How many mistakes can be made in total dictation. "Total dictation": there were mistakes in the words "half" and "half a turn". About common mistakes

Experts who tested "Total Dictation" in Moscow were quite surprised and amused by the unusual mistakes made by the test participants, Moskovsky Komsomolets reports. So, in the papers, the inspectors often met the words: "botalia", "orena", "ozart", "flights".

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According to experts, such mistakes could be made either by very small participants in the dictation, or by those for whom Russian is not their native language. One of the most common mistakes was the incorrect spelling of the word "Hellenes" - in a text dedicated to Ancient Greece. So, many participants wrote "Hellenes", "Eyllens", and even respectfully "Hellenes", changing the ancient Greeks beyond recognition. However, experts note that, fortunately, there were few such errors.

The evaluation system of "Total Dictation" is strict: in order to qualify for the "five", you can make only one punctuation error. Those who have found nine or more errors receive "deuces". However, all controversial spellings of words are always decided in favor of the writer. According to the organizers of the event, even the "troika" is a very worthy assessment in this case.

"Total Dictation" is an annual educational event for everyone. The purpose of the event is to give everyone the opportunity to test their knowledge and arouse interest in improving literacy.

Instead of the usual “akanya”, Muscovites began to “dip”: “orena”, “ozart”, “fly away”

Making an adult sit down at a desk again and remember the rules of the Russian language is not an easy task. But this is precisely one of the goals of the educational action "Total Dictation". This year, the most competent flash mob of the country took place on April 16 on all continents of the planet, under the water of Lake Urozero in Karelia and on board the Novosibirsk-Moscow plane. In the capital, about 16 thousand people sat at their desks. The MK correspondent also took part in checking the country's largest dictation.

... In the sunny classrooms of the RSUH on Sunday, April 17, it was unusually crowded: hundreds of students and teachers came to check the Total Dictation. Together with them, they gathered to put assessments at two more sites: in high school economy and in the Moscow City Pedagogical University. At the forefront of vocabulary battles are philologists, journalists, historians, teachers, students and even schoolchildren.

“In total, 600 people check the dictation this year,” says the organizer of the Total Dictation in Moscow, Maria Rovinskaya. - In particular, we invited the excellent students of last year's dictation - people in whom we are sure. The hardest part was developing a set of instructions for reviewers. In some cases we are more loyal than school system: we do not take into account stylistic and lexical errors, incorrect transfer.

The funniest part of the dictation is the slightly ridiculous and non-standard mistakes of the participants (by the way, there were surprisingly few of them). In my personal top of slips and oversights, the first place is occupied by the unfortunate Hellenes - in the text devoted to Ancient Greece, this word was found more than once. And the "Hellenes", and "Eyllens", and even respectfully "Hellenes" - the ancient Greeks were changed beyond recognition.

There are also mistakes that were clearly made either by small participants in the dictation, or those for whom Russian is not their native language: “chitobs” and “chito”, “botalia”, “annually”, “orena”, “ozart” and “flights” .

As the organizers told us, this year's text is no more difficult or simpler than the texts of previous years. It's just different - it has a lot of names ( Ancient Greece, Olympia, Olympus, Hellas, Olympic Games). The spelling of these words could raise questions - and did.

The grading system in the Total Dictation is strict: in order to qualify for the “five”, you can make only one punctuation error. Those who managed to puzzle the inspectors with nine or more incidents receive "deuces". In any case, all controversial options are always resolved in favor of the writer. As the organizers themselves say, the “troika” is a very worthy mark in the Total Dictation.

“There is such a thing as the variability of norms,” Vladimir Pakhomov, a member of the expert commission of the Total Dictation and editor-in-chief of one of the portals, told MK. - Last year, for example, there was a proposal with 57 punctuation options, each of which does not contradict the rules. And even if the writer's decision does not coincide with the author's text, this option can also be correct if it complies with the norms.

Total dictation is not only an hour alone with a fascinating text, but also a kind of global study of the language. Linguists are interested in how it develops.

“Last year, for example, only one in five did not make a mistake in the word “half-turn” – only 20% of those who wrote,” recalls Vladimir. - And here the question arises: if four out of five native speakers, not the last losers, are mistaken, then maybe this is a reason for linguists to think: “Why not revise the rule?”

– When you saw the text, did you note potentially dangerous moments for yourself? What words immediately became clear: they will make mistakes?

– Some of our expectations were confirmed, while others, to our great joy, were not. For example, we expected many errors in the word "art", but those who wrote the Total Dictation had practically none. This suggests that given word well learned in the framework of the school course of the Russian language. I emphasize that we draw conclusions not “in general”, not “statistically average”, but only on the basis of the work of the participants in the action, and this is the most competent and active part of the nation.

The next word is “subsequently”, in which there were errors, but still their number was not catastrophic, which also shows good level assimilation dictionary words at school.

- There were words with a hyphen, usually they cause difficulties.

- Yes, it turned out to be difficult, for example, the word in ancient Egyptian, since for its correct spelling it is necessary to remember three rules at the same time. The first rule is hyphenated adverbs with a prefix on- and suffix -and. I think that in words like Turkish there would be practically no errors, since the structure of this word is transparent: from the adjective Turkish adverb formed Turkish using an attachment on- and suffix -and.

This rule is known so well that it is extended to other phenomena. For example, in the same text of the Total Dictation, the word simpler, which many people wrote with a hyphen, most likely by analogy with the rule for adverbs. But simpler is a form comparative degree adjective (simple – easier – simpler), so the rule for adverbs does not apply. Prefix in a word simpler denotes a weak degree of manifestation of the trait and is written together.

The second rule to remember for the correct spelling of the word in ancient Egyptian, - this rule is continuous spelling adjectives formed from phrases based on subordination. Adverb in ancient Egyptian formed from an adjective ancient egyptian, and it, in turn, from the name of the state Ancient Egypt , which is a phrase built on the basis of a subordinate relationship: Egypt(which?) - Ancient(word Ancient depends on the word Egypt, obeys him). Such adjectives are written together, unlike adjectives like black and white or meat and dairy, formed on the basis of a coordinative connection, suggesting the equality of concepts (cf. black and white, meat and dairy).

And finally, the third rule: writing adjectives formed from proper names, capitalized or lower case. Adjective ancient egypt sk uy is written with a lowercase letter, since it contains a suffix -sk-. Wed with adjectives Shaft in , Mish in , which are also formed from proper names, but are written with a capital letter, because they include a different suffix - -in.

Each of these rules separately is well known, but the application of their complex causes difficulties.

“Just like a bunch of punctuation marks?”

- Indeed, the most errors appear in those places where it is necessary to put two signs at the same time, for example, a comma and a dash, while each of the signs must be put according to its own rule. These difficulties are associated with the need to simultaneously apply two or three rules, and such cases are practically not worked out in school grammar, since at school you need to have time to learn at least the core of the rules, and there is no time left for their various combinations.

The combination of different rules, in general, is self-evident, you just need to remember that the confluence of two characters is possible, despite the fact that this often frightens writers, they often ask the question: “Can two characters stand side by side at the same time?” Yes, they can, and even should, since each of them is responsible for his own area. In the first part of this year's Total Dictation, there was this example: ... Sophocles decided to attract actors who could play his works - this is how the theater appeared. In it, it was necessary to put a comma before the dash, closing the subordinate clause who could play his works, and the dash - according to the rule of the unionless complex sentence, the second part of which begins with a demonstrative pronoun So.

- And what mistakes were unexpected for you? I read that in the dictation, in a strange way, an okane appeared: departures, orena, ozart ...

- Such errors, in my opinion, are a logical continuation of one of the main "rules" of Russian spelling - "write not what you hear." True, in this case it is impossible to apply the continuation of this rule: if in doubt what should be written, check it, put it under stress. This rule applies to native Russian words, and the words arena, excitement, athlete borrowed from other languages, they are not required to obey the rules of the Russian language.

The rule of checked vowels at the root of a word is the most frequent rule in all texts without exception: in order to write a word correctly nepr about stop, you need to put the corresponding vowel in a stressed position - etc about one hundred. In words athlete, arena, excitement this, of course, is impossible to do, since in these borrowed words the vowels are unverifiable, but just in case, the writers, apparently, play it safe and write "not what they hear."

There are always many mistakes in borrowed words, since the spelling of these words must be memorized, they are not subject to the rules of the Russian language, which are intuitively understandable to everyone. And if they are rare in the practice of every writer, then there is simply no way to remember them, especially if they are not specially worked out at school, if they do not belong to the category of words that are usually taken into frames for memorization.

An unfortunate mistake was made in the spelling of the names of the states Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, when some participants of the action wrote the first word with a lowercase letter. Many were outraged that this was a “not quite spelling” error, but in fact it was spelling: the spelling of such words is regulated by the rule for writing the names of states. Nobody, probably, will dispute the spelling of the names of modern states, such as Russian Federation , USA, United Arab Emirates etc., where each word is capitalized. The names of ancient states are no different from the names of modern states. It is doubly annoying to meet such mistakes, since the history of ancient states is studied at school in some detail, it would seem that this knowledge should be an integral part of the elementary educational standard every school graduate.

And this is where the question arises about the scope of the concept of “literate person”: how does the modern understanding of “literacy” differ from that recorded in dictionaries? In dictionaries, the word "literate" is defined only as "who can read and write." But this ability today in our country does not surprise anyone, we all, without exception, know how to read and write, since the law on universal secondary education provides this opportunity. This began to be perceived as a natural state of affairs, therefore, in the mind modern man the concept of "literate" began to be filled with meanings not reflected in dictionaries. “Competent” is a person who not only knows how to read and write, but does it without mistakes, on high level, recognizing subtle shades of meanings embedded in texts, having a broad outlook.

I once wrote a column called . It is about the fact that many native speakers are very aggressive towards those who make mistakes. Every now and then they offer to imprison everyone, or even shoot them for confusion with put on-put on, for example. Why do you think people react so painfully to mistakes?

– First of all, it is not necessary to write about it so often, such phenomena are spontaneous, isolated, not such people form an atmosphere of universal hatred, but the journalists who exaggerate these phenomena. There are far more people who truly care about literacy: this is, first of all, school teachers, these are many, many journalists and philologists, leading relevant programs on TV, radio, in magazine and newspaper columns. It is better to write about them, their contribution is much more significant and positive than a single surge of aggression, which, most likely, is a continuation of the disappointment of an individual in life in general, in all its manifestations.

These are just unfortunate people who are afraid to throw out their aggression on other people, because they will surely get a rebuff, they don’t get into a fight, they just swear on the Internet, most often anonymously, splashing out the harmfulness of their character into a language that cannot answer them with anything. , and there is no need for him, since he is great and powerful and will not suffer from such attacks.

- I do not agree with you about aggression: unfortunately, this is not a separate surge, but a constant phenomenon. Vladimir Pakhomov, editor-in-chief of Gramota.ru, confirms this, he constantly receives letters asking him to be shot for coffee neuter and so on. They write exactly like this: shoot, plant.

That's why I wrote a column so that people look at themselves from the outside.

- It seems to me that the Total Dictation is a much more widespread phenomenon than individual aggressive antics. I think that the popularity of the action is that the vast majority of people perceive the language as an absolute value, as a way of cultural self-identification that ensures a comfortable existence: this is a guarantee that you are understood correctly, that your communicative intentions are correctly recognized in the community, this, in in the end, the opportunity to maintain the purity of their native language, perhaps even thereby demonstrating their patriotism.

– What mistakes are you intolerant of?

– I am tolerant of any mistakes, even swear words (not to be confused with foul language as a form of offensive behavior!), because many of them are a continuation of the system, exist as part of the language in all its diversity.

The question is what counts as a "mistake". If the notorious “ringing” and “coffee” are neuter, then these are not errors at all, but a reflection of the patterns inherent in the very system of the language. They are recognized as “mistakes” by people who try to normalize the possible areas of use of certain words or forms, they hang evaluation labels on them: this is “high”, this is “low”, this is “permissible in speech educated person", but it's not. There are no errors in the language itself, there are violations of the rules established by people, but such violations in road traffic happen. There, rights are taken away for some mistakes, and they don’t even charge a fine for spelling mistakes.

- How literate modern students? And are they interested in the language?

“Students are the most literate part of our society. In order to enter a university, they must not only pass the Unified State Examination in the Russian language, but get a score in accordance with the high bar set by universities.

And the fact that they are certainly interested in the language is proved by Total Dictation. After all, this is a student, not a philological action: it was invented by students, it is carried out by students, philologists only support them. This interest in the language is blazing all over the world, on all continents, because it is the students who, completely voluntarily and disinterestedly, on the best spring days, when you can do something completely different, organize the Total Dictation, its verification, and verification is not just a one-time an event where you can come, have fun and leave, and this is a painstaking multi-day work, very stressful, since it needs to be carried out in a very short time and in very large volumes. No one forces them, nothing but love for their native language, their activities are not motivated. What more could you want from today's youth? Participation in the Total Dictation brings me to a state of euphoria: literacy is what our students are interested in en masse now.

- Why is dictation a fun, exciting flash mob for the participants of your action, and one of the most boring genres for schoolchildren in the classroom? How to make Russian lessons in schools interesting?

- If dictation in schools was such a boring occupation, no one would go to the dictation with the frightening name "Total". So, it was not so bad to do it at school, since people still write dictations with joy.

It all depends on the personality of the teacher: one and the same thing can be told boring and uninteresting, or it can be exciting and incendiary, and it doesn’t matter at all what this story is about. This means that most teachers still conduct dictations in such a way that you want to write them again and again. If such a large number of people are so reverent about their native language, it means that they took this love out of school. Otherwise, where does this relationship come from? The total dictation only picked up this love, and it was formed at school.

– This time the Total Dictation was written on all six continents. Usually the Russian language of those who have not lived in Russia for a long time is special, it differs from ours. Accordingly, people make mistakes because they do not use the language as often as we do. Where were there more mistakes - in Russia or abroad?

We NEVER compare anyone with each other. This is a condition for the Total Dictation: the action is voluntary and anonymous. Anonymity extends to continents as well.

– Not everyone likes the words “total” and “dictator”. Do you think that during the time that the action exists, it was possible to somehow “whitewash” these words?

- There is nothing wrong with these words, they do not need any “whitewashing”. They are not liked by those who do not know the meaning of the word "total" ("universal") and confuse it with the word "totalitarian". Most of these comic nominations understands and responds appropriately.

Maybe someone is suspicious of such words, because they forget that this is a fun youth action. Novosibirsk generally love to play with words. So, we have another event called "Monstration". Someone might think that some “monsters” take part in it, but in fact it is the same fun youth entertainment that takes place on May 1st as nostalgia for the Soviet May Day demonstrations, and it gathers young people who go out to holiday with slogans like “My brother is being forced to eat porridge. Freedom for the children! If you are afraid of everything, then such a slogan may seem dangerous.

So is the word "dictator" - it arose simply because the language does not have a special name for a person who dictates a text simultaneously to a large number of ... whom? How to call the participants of this action - "dictators", "dictators", "dictators"? We still do not have a word for those who write the text of the Total Dictation from dictation. At school, schoolchildren write dictations, but who writes them within the framework of the Total Dictation? Maybe they are "totalitarians"? It would be nice to give this word a less threatening meaning.

- If we talk about dictators, then I met a funny version of "dictun". But, of course, he's funny.

– The word “dictator” within the framework of our action acquired a new meaning: “one who reads the text of the Total Dictation”, although it did not “soften” its meaning: the text must be written word for word, without deviating from the original version. This, probably, is also a form of dictation, since a free retelling is not counted as the text of the Total dictation.

Perhaps, over time, this meaning of the word “dictator” will also enter the dictionaries, along with its original meaning: “an unlimited ruler temporarily elected by the people to pacify internal unrest or to fight an external enemy; personally, when the need has passed, resigning from his duties and giving an account to the people in all his actions ... " (Complete dictionary foreign words that have come into use in Russian. Popov M., 1907). I think this word has a very good meaning. Unfortunately, its second meaning has become more active - “also a person who, in general, arbitrarily and autocratically disposes of something, is not authorized by anyone and neglects the orders and desires of his equals.”

But it depends on us what words we use most often and in what meanings. And we are not afraid of the words themselves, but of the phenomena that we associate with them. But these are temporary associations that arose at a certain stage historical development our state, and Ancient Rome I don't think anyone was afraid of that word. The fears of the era of totalitarianism will be forgotten, and with them the meanings of many words will be perceived as completely neutral.

- What words would you reassure those who believe that we have all become completely illiterate, and the language is dying?

– My main specialty is field linguistics, I study the languages of the peoples of Siberia, many of which are endangered, so I observe situations where it is believed that this or that language is about to disappear, but it turns out that even those languages in which says 200 people don't give up so easily.

For example, 25 years ago I worked with an informant in a small Khanty village (Khanty is a Finno-Ugric people living in the lower reaches of the Ob). She had a daughter, then a young girl, about whom her mother said that it’s a disaster, she doesn’t know her native language at all, and then we didn’t even consider the possibility of working with this girl, because we doubted that reliable information could be obtained from her. And so I arrived in the same village after 25 years, that our informant was no longer alive, we met with her daughter, and it turned out that she was the most complete native speaker of her native language!

Against the background of the representatives of the older generation, it may seem that young people speak the wrong way and think the wrong way, but when the older generation leaves, it turns out that the traditions are successfully passed on, maybe something is lost, but the language is also enriched. In addition, knowledge accumulates with age, and it is impossible to compare the language competence of the elderly and young man. For example, I graduated from high school with a "B" in my Russian language certificate. But I received a philological education, and the level of my literacy, of course, increased, but it took many years and a lot of work. Therefore, it is premature to blame the youth for anything.

I compare myself in my student days and today's students. And the comparison is not in my favor. Today's students are definitely more educated and have a much broader outlook: many of them have already seen the world, read a lot of things that I did not even suspect in my student years. I entered the university in 1980. We did not know émigré literature; The Master and Margarita, the Strugatskys or Solzhenitsyn were read (and even then only by those who could get them with great difficulty) in samizdat, in blind "fifth" copies, under the strictest secrecy passing to each other these copies read literally to holes, printed on tissue paper. Now, completely different skills and abilities are in demand, many of which my peers have not mastered.

Of course, we may decide not to speak Russian, or some catastrophic circumstances will force us to abandon it. But can we suddenly switch en masse to any other language? Imagine: with tomorrow you must speak some other language. Is it possible?

Even people who have lived abroad for many years cannot get rid of the accent, the combination of words always betrays a foreigner, these are all traces of our native language, which is not so easy to get rid of, even if we try very hard, we cannot just throw off our native language and dress up in the prestigious attire of any other language. These are such deep mechanisms that can disappear only when everything the globe physically there will not be a single person who would speak Russian. But for this, cataclysms of universal scale must occur. Let's hope that they do not threaten us in the foreseeable and very distant future.

– When you saw the text, did you notice potentially dangerous moments for yourself? What words immediately became clear: they will make mistakes?

– Some of our expectations were confirmed, while others, to our great joy, were not. For example, we expected many errors in the word "art", but those who wrote the Total Dictation had practically none. This suggests that this word is well learned in the school course of the Russian language. I emphasize that we draw conclusions not “in general”, not “statistically average”, but only on the basis of the work of the participants in the action, and this is the most competent and active part of the nation.

The next word is “subsequently”, in which there were mistakes, but still their number was not catastrophic, which also shows a good level of mastering vocabulary words at school.

– There were words with a hyphen, usually they cause difficulties.

- Yes, it turned out to be difficult, for example, a word in ancient Egyptian, since for its correct spelling it is necessary to remember three rules at the same time. The first rule is the hyphenated adverbs with the prefix - and the suffix -i. I think that there would be practically no mistakes in words like Turkish, since the structure of this word is transparent: the Turkish adverb is formed from the adjective Turkish with the help of the prefix in- and the suffix -i.

This rule is known so well that it is extended to other phenomena. For example, in the same text of the Total Dictation, there was a simpler word, which many wrote with a hyphen, most likely by analogy with the rule for adverbs. But simpler is a form of the comparative degree of the adjective (simple - simpler - simpler), so the rule for adverbs does not apply to it. The prefix in the word simpler denotes a weak degree of manifestation of the trait and is written together.

The second rule that must be remembered for the correct spelling of a word in ancient Egyptian is the rule for the continuous spelling of adjectives formed from phrases based on a subordinating relationship. The adverb in ancient Egyptian is formed from the adjective ancient Egyptian, and it, in turn, from the name of the state of Ancient Egypt, which is a phrase built on the basis of a subordinating connection: Egypt (what?) - Ancient (the word Ancient depends on the word Egypt, obeys it ). Such adjectives are written together, in contrast to adjectives such as black-and-white or meat-and-milk, formed on the basis of a coordinating connection, suggesting equality of concepts (cf. black and white, meat and milk).

And finally, the third rule: writing adjectives formed from proper names, with an uppercase or lowercase letter. The adjective Ancient Egyptian is written with a lowercase letter, since it contains the suffix -sk-. Wed with adjectives Valin, Mishin, which are also formed from proper names, but are written with a capital letter, because they include another suffix - -in.

Each of these rules separately is well known, but the application of their complex causes difficulties.

– Just like a bunch of punctuation marks?

The combination of different rules, in general, is self-evident, you just need to remember that the confluence of two characters is possible, despite the fact that this often frightens writers, they often ask the question: “Can two characters stand side by side at the same time?” Yes, they can, and even should, since each of them is responsible for his own area. In the first part of this year's Total Dictation, there was such an example: ... Sophocles decided to attract actors who could play his works - this is how the theater appeared. In it, it was necessary to put a comma in front of the dash, closing the subordinate clause that his works could play, and the dash - according to the rule of an allied compound sentence, the second part of which begins with a demonstrative pronoun like this.

- And what mistakes were unexpected for you? I read that in the dictation, in a strange way, an okane appeared: departures, orena, ozart ...

- Such errors, in my opinion, are a logical continuation of one of the main "rules" of Russian spelling - "write not what you hear." True, in this case it is impossible to apply the continuation of this rule: if in doubt what should be written, check it, put it under stress. This rule applies to native Russian words, and the words arena, excitement, athlete are borrowed from other languages, they are not required to obey the rules of the Russian language.

The rule of checked vowels at the root of a word is the most frequent rule in all texts without exception: in order to correctly write a word difficult, you need to put the corresponding vowel in a stressed position - simple. Of course, it is impossible to do this in the words athlete, arena, excitement, since in these borrowed words the vowels are unverifiable, but just in case, the writers apparently play it safe and write "not what they hear."

An unfortunate mistake was made in the spelling of the names of the states Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, when some participants in the action wrote the first word with a lowercase letter. Many were outraged that this was a “not quite spelling” error, but in fact it was spelling: the spelling of such words is regulated by the rule for writing the names of states. Nobody, probably, will dispute the spelling of the names of modern states, such as the Russian Federation, the United States of America, the United Arab Emirates, etc., where each word is capitalized. The names of ancient states are no different from the names of modern states. It is doubly annoying to meet such mistakes, since the history of ancient states is studied at school in some detail, it would seem that this knowledge should be an integral part of the elementary educational standard of every school graduate.

And this is where the question arises about the scope of the concept of “literate person”: how does the modern understanding of “literacy” differ from that recorded in dictionaries? In dictionaries, the word "literate" is defined only as "who can read and write." But this ability today in our country does not surprise anyone, we all, without exception, know how to read and write, since the law on universal secondary education provides this opportunity. This began to be perceived as a natural state of affairs, therefore, in the minds of a modern person, the concept of “literate” began to be filled with meanings not reflected in dictionaries. A “literate” is a person who not only knows how to read and write, but who does it without mistakes, at a high level, who recognizes the subtle shades of meanings embedded in texts, and who has a broad outlook.

– I once wrote a column called “Atmosphere of linguistic hatred”. It is about the fact that many native speakers are very aggressive towards those who make mistakes. Every now and then they offer to imprison everyone, or even shoot them for confusion with dressing-putting on, for example. Why do you think people react so painfully to mistakes?

– First of all, it is not necessary to write about it so often, such phenomena are spontaneous, isolated, not such people form an atmosphere of universal hatred, but the journalists who exaggerate these phenomena. There are far more people who truly care about literacy: first of all, school teachers, these are many, many journalists and philologists who host relevant programs on TV, radio, in magazine and newspaper columns. It is better to write about them, their contribution is much more significant and positive than a single surge of aggression, which, most likely, is a continuation of the disappointment of an individual in life in general, in all its manifestations.

- I do not agree with you about aggression: unfortunately, this is not a separate surge, but a constant phenomenon. Vladimir Pakhomov, editor-in-chief of Gramota.ru, confirms this, he constantly receives letters with requests to be shot for coffee of the middle kind and so on. They write exactly like this: shoot, plant.

That's why I wrote a column so that people look at themselves from the outside.

– What mistakes are you intolerant of?

The question is what counts as a "mistake". If the notorious “ringing” and “coffee” are neuter, then these are not errors at all, but a reflection of the patterns inherent in the very system of the language. They are recognized as “mistakes” by people who try to normalize the possible areas for the use of certain words or forms, they hang evaluation labels on them: this is “high”, this is “low”, this is “permissible in the speech of an educated person”, but this is not. There are no mistakes in the language itself, there are violations of the rules established by people, but such violations also happen in traffic. There, rights are taken away for some mistakes, and they don’t even charge a fine for spelling mistakes.

– How literate are today's students? And are they interested in the language?

We NEVER compare anyone with each other. This is a condition for the Total Dictation: the action is voluntary and anonymous. Anonymity extends to continents as well.

– Not everyone likes the words “total” and “dictator”. Do you think that during the time that the action exists, it was possible to somehow “whitewash” these words?

- There is nothing wrong with these words, they do not need any “whitewashing”. They are not liked by those who do not know the meaning of the word "total" ("universal") and confuse it with the word "totalitarian". The majority understands these comic nominations and adequately reacts to them.

– If we talk about dictators, then I met a funny version of "dictun". But of course he's funny..

Perhaps, over time, this meaning of the word “dictator” will also enter the dictionaries, along with its original meaning: “an unlimited ruler temporarily elected by the people to pacify internal unrest or to fight an external enemy; personally, after the need has passed, resigning from his duties and giving an account to the people in all his actions ... ”(Complete dictionary of foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language. Popov M., 1907). I think this word has a very good meaning. Unfortunately, its second meaning has become more active - “also a person who, in general, arbitrarily and autocratically disposes of something, is not authorized by anyone and neglects the orders and desires of his equals.”

But it depends on us what words we use most often and in what meanings. And we are not afraid of the words themselves, but of the phenomena that we associate with them. But these are temporary associations that arose at a certain stage in the historical development of our state, and in ancient Rome, I think, no one was afraid of this word. The fears of the era of totalitarianism will be forgotten, and with them the meanings of many words will be perceived as completely neutral.

– What words would you reassure those who believe that we have all become completely illiterate, and the language is dying?

Against the background of the representatives of the older generation, it may seem that young people speak the wrong way and think the wrong way, but when the older generation leaves, it turns out that the traditions are successfully passed on, maybe something is lost, but the language is also enriched. In addition, knowledge accumulates with age, and it is impossible to compare the language competence of an elderly and a young person. For example, I graduated from high school with a "B" in my Russian language certificate. But I received a philological education, and the level of my literacy, of course, increased, but it took many years and a lot of work. Therefore, it is premature to blame the youth for anything.

Of course, we may decide not to speak Russian, or some catastrophic circumstances will force us to abandon it. But can we suddenly switch en masse to any other language? Imagine: from tomorrow you must speak some other language. Is it possible?

Even people who have lived abroad for many years cannot get rid of the accent, the combination of words always betrays a foreigner, these are all traces of our native language, which is not so easy to get rid of, even if we try very hard, we cannot just throw off our native language and dress up in the prestigious attire of any other language. These are such deep mechanisms that can disappear only when there is not a single person physically left on the entire globe who speaks Russian. But for this, cataclysms of universal scale must occur. Let's hope that they do not threaten us in the foreseeable and very distant future.

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