The author reflects upon the place of the Russian language in modern Russia, its distribution in the world, the importance of basic Russian studies for the development of science and Russian society, and the activity of the Russian Academy of Sciences in maintaining the stability of linguistic norms and the culture of Russian speech. On the one hand, scientific research in the field of the Russian language is oriented at obtaining basic theoretical knowledge, which favors comprehensive study of man and society. On the other hand, there is a social order, which is formulated by society proceeding from the need to document language resources and adapt them to topical communicative requirements. The Russian Academy of Sciences carries out expert assessment of speech innovations and codification of the norms of the literary language in normative dictionaries, grammars, and reference books on the culture of speech. The current state of research on the Russian language is analyzed, special attention being paid to problems of the codification of the norms of Russian speech and related tasks.