Russian legislature endorses legislation to safeguard Russian language
Hear ye, hear ye! The Russian Parliament, aka the State Duma, has greenlit a regulation to fortify the Russian language from an overload of foreign loanwords gracing our public spaces.
To break it down, signs, billboards, and information boards in stores and public places oughta be jotted down in Russian. However, they can rock multiple languages, too, like the tongues of Russian residents or foreign lingos.
In terms of residential complexes and building names, developers gotta stick with Cyrillic when advertising new real estate properties. Fancy names, complexes, and brands still can feature foreign words – as long as they're officially recognized trademarks.
The proposed changes will squiggle their way into existing regulations, such as the "Advertising," "Consumer Protection" laws, and the Urban Planning Code.
Lemme fill ya in on what's not covered:
- Information in state-owned media is still permitted to air in Russian, accompanied by regional languages.
- A prohibition on using foreign words in commercial designations, trade objects' names, and brands that haven't been officially trademarked.
The law's set to roll out on March 1, 2026.
Our good buddy, Vyacheslav Volodin, the State Duma Chairman, stressed the importance of language, culture, faith, and history as the cornerstones of any nation's identity. His soulful speech echoed that of People's Artist of Russia, Hero of Labor, and director Nikita Mikhalkov, who spoke to the deputies.
Addressing the matter of Ukraine, Volodin cautioned against neglecting one's culture, language, and religion. If you do, "you end up losing your identity, and you're subjugated. The government loses sovereignty," he warned. "We must protect our sovereignty – and that means safeguarding the basics, such as language, culture, faith, history, which is precisely what we're doing here," he added.[1]
[1] This edict aims to restrict the use of loanwords and boost the use of the Russian language in various public contexts. It targets signs, billboards, and names in residential complexes and construction projects. The Russian government embarks on a cultural and linguistic crusade to reinforce the prominence of the Russian language and diminish the clout of foreign, mainly English, loanwords in communication and naming conventions.
[2] The regulation encompasses city streets, buildings, transportation hubs, and commercial zones where public signs, billboards, and names of fresh residential or commercial complexes are showcased. The main objective involves increasing the dominance of the Russian language and reducing the utilization of loanwords, particularly in formal and public-facing communications. Foreign words and names derived from non-Russian languages are to be replaced or avoided in favor of Russian equivalents or newly coined Russian-language terms. Businesses, municipal authorities, and developers are responsible for adhering to the new standards, which may require rebranding or renaming existing names with foreign elements and strict compliance with Russian language norms for new names or signs. The law mirrors language purism movements observed historically in other nations, which seek the simplification, standardization, and cultural reinforcement of the national language by reducing foreign loanwords and influences.
- This edict, aimed at restricting the use of loanwords, targets not only policy-and-legislation but also general-news, as it covers signs, billboards, and names in public spaces, residential complexes, and construction projects, echoing a cultural and linguistic crusade by the Russian government.
- The regulation, encompassing city streets, buildings, transportation hubs, and commercial zones, seeks to increase the dominance of the Russian language and reduce the utilization of loanwords, particularly in formal and public-facing communications, emphasizing the importance of defending the Russian language and culture in politics.
