THE PROBLEMS AND CONTRADICTIONS OF COMPLEX ADJECTIVES CODIFICATION IN THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

The paper analyzes the linguistic content of the norm regulating the writing of complex adjectives, fixed in the Rules of Russian spelling and punctuation of 1956. The criteria underlying these recommendations are described, and the reasons for the selectivity of the application of the formulated rules are identified. We characterize the research aimed at clarifying the content of the standard for writing complex adjectives on the basis of either a formal grammatical principle or its combination with the semantic and syntactic criterion. It has been revealed that an attempt to combine the action of conflicting criteria within the framework of uniform rules without regard to their hierarchy leads to an increase in the number of exceptions to the rules and cannot be considered successful. We carry out the analysis of vocabulary codification of complex adjectives. It is argued that the spelling discrepancy in recommending the continuous / hyphenated writing of complex adjectives in modern Russian is caused by the high level of preparation and editing of a number of dictionaries and by repeated transfiguration of individual words fixed in academic spelling dictionaries. Contradictions at the codification of the spelling norm require changes in the content and principles of the very rules, as well as in the recommendations of spelling dictionaries.