We celebrate the Day of the Russian Language on June 6, on Pushkin's birthday. But the language lives not only in museums and textbooks. It breathes in chats, TikTok videos, in advertising, in angry comments under news. What is its true nature? And what will it be in 20 years? This is about it — without panic, without enthusiasm, honestly.

Russian language today: numbers and facts

Russian is one of the six official languages of the UN. About 260 million people speak it worldwide. It ranks 8th in prevalence (after Chinese, Spanish, English). In the countries of the former USSR (Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan), it remains the language of interethnic communication. However, its position is weakening: young people in the Baltics, Georgia, Ukraine use Russian less and less. In Russia, the number of speakers is decreasing due to migration and demographics. But the main thing is that the language itself is changing.

What is happening with Russian right now

Main trends: borrowings (almost all new technologies come with English); clipness (short phrases, emojis, abbreviations — "lol", "kek", "huh"); blurring of norms ("their", "losers" in news); an increase in swear words (especially on the internet). Many are sounding the alarm: the language is dying. But this is not extinction, but transformation. Literary language remains in books and official documents, while spoken language changes. The problem is not in changes, but in a gap: school teaches one, life — another. Children do not understand classics, and adults do not understand slang.

Day of the Russian Language as a reminder

June 6 is not a linguist's day. It is a day for everyone who speaks Russian. Schools hold dictations, libraries — readings aloud. On social networks — a flashmob "my favorite Pushkin's poem". But the main meaning is to draw attention to how we speak. Not to "punish for a mistake", but to think: is it convenient for us to explain ourselves? Do we understand each other? Is it time to clean up our speech from verbal garbage?

Challenges of modernity: neural networks and globalization

Neural networks write texts in Russian better than many people. They do not make spelling mistakes. But they do not feel the subtext, irony, beauty. In the future, it is possible that mass texts (news, reports, advertising) will be generated by AI, and living Russian will remain only in personal communication. Plus globalization: English is penetrating all fields — IT, science, business. Young scientists prefer to publish in English. Russian risks becoming a "domestic" language, not a language of science. This is a challenge.

What will happen to Russian in 20 years

Projections: will dialects survive? No, they are almost gone (thanks to TV and the internet). Will there be a "new language"? Partially: simplification of grammar (falling of cases?), an increase in analytical constructions (like in English). But Russian is too rich to become completely coarse. Most likely, there will be stratification: elite Russian (for literature, science) and simplified (for chats). The problem is that only a few may know the elite. The task of the Day of the Russian Language is not to let the gap become a chasm.

How to preserve the language: what everyone can do

Read aloud (to children, to yourself). Check yourself with a dictionary (online). Do not be lazy to look up the meaning of unknown words. Refuse from filler words (not all, but at least from "kind of"). Watch fewer news (where often illiterate anchors), read more books. Discuss interesting words with friends. Write letters on paper. Use auto-replacement, but not blindly. Respect the language, do not be afraid to ask if unsure about the accent.

Pushkin's role in the future

Pushkin today is not just a poet. It is a filter. If a person does not understand "Eugene Onegin", he cannot consider himself a full-fledged carrier of Russian culture. But this should not be a reason for snobbery. Pushkin should not be museumified, but humanized. Retell in modern language, find parallels with today. Then he will remain not a dead weight, but a living example.

The Russian language will not die as long as it is spoken and written. But it can become poorer and meaner. The Day of the Russian Language is not a celebration, but a warning. We are responsible for what it will be left to our grandchildren.

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