Thread: Russian spelling

What do you think of Russian spelling? Is it too complex? What would you like to change in it? WWhat are positive features of Russian spelling if there are some?

As a native English speaker, I think that Russian spelling is wonderfully, blessedly, beautifully logical!

Perhaps the only thing I would change is to replace щ with a completely different letter that does not resemble ш -- maybe using $ or ç, for example. So щи да каша пища наша would instead be spelled $и да каша пи$а наша or çи да каша пиçа наша. This would make it easier for me, as a foreigner, to remember when to use the hard "sh" and when to use the soft "shch".

Apart from that, I don't think I'd change anything.

Compared to English, Russian spelling is a dream.
I can't tell much difference between и, й and unstressed ое and ой so I'd make them all one letter. I'd get rid of ъ too.

Agree, it's simpler than English and some other languages, because there is some relatively consistent logic to it.

I still think the different between Ш and Щ is a bit muddy and hard to remember and occassionally I put и where there should be ы. But it doesn't feel complicated or impossible to master.

It is not always easy to guess which part of a word should be emphasized. But adding apostrophes to indicate would just complexity so I don't think that should be done.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Perhaps the only thing I would change is to replace щ with a completely different letter that does not resemble ш -- maybe using $ or ç, for example. So щи да каша пища наша would instead be spelled $и да каша пи$а наша or çи да каша пиçа наша. This would make it easier for me, as a foreigner, to remember when to use the hard "sh" and when to use the soft "shch".

According to the common spelling logic in Russian soft and hard sounds are spelled by the same letter, sounds become soft when their letters are followed by е, ю, я, ё, и, ь. So, we can dispose of щ completely.
Here is the acoustic way of spelling: Ши да каша пишя наша. Слышыш?

I can't tell much difference between и, й and unstressed ое and ой so I'd make them all one letter.

No, you did not train your ear properly yet. Vowel always makes a syllable. и is a syllable, й is not. ое is two syllables, ой is one. Even when the syllable is not pronounced clearly, it is received by the mind of native speaker. You can try to read Russian classical poetry paying special attention to meter. Meter is very important even in normal speech although it is irregular. Even the wisest phrase can not become catchy without proper rhythmic metrics in Russian.

I'd get rid of ъ too.

Yep, it can be replaced by й. Подйезд, отйявленный.

because there is some relatively consistent logic to it.

ветреный - безветренный
поодиночке - в одиночку
полбанана - пол-апельсина.

the beauty of Russian is, probably, in its complexity

If languages were computer languages, then I think Russian is C or C++ or even machine code.
While English is more like.... Visual Basic maybe, LOL!

Originally Posted by Marcus

ветреный - безветренный...

ПРАВОПИСАНИЕ Н И НН В РАЗНЫХ ЧАСТЯХ РЕЧИ

Originally Posted by it-ogo

According to the common spelling logic in Russian soft and hard sounds are spelled by the same letter, sounds become soft when their letters are followed by е, ю, я, ё, и, ь. So, we can dispose of щ completely.
Here is the acoustic way of spelling: Ши да каша пишя наша.

It should be "Шши да каша пишшя наша" because щ represents a double soft ш. I vote for щ.

I remember Serbs were frightened by Russian spelling. They said it was like English.

If languages were computer languages, then I think Russian is C or C++ or even machine code.
While English is more like.... Visual Basic maybe, LOL!

I would disagree with you on that... Machine code is a completely clear and logical thing. You can expect an unambiguous result from what you write in it. I'd say English is more like ASM and C-like languages, and Russian reminds me of Pascal/Fortran or even something like Perl... xD

Яндекс.Народ
I've invented a game for those who study the Russian language. I've recorded three words and suggest you to spell them. It will be more interesting, if you don't know the words. The link is above.

Originally Posted by Eric C.

I would disagree with you on that... Machine code is a completely clear and logical thing. You can expect an unambiguous result from what you write in it. I'd say English is more like ASM and C-like languages, and Russian reminds me of Pascal/Fortran or even something like Perl... xD

I'd say Russian is like the ASM in that you have a long set of rules which wouldn't help you in any way to write meaningful code that does something useful. So, the only way around is to keep the complete packages of pre-written lines handy and hope the output of one package could be used as input for another. And English is like classic C in that you think you definitely know what the program would do, but unfortunately you end up spending the rest of your day digging through the core file trying to find why by trying to express something you ended up saying something else.

В мою игру никто играть не хочет? Особенно те, кто считает русскую орфографию очень простой. Ханна, например...

No one wants to try?

Originally Posted by Marcus

В мою игру никто играть не хочет? Особенно те, кто считает русскую орфографию очень простой. Ханна, например...

Игра больно непростая. Я вот третье слово не с первой попытки смог разобрать! )

Originally Posted by Vadim M.

Игра больно непростая. Я вот третье слово не с первой попытки смог разобрать! )

Я неразборчиво говорю или плохо записано?

Originally Posted by Marcus

Я неразборчиво говорю или плохо записано?

Да нет, наверное, дело в том, что слова непростые и без контекста. Но и качество записи тоже неидеально.
В общем, мне интересно, как изучающие русский справятся с заданием.

В общем, мне интересно, как изучающие русский справятся с заданием.

Мне тоже, только они не спешат.