The thesis about the centrality and authority of the concept "word" in the mental space of Russian culture is put forward. In the Russian consciousness the word is understood not only as a semiotic symbol, but as an independent entity, valuable in itself and possessing creative "objectifying" potential. This attitude to the word is expressed not only in theory, i.e., in the observations of philosophers, theologians, and linguists, not only in the poetic practice of word artists, but also in everyday consciousness, in everyday conscious or unconscious reflexion.