How did Mikhail Lomonosov help create a standard Russian literary language?

Mikhail Lomonosov played a pivotal role in standardizing the Russian literary language during the 18th century, a period marked by linguistic instability due to the influx of foreign expressions and the inadequacy of Church Slavonic for modern subjects.1

In 1758, Lomonosov published his influential work, "Predisloviye o polze knig tserkovnykh v rossiyskom yazyke" ("Preface on the Use of Church Books in the Russian Language"). In this treatise, he established a system to organize the language by classifying words into three distinct styles. He then correlated these styles with specific themes, genres, and tones, effectively creating a structured framework that combined Russian and Church Slavonic elements to form a cohesive literary standard.1

Beyond his linguistic reforms, Lomonosov was a significant figure in the development of Russian literature through his contributions to the theory of versification. He helped transition Russian poetry from the older, Polish-influenced syllabic verse to the more natural syllabotonic system, which better suited the prosodic qualities of the Russian language.1