Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 43

Thread: On mixing languages and discerning Russians

  1. #1
    Завсегдатай
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    с. Хреновое Воронежской обл.
    Posts
    2,481
    Rep Power
    17

    On mixing languages and discerning Russians

    SPLIT FROM http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtop ... 03c9ea1787

    That's interesting. Why would people from, say, Tajikistan speak Russian mixed with English?

  2. #2
    Старший оракул
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    From Ukraine
    Posts
    818
    Rep Power
    14
    Because they hear Russian a lot at work on the streets, and not Russian all the time. But I don't fully understand your question.
    Vrei să pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei
    Nu ma, nu ma iei, nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei
    Chipul tau si dragostea din tei
    Mi-amintesc de ochii tai

  3. #3
    Завсегдатай
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Seventh
    Posts
    4,113
    Rep Power
    18
    Quote Originally Posted by Pravit
    That's interesting. Why would people from, say, Tajikistan speak Russian mixed with English?
    i think MR is talking about Russians in the former Soviet Republics.
    Ingenting kan stoppa mig
    In Post-Soviet Russia internet porn downloads YOU!

  4. #4
    Завсегдатай
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    с. Хреновое Воронежской обл.
    Posts
    2,481
    Rep Power
    17
    immigrants from the former Soviet republics
    Right, so I'm thinking Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc.

    their Russian mixes with English in such interesting ways
    This could either mean that they came to an English-speaking country to live and their English has some Russian characteristics, or that they came to Russia to live, and for some reason their Russian has English characteristics.

    Вам колбасу послайсать или так?
    Obviously, they aren't speaking English, so I assume he's referring to people from the former Soviet republics who came to Russia to live.

    Which brings us to our question: Why would Tajiks speak Russian with heavy English influence? Why not Tajik influence, or something else?

  5. #5
    Старший оракул
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    From Ukraine
    Posts
    818
    Rep Power
    14
    They come to America speaking Russian normally, but living there for a while it will start to mix with English. Because they hear English a lot on the streets, in the stores, at a restaurant. If someone first comes from Uzbekistan or another place they won't immigrate from their land with an English influence on their language.
    Vrei să pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei
    Nu ma, nu ma iei, nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei
    Chipul tau si dragostea din tei
    Mi-amintesc de ochii tai

  6. #6
    Administrator MasterAdmin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    MasterRussian.com
    Posts
    1,730
    Rep Power
    16
    Pravit: Let's make it clear and continue with the topic. I was referring to all Russian-speaking communities in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries.

    Former Soviet Republics included:

    Armenian SSR
    Azerbaijan SSR
    Byelorussian SSR
    Estonian SSR
    Georgian SSR
    Kazakh SSR
    Kirghiz SSR
    Latvian SSR
    Lithuanian SSR
    Moldavian SSR
    Russian SFSR
    Tadzhik SSR
    Turkmen SSR
    Ukrainian SSR
    Uzbek SSR

    http://www.answers.com/topic/republics- ... viet-union
    ~ Мастерадминов Мастерадмин Мастерадминович ~

  7. #7
    Завсегдатай
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    с. Хреновое Воронежской обл.
    Posts
    2,481
    Rep Power
    17
    Ohhhh. So why would they be asking people in the supermarket in, say, Victor, Iowa if they wanted them to послайсать?

  8. #8
    Administrator MasterAdmin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    MasterRussian.com
    Posts
    1,730
    Rep Power
    16
    Pravit, that's the whole point of this thread! That is how many Russian-speaking immigrants speak Russian in the U.S. Some of them don't even know English but the English language influence is so great that they start incorporating English words into their Russian.
    ~ Мастерадминов Мастерадмин Мастерадминович ~

  9. #9
    Завсегдатай
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    с. Хреновое Воронежской обл.
    Posts
    2,481
    Rep Power
    17
    My point is that most Americans wouldn't understand it, be it послайсать or нарезать. Or are you talking about chance meetings between Russian supermarket workers and Russian people trying to buy meat? Do they have some kind of magical ability to discern who is Russian and who isn't?

  10. #10
    Administrator MasterAdmin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    MasterRussian.com
    Posts
    1,730
    Rep Power
    16
    Quote Originally Posted by Pravit
    My point is that most Americans wouldn't understand it, be it послайсать or нарезать. Or are you talking about chance meetings between Russian supermarket workers and Russian people trying to buy meat? Do they have some kind of magical ability to discern who is Russian and who isn't?
    Chance meetings? Well, you should visit a Russian neighborhood here in the U.S. And yes, they do have that "magical" ability. It's a piece of cake for a Russian to discern another Russian in the U.S.
    ~ Мастерадминов Мастерадмин Мастерадминович ~

  11. #11
    Завсегдатай
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    с. Хреновое Воронежской обл.
    Posts
    2,481
    Rep Power
    17
    Do they ever mistake other people of Eastern European descent for Russians? How "Russian" are Serbs or Czechs? I'm Asian, and I honestly cannot tell the (physical) difference from Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. Well, there are some extreme examples of each one, but for most people I can't.

  12. #12
    Administrator MasterAdmin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    MasterRussian.com
    Posts
    1,730
    Rep Power
    16
    Quote Originally Posted by Pravit
    Do they ever mistake other people of Eastern European descent for Russians? How "Russian" are Serbs or Czechs? I'm Asian, and I honestly cannot tell the (physical) difference from Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. Well, there are some extreme examples of each one, but for most people I can't.
    They can be "not sure" and in order not to be mistaken they can ask directly or listen to the person's accent and observe numerous other minor details. When they are done with that and see that the person in front of them is speaking Russian they can start asking "Вам колбасу наслайсать или так?"
    ~ Мастерадминов Мастерадмин Мастерадминович ~

  13. #13
    Завсегдатай
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    с. Хреновое Воронежской обл.
    Posts
    2,481
    Rep Power
    17
    Hrrmmrmmm. So most Eastern Europeans can recognize other Eastern Europeans? What's the trick?

  14. #14
    Завсегдатай kalinka_vinnie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Sunnyvale, Cali
    Posts
    5,771
    Rep Power
    18
    Even I can tell East Europeans from West Europeans, just like I can tell if someone is German, French, Spanish, etc. And telling Asian people apart isn't that hard either. It's easy, get to know many different people from one country and you will start seeing the general trait...
    Hei, rett norsken min og du er død.
    I am a notourriouse misspeller. Be easy on me.
    Пожалуйста! Исправляйте мои глупые ошибки (но оставьте умные)!
    Yo hablo español mejor que tú.
    Trusnse kal'rt eturule sikay!!! ))

  15. #15
    Administrator MasterAdmin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    MasterRussian.com
    Posts
    1,730
    Rep Power
    16
    Pravit, I can even tell the (physical) difference between Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. Probably not every time but quiet often.
    ~ Мастерадминов Мастерадмин Мастерадминович ~

  16. #16
    Почётный участник
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    75
    Rep Power
    14
    I usually can tell when someone looks Russian, or Polish.

  17. #17
    DDT
    DDT is offline
    Завсегдатай DDT's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    I have given up the Gambling, the Wine and the Cows!.. I'm in St Petersburg Russia
    Posts
    3,368
    Rep Power
    17
    Quote Originally Posted by Pravit
    Hrrmmrmmm. So most Eastern Europeans can recognize other Eastern Europeans? What's the trick?
    What a very timely coincidence this is. Just last night I walked into a local Russian market with my friend Olga who has only been living in the US for months. The Russian storekeeper probably knew me already from previous visits to the market but he had never seen Olga. I watched to see how he would react to her, to see if he would address her in English or not. It was like he knew that she was Russian immediately and spoke to her as such.
    Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself. - Chief Joseph, Nez Perce

  18. #18
    N
    N is offline
    Почтенный гражданин
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Moscow
    Posts
    377
    Rep Power
    14
    All Russians have a special built-in identification friend-or-foe system from birth.

  19. #19
    Завсегдатай kalinka_vinnie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Sunnyvale, Cali
    Posts
    5,771
    Rep Power
    18
    Quote Originally Posted by N
    All Russians have a special built-in identification friend-or-foe system from birth.
    Hei, rett norsken min og du er død.
    I am a notourriouse misspeller. Be easy on me.
    Пожалуйста! Исправляйте мои глупые ошибки (но оставьте умные)!
    Yo hablo español mejor que tú.
    Trusnse kal'rt eturule sikay!!! ))

  20. #20
    Завсегдатай
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Posts
    1,607
    Rep Power
    15
    Whenever I fly to Britain the Russian customs officers at Pulkovo Airport address me in English before they see my Russian passport, but this never happens to this English bloke I know - they always take him for a Russian!
    Show yourself - destroy our fears - release your mask

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. About world languages...
    By A.S. in forum Fun Stuff
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: November 16th, 2009, 12:39 PM
  2. Intro to these Languages. How are they different?
    By MasterAdmin in forum Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian
    Replies: 56
    Last Post: March 3rd, 2006, 06:09 AM
  3. Is college the way to go for languages?
    By Joel in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: August 17th, 2005, 12:19 AM
  4. I have always had an interest in languages
    By TATY in forum Translate This!
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: May 5th, 2005, 11:15 PM
  5. languages
    By possopo in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 159
    Last Post: February 15th, 2005, 10:22 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  


Russian Lessons                           

Russian Tests and Quizzes            

Russian Vocabulary