The dispute on the language norm in A.P. Sumarokov’s article “To typographers”

The actuality of the undertaken research is conditioned by the necessity to study the role of Russian literature and journalism, separate linguistic programs of the middle of the 18th century in assertion of the main characteristics of the literary standard, which began to take shape in 80 years of this century. The aim of the scientific study is to analyze the similarities and differences between the linguistic theories of A. Sumarokov and V. Trediakovsky, to establish the place of this polemic in the history of Russian literary language of the 18th century, its significance for the formation of the literary standard. The language material is the original text of Sumarokov's article To typographers (K tipografskim naborshhikam), published in the May issue of the journal Trudolyubivaya pchela (1759). The system of views of scholars and writers of the mid-18th century on the Russian language are presented by means of descriptive and comparative methods with revealing the specifics of each language concept. An integral part of the methodology was the observation of the word usage in the texts by A. Sumarokov and V. Trediakovsky. The use of methods of linguoculturology made it possible to present linguistic polemics as a phenomenon of Russian culture. The extra-linguistic method and the method of reconstruction from historical sources were used to establish the phenomena of extra-linguistic reality that influenced the problems of the philological discussion. The results of the research showed that the extra-linguistic reason for writing the article was determined, the tradition of the writers' appealing to the typesetters in the history of domestic printing of the first half of the 18th century was traced, the group of works with which Sumarokov-philologist enters polemics was determined, the main concepts of the article were identified, the position of Sumarokov from the point of view of normalization of graphic, morphological, orthographic practice in the middle of the 18th century was fixed; the article by Sumarokov was considered in accordance with the concept of metatextual unity in the world. The prospects of the research relate to the fundamental theoretical development of the role of 18th century Russian literature in the formation of the Russian literary language standard.