displayed on the diagram to the right.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 January 2020 |title=Russian Vowels: All the Rules You Need to Know {{!}} FluentU Russian Blog |url=https://www.fluentu.com/blog/russian/russian-vowels/ |access-date=28 November 2023 |website=FluentU Russian |language=en-US |archive-date=4 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104031432/https://www.fluentu.com/blog/russian/russian-vowels/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Ordin, Mikhail. (2011). Palatalization and Intrinsic Prosodic Vowel Features in Russian. Language and speech. 54. 547–68. 10.1177/0023830911404962.</ref>

== Grammar ==
{{Main|Russian grammar}}
Russian has preserved an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] [[Synthetic language|synthetic]]-[[inflection]]al structure, although considerable [[Morphological levelling|leveling]] has occurred. Russian grammar encompasses:
* a highly [[inflection]]al [[Fusional language|fusional]] '''morphology''', which allows for an unusually flexible [[word order]] in a [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentence]], although the [[Subject–verb–object word order]] is preferred in the neutral [[style of speech]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pokhoday |first1=Mikhail |last2=Shtyrov |first2=Yury |last3=Myachykov |first3=Andriy |date=2019-08-20 |title=Effects of Visual Priming and Event Orientation on Word Order Choice in Russian Sentence Production |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=10 |article-number=1661 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01661 |pmid=31481907 |pmc=6710380 |doi-access=free |issn=1664-1078}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Slioussar |first=Natalia |date=2011-07-08 |title=Processing of a Free Word Order Language: The Role of Syntax and Context |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-011-9171-5 |journal=Journal of Psycholinguistic Research |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=291–306 |doi=10.1007/s10936-011-9171-5 |pmid=21739339 |issn=0090-6905|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Kallestinova |first=Elena Dmitrievna |title=Aspects of word order in Russian |date=2007 |publisher=The University of Iowa |doi=10.17077/etd.11qhthvg |url=https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.11qhthvg|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sauermann |first1=Antje |last2=Gagarina |first2=Natalia |date=2018-03-01 |title=The roles of givenness and type of referring expression in the comprehension of word order in Russian-speaking children |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2016-0094 |journal=Linguistics Vanguard |volume=4 |issue=s1 |article-number=20160094 |doi=10.1515/lingvan-2016-0094 |issn=2199-174X|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ionin |first1=Tania |last2=Luchkina |first2=Tatiana |date=October 2018 |title=Focus on Russian Scope: An Experimental Investigation of the Relationship between Quantifier Scope, Prosody, and Information Structure |url=https://doi.org/10.1162/ling_a_00288 |journal=Linguistic Inquiry |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=741–779 |doi=10.1162/ling_a_00288 |issn=0024-3892|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pereltsvaig |first=Asya |date=2008-02-28 |title=Split phrases in colloquial Russian |url=https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9582.2007.00141.x |journal=Studia Linguistica |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages=5–38 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9582.2007.00141.x |issn=0039-3193|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Luchkina |first1=Tatiana |last2=Cole |first2=Jennifer |date=2014-05-20 |title=Structural and Prosodic Correlates of Prominence in Free Word Order Language Discourse |url=https://doi.org/10.21437/speechprosody.2014-214 |journal=Speech Prosody 2014 |location=ISCA |publisher=ISCA |pages=1119–1123 |doi=10.21437/speechprosody.2014-214|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Luchkina |first1=Tatiana |last2=Cole |first2=Jennifer S. |date=2019-11-28 |title=Perception of Word-level Prominence in Free Word Order Language Discourse |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0023830919884089 |journal=Language and Speech |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=381–412 |doi=10.1177/0023830919884089 |pmid=31778096 |issn=0023-8309|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pereltsvaig |first=Asya |date=2012-10-23 |title=John Frederick Bailyn, The syntax of Russian (Cambridge Syntax Guides). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Pp. xviii+373. |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/s002222671200028x |journal=Journal of Linguistics |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=727–731 |doi=10.1017/s002222671200028x |issn=0022-2267|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Some studies found that in modern Russian [[vernacular]] the chance that a [[transitive verb|transitive]] Russian sentence is judged “SVO” fluctuates between 40 % and 45 %; the rest are split among [[Subject-Object-Verb]], [[Verb-initial orders]] and right dislocations, that are used to signal information-structure or stylistic factors.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Toldova, Svetlana & Alexander Kibrik. 1997. Core word order in Russian transitive clauses: Corpus evidence. Russian Linguistics 21(2): 177–206. DOI: 10.1023/A:1004502816970 |journal=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Slioussar, Natalia. 2007. Grammar and information structure: A novel approach to Russian word order. Ph.D. dissertation, Utrecht Institute of Linguistics (LOT dissertation series 164). DOI: 10.13140/2.1.5146.4967 |journal=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Dyakonova, Marina. 2009. Information structure and word order in Russian: A corpus study. Journal of Slavic Linguistics 17(1–2): 73–108. DOI: 10.1353/jsl.2009.a001635 |journal=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Zdorenko, Anna. 2016. Frequency of Russian transitive-corpus orders: A large-scale quantitative profile. Russian Linguistics 40(1): 63–91. DOI: 10.1007/s11185-015-9153-8 |journal=}}</ref>
* a '''[[lexicon]]''' that, for the literary language, is the conscious fusion of three elements;<ref name="rbthdialects">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rbth.com/education/328851-dialects-russian-language/amp|title=Can Russians from different parts of the country understand each other?|website=www.rbth.com|access-date=16 February 2020|archive-date=13 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313070741/https://www.rbth.com/education/328851-dialects-russian-language/amp|url-status=live}}</ref>
** a polished [[vernacular]] foundation;{{clarify|What is this supposed to mean?|date=August 2014}}
** a [[Church Slavonic language|Church Slavonic]] inheritance;
** a [[Western Europe|Western European]] style.{{clarify|What is this supposed to mean?|date=August 2014}}

The spoken language has been influenced by the literary one but continues to preserve characteristic forms. The dialects show various non-standard grammatical features.<ref name="rbthdialects"/>

In terms of actual grammar, there are three [[verb]] [[tenses]] in Russian{{spaced en dash}} past, present, and future{{spaced en dash}} and each verb has one of the two [[Grammatical aspect in Slavic languages|aspects]] (perfective and imperfective). Verbs of motion in Russian{{spaced en dash}} such as 'go', 'walk', 'run', 'swim', and 'fly'{{spaced en dash}} use the imperfective or perfective form to indicate a single or return trip, and also use a multitude of [[prefix]]es to add shades of meaning to the verb. Such verbs also take on different forms to distinguish between concrete and abstract motion.<ref name="Nesset">{{cite journal|last=Nesset|first=Tore|title=Path and Manner: An Image-Schematic Approach to Russian Verbs of Motion|journal=Scando-Slavica|date=2008|volume=54|issue=1|pages=135–158|doi=10.1080/00806760802494232|s2cid=123427088}}</ref>

Russian [[nouns]] and [[adjectives]] (and even verbs, although in the [[past tense]] only) each have a gender{{spaced en dash}} either feminine, masculine, or neuter, chiefly indicated by an [[inflection]] at the end of the word. Words change depending on both their gender and function in the sentence. 

Russian has six [[Grammatical case|cases]] for [[nouns]], [[personal pronouns]] and [[adjectives]]: [[Nominative]] (for the grammatical subject), 
[[Genitive]] (to indicate possession or relation),
[[Dative]] (for indirect objects),
[[Accusative]] (for direct objects),
[[Instrumental]] (to indicate 'with' or 'by means of'),
[[Prepositional|Locative]] (used after the locative prepositions в "in", на "on", о "about", при "in the presence of").

== Vocabulary ==
[[File:Karion Istomin's alphabet P.jpg|thumb|This page from an "ABC" book printed in Moscow in 1694 shows the letter '''[[П]]'''.]]

The number of listed words or entries in some of the major dictionaries published during the past two centuries, are as follows:<ref>[http://www.gramota.ru/slovari/types/17_26 ''What types of dictionaries exist?''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117151535/http://www.gramota.ru/slovari/types/17_26 |date=17 January 2012}} from www.gramota.ru {{in lang|ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://yarus.asu.edu.ru/?id=426|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112125045/http://www.yarus.aspu.ru/?id=426|url-status=dead|title={section.caption}|archive-date=12 January 2012|website=yarus.asu.edu.ru|access-date=16 February 2020}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; text-align:left;"
|-
! Work||Year||Words||Notes
|-
| Academic dictionary, I Ed.||1789–1794||43,257||Russian and Church Slavonic with some Old Russian vocabulary.
|-
| Academic dictionary, II Ed||1806–1822||51,388||Russian and Church Slavonic with some Old Russian vocabulary.
|-
| Academic dictionary, III Ed.||1847||114,749||Russian and Church Slavonic with Old Russian vocabulary.
|-
| ''[[Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language]]'' ([[Vladimir Dahl|Dahl]]'s)||1880–1882||195,844||44,000 entries lexically grouped; attempt to catalogue the full vernacular language. Contains many dialectal, local, and obsolete words.
|-
| ''[[Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language (Ushakov)|Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language]]'' ([[Dmitry Ushakov|Ushakov]]'s)||1934–1940||85,289||Current language with some archaisms.
|-
| Academic Dictionary of the Russian Language ([[Sergey Ozhegov|Ozhegov]]'s)||1950–1965<br/>1991{{nbs}}(2nd{{nbs}}ed.)
||120,480||"Full" 17-volumed dictionary of the contemporary language. The second 20-volumed edition was begun in 1991, but not all volumes have been finished.
|-
<!-- odd name, how is it called in Russian? |Dictionary and Culture of Russian Speech||1950s–1960s||61,458||More or less than-current language.
|- -->
| Lopatin's dictionary||1999–2013||≈200,000||Orthographic, current language, several editions
|-
| Great Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language||1998–2009||≈130,000||Current language, the dictionary has many subsequent editions from the first one of 1998.
|-
| Russian [[Wiktionary]]||11 October 2021||442,533||Number of entries in the category [[wikt:ru:Category:Русский язык|Русский язык (Russian language)]] 
|}

== History and literary language ==
{{Main|History of the Russian language}}
{{See also|Reforms of Russian orthography|Russian literature}}

No single periodization is universally accepted. The history of the Russian language is sometimes divided into ''Old Russian'' from the 11th to 17th centuries, followed by ''Modern Russian''.<ref name="Matthews"/> It is also sometimes divided into the following periods:<ref>{{cite book |author=Лопатин В. В., Улуханов И. С. |chapter=Восточнославянские языки. Русский язык |title=Языки мира. Славянские языки |location=М. |year=2005 |publisher=[[Academia (Soviet publishing house)|Academia]] |pages=448–450 |isbn=978-5-87444-216-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Development of Tense and Aspect Systems |date=2022 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |location=Amsterdam/Philadelphia |isbn=9789027257444 |pages=12}}</ref><ref name="Matthews">{{cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=W. K. |title=The structure and development of Russian |date=2013 |location=Cambridge |isbn=9781107619395 |pages=112–113 |edition=First paperback |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>{{sfn|Cubberley|2002|p=16}}

* ''Old Russian'' (with the earliest form sometimes referred to as [[Old East Slavic]]; until the 13th–14th centuries);
* ''Middle Russian'' (13th–14th centuries until the 17th–18th centuries);
* ''Modern Russian'' (17th–18th centuries to the present).

[[File:Ostromir Gospel 1.jpg|thumb|The [[Ostromir Gospels]] of 1056 is the second oldest [[East Slavic languages|East Slavic]] book known, one of many medieval [[illuminated manuscript]]s preserved in the [[Russian National Library]].]]

The emergence of writing (and thus [[Russian literature#Medieval and early modern era|Old Russian literature]]) is dated to around the year 1000, after [[Old Church Slavonic]] was introduced as the [[liturgical language]] in the late 10th century.{{sfn|Comrie|2002|p=63}} At this point, the two languages were mutually intelligible, but there were clear East Slavic and South Slavic forms.{{sfn|Comrie|2002|p=63}} The vernacular was considered the "low variety" while [[Church Slavonic]] was considered the "high variety".{{sfn|Comrie|2002|p=64}} The language found in the [[birch bark manuscript]]s of the 11th–15th centuries represents the closest approximation to the vernacular Old Russian language.{{sfn|Drinka|2017|p=329}}{{sfn|Sussex|Cubberley|2006|p=81|loc=}}

During the rise of Moscow as the political center of Russia in the 14th–16th centuries, in which the language is sometimes called ''Great Russian'' to distinguish it from the territories where the future Belarusian and Ukrainian languages developed, the attraction of speakers of the southern dialects gave rise to a hybrid dialect and this became the basis of the standard language.{{sfn|Cubberley|2002|p=314}} The main phonological development during this period was ''[[akanye]]''.{{sfn|Comrie|2002|p=66}}

The political reforms of [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]] were accompanied by a reform of the alphabet, and achieved their goal of secularization and modernization, but caused a need for a written language that more closely resembled the spoken vernacular.{{sfn|Comrie|2002|p=64}} The polymath [[Mikhail Lomonosov]], in his ''Russian Grammar'' (1755), defined three styles: the "high style" (i.e. Church Slavonic, which would be used for high poetic genres, in addition to religious texts), the "middle style" (for lyric poetry, literary prose, scientific works), and a "low style" (i.e. a pure vernacular, which would be used for personal correspondence and low comedy).{{sfn|Comrie|2002|p=64}} The modern standard language is closest to the middle style.{{sfn|Comrie|2002|p=64}}

Blocks of specialized vocabulary were adopted from the languages of Western Europe. By 1800, a significant portion of the gentry spoke French daily, and German sometimes. Many Russian novels of the 19th{{nbs}}century, e.g. [[Leo Tolstoy]]'s ''[[War and Peace]]'', contain entire paragraphs and even pages in French with no translation given, with an assumption that educated readers would not need one.<ref name="Jeffra">{{cite book |title=The ideology of English: French perceptions of English as a world language |last=Flaitz |first=Jeffra |year=1988 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn= 978-3-110-11549-9 |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E5fotqsglPEC&q=French+language+in+Russian+aristocracy |access-date=1 June 2024}}</ref>

The modern literary language was established by the time of [[Alexander Pushkin]] in the first third of the 19th{{nbs}}century.{{sfn|Comrie|2002|p=64}} Pushkin revolutionized [[Russian literature]] by rejecting archaic grammar and vocabulary (the "high style") in favor of grammar and vocabulary found in the spoken language of the time. Even modern readers of younger age may only experience slight difficulties understanding some words in Pushkin's texts, since relatively few words used by Pushkin have become archaic or changed meaning. In fact, many expressions used by Russian writers of the early 19th{{nbs}}century, in particular Pushkin, [[Mikhail Lermontov]], [[Nikolai Gogol]], [[Aleksander Griboyedov]], became proverbs or sayings which can be frequently found even in modern Russian colloquial speech.<ref name="Jeffra"/>

{{Listen|filename=Ru-Zimniy vecher.ogg|title=Winter Evening|description=Reading of excerpt of Pushkin's "Winter Evening" (Зимний вечер), 1825.|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{|
! Russian text || Pronunciation || Transliteration || English Translation
|-
| {{lang|ru|'''Зи́мний ве́чер'''}} || {{IPA|ru|ˈzʲimnʲɪj ˈvʲetɕɪr|}} || '''''Zímnij véčer''''' || '''Winter evening'''
|-
| {{lang|ru|Бу́ря мгло́ю не́бо кро́ет,}} || {{IPA|ru|ˈburʲə ˈmɡɫoju ˈnʲɛbə ˈkroɪt|}} || ''Búrja mglóju nébo krójet,'' || The storm covers the sky with a haze
|-
| {{lang|ru|Ви́хри сне́жные крутя́;}} || {{IPA|ru|ˈvʲixrʲɪ ˈsʲnʲɛʐnɨɪ krʊˈtʲa|}} || ''Víhri snéžnyje krutjá,'' || As it swirls heaps of snow in the air.
|-
| {{lang|ru|То, как зверь, она́ заво́ет,}} || {{IPA|ru|ˈto kaɡ zvʲerʲ ɐˈna zɐˈvoɪt|}} || ''To, kak zveŕ, oná zavójet,'' || At times, it howls like a beast,
|-
| {{lang|ru|То запла́чет, как дитя́,}} || {{IPA|ru|ˈto zɐˈpɫatɕɪt, kaɡ dʲɪˈtʲa|}} || ''To zapláčet, kak ditjá,'' || And then cries like a child;
|-
| {{lang|ru|То по кро́вле обветша́лой}} || {{IPA|ru|ˈto pɐˈkrovlʲɪ ɐbvʲɪtˈʂaɫəj|}} || ''To po króvle obvetšáloj'' || At times, on top of the threadbare roof,
|-
| {{lang|ru|Вдруг соло́мой зашуми́т,}} || {{IPA|ru|ˈvdruk sɐˈɫoməj zəʂʊˈmʲit|}} || ''Vdrug solómoj zašumít,'' || It suddenly rustles straw,
|-
| {{lang|ru|То, как пу́тник запозда́лый,}} || {{IPA|ru|ˈto ˈkak ˈputʲnʲɪɡ zəpɐˈzdaɫɨj|}} || ''To, kak pútnik zapozdályj'' || And then, like a late traveller,
|-
| {{lang|ru|К нам в око́шко застучи́т.}} || {{IPA|ru|ˈknam vɐˈkoʂkə zəstʊˈtɕit|}} || ''K nam v okóško zastučít.'' || It knocks upon our window.
|}

:

During the Soviet period, the policy toward the languages of the various other ethnic groups fluctuated in practice. Though each of the constituent republics had its own official language, the unifying role and superior status was reserved for Russian, although it was declared the [[official language]] only in 1990.<ref>[http://legal-ussr.narod.ru/data01/tex10935.htm "Закон СССР от 24 April 1990 О языках народов СССР"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508201331/http://legal-ussr.narod.ru/data01/tex10935.htm |date=8 May 2016}} (The 1990 USSR Law about the Languages of the USSR) {{in lang|ru}}</ref> Following the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|break-up of the USSR]] in 1991, several of the newly independent states have encouraged their native languages, which has partly reversed the privileged status of Russian, though its role as the language of post-Soviet national discourse throughout the region has continued.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wp.towson.edu/iajournal/2021/12/08/language-and-geopolitics-a-case-study-of-the-former-soviet-union/|first=Meyer|last= Madeleine|title=Language and Geopolitics: A Case Study of the Former Soviet Union|date=8 December 2021 }}</ref>

The Russian language in the world declined after 1991 due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and decrease in the number of [[Russians]] in the world and diminution of the total population in Russia (where Russian is an official language), however {{Clarify|reason=The decline, decrease, or diminution; or all three?|date=October 2022|text=this}} has since been reversed.<ref name="demoscope.ru"/><ref name=autogenerated20130215-1/><ref name="Mof.gov.cy">{{cite web |date=23 May 2012 |title=журнал "Демоскоп". Где есть потребность в изучении русского языка |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema04.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405005201/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema04.php |archive-date=5 April 2013 |access-date=18 June 2013 |website=Mof.gov.cy |language=ru}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Recent estimates of the total number of speakers of Russian
! Source || Native speakers || Native rank || Total speakers || Total rank
|-
| G. Weber, "Top Languages",<br />''Language Monthly'',<br />3: 12–18, 1997, ISSN 1369-9733 || 160,000,000 || 8 || 285,000,000 || 5
|-
| World Almanac (1999) || 145,000,000 || 8 (2005) || 275,000,000 || 5
|-
| SIL (2000 WCD) || 145,000,000 || 8 || 255,000,000 || 5–6 (tied with Arabic)
|-
| CIA World Factbook (2005) || 160,000,000 || 8 ||||
|}

According to figures published in 2006 in the journal "[[:ru:Демоскоп Weekly|Demoskop Weekly]]" research deputy director of Research Center for Sociological Research of the [[Ministry of Education and Science (Russia)]] Arefyev A. L.,<ref>{{cite web |last=Арефьев |first=А. Л |title= |script-title=ru:Сведения об авторе |trans-title=Information about the author |url=http://www.socioprognoz.ru/index.php?page_id=80&id=2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511073946/http://www.socioprognoz.ru/index.php?page_id=80&id=2 |archive-date=11 May 2013 |access-date=18 June 2013 |website=socioprognoz.ru |publisher= |language=ru}}</ref> the Russian language is gradually losing its position in the world in general, and in Russia in particular.<ref name="autogenerated20130215-1">{{cite web |last=Арефьев |first=А. |title= |script-title=ru:Меньше россиян — меньше русскоговорящих |trans-title=Fewer Russians — fewer Russian speakers |url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema04.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308114712/http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema04.php |archive-date=8 March 2013 |access-date=18 June 2013 |publisher=Demoscope.ru |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Арефьев |first=А. |title= |script-title=ru:В странах Азии, Африки и Латинской Америки наш язык стремительно утрачивает свою роль |trans-title=In the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, our language is rapidly losing its role |url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema03.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308100454/http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema03.php |archive-date=8 March 2013 |access-date=18 June 2013 |website=demoscope.ru |publisher= |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Арефьев |first=А. |title= |script-title=ru:Будет ли русский в числе мировых языков в будущем? |trans-title=Will Russian be among the world languages in the future? |url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema05.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512104646/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema05.php |archive-date=12 May 2013 |access-date=18 June 2013 |website=demoscope.ru |publisher= |language=ru}}</ref><ref name="demoscope"/> In 2012, A. L. Arefyev published a new study "Russian language at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries", in which he confirmed his conclusion about the trend of weakening of the Russian language after the Soviet Union's collapse in various regions of the world (findings published in 2013 in the journal "[[:ru:Демоскоп Weekly|Demoskop Weekly]]").<ref name="demoscope.ru"/><ref>{{cite web |title= |script-title=ru:Все меньше школьников обучаются на русском языке |trans-title=Fewer and fewer schoolchildren are being educated in Russian |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/tema03.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805082906/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/tema03.php |archive-date=5 August 2014 |access-date=23 April 2014 |website=demoscope.ru |publisher= |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= |script-title=ru:Русский Язык На Рубеже Xx-Ххi Веков |trans-title=The Russian language at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/biblio01.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201203021/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/biblio01.php |archive-date=1 February 2014 |access-date=23 April 2014 |publisher=Demoscope.ru |language=ru}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated20130213-1>[http://www.civisbook.ru/files/File/russkij_yazyk.pdf Русский язык на рубеже XX-XXI веков] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615042230/http://www.civisbook.ru/files/File/russkij_yazyk.pdf |date=15 June 2013}} — М.: Центр социального прогнозирования и маркетинга, 2012. — 482 стр.</ref> In the countries of the former [[Soviet Union]] the Russian language was being replaced or used in conjunction with local languages.<ref name="demoscope.ru"/><ref>{{cite web |script-title=ru:журнал "Демоскоп". Русский язык — советский язык? |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema01.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402125223/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema01.php |archive-date=2 April 2013 |access-date=18 June 2013 |website=Demoscope.ru |language=ru}}</ref> Currently, the number of speakers of Russian in the world depends on the number of [[Russians]] in the world and total population in Russia.<ref name="demoscope.ru"/><ref name=autogenerated20130215-1/><ref name="Mof.gov.cy"/>

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ The changing proportion of Russian speakers in the world<br />(assessment Aref'eva 2012)<ref name="demoscope.ru"/><ref name=autogenerated20130213-1/>{{rp|387}}
|- style=vertical-align:bottom
! Year || worldwide<br />population,<br /><br />billion || population<br />Russian Empire,<br />Soviet Union and<br />Russian Federation,<br /><br />million || share in world<br />population,<br /><br />% || total number<br />of speakers<br />of Russian,<br /><br />million || share in world<br />population,<br /><br />%
|-
| 1900 || 1.650 || 138.0 ||{{nbs}} 8.4 || 105 || 6.4
|-
| 1914 || 1.782 || 182.2 ||{{nbs}} 10.2 || 140 || 7.9
|-
| 1940 || 2.342 || 205.0 ||{{nbs}} 8.8 || 200 || 7.6
|-
| 1980 || 4.434 || 265.0 ||{{nbs}} 6.0 || 280 || 6.3
|-
| 1990 || 5.263 || 286.0 ||{{nbs}} 5.4 || 312 || 5.9
|-
| 2004 || 6.400 || 146.0 ||{{nbs}} 2.3 || 278 || 4.3
|-
| 2010 || 6.820 || 142.7 ||{{nbs}} 2.1 || 260 || 3.8
|-
| 2020 || 7.794 || 147.3 ||{{nbs}} 1.8 || 256 || 3.3
|}

== Sample text ==
{{Listen
| filename = Universal Declaration of Human Rights - rus - sd - Art1.ogg
| title = Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Russian
}}

Article 1 of the ''[[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]'' in Russian:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Russian (Russky) |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/human-rights/universal-declaration/translations/russian |access-date=6 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207181634/https://www.ohchr.org/en/human-rights/universal-declaration/translations/russian |url-status=live }}</ref><blockquote>Все люди рождаются свободными и равными в своём достоинстве и правах. Они наделены разумом и совестью и должны поступать в отношении друг друга в духе братства.</blockquote>The [[Romanization of Russian|romanization]] of the text into [[Latin alphabet]]:<blockquote>''Vse lyudi rozhdayutsya svobodnymi i ravnymi v svoyom dostoinstve i pravakh. Oni nadeleny razumom i sovest'yu i dolzhny postupat' v otnoshenii drug druga v dukhe bratstva.''</blockquote>Article 1 of the ''Universal Declaration of Human Rights'' in English:<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nations |first1=United |title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights |newspaper=United Nations |url=https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights |access-date=6 December 2023 |archive-date=16 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316050452/https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights |url-status=live }}</ref><blockquote>All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.</blockquote>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Russia|Soviet Union|Language}}
* [[List of English words of Russian origin]]
* [[List of Russian language topics]]
* [[List of countries and territories where Russian is an official language]]
* [[Computer Russification]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
; In English
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |title=Introduction to the Phonological History of the Slavic Languages |last=Carleton |first=T. R. |year=1991 |publisher=Slavica Press |location=Columbus, Ohio |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=Comrie |first1=Bernard S. |author1-link=Bernard Comrie |last2=Stone |first2=Gerald |last3=Polinsky |first3=Maria |title=The Russian Language in the Twentieth Century |edition=2nd |location=Oxford, England |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-19-824066-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/russianlanguagei00comr |ref=none }}
* {{cite book |last1=Comrie |first1=Bernard |title=The Major Languages of Eastern Europe |date=11 September 2002 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-134-93265-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HcIEQAAQBAJ |language=en |chapter=Russian}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cubberley |first1=Paul |title=Russian: A Linguistic Introduction |date=17 October 2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-79641-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yOGzAyN3V88C |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last1=Drinka |first1=Bridget |title=Language Contact in Europe: The Periphrastic Perfect through History |date=16 February 2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-51493-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r53cDQAAQBAJ |language=en}}
* [https://www.academia.edu/33192973/THE_RUSSIAN_GENITIVE_OF_NEGATION_AND_ITS_JAPANESE_COUNTERPART Iliev, Iv. The Russian Genitive of Negation and Its Japanese Counterpart. International Journal of Russian Stidies. 1, 2018 (In Print)]
* {{cite book |last=Isurin |first=Ludmila |date=2011 |title=Russian Diaspora Culture, Identity, and Language Change |location=Berlin |publisher=Walter de Gruyter, Inc. |isbn=9781934078457}}
* O'Brien, M.A., New English–Russian and Russian–English Dictionary (New Orthography), New York, The Language Library 1944, Dover Publications.
* {{cite book |last1=Rakhlin |first1=Natalia |last2=Kornilov |first2=Sergey A. |last3=Grigorenko |first3=Elena L. |title=Learning to Read across Languages and Writing Systems |date=12 October 2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-09588-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-w0DwAAQBAJ |language=en |chapter=Learning to Read Russian |page=393}}
* {{cite book |last1=Schaeken |first1=Jos |title=Voices on Birchbark: Everyday Communication in Medieval Russia |date=5 November 2018 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-38942-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W5GFDwAAQBAJ |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last1=Schallert |first1=Joseph |editor1-last=Šipka |editor1-first=Šipka |editor2-last=Browne |editor2-first=Wayles |title=The Cambridge Handbook of Slavic Linguistics |date=31 May 2024 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-96790-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K-AHEQAAQBAJ |language=en |chapter=Dialectal Fragmentation}}
* {{cite book|last=Shohamy|first=Elana|title=Language policy: hidden agendas and new approaches|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=9780415328647 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last1=Spolsky|first1=Bernard|title=The languages of Israel: policy, ideology, and practice|year=1999|publisher=Multilingual Matters|location=Clevedon, UK|isbn=9781853594519 |last2=Shohamy |first2=Elana }}
* {{cite book
| last1=Sussex
| first1=Roland
| author1-link=Roland Sussex
| last2=Cubberley |first2=Paul
| title=The Slavic languages
| publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]
| year=2006
| location=[[Cambridge]], England
| isbn=978-0-521-22315-7
}}
* {{cite book
| last=Timberlake
| first=Alan
| title=A Reference Grammar of Russian
| location=New York, NY
| publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]
| year=2004
| isbn=978-0-521-77292-1
| url=http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/european-language-and-linguistics/reference-grammar-russian?format=HB
| access-date=6 May 2015
| archive-date=7 September 2014
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907175751/http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/european-language-and-linguistics/reference-grammar-russian?format=HB
| url-status=live
}}
* {{cite book
| last=Timberlake
| first=Alan
| chapter=Russian
| title=The Slavonic languages
| publisher=Routledge
| editor1-last=Comrie
| editor1-first=Bernard
| editor2-last=Corbett
| editor2-first=Greville G.
| year=1993
| location=London, England; New York, NY
| pages=827–886
| isbn=978-0-415-04755-5
| ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
| last1=Trofimov
| first1=Michael V.
| last2=Jones
| first2=Daniel
| title=The Pronunciation of Russian
| series=Cambridge primers of pronunciation
| place=Cambridge
| publisher=University Press
| date=1923
}}
* {{cite book |last=Wade |first=Terence |author-link=Terence Wade |year=2000 |editor-last=Holman |editor-first=Michael |title=A Comprehensive Russian Grammar |edition=2nd |location=Oxford, England |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |isbn=978-0-631-20757-3 |ref=none}}
{{refend}}

{{col-2}}
; In Russian
{{refbegin}}
* [http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/tema02.php журнал «Демоскоп Weekly» № 571 – 572 14 – 31 октября 2013. А. Арефьев. Тема номера: сжимающееся русскоязычие. Демографические изменения – не на пользу русскому языку] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805090035/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/tema02.php |date=5 August 2014 }}
* [http://www.civisbook.ru/files/File/russkij_yazyk.pdf Русский язык на рубеже XX-XXI веков] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615042230/http://www.civisbook.ru/files/File/russkij_yazyk.pdf |date=15 June 2013 }} — М.: Центр социального прогнозирования и маркетинга, 2012. — 482 стр. Аннотация книги в [http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/biblio01.php РУССКИЙ ЯЗЫК НА РУБЕЖЕ XX-XXI ВЕКОВ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201203021/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2013/0571/biblio01.php |date=1 February 2014 }}
* [http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema04.php журнал «Демоскоп Weekly» № 329 – 330 14 – 27 апреля 2008. К. Гаврилов. Е. Козиевская. Е. Яценко. Тема номера: русский язык на постсоветских просторах. Где есть потребность в изучении русского языка] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405005201/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2008/0329/tema04.php |date=5 April 2013 }}
* [http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema05.php журнал «Демоскоп Weekly» № 251 – 252 19 июня – 20 августа 2006. А. Арефьев. Тема номера: сколько людей говорят и будут говорить по-русски? Будет ли русский в числе мировых языков в будущем?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512104646/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2006/0251/tema05.php |date=12 May 2013 }}
* Жуковская Л. П. (отв. ред.) Древнерусский литературный язык и его отношение к старославянскому. — М.: «Наука», 1987.
* Иванов В. В. Историческая грамматика русского языка. — М.: «Просвещение», 1990.
* Новиков Л. А. Современный русский язык: для высшей школы. — М.: Лань, 2003.
* Филин Ф. П. [http://www.philology.ru/linguistics2/filin-82.htm О словарном составе языка Великорусского народа.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080130042407/http://www.philology.ru/linguistics2/filin-82.htm |date=30 January 2008 }} // Вопросы языкознания. — М., 1982, No. 5. — С. 18–28
{{refend}}
{{col-end}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite JIPA|last=Yanushevskaya|first=Irena |last2=Bunčić|first2=Daniel|title=Russian|volume=45|issue=2|pages=221&ndash;228|doi=10.1017/S0025100314000395|printdate=2015-08|soundfiles=yes}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|Appendix:Russian Swadesh list}}
* [https://russianenthusiast.com/ Russian Enthusiast] - Prominent Russian language resource for English speakers
* [http://www.ruscorpora.ru/ Национальный корпус русского языка] National Corpus of the Russian Language {{in lang|ru}}
* [http://www.ruslang.ru/ Russian Language Institute] Language regulator of the Russian language {{in lang|ru}}

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