Matt Sundakov
ENJOY
YOUR RUSSIAN
(Russian
Consulting Services and Lessons on-Line)
Our company provides consulting services
associated with various aspects of Russian life:
language, history, culture, travel, business, etc. - you name it. You ask your question - we will answer as
soon as we can. Sometimes, we will be
able to answer immediately; other times we may need to do a careful research
before we will be able to provide a qualified response. In addition, we can help you with writing a
letter, Resume, a short story or even a poem in Russian.
Our fee is US$40 per hour. When we receive your question, we will
estimate the probable time needed to prepare our answer. Then you will decide whether or not it is
worth for you to use our services.
If you ask us to go ahead with any
particular assignment, we will ask you to send us your full contact details
including your physical and email addresses, telephone and fax numbers. After completing the job, we will deliver it
to you by email (together with our invoice).
You will need to pay within 2
weeks from the date of delivery. As a
rule, we would accept payments via PayPal (where all transaction fees are
covered by the Recipient).
We also offer Russian lessons on-line (again for US$40
per hour)
The lessons I offer are not conventional lessons of the Russian language. And not only because they will be conducted in cyberspace instead of a traditional classroom, with a teacher and a student separated by many thousands of kilometers. These lessons are not only about language, they are about many other things.
My lessons are for anyone who
is interested in the Russian language and life.
First and foremost, the lessons are aimed at people who are going to
Most people, I presume, begin to study a foreign language not only because, for one reason or another, they want to be able to read, write, speak and understand this language. They are also interested in the culture, traditions, customs and habits of the people speaking the language. My lessons will try to satisfy such curious people.
If you one of them, I believe you should enjoy my lessons, because you will study the language in a practical and entertaining way with emphasis not on grammar but on real life situations.
INTRODUCTION: Why You Will Enjoy These Lessons
These lessons are not a
conventional Russian Language course.
And these lessons are not only about language. They are much more.
Most people, I presume, begin
to study a foreign language not only because, for one reason or another, they
want to be able to read, write, speak and understand this language. They are
also interested in the culture, traditions, customs and habits of the people
speaking the language. These lessons are trying to satisfy such curious people.
Introducing them to various sides of life in
I anticipate your questions:
"How about the grammar? Will we study Russian Grammar? And if not, is it
possible to learn a foreign language without knowing grammar?"
May be it is indeed possible
to avoid learning grammar. When you speak or write your own language, you don't
think about the grammar. You may not know that English verbs have 26 tenses and
perhaps will be very surprised when you hear about this for the first time in
your life. And how are all these tenses formed? I doubt if many of you have
even thought about it. For you it is just natural: English language was with
you from your birth. You just know how to speak. And to speak correctly, you do
not need to know the structure and rules of your language.
However, for a foreign
student (unless he/she is a child), the process of learning is far from
automatic and natural. You may learn by heart many words and some phrases of
another language. But to use this language more or less properly, you need to
know some grammar in order to build sentences which can be understood and
appreciated by a native speaker.
The grammar is certainly
important. But one should not overestimate it. When I was a school boy, one of
the subjects we studied at school was foreign language. It was a compulsory
subject ‑ as every other subject studied
in Soviet Schools. In our
school the foreign language was German. We studied this language for 8 years in
a row (2 one‑hour lessons a week).
Still, in the end,
even our best students could not boast that they could speak German. We knew
German grammar, we could read German texts and translate them into Russian, but
none of us could speak even limited German or understand it by ear.
And the same system existed
in nearly all Soviet schools (certainly, there were some exceptions: in a big
city (such as Leningrad) among several hundred ordinary schools for ordinary
children you could find a dozen or two of so called Special Schools where at
least some subjects were taught in a foreign language).
You can rightfully ask, why
so obviously an ineffective system of learning foreign languages existed in so
many schools for so many years. The answer will sound for you as an anecdote,
but it was true. Until 1956, when Khrushchev denounced Stalin's personality
cult, any foreign language textbook in its introduction emphasized the
greatness of Stalin's works in the sphere of linguistics. They cited the famous words of comrade Stalin about Grammar,
where he said that Grammar is the essence and the most important
part of any language, and therefore students learning a foreign language should
first and foremost master the Grammar. And we did it, but still never managed
to master the language itself.
When in January 1980 I
arrived in
Talking over the phone was
for a long time my most depressing experience. Actually I began to shake uncontrollably
each time when the telephone rang, and the aftershocks still continued for a
long time after I hung up.
Sure, I would have felt myself much more secure and
comfortable studying at some intensive course of English language. But, apart
from the obvious necessity to work in order to support myself and my family, I
wanted to adjust to my new life as quickly as possible. I wanted to feel myself
independent in everything. And there was only one way to achieve this: to try
to do everything by myself, while overcoming the difficulties of a new language
and solving numerous problems of everyday practical situations.
And I think my determination paid off: soon I was able to do a job which required good communication skills, especially in writing. I was also able to teach English as a second language in Community Evening Classes. And the fact that I am writing this course now, hopefully, speaks for itself.
I hope you have been
persuaded by my own experience, and will agree, that the best way of studying a
foreign language is to make the emphasis on practical situations. Therefore, I
will tell you in the beginning of this course only the basic principles of
Russian Grammar in comparison with English ones. And then lesson by lesson
(which are called here Subjects), using our creative imagination, we will put
ourselves in different practical situations, as though we were living in
Thus, your study of the language will not be passive. On the contrary, it will be very active, because I want you to be involved as much as possible: you should read and write, listen to Russian language broadcasts, and try to talk in Russian loudly with yourself or even better with somebody else. Do not worry about mistakes. Step by step, depending on your determination and time involved, you will increase your vocabulary, you will improve your spelling and pronunciation, and you will become more and more fluent in Russian which, as I hope you will find by yourself, is a difficult but at the same time a very rich and fascinating language.
Obviously, all our imagined practical situations will
serve not only the purpose of learning the language, but also will give you an
opportunity to become familiar with the every day life, culture and traditions
of people living in Russia. Engrossing ourselves in these situations, we will
not reject the grammar completely. But we will not study grammar for the sake
of grammar. We will come back to grammar time and again, when we feel that we
need it to explain the origin of a word, its spelling or the sentence structure
‑ in general terms, wherever it can help us in our study. This approach
is not only practical, but it will also save us a lot of time for much more
exciting, colorful and useful discussions.
RUSSIAN ALPHABET and BASIC GRAMMAR
PRINCIPLES
Russian alphabet consists of
33 letters. The following table presents a printed image of each Russian letter
(capital and small one), its English transliteration and approximate
pronunciation.
|
Russian letter |
Letter's name in Russian |
Pronounced as |
|
|
Аа |
"ah" |
a in car |
a |
|
Бб |
"beh" |
b in bit |
b |
|
Вв |
"veh" |
v in
vine |
v |
|
Гг |
"geh" |
g in go |
g |
|
Дд |
"deh" |
d in do |
d |
|
Ее |
"yeh" |
ye in
yet |
ye |
|
Ёё |
"yo" |
yo in
yolk |
yo |
|
Жж |
"zheh" |
s in
pleasure |
zh |
|
Зз |
"zeh" |
z in zoo |
z |
|
Ии |
"ee" |
ee in
see |
i |
|
Йй |
"ee
kratkoyeh" ("short ee") |
y in boy |
y |
|
Кк |
"kah" |
k in
kitten |
k |
|
Лл |
"ehl" |
l in
lamp |
l |
|
Мм |
"ehm" |
m in map |
m |
|
Нн |
"ehn" |
n in not |
n |
|
Оо |
"oh" |
o in
folk |
o |
|
Пп |
"peh" |
p in pet |
p |
|
Рр |
"ehr" |
r in
roll (you should r-r-roll your tongue) |
r |
|
Сс |
"ehs" |
s in see |
s |
|
Тт |
"teh" |
t in too |
t |
|
Уу |
"oo" |
oo in
book (longer) |
u |
|
Фф |
"ehf" |
f in
face |
f |
|
Хх |
"khah" |
h in
house |
kh |
|
Цц |
"tseh" |
tz in
quartz |
ts |
|
Чч |
"cheh" |
ch in
chip |
ch |
|
Шш |
"shah" |
sh in
shut |
sh |
|
Щщ |
"schyah" |
sh+ch |
shch |
|
Ъъ (see Note below) |
"tvyord.yy znak" |
separation (hard)
mark |
'' |
|
Ыы |
"i" |
i in it |
.y |
|
Ьь
(see Note below) |
"myagkiy
znak" |
separation (soft)
mark |
' |
|
Ээ |
"eh" |
e in men |
e |
|
Юю |
"yoo" |
u in
university |
yu |
|
Яя |
"yah" |
ya in
yard |
ya |
Note: Both the
hard sign ъ and soft sign ь are used to separate the
consonant and the following it vowel, and sound approximately as "y"
in "boy". In addition, the soft sign ь always softens the
preceding consonant.
As soon as you have learnt by
heart from the above table how each Russian letter is pronounced (even
approximately), you will be able to read Russian words more or less correctly.
For you it will be a considerably easier task than for a Russian speaker who
has just started to learn English. While pronunciation and spelling of many
English words have little in common, Russian words in most cases are read
exactly as they are written.
A foreigner struggling with
an English text will usually not be able to pronounce words which he or she did
not meet before: it is impossible to remember all the reading rules; and the
number of exceptions is even bigger. But you will be able to read practically any Russian text even
though you may not understand it at all.
The technique of reading long
and unfamiliar Russian words is simple. At first, you should divide a selected
word into syllables. Then say together the letters contained in the first
syllable. Do the same for the second syllable, then for the third, and so on,
until you have reached the end of the word. Now, when you have pronounced
loudly each syllable of the word, say them all quickly: one after another.
For example, you want to
pronounce the Russian word "KAPABAH", which means a caravan. Let's
follow the procedure described above:
1. Divide the selected word into syllables: KA ‑ PA ‑ BAH.
2. Say together the letters contained in the first syllable.
3. Continue the same exercise with the two other syllables.
4. Say all these syllables quickly: one after another.
Using the internationally
accepted transliteration symbols presented in the above table, which allow
expression of any Russian word by letters of the English alphabet, we can now
record the correct pronunciation of the word in question: [ka-ra-`van]. WE WILL USE THESE SYMBOLS THROUGHOUT ALL OUR
LESSONS.
As the symbol ` shows, this
particular word has the stress on the third syllable. However, many Russian
words have the stress on the first or second syllable. In longer words more
than one stress may be required.
Stress is important not only for correct pronunciation. Sometimes it may even change the meaning of a word. For example, the Russian word "МУКА” can mean either flour (if pronounced: mu-`ka) or anguish (if pronounced: `mu-ka)
If you are not sure where any particular word should have the stress, check it in a dictionary.
Russian vowels are not
divided into short or long sounds: they all have medium length.
All these rules look simple enough. However, as with any other rules, the pronunciation rules in Russian language have their own exceptions. The most important of them are listed below:
1. Vowel "o" is pronounced as [o]
only when it is under the stress, e.g. the Russian word for fashion "МОДА" is read
['mo-da). In other cases [o] sounds more
like a weak [a], e.g. "ВОДА" (water) is
pronounced: [
2. The so‑called voiced
consonants (б, в, г, д, з) are pronounced
without voice (i.e. as
п,
ф, к, т, с respectively) at the end of a word or before
any of the five above listed "voiceless" consonants. For example, the Russian word садовод (a gardener) is
pronounced sa‑da‑'vot (not sa‑da‑'vod), and водка is sounded as 'vot‑ka (not 'vod‑ka)
3. In the word endings его and ого, and also in the
word сегодня (today),
letter г is pronounced as в. For instance, красного
(genitive case of the word красный ‑ red)
is pronounced 'kras‑na‑va (not 'kras‑na‑ga).
4. in the letter
combination "вств", the first
"в" is usually
not pronounced, e.g. "чувство"
(the Russian equivalent for the word “feeling”) should be read in this way:
['chu-stva].
5. Russian vowel "e" in the end of
words which have a foreign origin can be pronounced both a hard [e] (if it is
under stress) and a soft [ye] (when without stress). For example, compare Russian equivalents of words “café” and
“coffee”. The first word in Russian (spelt кафе) is pronounced [ka-`fe], however the second one
(кофе) with stress on
the first syllable has a softer ending: ['ko-fye].
Now, as I promised in my
INTRODUCTION to this course, I will give you only the basic principles of Russian Grammar in comparison with the English
ones:
(a) Russian language does not
use articles (either definite or indefinite).
(b) Unlike English nouns, all Russian nouns (not
only personal ones) have a gender: masculine, feminine or neuter. Depending on
gender, Russian nouns can have different endings even for the same Grammar Case
both in Singular and Plural form (please note that Russian nouns have six
different Grammar Cases, and each Case may require different endings).
(c) Depending on the number, gender and grammar
case, Russian nouns may also require different endings for related pronouns or
adjectives.
(d) Items (b) and (c) above reflect the biggest
difficulty in learning Russian language. How much easier to deal with English
nouns or adjectives, which do not change whatever you do with them!
Apart from possessive nouns,
English nouns change their form only in plural; but even this
transformation is very simple: usually it can be done just by adding
"s" at the end of a singular noun).
(e) An English
sentence normally has strict order: subject, predicate, object. Russian
language is much more relaxed. Take, for example, this sentence: I LOVE YOU. This is probably the most wonderful sentence
in any language. But saying this, can you express various nuances without adding new words or changing your
intonation?
English speakers do not have
much of a choice: they can change intonation and emphasis but not
the order of the words (there is, perhaps, one exception which, however, is
more appropriate for the theatre than for the every day life: "You, I
love!")
The Russian speaker is more
fortunate. The Russian equivalent for "I love you" usually sounds
this way (let's use our transliteration skills): Ya lyu-'blyu te-'bya.
However, you can say it in 5
other different ways just by shifting your words around, namely:
nobody else);
5. Te-'bya lyu-'blyu ya! (this
exclamation sounds almost as a warning: I love you, so watch out or else... )
(f) When asking
questions in Russian, you do not need to change the order of the
sentence; nor you need any special verb (like "do"
in English). For example, if you are unsure about your own feelings you can ask
with surprise in your voice: Ya te-'bya lyu-'blyu? (Do
I love you?)
Compare please this last Russian sentence with that which is given as example No.1 in the previous paragraph and means "I love you". Obviously, when you speak and cannot use the question mark, the only way to show that you are asking a question (and not making a statement) is to use the appropriate intonation: your voice moves up, becoming higher towards the end of the sentence.
(g) Unlike English language, Russian does not
use any special verbs in its negative sentences (only a negative particle не [nye], which
means “not"). Furthermore, in sentences of “she is a doctor" or "she is
not a doctor” type, the respective Russian equivalents will have no verb at
all: она доктор [a‑'na 'dok‑tar] (positive statement) or
она не доктор [a‑'na 'nye
'dok‑tar] (negative statement).
(h) And at last,
the biggest relief for a learner of Russian language: Russian has only 3 active
and 3 passive tense forms: Present, Past and Future; whereas the total number
of English tenses exceeds 20.
SUBJECT 1: WHAT IS YOUR NAME? or HOW ARE YOU
CALLED?
The choice of the first
subject Is not accidental. This Is
what helps you to begin any conversation, small or big talk, with practically
all kinds of people anywhere In the world.
When you meet a new person,
you will most certainly ask hIm/her: "What Is
your name?" Как тебя
зовут? [`kak te-`bya za-`vut]. The
Russian word for "name" is имя [`i-mya]. There is no such word in
the suggested Russian phrase, which can be translated literally as "How
are you called?"
The second word in the
Russian sentence is the word тебя which is the accusative case from
the personal pronoun ты (“you”). In Russian language ты is
not the only equivalent for "you". There is another one: Вы.
Вы is a polite,
official form, and therefore it is often used with a capital letter. Ты is friendly,
informal, and can be used with a capital letter only in the beginning of a
sentence.
People usually use ты in
the following cases:
(a)
talking with their direct
relatives: parents and grandparents, children and grandchildren, brothers and
sisters (however, with more distant relations they may use either ты or Вы depending on the age and degree of closeness
in their relationships. For example, an
uncle will call his nephew ты but will usually expect that
the nephew will show a little more respect towards his older relation);
(b)
talking with
their spouses, partners or friends;
(c) talking with children.
In most other cases, using of ты
will be impolite (sometimes even rude). At the same time, if close
friends suddenly called each other Вы, it would sound rather
ironical and/or would demonstrate their alienation.
When two adult
people have just met each other (and for a time being after that) they will
most certainly use formal Вы. They may continue to call each
other In
this way for the rest of their lives. However, in many cases they gradually
begin to feel that they have become friends. Once they feel this, they will
usually start to call each other ты – they are now on informal terms.
If you are talking about your
relationship with somebody else and have a desire to emphasize that you are
friends, you can say: мы с ним на ты. [' m.y 'snim na
't.y] - We call each other "ты".
If you are talking about a
very famous and influential person, you will certainly pronounce the above
phrase with great pride, and in most cases your interlocutor will be noticeably
impressed.
Now you understand that the
question suggested at the beginning of this chapter will be appropriate only if
it is applied to a child (for our purposes a teenager can also be included in
this category). You will obviously not ask a friend of yours such a silly
question (presumably you have already known his/her name for a long time).
But if you want to know a
name of an adult person, you should ask: Как Baс
зовут? where Bac is the
accusative case from the personal pronoun Вы. The same
pronoun вы, however with a small letter, is used when you
address more than one person (in this case it does not matter whether you are
talking to relatives, friends or people who you see for the first time in your
life).
When you are asked Как Bac зовут?, you should answer: меня зовут [me-'nya za-'vut]
... and then you will give your name.
Literal translation of
English "What is your name?" Как
Ваше (твоё)
имя? [`kak `Va-she (tvo-`yo)
`i-mya] can equally be used, even though the latter is not so common as the
structure discussed above. The appropriate reply to the last question will
be: моё
имя ... [mo-`yo `i-mya] ‑ My
name is ...
Now let's talk about names.
This is a fascinating subject by itself.
Each person living in
MALE NAMES FEMALE
NAMES
[Symbols “ ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑“ connect equivalent male and female names]
Александр
(Caшa, Шypa) ‑‑‑‑‑‑--------------
Александра (Caшa, Шypa)
[Alyek-`sandr ('Sa-sha,
'Shu-ra)] [Alyek-`san-dra
('Sa-sha, 'Shu-ra)]
Алексей
(Алёша) Алла
(Алёна)
[Alyek-'sey (A-'Iyo-sha)] ['A-la
(A-'Iyo-na)]
Анатолий
(Толя) Анастасия
(Ася)
A-na-'to-liy
('Tolya)] [A-na-sta-'si-ya
(`A-sya)]
Андрей
(Андрюша) Aнна
(Аня)
[An-'dryey (An-'dryu-sha)] [`An-na ('A-nya)]
Aнтон (Aнтоша)
‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑--------------------
Aнтонина
(Тоня)
[An-'ton (An-'to-sha)] [An-to-'ni-na
('To-nya)]
Борис
(Боря) Бася
[Ba-'ris ('Bo-rya)] ['Ba-sya]
Baдим
(Вадик) Бронислава
(Броня)
[
Валентин
(Валя) ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑-----------------
Валентина
(Валя)
[Va-lyen-`tin (`Va-lya)] [Va-lyen-'ti-na ('Va-lya)]
Валерий
(Валера) ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑----------------
Валерия
(Лера)
[
Bceволод (Ceвa) Дарья (Даша)
[`Vsye-va-lat ('Sye-va)] [`Dar’-ya ('Da-sha)]
Вячеслав (Слава) Eвa
[Vya-chye-`slaf ('Sla-va)) [`Ye-va]
Геннадий (Геня)
[Gye-`na-diy ('Gye-nya)]
Георгий
(Жора, Гоша)
[Gye-'or-giy (`Zho-ra, `Go-sha)]
Герман (Гера)
[`Ger-man (`Gye-ra)]
Глеб
[Glyep]
Григорий
(Гриша)
[Gri-`go-riy (`Gri-sha)]
Даниил (Даня)
[Da-ni-`il
(`Da-nya)]
Дмитрий (Дима)
['Dmi-triy (`Di-ma)]
Евгений
(Женя) ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑-------------------
Евгения
(Женя)
[Yev-`ge-niy ('Zhe-nya)] .[Yev-`ge-ni-ya (`Zhe-nya)]
Егор
(Гоша) Екатерина
(Катя)
[Ye-'gor ('Go-sha)] [Ye-ka-tye-`ri-na
(`Кa-tya)]
Ефим
(Фима) Елена
(Лена)
[Ye-`fim (`Fi-ma)] [Ye-`lye-na (`Lye-na)]
Захар
Елизавета
(Лиза)
[Za-'khar] [Ye-li-za-`vye-ta (`Li-za)]
Иван (Ваня) Жанна
[I-`van (`Va-nya)] [`Zha-na]
Игнат Зинаида
(Зина)
[ig-`nat] [Zi-na-`ida (`Zi-na)]
Игорь (Игорёк) 3oя
[ `Igor' (I-go-`ryok)] [ `Zoya]
Илья (Ильюша) Инна
[I-`lya (I-`lyu-sha)] [ `Inna]
Иннокентий
(Кеша) Ирина
(Ира)
[I-na-`ken-tiy (`Kye-sha)] [I-`ri-na (`Ira)]
Кирилл (Кира) ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑-----------------------
Кира
[Ki-`ril (`Ki-ra)] [`Ki-ra]
Климент
(Клим) Клавдия
(Клава)
[`Kli-myent (Klim)] [`Klav-di-ya (`Kla-va)]
Константин
(Костя) Ксения
(Ксана)
[
Лев (Лёва) Лариca (Лopa)
[Lyef (`Lyo-va)] [La-'ri sa (`Lo-ra)]
Леонид
(Лёня) Лидия
(Лида)
[Lyeо-`nit ('Lyo-nya)] ['Li-di-ya
(`Li-da)]
Максим
(Максимка) Любовь
(Люба)
[Mak-`sim (Mak-`sim-ka)] [Lyu-`bof' (`Lyu-ba)]
Maтвей
(Мотя) Людмила
(Люда, Мила)
[Ma-`tvyey (`Mo-tya)] [Lyud-`mila (`Lyu-da, `Mi-la))
Mирон Марина
[Mi-`ron] [Ma-`ri-na]
Михаил
(Миша) Mapия
(Маша)
[Mi-kha-`il ('Mi-sha)] [Ma-'ri-ya
(`Ma-sha)
Никита Mapтa
[Ni-'ki-ta] [`Мar-ta]
Николай
(Коля) Hадежда
(Надя)
[Ni-ka-`lay ('Ko-lya)] [Na-'dyezh-da
('Na-dya)]
Олег
(Алик) Haталья
(Haташа)
[A-`lyek (`A-lik)] [Na-`tal'-ya (Na-`ta-sha)]
Павел
(Пaшa) Hина
[`Pa-vyel (`Pa-sha)] [`Ni-na]
Пётр
(Пeтя) Ольга
(Oля)
[`Pyotr (`Pye-tya)] [`Ol'-ga (`O-lya)]
Pодион
(Родя) Полина
(Поля)
[Ro-di-`on (`Ro-dya)] [
Роман
(Рома) Paиca(Paя)
[Ra-`man (`Ro-ma)] [Ra-`i-sa (`Ra-ya)]
Pостислав (Cлaвa) Pимма
[Ra-sti-`slaf (`Sla-va)] [`Ri-ma]
Семён (Сеня) Cветланa
(Cветa)
[Sye-`myon (`Sye-nya)] [Sve-`tla-na (`Sve-ta)]
Серафим
(Cим) ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑----------------
Серафима (Cима)
[Sye-ra-`fim (`Sim)] [Sye-ra-`fi-ma (`Si-ma)]
Cepreй (Cepёжa) Coфия (Coфa,
Coня)
[Syer-`gyey (Sye-`ryo-zha)] [So-`fi-ya (`So-fa, `So-nya)]
Cтепан (Cтёпа)
‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑------------------Cтепанида
(Cтёпа)
[Stye-`pan (`Styo-pa)] [Stye-pa-`ni-da
(`Styo-pa)]
Tимофей (Tим,
Tимоша) Тамарa
(Тома)
[Ti-ma-`fyey (Tim, Ti-`mo-sha)] [Ta-`ma-ra (`To-ma)]
Tихон Татьяна
(Таня)
[`Ti-khan] [Ta-`tya-na (`Ta-nya)]
Tpoфим Ульяна
(Уля)
[Tra-`fim] [U-`l'ya-na (`U-lya)]
Фёдор
(Федя) Устинья
(Устя)
[`Fyo-dar (`Fye-dya)] [U-`stin'-ya (`U-stya)]
Филипп
(Филя) Фаина
(Фаня)
[`Fi-lip (`Fi-lya)] [Fa-`i-na (`Fa-nya)]
Харитон
[Kha-ri-`ton]
Эдуард (Эдик)
[E-du-`art (`E-dik)]
Юлий
‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑----------------------------
Юлия (Юля)
[`Yu-liy] [`Yu-li-ya (`Yu-lya)]
Юрий (Юра)
[`Yu-riy (`Yu-ra)]
Яков (Яша)
[`Ya-kaf (`Ya-sha)]
Ян ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑-------------------------------
Яна
[Yan] [`Ya-na]
I have listed here only the most common names of ethnic
Russians. But,
It is interesting to note, however, that most of so‑called
"Russian" names themselves were adopted from various ancient
languages: Hebrew, Greek, Latin, etc.
Most of Russian male
surnames are made up by adding endings oв, ев
and ин to all kinds of nouns, including first names of
people (corresponding еndings for female surnames are: oвa, eвa and
инa),
for example: Иванов(а), Андреев(а),
Никитин(а)
[I-va-`nov(a), An-`drye-yev(a),
Ni-`ki-tin(a)]
Quite common also are surnames with endings ский (for women ская),
e.g. Ивановский (Ивановская)
[I-va-`nov-skiy] [I-va-`nov-ska-ya]
and ич (both for male
and female), e.g. Мазуркевич [Ma-zur-`kye-vich]
Typical Ukrainian surnames have non‑changeable endings енко and ко
e.g. Степаненко [Stye-pa-`nen-ka] and Глебко [Glyep-`ko].
Many Jewish people living in
Либерман [Li-byer-`man]
and Гринберг [`Grin-byerk].
People of the Georgian nationality have two main types of surnames:
one with the ending швили (for
example, Джугашвили
[Dzhu-ga-`shvi-li],
another with the
ending дзе, e.g. Шеварнадзе [She-var-`na-dze].
Хачатурян
[Kha-cha-tu-`ryan] is an example of a typical Armenian surname.
As you can see, people
belonging to different ethnic groups can have quite different types of surnames
or фамилий [fa-`mi-liy].
(The latter is the genitive case of the word фамилии [fa-`mi-li-I], which is plural from фамилия).
Фамилия [fa-`mi-li-ya] is the Russian word
for surname. Don't you think that it sounds quite similar to the English words
"familiar" and “family”?
Indeed, фамилия is a family
name. A family = семья [sye-`m’ya];
A family name = семейное имя [sye-`myey-na-ye `i-mya].
Unlike the surnames, the
principles of formation of middle names are surprisingly identical for all
people living in
After the above explanations,
it would be logical for you to expect that отчество is made up of the
first name of a person's father plus some endings. I will not disappoint you:
you are absolutely right. And there are only three types of these endings both
for men and women, namely:
For example, if a man whose name is Aндрей has a son and a daughter, the
middle name (отчество) of the former will
be Aндреевич and that of the
latter Aндреевна.
But if a father's name is, say, Иван, the
middle names of his chidren will be Иванович and Ивановна respectively.
Now wе know
that a full name of any person living in
If the above
person has two
children: a son Пётр and a daughter Наталья, their full names
will be, accordingly, Пётр Андреевич Иванов and Наталья Андреевна Иванова.
Like in English‑speaking
countries, the full name in
But that is not all. The
Russian language is extremely flexible. Using different suffixes with the same
name, you can express the whole range of subtle differences in your attitude
toward a person. For example, Haташа
can be called with love and
tenderness as Haташeнька [Na-`ta-shen'-ka] or Haташeчка [Na-`ta-shech-ka]. In a more careless but still in a quite
friendly way, you can call her Haташка [Na-`tash-ka]. (Warning: don't use this latter form,
unless you are really close friends.
Otherwise, the effect can be the opposite to
what you actually wanted: it may sound rude.)
When Haташа is not a girl any more but a grown‑up
woman, most people will call her respectfully по имени и отчеству [pa
`i-mye-ni `i `ot-che-stvu], which means "using her
first and middle name". For
example, at work only friends will call her ты (do you remember
we discussed it before?) and Haташа. Other people will call her Наталья Андреевна (and certainly, Вы).
In a very official way (especially
if she served in the army) she could be called товарищ Иванова
[ta-`va-rishch I-va-`no-va], where the
first word means "comrade" and the second, as we assumed, is her
surname (or фамилия).
If the same товарищ Иванова happened to be
(God forbid!) a criminal, she will be called by authorities in court as rpaжданкa
[gra-`zhdan-ka]
Иванова, and inside a
prison simply Иванова.
Гpaжданкa literally means а woman‑citizen. A man‑citizen
in Russian is rpaжданин [gra-zhda-`nin].
But what if you need to start some "street" conversation with
a person you see for the first time in your life and obviously don't know
his/her name? Depending on the sex and the age group, you can call:
(a)
a boy ‑ мальчик [`mal'-chik);
(b) a girl ‑ девочка [`dye-vach-ka];
(c)
a young man (somebody between 15 and 25 years old) – молодой человек [ma-la-`doy
che-la-`vyek];
(d)
a young woman (approximately in the same age group) – девушка [`dye-vush-ka].
Strictly speaking, the word девушка means a young unmarried woman.
Therefore, some young married women may feel offended if you call them девушка. But what can you call them or, for that matter,
any adult woman?
A man of any age in the old
So what could you do? We
mentioned before the word
rpaжданкa. You could use this word to attract the
attention of a woman in a queue, in a bus, and in other public places. As you
have already learnt, this word does have an equivalent in masculine gender,
namely: rpaжданин.
An elderly, ordinary looking
woman can also be called бабушка [`ba‑bu‑shka],
which literally means
“grandma”. An elderly man
in similar circumstances can be called дедушка [`dye‑du‑shka], which means “granddad”.
But, if you talk to an
elderly woman who is smartly dressed and looks “upper‑class", please
do not call her бабушка ‑ she may be
insulted and can in turn insult you.
If you are still unsure how
to start a "street" conversation with a person you don't know, say simply "Excuse
me, please". But of course, it will
be better if you say the same in Russian, i.e.
Извините пожалуйста [iz‑vi‑'ni‑tye
pa‑'zha‑lu‑sta] or
Простите пожалуйста [pra‑'sti‑tye
pa‑'zha‑lu‑sta].
I think we struck this polite note just in time,
because our next lesson is
dedicated to greetings, introductions and POLITE EXPRESSIONS.
If you now wish to have
lesson #2, I would be happy to hear from you.
My contact details are shown below:
Matt
Sundakov,
Main
Email: matt@bookwebtranslation.com
Back-up email: matt.sundakov@gmail.com
Phone:
(+61 3) 935 57 552
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updated: