Rule formation in business Russian of the second part of the XVIIIth century (based on prepositional constructions)

The article dwells upon the problem of forming national rules of the Russian language and upon the role of business language in studying the issue of regulation. The author argues that cursive documents of the XVIIIth century reflect variety - a peculiar feature of the Russian language of the period analyzed, variety being an indication of fluctuation in the process of rule formation. Printed and hand-written documents of the XVIIIth century reflect the condition of paper work in central and provincial offices. The author points to a tendency of evolution in the sphere of prepositions, which proves that processes of business language development and evolution in the sphere of prepositions are universal. The documents of the capital offices issued in “The full collection of laws of the Russian Empire” match the rules of that period. The language of these documents is traditional, conservative, strictly regulated and codified.