Words with a solid sign: history and rules of writing

Words with a solid sign always took a special place in the Russian language. A solid sign does not mean sound, but is simply a separating letter. Therefore, he was periodically removed from the alphabet. For example, immediately after the revolution in 1918, it was ordered to remove this letter from all words, replacing it with an apostrophe. As a result, the "party's congresses" began to be held, and "houses" appeared in the houses. True, in 1928 the government thought better of it and returned the letter to the ranks of the alphabet.

Later, in the sixties, proposals began to be made to leave only a soft sign under the pretext that a solid sign was an extra letter, and a soft sign would facilitate the rules of writing without losing the quality of pronunciation. But the linguists have won the separating solid sign, proving that the soft sign can not correctly convey the phonetic system in all words.

Let's talk, how correctly words with a separating solid sign are written. These rules are very few. A solid sign is placed only before the letters n, w, e in such cases:

1. If the prefix ends with a consonant, and the root begins with n, w, e. The roots of Old Russian words take part in these words: "ezd", "I", "I eat".

For example: entry, hug, eat, lift, withdraw.

2. In compound words after the consoles denoting the numerals: two-, three- and four-.

For example: four-tier, two-core, three-legged.

3. After the initial particle is super-.

For example: supernatural, supernatural.

4. In foreign words after foreign prefixes: dis-, ad-, in-, con-, inter-, counter-, sub-, trans-, pan-.

For example: panoyazykovoy, inter-European, subject, injection, conjunction.

Now appeared a lot of similar prefixes: hyper-, post-, super-. But their list has not officially expanded since 1965, and such words are not written according to the rules.

Therefore, in respected print media, you can find funny phrases: "the post-Yeltsin period", "computer hypernucleus", "New Year's supper". What to do in such situations? Of course, it is better to try to replace these incidental words with adequate synonyms. And then, like and the word is written according to the rules, but it looks illogical and funny.

5. Words with a solid sign are found in foreign geographical names and names, mainly in the notation of Far- and Middle Eastern transcribed words.

For example: the city of Hengyang, Toryal, Kizil'yurt. Names: Junichiro Tanizaki, Kanichi Kuroda.

Previously, these words tried to write through a hyphen or with a separating soft sign. But then the pronunciation of foreign names was significantly distorted. Only a solid sign was able to correct this situation.

A lot of controversy still causes the writing of compound words. According to the rules of 1965, these words are not written with a firm sign. For example: kindergarten, yoga, state language, tagging. It looks too illogical and often "cuts the eye", but there are no new rules.

True, there have been attempts to introduce the writing of a solid sign into words such as inject, Injurkollegiya, and khoziedenitsa. In addition, some writers put the so-called "author's spelling" for compound words. For example, in the works of Platonov, published in the 30's, you can find the word "part cell". But official recognition of a solid sign in similar words has not followed, therefore correctors continue to withdraw it and till now.

As we see, without a solid sign the Russian language is difficult to imagine. If you do not put this delimiter, then the phonetic structure of the word is distorted and its syllabic structure is broken - and this is serious. Therefore now the firm sign confidently takes its positions in words not only with traditional Russian prefixes, but also with foreign ones. The next step is the introduction of the rule for stating a solid sign in complex words, so that the logic of the language does not have more flaws.