#38 Why Did the Moscow Variety Become the Basis of Standard Russian?

The Russian that we study today as a foreign language is essentially what is known as Standard Russian. This standard variety is widely used in schools, on television, in newspapers and books, and in official contexts.

However, in a country as vast as Russia, people did not historically speak exactly the same form of Russian in every region. There were differences in pronunciation and vocabulary between the north and the south, as well as various dialects in the areas between them.

Among these regional varieties, the speech of central Russia, particularly around Moscow, became one of the most important foundations of modern Standard Russian.

Why, then, did the language of Moscow gain such influence rather than the speech of St. Petersburg, northern Russia, or southern Russia?

The answer lies not only in Moscow’s political development, but also in its geographical position within the Russian dialect landscape and in the development of literature, education, and other cultural institutions.

In this article, I will explain why the Moscow variety became an important basis of Standard Russian, focusing particularly on its relationship with Russian dialects and history.

1. What Is Standard Russian?

Standard Russian is a form of Russian governed by established norms of grammar, pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary and widely used in education, publishing, journalism, and official contexts.

In Russian, a language based on such norms is often referred to as литерату́рный ру́сский язы́к (Standard Russian or the Russian literary language).

When you study Russian as a foreign language, you are generally learning this standard variety. The grammar, pronunciation, and spelling presented in textbooks are also based on standard norms.

At the same time, Russian has long had a wide range of regional dialects. These dialects differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, and other features. Traditional Russian dialects are generally divided into northern dialects, southern dialects, and a group of central dialects located between them.

Among these, the speech of central Russia, particularly around Moscow, is especially important when considering the historical foundations of modern Standard Russian.

Why, then, did Moscow come to exert such strong linguistic influence? The answer is closely connected with the historical development of Moscow as a political and cultural centre of Russia.

2. Moscow Became the Political Centre of Russia

One of the reasons the Moscow variety became so influential was the development of Moscow itself.

In the medieval East Slavic world, Moscow was not the original centre. During the period of Kievan Rus’, Kyiv was an important city, while Novgorod, Vladimir, Suzdal, and various other cities and principalities later flourished as political, economic, and cultural centres.

Moscow appeared relatively late in the historical record, with 1147 generally regarded as its first mention in the chronicles. At first, it was only one city among many. By the late 13th century, however, the Principality of Moscow had emerged, and during the 14th century it gradually expanded its influence over neighbouring territories.

In addition to territorial expansion and the political strategies pursued by successive princes of Moscow, the city’s relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church was also important. During the 14th century, Moscow became an important ecclesiastical centre, increasing not only its political influence but also its religious authority.

In the second half of the 15th century, during the reign of Ivan III, powerful regions such as Novgorod came under Moscow’s control, and the political consolidation of the state around Moscow advanced considerably. In 1480, the Grand Duchy of Moscow effectively ended its subordination to the Golden Horde, helping to lay the foundations for the later Russian state.

In the 16th century, Ivan IV, known as Ivan the Terrible, was crowned “Tsar of All Rus’,” and Moscow became even more important as the political and administrative centre of an expanding state.

As political and administrative functions became concentrated in Moscow, officials, clergy, merchants, and people from many different regions increasingly gathered there. As Moscow became the centre of state consolidation and its political, administrative, and religious influence spread over a wider area, a shared form of language also became increasingly necessary for official documents and administrative communication.

In this way, the language used in the political centre of Moscow gradually influenced surrounding regions.

3. Traditional Moscow Pronunciation in Standard Russian

Modern Standard Russian retains certain pronunciation features that are historically associated with Moscow speech.

One of the best-known examples is а́канье (akanye). Akanye is a pronunciation feature in which the distinction between unstressed о and а becomes weakened, with о often pronounced closer to а.

For example, the word молоко́ (milk) is written with three instances of о. However, only the final о, which carries the stress, is pronounced clearly according to the spelling. The first two unstressed instances of о are pronounced closer to а.

Similarly, in вода́ (water), the first о is unstressed and is therefore pronounced closer to а in standard pronunciation.

As these examples show, even when Russian is spelled with о, its actual pronunciation may change depending on the position of the stress. This vowel reduction is one of the reasons why learning word stress is so important when studying Russian.

Traditional northern Russian dialects, by contrast, often display a feature known as о́канье (okanye). In okanye, the distinction between unstressed о and а is preserved to a greater degree. As a result, traditional northern dialects and Standard Russian can have noticeably different vowel qualities.

Historically, the dialects around Moscow are classified as part of the central Russian dialect group located between northern and southern Russian dialects. In terms of vowel pronunciation, they exhibited akanye. As Moscow grew in political and cultural importance, this pronunciation feature was also transmitted into the developing standard language.

In other words, even the rule you encounter when studying Russian that “unstressed о is pronounced closer to а” is connected with the linguistic history of Moscow and central Russia.

4. The Moscow Dialect Did Not Simply Become Standard Russian

One important point to keep in mind is that “Standard Russian” is not simply another name for the “Moscow dialect.”

It is true that the formation of Standard Russian was strongly influenced by the speech of Moscow and central Russia. In pronunciation in particular, features associated with the Moscow area, such as а́канье, have been preserved in modern Russian.

However, the everyday dialect spoken by people in Moscow at a particular point in history was not simply adopted unchanged as the common language of the entire country.

A standard language is not created from the spoken language of one region alone. In the case of Russian, the speech of Moscow and central Russia formed an important basis, but the standard language gradually became codified through the influence of long-established written traditions, literary works, grammars, dictionaries, and school education.

Russian vocabulary and style also contain many elements inherited from Church Slavonic. In the modern period, writers and scholars further refined usage and grammar, while education and publishing helped spread common standards of spelling and expression.

Language also changes over time. The dialect spoken around Moscow several centuries ago is therefore not identical to the Russian spoken by people in Moscow today. In modern Moscow as well, the spread of nationwide Standard Russian has considerably altered many traditional regional dialect features.

For this reason, it is more accurate to understand Standard Russian as a language that developed with the speech of Moscow and central Russia as an important foundation while also incorporating influences from written language, literature, education, and other sources.

5. Why Moscow Rather Than St. Petersburg?

St. Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire, so you may wonder why the Moscow variety, rather than the speech of St. Petersburg, became an important basis of Standard Russian.

One major reason is that Moscow already possessed considerable political influence long before St. Petersburg was founded.

St. Petersburg was established by Peter I in 1703, making it a comparatively recent city. In the early 18th century, it became the political centre of the Russian Empire and later developed into an important centre of administration, education, publishing, and literature.

Moscow, however, had already been developing as a major city for several centuries. From the 14th century onward, as the Grand Duchy of Moscow expanded its power over neighbouring territories, people from many different regions increasingly gathered in the city. From the 15th to the 16th century, as political consolidation continued, Moscow became highly influential not only politically but also as an administrative and religious centre.

During this process, the speech of Moscow and central Russia also gained influence over a wider geographical area.

In other words, by the time St. Petersburg emerged as the imperial capital in the 18th century, the historical conditions that allowed the Moscow variety to serve as a foundation for a common language were already well established.

This does not mean that St. Petersburg was unimportant in the formation of Standard Russian. Moscow and St. Petersburg played important but somewhat different roles in the history of the standard language.

From the 18th to the 19th century, St. Petersburg became home to educational institutions, publishing houses, and other major cultural organizations, developing into one of the Russian Empire’s leading cultural cities. Many writers and intellectuals, including Pushkin, were also closely connected with the city.

For this reason, I think it is useful to view Moscow as a major historical foundation in the formation of Standard Russian, while St. Petersburg became a cultural centre that helped develop and spread the standard language through literature, publishing, and education.

6. Summary

Modern Standard Russian developed with the speech of Moscow and central Russia as one of its major foundations.

The main points can be summarized as follows:

The rise of Moscow speech as a foundation of Standard Russian was the result of several interacting factors, including politics, geography, dialect distribution, and culture.

By understanding this background, you can gain a clearer picture of the relationship between Standard Russian and regional dialects, as well as the historical process through which a common Russian language developed.

Yuri Miyajima

Writer

I’m a Japanese writer with a deep interest in Russia. Through my articles, I explore a wide range of topics related to the country, including its culture, history, traditions, food, everyday life, and language.