The birthday of the letter Y. The history of the letter Y and in what cases must it be written? Which letter was officially recognized in 1784

On November 29 (November 18, according to the old style), 1783, one of the first meetings of the newly created Russian Academy was held at the house of the director of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, Princess Ekaterina Dashkova, which was attended by the poet Gavriil Derzhavin, playwrights Denis Fonvizin and Yakob Knyazhnin and others. The project of a complete explanatory Slavic-Russian dictionary, later famous 6-volume Dictionary of the Russian Academy, was discussed.

Dashkova suggested that those present at the meeting introduce a new letter "e" instead of two letters "io" to depict the corresponding sound on the letter. For the "lower" letter in the Russian alphabet, they did not invent a new sign: they used the existing letter e, putting two dots above it - an umlaut. The innovative idea of ​​the princess was supported by a number of leading cultural figures of that time. Gabriel Derzhavin was the first to use the letter "ё" in personal correspondence. In November 1784, the new letter received official recognition.

Replication of the letter by the printing press took place in 1795 at the Moscow University Printing House with the publishers Ridiger and Claudius during the publication of the book "And my trinkets" by Ivan Dmitriev. The first word printed with the letter "ё" was the word "everything". Then followed the words "light", "stump", "immortal", "cornflower". In 1796, in the same printing house, Nikolai Karamzin in his first book "Aonid" with the letter "ё" printed the words "dawn", "eagle", "moth", "tears" and the first verb - "drip". In 1798, Gavriil Derzhavin used the first surname with the letter "ё" - Potemkin.

In 1904, the Spelling Commission was established at the Imperial Academy of Sciences, which included the largest linguists of that time. The proposals of the commission, finally formulated in 1912, were to simplify the graphics on the basis of the phonemic principle (the elimination of letters that did not denote any sounds, for example, "ъ" at the end of words, and letters that denoted the same sounds as other letters - "yat "," and decimal", "fita", "izhitsa"). In addition, the commission recognized the use of the letter "ё" as desirable, but not mandatory.

On January 5, 1918 (December 23, 1917 according to the old style), a decree was published, signed by the Soviet People's Commissar of Education Anatoly Lunacharsky, who introduced the reformed spelling as mandatory, and also recommended the use of the letter "e".

In Soviet times, the letter "ё" was "officially recognized" in 1942, after the issuance of the order "On the introduction of the mandatory use of the letter "ё" in school practice." A year later, a guide to the use of the letter "e" was published. In 1956, the Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Higher Education of the USSR approved and then published the "Rules of Russian Spelling and Punctuation" with paragraphs on the use of the letter "e". However, in practice its use continued to be optional.

The Russian Federation regulates the use of the letter "ë" in title documents. In a letter from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation dated May 3, 2007, authorities that issue official documents of state standard to citizens are instructed to use the letter "ё" in proper names.

A letter from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation dated July 20, 2009 recommends using the letter "ё" in school textbooks.

Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Dmitry Livanov, the rules for the use of the letters "e" and "e" should be fixed at the legislative level.

Now the letter "ё" is contained in more than 12.5 thousand words, in at least 2.5 thousand surnames of citizens of Russia and the former USSR, in thousands of geographical names of Russia and the world, and in thousands of names and surnames of citizens of foreign countries.

In 2005, the letter "e" was installed in Ulyanovsk. The author of the monument, Ulyanovsk artist Alexander Zinin, depicted an exact enlarged copy of the letter that was used in the almanac "Aonides", where Nikolai Karamzin first published a poem with a new letter.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

On November 29 (November 18, old style), 1783, at a meeting of the newly created Russian Academy of Sciences, the princess, clever and beautiful Ekaterina Dashkova asked its members how to write the word "Christmas tree".
Gabriel Derzhavin, Dmitry Fonvizin, Yakov Knyazhnin and even Metropolitan Gabriel decided that the princess was joking, but she, having written the word “olka” she had spoken, asked: “Is it right to represent one sound with two letters?” Noting that “these reprimands have already been introduced by custom, which, when it does not contradict common sense, must be followed in every possible way,” Dashkova suggested using the new letter “ё” “to express words and pronunciations, with this consent beginning as matіory, іolka, іozh , iol. Dashkova's arguments seemed convincing, and the expediency of introducing a new letter was proposed to be assessed by a member of the Academy of Sciences, Metropolitan Gabriel of Novgorod and St. Petersburg. On November 18, 1784, the letter "ё" received official recognition.

Derzhavin, who was the first to use "ё" in personal correspondence. The very first printed edition in which the letter “e” occurs is Ivan Dmitriev’s book “And My Trifles” (1795), published at the Moscow University Printing House. The first word printed with the letter “e” was “everything”, then “light”, “stump”, “immortal”, “cornflower”. The first surname ("Potemkin") with this letter was printed in 1798 by the same Derzhavin.
The letter “ё” became famous thanks to Nikolai Karamzin: in 1796, in the first book of the poetic almanac “Aonides” published by Karamzin, which came out of the same university printing house, the words “dawn”, “eagle”, “moth” were printed with the letter “ё”. ”, “tears”, as well as the first verb “flow”. Researchers still cannot guarantee whether it was Karamzin's own idea or the initiative of one of the publishing house employees. It should be noted that in scientific works, for example, in the famous "History of the Russian State" Karamzin did not use it.
An amazing letter was not considered a separate letter for a long time and was not officially included in the alphabet. Only Leo Tolstoy, in his "New ABC" of 1875, put the letter "ё" in the 31st place in the alphabet, between yat and "e".
And only on December 24, 1942, by order of the People's Commissar of Education of the RSFSR, the mandatory use of the letter "ё" in school practice was introduced, and from that time (sometimes, however, they mention 1943 or even 1956, when the normative spelling rules were first published) she officially considered part of the Russian alphabet. There is a legend that on December 6, 1942, an order was brought to Stalin for signature, in which the names of several generals were printed with the letter “e”, and not “e”. Stalin was furious, and the next day, the letter “ё” suddenly appeared in all articles of the Pravda newspaper.
On July 9, 2007, Russian Minister of Culture Alexander Sokolov, in an interview with the Mayak radio station, spoke in favor of using the letter "ё" in written speech.
The main defender of the long-suffering letter at the present time can be considered the billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who founded the production of the national yo-mobile. We don’t know if the entrepreneur had any philological reasons when choosing a name for a cheap car, but we remember that the classics of Russian culture, Alexander Sumarokov and Vasily Trediakovsky, fought with yokan, as a sign of the speech of the vile mob.

Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova

Monument to the letter Yo

Letter of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation of July 20, 2009 No. IK-971/03 recommending the use of the letter Y in textbooks

On November 29 (November 18 according to the old style), 1783, one of the first meetings of the newly created Russian Academy was held in the house of the director of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, which was attended by G. R. Derzhavin, D. I. Fonvizin, I. I. Lepekhin, Ya. B. Knyazhnin, Metropolitan Gabriel, and others. The project of a complete explanatory Slavic-Russian dictionary, later famous 6-volume Dictionary of the Russian Academy, was discussed. The academicians were about to go home when Ekaterina Romanovna asked those present if anyone could write the word "Christmas tree". The academics decided that the princess was joking, but she, having written the word “olka” she had spoken, asked: “Is it right to represent one sound with two letters?” Noting that “these reprimands have already been introduced by custom, which, when it does not contradict common sense, must be followed in every possible way,” Dashkova suggested using the new letter “ё” “to express words and pronunciations, with this consent beginning as matіory, іolka, іozh , iol". Dashkova's arguments seemed convincing, and the expediency of introducing a new letter was proposed to be assessed by a member of the Academy of Sciences, Metropolitan Gabriel of Novgorod and St. Petersburg. On November 18, 1784, the letter "ё" received official recognition.

After that, the letter Yo for 12 years occasionally appeared only in handwritten form and, in particular, in the letters of G. R. Derzhavin. It was replicated with a printing press in 1795 at the Moscow University Printing House by H. Ridiger and H. A. Claudius during the publication of the book “And My Trifles” by Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev, a poet, fabulist, chief prosecutor of the Senate, and then Minister of Justice. This printing house, in which, by the way, the Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper had been printed since 1788, was located on the site of the current Central Telegraph. The first word printed with the letter Yo was the word “everything”. Then followed the words: light, stump, deathless, cornflower. In 1796, in the same printing house, N. M. Karamzin in his first book “Aonid” with the letter Ё prints: dawn, eagle, moth, tears and the first verb with Ё ​​“drip”. Then, in 1797, the first unfortunate typo in the word with Y. The proofreader did not see it through, and the circulation was published with “garnished” instead of “faceted”. And in 1798, G. R. Derzhavin used the first surname with the letter E - Potemkin. These are Yo's first steps through the pages of books.

The spread of the letter “yo” in the 18th-19th centuries was also hampered by the then attitude to the “yoking” pronunciation as to the middle class, the speech of the “vile mob”, while the “church” “going” reprimand was considered more cultured and noble.

Formally, the letter "ё", like "й" entered the alphabet (and received serial numbers) only in Soviet times. The decree signed by the Soviet People's Commissar for Education A.V. Lunacharsky read: "To recognize as desirable, but optional, the use of the letter" e "". And on December 24, 1942, by order of the People's Commissar of Education of the RSFSR Vladimir Petrovich Potemkin, the mandatory use of the letter "e" in school practice was introduced, and from that time on. it is officially considered to be part of the Russian alphabet. For the next 14 years, fiction and scientific literature came out with the almost complete use of the letter “ё”, but in 1956, at the initiative of Khrushchev, new, somewhat simplified spelling rules were introduced, and the letter “ё” again became optional.

Now the question of the use of "yo" has become the subject of scientific battles, and the patriotic part of the Russian intelligentsia selflessly defends the obligatory use of it. In 2005, a monument was even erected to the letter “ё” in Ulyanovsk.

In accordance with the Letter of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation dated 03.05.2007 No. AF-159/03 “On decisions of the Interdepartmental Commission on the Russian Language”, it is required to write the letter “ё” in cases where a misreading of a word is possible, for example, in names own, since ignoring the letter “ё” in this case is a violation of the Federal Law “On the state language of the Russian Federation.” According to the current rules of Russian spelling and punctuation, the letter ё is used selectively in ordinary printed texts. However, at the request of the author or editor, any book can be printed sequentially with the letter "ё".

The project of a complete explanatory Slavic-Russian dictionary, later famous 6-volume Dictionary of the Russian Academy, was discussed. The academics were about to go home when Ekaterina Romanovna asked those present if anyone could write the word "Christmas tree". The academicians decided that the princess was joking, but she, having written the word “olka” she had spoken, asked: “Is it right to represent one sound with two letters?” Noting that “these reprimands have already been introduced by custom, which, when it does not contradict common sense, must be followed in every possible way,” Dashkova suggested using the new letter “ё” “to express words and pronunciations, with this consent beginning as matіory, іolka, іozh , iol".

Dashkova's arguments seemed convincing, and the expediency of introducing a new letter was proposed to be assessed by a member of the Academy of Sciences, Metropolitan Gabriel of Novgorod and St. Petersburg. On November 18, 1784, the letter "ё" received official recognition.

Although the letter “ё” was proposed in 1783 and used in print in 1795, it was not considered a separate letter for a long time and was not officially included in the alphabet. This is typical for the newly introduced letters: the status of the “y” sign was the same, which, unlike “ё”, was mandatory for use since 1735. Academician Ya.K. Grot in his "Russian Spelling" noted that these two letters "should also take place in the alphabet", but for a long time this remained only a good wish.

The spread of the letter “yo” in the 18th-19th centuries was also hampered by the then attitude to the “yoking” pronunciation as a bourgeois, the speech of “vile mob”, while the “church” “yoking” reprimand was considered more cultured, noble and intelligent (among fighters with “ jokani" were, for example, A.P. Sumarokov and V.K. Trediakovsky).

A decree signed by the Soviet People's Commissar for Education A. V. Lunacharsky, published (undated) on December 23, 1917 (January 5, 1918) and introducing reformed spelling as a mandatory, among other things, read: “To recognize as desirable, but optional, the use of the letter „ ё“.

Formally, the letters "ё" and "й" entered the alphabet (and received serial numbers) only in Soviet times (except for the "New Alphabet" by Leo Tolstoy (1875), in which the letter "ё" was in 31st place, between yat and "e"). On December 24, 1942, by order of the People's Commissar of Education of the RSFSR, the mandatory use of the letter "e" in school practice was introduced, and from that time (sometimes, however, they mention 1943 or even 1956, when the normative spelling rules were first published), it is officially considered included in the Russian alphabet. For the next ten years, fiction and non-fiction came out with the almost complete use of the letter "ё", but then the publishers returned to the past practice: use it only in case of emergency.

There is a legend that the popularization of the letter "e" was influenced by Joseph Stalin. According to her, on December 6, 1942, an order was brought to Stalin for signature, in which the names of several generals were printed with the letter “e”, and not “e”. Stalin was furious, and the next day, the letter “ё” suddenly appeared in all articles of the Pravda newspaper.

On July 9, 2007, the Russian Minister of Culture A. S. Sokolov, in an interview with the Mayak radio station, spoke in favor of using the letter “e” in written speech.

According to Wikipedia

In 1783, at a meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Princess Ekaterina Dashkova proposed replacing the existing combination "io" with a new letter "e". The proposal of Ekaterina Romanovna was supported by other figures of science and art. On November 18, 1784, the letter "ё" received official recognition.
Her further fate was difficult, she can not win a firm place in the Russian alphabet. In print, the letter first appeared only in 1795 in the book of Ivan Dmitriev "And my trinkets." A year later, "ё" became known thanks to the verse almanac "Aonides" by Nikolai Karamzin.
Decades later, a Decree was issued signed by the Soviet People's Commissar for Education Anatoly Lunacharsky, introducing a mandatory reformed spelling. He, in particular, read: “To recognize as desirable, but optional, the use of the letter “ё”.
There is a version that Joseph Stalin himself contributed to the strengthening of "e" in the press. During the war, many operations were frustrated due to confusion in the names of settlements, which differed by only one letter. For example, Berezino and Berezino, Chigarevo and Chigarevo. They say that even in the order, which was somehow brought to the signature of the "leader of the peoples", the names of several generals were printed with "e", not "e". Stalin was furious. And on December 24, 1942, by order of the People's Commissar of Education of the RSFSR Vladimir Potemkin, the mandatory use of the letter "e" was introduced. Then it sort of faded away again.
According to the current rules of Russian spelling and punctuation, in ordinary printed texts the letter “ё” is used selectively, at the request of the author or editor. It is mandatory to write the letter “ё” in documents, in cases where a misreading of a word is possible, for example, a proper name, since ignoring the letter “ё” in this case is a violation of the Federal Law “On the State Language of the Russian Federation”.
In 2005, in Ulyanovsk, Karamzin's hometown, a monument to the letter "ё" was erected. It is a rectangular slab of brown marble with a lowercase letter engraved with two dots at the top.
There is an official Union of Yofikators of Russia, which is engaged in the struggle for the rights of "de-energized" words. Thanks to the active work of the yofikators, now all Duma documents, including laws, are completely "yoficated". "Yo" appeared in the newspapers "Version", "Slovo", "Gudok", "Arguments and Facts" and others, in television captions and in books, on inscriptions-indicators in the metro of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The struggle for the rights of the youngest Russian letter continues. In the social network "VKontakte" there are a lot of groups for the protection of the rights of "yo", in the most numerous of them more than five thousand people are registered.
Interesting Facts:
The first printed word with the letter "e" was "everything", then "light", "stump", "immortal", "vasilechik", the first surname - "Potemkin".
There are about 12,500 words in Russian with "e". Of these, about 150 begin with it and about 300 end with it.
There are words in the Russian language with two or even three letters “e”: “three-star, four-bucket, Byorolekh (river in Yakutia), Byoregyosh and Kögelyon (male names in Altai).
It was customary to write the patronymic of V. I. Lenin in the instrumental case by Ilyich (while for all other Ilyichs after 1956 it was used only by Ilyich). There is no information that this rule has been repealed.
The surname of the famous Russian poet Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet (Foeth - German in origin) was distorted during the printing of his first book. He gained fame already under the name Fet. At the same time, he spent part of his life under the surname Shenshin.
Morse code does not provide for the transfer of the letter "ё".
The Elkin family from Barnaul lost their inheritance due to the fact that it was issued to the Elkins.
A resident of Perm, Tatyana Tetyorkina, almost lost her Russian citizenship due to the incorrect spelling of her last name in her passport.

Voice greetings

Yo ran along the path,
Yo lost two points,
Cries sitting on the ground
- I'm not Yo now, but E!
From the wings of a ladybug
I brushed off two points deftly,
I fixed them with grass
The letter Yo above the head.
Saying goodbye:
- I have a lot of points!
Don't worry, the letter Yo
It's all yours now!

 Send to a friend

Ye and Yo are sisters,
It's hard to tell sisters apart.
But the letter Yo has two dots,
Like a ladder of nails.
The letter E took a breath
How immediately upon her
A couple of chicks fluttered -
It turned out the letter Y.
On the letter Yo you will name
Three words: tree, hedgehog and ruff,
And everything is terribly sharp.
They all have needles.
Tell me, letter Yo,
How is your life-life?
The letter Yo gives a report:
- Nothing life flows.
I am always a striker!
- Oh-Yo-Yoy, this is it - yes!
The letter Yo sighs, cries,
They stole her dots.
In magazines, books and newspapers
You won't see this letter again.
But the letter E is satisfied.
She is found everywhere.
Meanwhile, without the letter Yo
The world cannot live! Yo-mine!
Imagine. Under the green Christmas tree
Tears are shed Hedgehog with a quail.
Matryona, Peter and Semyon
Now there are no names.
The eagle failed to fly
The plane interferes with him.
Filming director with make-up artist
They can't handle the actor.
Overcoming a steep climb
The donkey fell into the pond.
In vain we expect honey from bees,
The ferret came to the apiary.
Give the people the letter Yo!
After all, we can't live without her!
And in our Russian alphabet
There is such a letter! Please note!
The tree is the same as the spruce,
And over the Christmas tree drops.
Adding dot drops
Yo - we read the letter like that.