Putin bans use of foreign language words: History of loanwords in Russian

Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Putin has said that he wants to "protect" the country from a "degenerate" West

On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, signed a law banning government officials from using foreign words when carrying out their duties. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Putin has said he wants to "protect" the country from a "degenerate" West. According to a report by Reuters, he believes the West is trying to destroy Russia.

"When using Russian as the state language of the Russian Federation, it is not allowed to use words and expressions that do not correspond to the norms of modern Russian...with the exception of foreign words which do not have widely-used corresponding equivalents in Russian," the amended text on a government website said, as reported by Reuters.

The website also mentions that the amendments have been made to "protect and support" the status of Russian.

The amendments do not mention any punishments for those who fail to respect the updated law. A list of foreign-based words that can still be used will be published separately.

Foreign words in the Russian language

According to a blog on Omniglot.com, Russian is filled with foreign words, also called loanwords. Shark, whip, herring, and sneak have been taken from the Scandinavian languages.

"The words money, pencil, and robe are from the Turkish language. The words literacy, bed, sail, and notebook are from the Greek language. Even the word bread is very likely to be a borrowed word: scientists assume that it has a Gothic origin," the blog read.

A thesis, "English loanwords in modern Russian language", by Miroslav Styblo Jr to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, explains in depth the history of "English loanwords entering the Russian language, often replacing the native counterparts". It states that the technological developments in the early 1900s led to the adoption of English and German words in the Russian language.

The German words remained popular till the first World War. After the 1917 revolution, English became the biggest source of foreign words in Russian, the paper stated. The adoption of British and American-origin words became more rapid during the 1930s. The attitude towards the German language became negative.

By 1950, the Russian language had 2000 English words. The adoption slowed down during the Cold War. However, after 1991, the increased focus on the internet brought more foreign words to the Russian lexicon.