“Solved”, “boomer” and “clofelinshchitsa” entered the new edition of the Spelling Dictionary of the Russian Academy of Sciences

“There were a lot of new words…”, said the alien hero of the “Autumn Marathon”. Everyone can also feel like a “shaggy hippie” by reading the new edition of the Spelling Dictionary of the Vinogradov Institute of the Russian Language of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The 2022 edition includes 151 new words or phrases, phraseological units, abbreviations, and other linguistics. Among the new ones are “anti-vaxxer”, “media fake”, “retweet”, “stand-up”, “sorbon”, “canned glasses”.

The variety of innovations is amazing. It’s not just newfangled buzzwords associated with the advent of the Internet. Although, of course, there are also enough of them: “video blogger”, “informer”, “online press conference” (that’s how it is spelled with two hyphens), “google” and “media fake”. There are simply fashionable, modern concepts: “procrastination”, “burger”, “stand-up comedian”, “Khasavyurt”, “Crimean bridge”, “boomers”, “millennials”, “hundred-pointer”, “surzhanka”, “pokerface”.

A separate block was made up of new phenomena recorded in the dictionary, one way or another related to the coronavirus pandemic. Here “anti-vaxxer” and “anti-vaccinator”, “pre-pandemic”, “life-threatening”, “coronacrisis” and “coronaskeptic”, “covid negative (-positive, -infected)”, “ambulance”, etc.

The correct spelling of place names, other proper nouns, or related adjectives often worries not only professional editors, but also the public known as Grammar Nazis. And there are quite a lot of people for whom the spelling of words is a “sacred cow”, judging by the battles in social networks. And, of course, literacy is important for schoolchildren, they still have to take the exam. Now everyone understands how such verbal expressions as Hyperborea, Quadrantides, the Kemerovo region-Kuzbass, the Mannerheim line, the East Prussian operation, Kizilyurt, etc. are written. And, finally, simply beautiful: in Jules Verne, for example. Steampunk Jules Verne…

And if someone says that all this is cut off from life and far from an ordinary person, they will also be mistaken. There are many familiar concepts among 151 new words and editions. And there are even whole complete statements. “Without any-yaki”, for example. Or: “there is where, there is where and there is with whom.” “Eat, drink – I don’t want to!” “Neither forged nor flattened, nor sews nor flogs”…

Although, as often happens in dictionaries, there is also enough incomprehensible zaum. For the sake of such new words as “amorel”, “gazetter”, “jet lag”, “dierama” or “canned glasses”. most will still have to climb in addition to the explanatory dictionary.

“There is a scientific and informational electronic public spelling academic resource,” says linguist, member of the Spelling Commission of the Russian Academy of Sciences Maria Rovinskaya, “at the Institute of the Russian Language named after Academician Vinogradov. Words already included in the Russian Spelling Dictionary 2012 were placed on this resource. Later, errors were corrected in this dictionary, changes were made. They were introduced by the decision of experts involved in orthographic work at the Institute of the Russian Language. And then this resource began to be supplemented.

Why is it made? We understand that new words in the language now began to appear at a fairly high speed. And adding new words to a paper dictionary is a rather lengthy process, not a quick one. And literate native speakers have a request for the correct spelling of certain words. We, linguists, must give them a certificate. Or, if the norm has not yet been established, at least a recommendation – which is more correct compared to other options. It is much easier to do this electronically.

During each year, work takes place, words are discussed by specialists who work at the Institute of the Russian Language. Experts choose words that have a problem, a “dangerous place” where a native speaker can easily make a mistake, write incorrectly. This word should not be situational, not be a one-day word. It should be a word that has already entered the language, which native speakers understand and use in writing. Like the word “boomer”, for example, (the generation that was born between 1945 and 1964, during the “baby boom.” – Auth.). The word, which began to be mentioned in scientific literature, is used as a term in linguistic, sociological, psychological literature. Accordingly, this word must appear in the dictionary in order to write it correctly. Or some phraseological units that were not recorded. So that a native speaker always has the opportunity to turn to a convenient resource and get answers to their spelling questions.

On the one hand, the creators of the dictionary must meet the challenges of the times, correspond to the real language situation and not miss important words. On the other hand, it is hardly reasonable to include in such a resource words that exist today and disappear tomorrow. When the vocabulary passes such peer review, it is added to the dictionary.

– Schoolchildren, students should consult with the resource when preparing for exams?

– Undoubtedly. And when preparing for exams, and when writing official texts, and in all other situations.