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IntroductionRussia

Languages in RussiaRussian language

Russians vs Americans

Russia, Russian language and Russians

Ekaterina Vylomova

Fulbright scholar at Montclair State University

March 19, 2014

E. Vylomova Russia, Russian language and Russians

IntroductionRussia



Brief bio

Brief Bio

MSc, Bauman Moscow State Technical University

BSc, Bauman Moscow State Technical University

Yandex School of Data Analysis (Moscow Institute of Physics& Technology)


IntroductionRussia



Brief bio

Brief Bio





IntroductionRussia



Brief bio

Brief Bio





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Basic Facts

Brie�y

Brief Information

the largest country in the world

bordering with 18 countries

65% of its territory is permafrost

the lowest temperature is -71 C(-95.8 F)

Population

143 million people

Moscow: 12 million people

Saint Petersburg: 5 million people


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Basic Facts

Brie�y


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Basic Facts

Moscow. Red Square

Ìîñêâà. Êðàñíàÿ ïëîùàäüMoscow.Red Square


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Basic Facts

Saint Petersburg

Ñàíêò-Ïåòåðáóðã - îêíî â ÅâðîïóWindow to the West and the Venice of the North


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Basic Facts

Saint Petersburg

Ñàíêò-Ïåòåðáóðã - îêíî â ÅâðîïóWindow to the West and the Venice of the North


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Basic Facts

Travel across Russia

Ïîåçä Ìîñêâà-Âëàäèâîñòîê! Moscow-Vladivostok train!


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Basic Facts


Ïëàöêàðòíûé âàãîí(Platzkarten-Wagen) - èäåàëüíîå ìåñòî äëÿîáùåíèÿ! Couchette car: a perfect place for communication!


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Basic Facts


Èëè ïîåõàòü íà ìàøèíå...or go by car...


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Àëòàé. ÃîðûAltai mountains


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Óðàëüñêèå ãîðûThe Ural mountains


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Àëìàçíàÿ âîðîíêà, ã. Ìèðíûé, ßêóòèÿMassive diamond pit in Mirny, Yakutiya


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Êàì÷àòêàKamchatka


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Ïåòðîïàâëîâñê-Êàì÷àòñêèéPetropavlovsk-Kamchatsky


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ÊàðåëèÿKarelia


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ÀíàïàAnapa


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Most common languages

more than 100 languages

92% are Russian native speakers

Most common: Ukrainian, Belarusian, Armenian, German,Tatar


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Basic Facts

Ethnics


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HistoryRussian phoneticsRussian lexiconRussian grammar&syntaxRussian and English

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Turgenev I.S.,1882

Âî äíè ñîìíåíèé, âî äíè òÿãîñòíûõ ðàçäóìèé î ñóäüáàõ ìîåéðîäèíû,- òû îäèí ìíå ïîääåðæêà è îïîðà, î âåëèêèé, ìîãó÷èé,ïðàâäèâûé è ñâîáîäíûé ðóññêèé ÿçûê! Íå áóäü òåáÿ - êàê íåâïàñòü â îò÷àÿíèå ïðè âèäå âñåãî, ÷òî ñîâåðøàåòñÿ äîìà? Íîíåëüçÿ âåðèòü, ÷òîáû òàêîé ÿçûê íå áûë äàí âåëèêîìó íàðîäó!


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Turgenev I.S.,1882

In days of doubt, in days of painful thoughts about the fortunes ofmy native land, you alone are my support and stay, o great, mighty,truthful, and free Russian language! If it weren't for you, how couldI not help falling into despair in view of everything that is takingplace at home? But it is impossible not to believe that such alanguage was given to a great people!


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History of Russian language

Slavic language of Indo-European family

IX cent. Cyril and Methodius(Thessaloniki) established Russianalphabet

IX-XVII church language only

Peter I reforms: beginning of Russian literary language(Derzhavin)


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History of Russian language

XVIII: Russian poetry era

Alexander Pushkin: founder of modern Russian literarylanguageRussian language proved to be suitable for the poetrydevelopment. This is the best criterion for estimation ofphonetic properties of language.


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Àëåêñàíäð Ïóøêèí

ß âàñ ëþáèë: ëþáîâü åùå, áûòü ìîæåò,

Â äóøå ìîåé óãàñëà íå ñîâñåì;

Íî ïóñòü îíà âàñ áîëüøå íå òðåâîæèò;

ß íå õî÷ó ïå÷àëèòü âàñ íè÷åì.

Alexander Pushkin

I loved you; even now I may confess,

Some embers of my love their �re retain;

But do not let it cause you more distress,

I do not want to sadden you again.


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Number poems

Cheerful

2(dva) 15(pyatnadtsat') 42(sorok dva)42(sorok dva) 15(pyatnadtsat')37(tridtsat' sem') 08(nol' vosem') 5(pyat')20(dvadtsat') 20(dvadtsat') 20(dvadtsat')!

Sad

511(pyat'sot odinnadtsat') 16(shestnadtsat')5(pyat') 20(dvadtsat') 337(trista tridtsat' sem')712(sem'sot dvenadtsat') 19(devyatnadtsat')2000047(dva milliona sorok sem')


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What does Russian speech look like?

What does Russian speech look like?

I have always thought that the Russian language is a mixtureof Spanish with a rounded 'r' , French with a 'zh' sound addedand rough German sounds. (Jeremy's teacher, USA)

For me, the Russian language is something between a walrus'growl and a Brahms' melody. (Abe, an accountant, UK)

Russian language is like a very badly adjusted radio: it is full ofextra rustles, crackling and squeaking. (Maria, a translator,France)


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Tongue twisters

Tongue twisters

Øëà Ñàøà ïî øîññå è ñîñàëà ñóøêóSasha walked down the avenue and sucked a biscuit.

Íà äâîðå òðàâà, íà òðàâå äðîâà,Ðàç äðîâà, äâà äðîâà, òðè äðîâàÍå ðóáè äðîâà íà òðàâå äâîðà.There is grass in the yard, there are logs on the grass, don't

chop the logs on the grass of the yard.

Íå õî÷åò êîñîé êîñèòü êîñîé, ãîâîðèò, êîñà êîñà.A hare does't want to scythe and says that the scythe is skew.


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Facts about Russian lexicon

Facts about Russian lexicon

Almost all the words starting with 'À' and 'Ô' have foreignroots: àëãåáðà (Arabic 'al-gabr'), àëüáîì (Latin 'albus'),ôóòáîë (English 'football').

Many words from France, Germany, Holland (Peter I), Greece,Poland, Turkic and Arabian origins. Very few from China andJapan.

Nowadays there are plenty of English words (from IT &business areas): êîìïüþòåð(computer), äåâàéñ(device),ïîðò(port), òèì-áèëäèíã(team building),äåâåëîïåð(developer)


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Russian and other languages: lexical map


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Facts about Russian grammar&syntax

Highly in�exional morphology

The word order is usually SVO, but it's not �xed (ß ïîøåë âøêîëó. (I went to the school). Ïîøåë ÿ â øêîëó. Â øêîëóïîøåë ÿ. Â øêîëó ÿ ïîøåë.). The semantics of each case is abit di�erent

There are no articles(no the/a/an), so many Russians haveproblems understanding them in languages like English

There is incredible number of exceptions to the rules. Justrepeat and memorize!


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Examples of di�erences

YOU

Di�erent meanings of 'You': 'âû' if talking to many people, 'òû' iftalking to your friend/family member or person of your age and'Âû' if talking to somebody you don't know/a person older thanyou

False friends

Ìàãàçèí(magazine) - shop, Ëóê(look) - onion,

Àðòèñò(artist) - actor, Ïðîñïåêò(prospect) - avenue

Êëåé(clay) - glue, Ëèñò(list) - leaf


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GreetingsSmiling and humour senseCultural and mental di�erences5 cents of positive

Greetings

Greetings

Two forms of greetings: 'çäðàâñòâóéòå'('zdravstvuite', polite,formal) and 'ïðèâåò'('privet',informal)

Russians usually don't ask "how are you?"everyone, but oncethey are asked they start giving full and detailed answer:)

Russians say greetings just once. If you keep saying 'Privet'many times during the day to the same person, he/she will beconfused and saó 'Ìû óæå çäîðîâàëèñü'('My uje zdorovalis').

Russians don't say 'Hi' to anybody on the street and peoplethey don't know.


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Smiling and humour sense

Smiling

Most of Russians don't just smile. Russians perceive smile like aninformative sign meaning there is a great sympathy or any othermix of feelings

Sense of Humour

Russians have a great sense of humour and love telling short funnystories (we call them "anekdoty")


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Cultural and mental di�erences

Comfort zone

Russians stand very near to each other in lines, and the 'comfortdistance' in general is much shorter than in Europe.For Russian people CZ doesn't extend beyond their ownapartments/cars/clothes/etc. They don't care much about othersand everything out of their CZ.


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5 cents of positive

Buses

if a person is running after bus, the bus most likely will stopand let the person in

if you want to get out of a crowded metro or bus, you keepasking the person in front of you, if she or he is also gettingout('Âû âûõîäèòå?'), and go on like this until you reachperson that is going out, and wait peacefully


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5 cents of positive

Most of Russians

are very friendly to foreigners

believe in faith

always complain about their lives/president/politics

ascribe every ailment known to man as 'äàâëåíèå'(pressure)

believe that black cat crossing their road is a bad sign

consider whistling brings bad luck and no money

celebrate SO MANY holidays(New Year, Christmas,International Women's Day, Victory's Day, Independence Day,etc.) having 3 more weeks each year for vacation (which isusually 28 days a year).


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5 cents of positive

Most of Russians

don't pay for their education (our Govt pays for it)

travel for vacation to Turkey, Egypt and Goa(India)

'êîñÿò îò àðìèè' - try to avoid serving in Russian army (eachmale is required to serve one year)

like playing with words and �nd origins ('âðåìÿ'-'âåðòåòü'):)

are very hospitable:)


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Ñïàñèáî!Thank you!

Âîïðîñû? Questions?
