Linguistic status of the norm; how writing influences speaking, national language and dialects, different understanding of linguistic processes (Wilhelm von Humboldt, the “grammaticians”, the sociological school). The general linguistic theory by Ferdinand de Saussure. The opposition “language system vs. language material vs. speech activity” by Lev Shcherba. Can the norm be classified as a linguistic category? The Russian language standardisation by the “grammaticians” and by Mikhail Lomonosov. The two aspects of the linguistic norm (recognition of the norm as an intralingual unit and codification of the norm) and their role.