Modern Russian Literary Language as the State Official Language of the Russian Federation

The RF Federal Law «On official language of the Russian Federation» establishes the status of the modern Russian literary language as the state official language due to its inherent multi-functionality and normativity, which permits the language to be used throughout the country in various communication contexts. This paper sets out to differentiate such concepts as the «modern Russian literary language», «official language» and «functional and stylistic varieties of the literary language». We emphasize the need to restrain the penetration of changes into the official language. The observance of literary norms is assumed to be the main instrument of maintaining the language stability.