The use of b and b signs: rules, features and exercises. Words with a solid sign: basic groups and spelling rules

DividingBwritten after consonants before lettersI, Yu, Yo, E,transmitting combinations [j] with vowels, in the following cases.

1. After prefixes ending in a consonant .

For example:

a) in words with Russian prefixes: nuclear-free, argue, rage, climb up, worn out, interlingual, eat up, go around, departure, lift, pre-jubilee, present, part, detachable, eat, shrink, bite, supernatural, super-capacious, super-bright.

Letter b traditionally written also in the word flaw, although from- is not a prefix in it.

b) in words with prefixes of foreign language origin : counter-tier, post-nuclear, post-jubilee, subunit, sub-core, superyacht, trans-European .

Words of foreign language origin with initial parts are also written ab-, ad-, diz-, in-, inter-, con-, about-, sub- , which in the source language are prefixes, but in Russian as prefixes are usually not highlighted. These include: abjuration, adjective, adjectivization, adjunct, adjuvant, adjutant, disjunction, injection, injected, interjection, coadjutor, conjuncture, conjugates, conjugation, conjunctiva, conjunctiva, object conjunctivitis, objective, conjuncture, conjuncture, conjuncture .

2. In compound words:

a) after the initial parts two-, three-, four- , for example: dual-anchor, dual-capacity, triple-core, four-tier ;

b) in words pan-European, courier .

After the initial parts of shortened words, the separating b traditionally not written, for example: military lawyer, state language, children, party cell, food fair, special work, business unit, inyaz, Inyurkollegiya, Ministry of Justice.

3. The letter ъ is also written when transferring foreign proper names and words derived from them (after letters that transpose paired solid consonants), for example: Kizilyurt(city in Dagestan), Toryal(a village in the Republic of Mari El), Guo Hengyu(Chinese personal name), Hengyang(city in China), Tazabagyab culture(archaeological), Juvyasjärvi(lake in Finland), Manyoshu(an anthology of ancient Japanese poetry).

In this case, the dividing b possible also before the letter and , for example: Junichiro(Japanese name).

Note!

1) The letter ъ is not written before letters uh, uh, uh, uh, uh.

For example: interatomic, counterstrike, transoceanic, three-story.

2) The letter ъ is not written in the middle of a word (not after the prefix!), for example: dress, clerk. Exception – courier.

3) The letter ъ is not written at the junction of parts of a complex word.

For example: children (nurseries), Inyaz (Institute of Foreign Languages).

4 ) The letter ъ is not written in the noun clerk(there is no prefix in this word under- !). A separator is written in the middle of the word b , since the prefix stands out here on- and the root of the clerk (-djac-).

5) In the middle of a word (at the root) rearguard the dividing line is spelled , but not b since the prefixes ar- in Russian, no.

6) In the word flaw (Turkic) spelled b by analogy with the verb withdraw.

Dividing B written after consonants before letters i, u, e, e, and conveying combinations [j] with vowels.

For example:

- ya : devil, joker, monkey, billiards, family, drunk, ears of corn, draw, shepherd's, Lukyan;

th : loach, interview, pouring, family, drinking, trotting, fifty, sewing, fucking(interjection);

- ё : nightingale, gun, drinks, crow, serious, life, whose, we sew;

-th : premiere, play, courier, entertainer, jam, lull, Vietnam, Fourier;

-th : passerine, nightingales, pancakes, bearish, vary, articles, whose, vigny.

1) The dividing b is written in the middle of the word (not after the prefix!) after consonant before letters e, e, y, i if [j] sounds after the consonant before the vowel; for example: vyot [v'jot], loach [v'jun], clerk [d'jak]).

2) Separating b is written in some borrowed words (like the sound signal [j]) after the consonant before the letter O.

For example: bouillon[bul'jon], signor[syn'jor], minion[min'jon].

Yuzhannikov Vladislav

5 A class, MBOU "Secondary School No. 31 "

Alena Aleksandrovna Kanifatova

scientific advisor, teacher of the Russian language and literature,Novokuznetsk

There are 33 letters in the Russian alphabet. Most of these letters have their own sound designation, and sometimes not one, but two. So for example, in the word CONFERENCE both in the second and third syllables there is the letter E, but in the second syllable in weak position without stress, we pronounce the vowel sound I, and in the third syllable, with stress, the sound E. A special place among all letters is occupied by soft and hard signs, since they do not give sounds. These letters have their own special roles in words. So we know that the letter b ( soft sign) serves to indicate the softness of a consonant sound (salt, coat), and also performs a separate function (blizzard, ants). Unlike this letter, the role of a solid sign is small. It serves as a separation. The only letters in front of which a solid sign can be located are E, Yo, Yu and Z (split e hatsya, sj e mka, raz I am remove, lift NS bnik). However, recent times In Russia, attempts are being made to use this letter for other purposes.

More and more often on the streets of our city we come across signs of the names of any institutions, at the end of which a solid sign flaunts. For example, real estate agencies "Variant", "Address", the store "Lombard", coffee "Petr", the magazine "Gatronom", taxi "Yamshchik", etc.

In this regard, the problem of this work is to find out: why in modern names the letter b appears at the end of the names of their own, what is the story of this letter.

The purpose of this study: trace the use of the letter b in modern names from the point of view of its validity and significance.

In order to acquaint children with letters, in modern alphabet books, for each letter, to make it easier for the child, not only a drawing, but also a small poem is offered. What can you write about a solid sign? Let's look through several of these books.

1. We know that there is an entrance and an exit,

There is an ascent, and there is an entrance,

We can't do without them,

Very important ... (hard sign)

2. Announces to Kommersant:

The beast is my enemy and the bird is my enemy!

I'd better hide in the entrance

And nobody will eat me!

3. I can't find it in any way

There is a solid sign in the zoo.

I do not know these animals.

Help me friends!

In Danish K.'s poem about a solid sign, my attention was drawn to the stanza:

I used to be an important person

When the king was held in high esteem,

He's almost in everyone's word

Visited and served.

The question arises: what service did the hard sign perform earlier.

Turning to various sources, I found three main functions of this letter in the Old Russian language.

So, in the first Russian alphabet, created by the enlighteners, brothers Cyril and Methodius, the letter b (hard sign) was called EP and was the 29th letter denoting an ultra-short vowel sound that is not pronounced. However, in writing, the use of this unpronounceable letter was not useless: it helped to break the string correctly - into words (before moving on to using spaces): For example: to God elected to the Tsar.

But it should be noted that this hypothesis in no way justifies the appearance of this letter in modern names. Since, according to my observation, this sign is found in proper names, consisting of only one word ("Admiral", "Traktir", "Gastronom"). In addition, as already mentioned, given letter played the role of an ultra-short vowel sound. In Russian, the syllabary is a vowel sound, therefore there are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels in it: aria(3 syllables), Lighthouse(2 syllables), flight(1 syllable). Syllables are open (ending in a vowel sound) and closed (ending in a consonant sound). For example, in the word ko-ro-na, all syllables are open, and in the word ar-buz, both syllables are closed.

A characteristic feature of syllable-making in the Old Russian language was that it obeyed the law of an open syllable, as a result of which all syllables were open, that is, they ended in a vowel sound. The law of an open syllable determined the fact that in the Old Russian language there could not be consonants at the end of a word, since in this case the syllable would be closed. Therefore, at the end of words ending in consonants they wrote b (ep).

Let us trace this on the studied material. "Traktir", coffee "Admiral", store "Lombard", coffee "Petr", magazine "Gastronom", taxi "Yamshchik", real estate agencies "Variant" and "Address" ... Indeed, in all cases this letter is written at the end of the word , after a consonant sound, the transformation of the modern closed syllable into an open one occurs.

The famous Russian linguist Lev Vasilievich Uspensky (1900-1978) in his book "The Word about Words" calls the hard sign "the most expensive letter in the world." Since, in his opinion, "he did not help anything, did not express anything, absolutely did nothing." And in some texts this sign was used more often than other vowels. Let us trace this in an excerpt from the Old Russian chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years".

In total, there are 144 words in this text, which account for 31 ep, in fact, this sign is written in every fourth word, and in some words it occurs twice. For example: vbprashal, entered, volkhbkhvov.

The Soviet government also noticed the senseless use of this sign, which greatly increased the text and, accordingly, the cost of printing. Therefore, according to the Decree "On the introduction of a new spelling" (1918), the letter b (ep) was excluded from the Russian alphabet. There was nothing to mean and "dividing ep" in the middle of the words. They came up with a replacement for him: in its place they began to put an apostrophe (superscript comma) or quotation marks after the previous letter. In August 1928, the government recognized the use of an apostrophe in the middle of a word instead of the letter "hard sign" as unusual for Russian grammar. In modern Russian spelling, b (hard sign) is used only as a separator between a consonant and a vowel. It is most often used at the junction of a prefix and a root (announcement, entrance), as well as in some borrowed words (adjutant, injection) and in two adjacent complete (not abbreviated!) Stems in complex words (three-tiered).

It should be noted that in the Old Russian language, in addition to two functions (space and syllable formation), the letter b (ep) had a third function - the indicator of the masculine gender. It was written after the consonants at the end of nouns (Oleg, kudesnik, lob), in the masculine past tense verb (put, died), as well as in short masculine adjectives (lob gol, prince beautiful). When he disappeared from this position, the masculine gender began to be defined by a graphic zero as opposed to the feminine (book - table).

Does b (hard sign) fulfill this function in modern names? "Traktir", coffee "Admiral", store "Lombard", coffee "Pyotr", magazine "Gastronom", taxi "Yamshchik", real estate agencies "Variant" and "Address" ... Indeed, all these are masculine nouns.

Consequently, based on the material studied, the appearance of the letter b (solid sign) in the modern names of various institutions can be justified from the point of view of the history of this letter. First, as an ultra-short vowel sound that converts a closed syllable into an open one. Secondly, in all these words, a solid sign is also an indicator of the masculine gender, according to the laws of the Old Russian language.

But did the entrepreneurs know these facts, who added this letter to the names of their companies? I addressed this question to entrepreneurs and employees of these institutions. A total of 14 people were interviewed. Of these, only 3 people know that it was once a vowel, 12 people know that this letter was written at the end of masculine nouns. When asked what they were guided by, adding b (hard sign) after hard consonants, they unanimously answered that these are commercial tricks that serve to create a certain image of a product or institution, which is designed to emphasize the good quality of an enterprise, using a stable idea: “pre-revolutionary (old) "=" Good ".

There are a number of stores in our city, in the name of which a solid sign can be at the end of the word: "Cosmos", "Sapphire", "Stimul", "Comfort", "Zenith", "Visit", "Phoenix", "Topaz" ... I hope that in the future, if entrepreneurs want to add the letter b (a hard sign) to the names of their firms and institutions, it will not be just a tribute to fashion or a commercial move, but a historically grounded decision.

Bibliography:

1. A.I. Gorshkov All the wealth, strength and flexibility of our language. A.S. Pushkin in the history of the Russian language: A book for out-of-class reading of students - M .: Education, 1993. - 176 p.: Ill. - ISBN5-09-003452-4.
2. Gorbanevsky M.V. In the world of names and titles. - M .: Knowledge, 1983 .-- 192 p.
3. Russian language. Theoretical description. Tutorial for students of the specialty "Russian language and literature" Kuibyshev, 2012: pp. 35-38
4. Uspensky L. .. A word about words. Essays on language, Children's literature, 1971 http://royallib.ru
5. [Electronic resource]. Access mode: URL: http: //www.grafomanam.
6. [Electronic resource]. Access mode: URL: http://ja-rastu.ru/poeme/azbuka/
7. [Electronic resource]. Access mode: URL: http: //ru.wikipedia
8. [Electronic resource]. Access mode: URL:

The letter b, b (called: hard sign) is the 28th letter of the Russian alphabet (it was the 27th in a row before the beginning of the reform of 1917-1918 and bore the name "er") and the 27th letter of the Bulgarian alphabet (called ep golam, ie "big ep"); absent in other Cyrillic Slavic alphabets: if necessary, its functions are performed by an apostrophe (Russian congress - white z'yezd - ukrainian z'yizd).

In the Church and Old Church Slavonic alphabets, it is called “er” and “ѥr”, respectively, its meaning (as well as the meaning of the names of a number of other Cyrillic letters) is not clear. Usually in Cyrillic it is in the order of the 29th and has the form; 30th in a row in glagolitic, looks like. Has no numeric value.

The origin of the letter in the glagolitic is usually interpreted as a modified letter O (); Cyrillic is also associated with O, to which something is drawn from above (in the most ancient Cyrillic inscriptions such forms are found).

Church and Old Church Slavonic

Approximately until the middle of the XII century. the letter b denoted a reduced (ultra-short) vowel sound of medium rise. After the fall of the reduced, any sound has ceased to denote in all, except for the Bulgarian, Slavic languages, (in Bulgarian, in specific positions, a similar sound ɤ is preserved to this day, along with its designation with the letter b: български s modern alphabet).

But the use of this unpronounceable letter in writing turned out to be useful: it contributed to the correct breakdown of words into syllables, and lines into words (until they switched to using spaces): k'Bogom'Selected Tsar.

In later Church Slavonic writing, it is used according to tradition:

Most often, after consonants at the ends of words (that is, a word can end only with a vowel letter, b, b, or Y);

As a sign of separation between a consonant and a vowel, located at the border of a prefix and a root;

In some words: monkey, vlѣd, as well as in all kinds of forms of phrases to each other, to each other ...

In some cases (mainly at the ends of prefixes and prepositions) ep is replaced by a superscript character called "erok".

Kommersant in Russian

In 1917-1918, even before the reform of the Russian spelling, the letter b was used in accordance with the same Church Slavonic rules, only there were no exception words. Separating b (as opposed to modern spelling) was put not only in front of the iotated vowels, but also in a number of other cases, like rasping, saving, dvuharshinny, etc.

But dividing b was very rare (however, as now), and b, which was very useless at the end of words, accounted for almost 4% of the total volume of the text and, as L. V. Uspensky calculated, before the spelling reform it took up to 8.5 million additional pages.

The redundancy of terminal b has been known for a long time; it could not be used in cursive writing, during the transmission of telegraph messages, and even in a number of books (printing without Kommersant was spread in the 1870s, but soon it was banned).

During the reform, Kommersant, which played the role of a dividing sign, survived; But in order to cope with the publishers of magazines and newspapers who did not want to comply with the decisions of the new government, the Supreme Council of the National Economy decree of November 4, 1918 ordered the removal of the matrices and letters of the letter b from the printing offices, which was done.

The result was the spread in the form of a dividing mark of a surrogate designation with an apostrophe (ad'utant, pod'em); such a spelling began to be perceived as an element of reform, while in reality, from the positions set out in the decree, it was erroneous. There was a time (late 1920s - early 1930s) when it passed into publishing, and, for example, it has practically survived in typescript to this day (in order to save the number of keys, inexpensive typewriters were made without b).

The People's Commissariat for Education in August 1928 recognized the use of an apostrophe in Russian grammar instead of a hard mark in the middle of a word as incorrect.

B in modern Russian spelling is used only as a sign of separation between a consonant letter and a vowel. It is most often used at the junctions of prefixes and roots (entrance, ad, trans-Yamal, pan-European), including those that are "fused" in modern Russian with the root of historical prefixes in a number of borrowings (adjutant, courier, injection); or in the case of 2 combined non-abbreviated (full!) stems before iotated e, yu, e, i in such complex words as ("three-tiered") and means "separate" (iotated) their sound without softening the previous consonant.

Before other vowels, b can appear only in transcriptions of foreign names and names: Junichiro, Chang'an, etc.
The use of b in front of consonants was also noted (in the names of the Khoisan languages: k'gan-k'ne, k'hong, etc.), although the correctness of such spellings in Russian spelling is doubtful.
It should not be used in complex words such as party cell, ministry of justice, inyaz.

Writing options

In the outline of the letter b, diversity is observed mainly in its size while maintaining its shape: it is completely in the line in the charter, in the semi-charter it happens both in the line and protrudes with its upper part upwards, while covering it with the previous letter, but takes up space in width smaller. Such a "high" form was up to the middle. XVIII century the main one and appeared in the first versions of the civil font.

The high lowercase letter ъ in a number of variants of the civil font lost its hook, that is, the form was identified with the Latin lowercase b (at the same time, the lowercase b had a modern look).

In a number of semi-official manuscripts and early printed books (for example, in the "Ostrog Bible" by I. Fedorov), the letter b with a serif on the left descending to the bottom is also encountered (that is, in the form of connected z), although the letter yat.

On October 10, 1918, a large-scale reform of Russian spelling came into force: letters were thrown out of the alphabet, including the unpronounceable "ѣ", which was once considered a sign of literacy, was deleted. Almost a century later, the presence of "yat" in the company's logo has become a mystical sign of authority for many. Life about why the outdated rules of the Russian language turned out to be so attractive to the marketing machine.

98 years ago, the Russian spelling underwent significant changes: the letters "fit" (Ѳ), "and decimal" (I) were deleted from the alphabet, and the now fashionable "yat" (ѣ). Also, the proletarian reform changed the rules for using the hard sign or, as it was called under the emperor, "ep": the unpronounceable letter no longer needed to be placed at the end of words ending in a consonant: there was no sense. However, as history has shown, there have been and still are entrepreneurs who disagreed with innovations.

According to SPARK-Interfax, more than 50 Russian companies used the word "yat" in their names, and another 219 organizations - a solid sign. In the overwhelming majority of cases, "ъ" and "ѣ" are used in trade (both retail and wholesale), a little less often in the names of construction and law firms. According to experts, brands in the old fashion are an attempt to artificially instill history and traditions in the company.

Beer restaurant "Durdin", restaurant "Cafe Pushkin", bakeries "Khlub nasuschny", vodka "Ѣ", newspaper "Kommersant", club of mixed martial arts "R.O.D.", St. -Petersburg restaurant "Restaurant". And there are dozens of such examples.

The BQB company, which was developing the Yat vodka brand (the company's logo looks like the now unused letter "ѣ"), notes on its official website that Nicholas I refused during his reign (the first half of the 19th century. - Approx. Life) to abolish the unpronounceable letter, arguing that it - "a mark of distinction between literate and illiterate gentlemen." And therefore, as the agency says, the advertised alcohol is "a product for literate gentlemen who understand a lot about real Russian vodka."

And the head of the club of mixed martial arts "R.O.D.B." Ivan Ivanov said that with a firm mark in the name of the organization, he wanted to emphasize that everyone who comes to study will go to the end and achieve their goals.

When we came up with the name, we decided to rely on the most important root in Russian - "genus". It is with him that the most precious thing is associated with a person: parents, homeland, for example. This is something you can fight for, for which you can become better. We also wanted to show the firmness of our intentions and those who will come to us, so we also added "ъ", - says Ivanov.

Elena Galinskaya, professor of the Russian language department at the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University, in turn said that the letter "ѣ" was abolished, because over time it became clear that it duplicates the "e" in its sound.

Once upon a time, the sounds were different, but over time, both letters sounded like "e". The only difference was in the letter. Children in gymnasiums had to memorize a list of words (rhymes) in which the letter "yat" was used. Therefore, we can say that only very literate people could use "ѣ", says Galinskaya. - A solid sign in the 11th century was considered a vowel (that is, in the word "bread" after the sound "p" there was something similar to a short "s". - Approx. Life), then it became clear that you need to get rid of redundancy in spelling.

According to the professor, entrepreneurs who use "yat" or a hard mark at the end in company names are dudes.

It's also good if used correctly. For example, the bakery near "Park Kultury" used to (now it was removed) called itself "Khl ѣb vital "(chain of bakeries Le Pain Quotidien. - Approx. Life), but this is not true. If you use "yat", then you must fully follow the old spelling rules. According to them, it was necessary to write "Daily Khlѣb" correctly.

Le Pain Quotidien bakery could not be reached for prompt comment.

As explained by a source in the market, the outdated letter in the name is used in order to attract the attention of an adult audience (over 40).

These people often perceive "yat" or even a hard mark at the end of a word as a symbol, so to speak, of "soft dissidence." V Soviet time often "yat" was used by those who did not want to put up with the power of the proletarians. After all, a whole era has passed with the old spelling rules, - says the interlocutor. - We also tried to bring ourselves closer to the entrepreneurs of the 19th century: Grigory Eliseev, Savva Morozov. What if our brand is the same old? We appealed to consumers' over-memory. Still, not all were able to use "yat" correctly in tsarist Russia, this is really a letter for intelligent people.

Life, in turn, asked readers what associations the letter "yat" and the hard sign after the consonant cause. It turned out that some Russians immediately present texts in Church Slavonic, while others react negatively to "ѣ" at all, calling this naming bad taste.

It is worth noting that the fashion for the old spelling has reached social networks... For example, in "VKontakte" there are groups "Pre-revolutionary adviser" (more than 50 thousand people subscribed to it) and "Ub "Shelter in the mother tongue". My house and my fortune "(more than 3 thousand subscribers). And a number of members of the first public (it is open to everyone) not only read the posts of administrators, written in the old style, but in the same manner and comment on the entries:"Indeed, gentlemen, this young lady is a wonderful siren. Other judges would lay down half of the world for her legs ","This is both smѣh, and grѣh. "And judging by the high calmness that Russians try to communicate on a public page with (without any sarcasm), some find such groups amusing (here" new language", and therefore one can recall the" death effect "), while others, perhaps, really feel that they are part of a special intellectual stratum.

Member of the Guild of Marketers Nicholas Corot stressed that the letter itself cannot bring anything to the business, it should be an organic addition to the brand legend.

A deliberate manifestation of archaism (that is, antiquity. - Approx. Life) in the form of letters lost from the alphabet is not associated with monarchical tendencies in business or some kind of nostalgia. It is a visual sign of the connection between the times. A pseudo legend is being created that says that the brand has survived the Soviet era, that it follows traditions, explains Corot. - Also, the use of "yat" or a solid sign can be a full-fledged address to the imperial trend. And he is.

At the same time, the marketer noted that there is nothing special about the choice of "ъ" and "ѣ". Sooner or later, disappearing letters will be used by entrepreneurs.

A good example is the letter "ё". It is no longer printed anywhere with dots. Outwardly, today it is exactly the same as "e", and therefore it may soon disappear. Therefore, already today there are brands that deliberately expose "e" with dots. Indeed, on the one hand, this letter has a certain slang component (rapper), on the other - lexical, including non-normative subtexts.

Natalya Bulanova, the head of the PR-agency Nota Bene, emphasized that no one in the name of their company "yat" or a solid sign at the end is not being introduced from the ceiling.

The brand must match. This is a direct reference to old Russian traditions. It doesn't matter how old the company is (even three years, for example). She wants to show the consumer that she can be trusted, says Bulanova. - And the Russian buyer is not tired of it. This is not to say that such a phenomenon is common. This "trick" with the birth of a legend works because few people will bother and search the Internet for how old the company is, whether it has a history. Purely visually, this makes you believe in quality when it comes to a small purchase (sausage, for example). If a person buys a car or an apartment, then, of course, he will not believe in any fairy tales.

The famous linguist of Soviet times Lev Uspensky calls it the most expensive letter in the world. In his work on the origin of words, you can see how he relates to her. According to him - "she absolutely does nothing, does not help anything, does not express anything." A pertinent question arises - how did the letter b appear in the Russian language, and what role did the creators assign to it?

The history of the appearance of the letter b

The authorship of the first Russian alphabet is attributed to Cyril and Mifody. The so-called Cyrillic alphabet, which was based on Greek language, appeared in 863 after the birth of Christ. In their alphabet - a solid sign was at number 29 and sounded like ER. (before the reform of 1917-1918 - the 27th in a row). The letter b was a short semi-vowel sound without pronunciation. It was placed at the end of a word after a strong consonant.

What, then, is the meaning of this letter? There are two digestible variations on this explanation.

The first option concerned the Old Slavonic letter itself. Since there were simply no spaces familiar to us at that time, it was she who helped to competently divide the string into words. As an example: "to God chosen by God".

The second explanation is associated with the Church Slavonic pronunciation of words. It was ER who did not muffle the voiced consonant when reading the word, as we observe in modern Russian.

We pronounce the words flu and mushroom different in meaning in the same way - (flu). There was no such sound phonetics in the Old Slavonic language. All words were written and pronounced. For example: slave, friend, bread. This was due to the fact that the division of syllables in the Old Church Slavonic language obeyed one law, which sounded like this:

“In the Old Church Slavonic language, the end of a word cannot have consonants. Otherwise, the syllable will be closed. Which cannot be according to this law. "

In view of the above, it was decided to attribute EPb (b) at the end of words where there are consonants. So it turns out: Gastronom, Traktir, Lombard or Address.

In addition to the above two reasons, there is also a third. It turns out that the letter b was used to denote the masculine gender. For example, in nouns: Alexander, magician, lob. They also inserted it into verbs, for example: put, sel, (past tense masculine gender).

Over time, the letter b performed the function of a word separator less and less. But the "useless" Kommersant at the end of the words still held its ground. According to the aforementioned linguist L.V. Uspensky. this little "squiggle" could take up to 4% of the entire text. And this is millions and millions of pages annually.

Reforms of the 18th century

Those who believe that the control shot in the "head" of the evil letter Kommersant was made by the Bolsheviks and thereby cleared the Russian language of church prejudices is a little mistaken. The Bolsheviks in the seventeenth year simply "finished off" her. It all started much earlier!

Peter himself thought about the reform of the language, especially the Russian writing system. An experimenter in life, Peter has long dreamed of breathing new life into the "decrepit" Old Church Slavonic language. Unfortunately, his plans have only remained plans. But the fact that he moved this issue off the ground is his merit.

The reforms that Peter began from 1708 to 1710 primarily affected church font... Filigree "squiggles" of church letters were replaced by civil ones. Letters such as "Omega", "Psi" or "Yusy" disappeared into oblivion. The familiar letters E and Y have appeared.

The Russian Academy of Sciences began to think about the rationality of using some letters. So the idea of ​​excluding "Izhitsa" from the alphabet among the academicians arose already in 1735. And in one of the printing editions of the same academy, a few years later an article appeared without the notorious letter b at the end.

Control shot for the letter b

In 1917, there were two shots - one on the cruiser "Aurora", the other at the Academy of Sciences. Someone thinks that the reform of Russian writing is a merit exclusively of the Bolsheviks. But historical documents confirm that in this matter, royal Russia also moved forward.

In the first years of the 20th century, the Moscow and Kazan linguists were already talking about the reform of the Russian language. 1904 was the first step in this direction. At the Academy of Sciences, a special commission was created to simplify the Russian language. One of the questions on the commission was the notorious letter Kommersant. Then the Russian alphabet lost "Fit" and "Yat". New spelling rules were introduced in 1912, but, unfortunately, they never passed the censorship.

Thunder struck on December 23, 1917 (01/05/18). On this day, the People's Commissar of Education Lunacharsky A.V. signed a decree on the transition to new spelling... The letter b - as a symbol of resistance to the Bolsheviks, let out its last breath.

To speed up the funeral of everything connected with the "tsarist regime" on November 4, 1918, the Bolsheviks issued a decree on the removal of the matrix and letters of the letter b from printing houses. As a result, a spelling miscarriage of the Bolsheviks appeared - an apostrophe. The separator function was now played by a comma (sub'em, sezd).

One era has ended - another has begun. Who would have thought that the small letter b would become so large and important in the confrontation of two worlds, white and red, old and new, before and after the shot!

But the letter b remained. It remained just like the 28th letter of the alphabet. In modern Russian, it plays a different role. But this is a completely different story.