Deskriptivnyy

Deskriptivnyy is a Russian adjective meaning descriptive. In linguistic and scientific usage, it designates an approach, analysis, or description that aims to record and explain phenomena as they are, without judging or prescribing how they should be.

Etymology: It is a loanword formed from the French descriptif or Latin descriptus, adapted to Russian morphology with the standard adjective suffixes: deskriptivnyy (masc.), deskriptivnaya (fem.), deskriptivnoye (neuter). In Russian texts it is often written in transliteration as deskriptivnyy.

Usage: The term appears in discussions of methodological orientation. A deskriptivnyy approach in linguistics favors documentation of language structures, phonetics, morphology, syntax, and usage as observed in corpora and spoken discourse. It contrasts with preskriptivnyy (prescriptive) approaches that prescribe norms of correct usage. Common collocations include deskriptivnyy analiz yazyka, deskriptivnyy podkhod, and deskriptivnaya grammatika.

History: The descriptive versus prescriptive distinction emerged as a major methodological division in modern linguistics and social sciences in the late 19th and 20th centuries, influencing grammars, dictionaries, and fieldwork. Deskriptivnyy work emphasizes empirical evidence, data-driven descriptions, and cross-dialect variation rather than rules.

See also: Descriptive linguistics, prescriptive grammar, linguistic methodology.