Thread: Who is your favorite Russian?

laxxy, such an exact observation! I'm impressed! I just was thinking about wrong stresses when I saw your post!

Hi laxxy. Thank you for your detailed explanation.

I expected Перебийніс to be Перебойнос in Russian (as Кошовий becomes Кошевой), but the Ukrainian Tennis Federation's Russian-language website spells her name as Перебыйнис as well.

There is plenty of vowel reduction in English--so much, in fact, that in many cases, it's not always clear what the underlying phonemic vowels are (of which there are thirteen, plus nine diphthongs !). This leads to doublets in spelling like collectible/collectable, and many outright spelling errors by otherwise totally competent English readers/writers.

The difference is that, for the most part, English accentuation adheres to metrical principles--so that, with very few exceptions, there must be a primary or secondary accent every two or three syllables. Furthermore, certain metrical patterns are preferred and "selected" by English speakers whenever a new word enters the language or a foreign name is encountered. The trochee, iamb and dactyl are especially prevalent, but there are no common patters of four syllables, so an English pronunciation of KAfelnikov or KUrnikova would be impossible. Anapests are avoided--compare the Russian and English pronunciations of Gorbachev.

Originally Posted by Jeff

Hi laxxy. Thank you for your detailed explanation.
I expected Перебийніс to be Перебойнос in Russian (as Кошовий becomes Кошевой), but the Ukrainian Tennis Federation's Russian-language website spells her name as Перебыйнис as well.

Names like these used to be sometimes translated as e.g. Перебейнос, but this is not common any more.

Originally Posted by Jeff

There is plenty of vowel reduction in English--so much, in fact, that in many cases, it's not always clear what the underlying phonemic vowels

i know, plus of course there are major regional differences in this respect (just as in Russian). But my impression has always been that the practice is a lot less common, even in shorter words, maybe closer to that of Ukrainian.

The difference is that, for the most part, English accentuation adheres to metrical principles--so that, with very few exceptions, there must be a primary or secondary accent every two or three syllables. Furthermore,

i guess you are right, it does feel like in english the stress appears somewhat more often and in a more regular fashion.

certain metrical patterns are preferred and "selected" by English speakers whenever a new word enters the language or a foreign name is encountered. The trochee, iamb and dactyl are especially prevalent, but there are no common patters of four syllables, so an English pronunciation of KAfelnikov or KUrnikova would be impossible. Anapests are avoided--compare the Russian and English pronunciations of Gorbachev.

my poetic knowledge is quite rusty...
actually i haven't heard an english pronunciation of Gorbachev much so i am uncertain about how it sounds.

Originally Posted by saibot

My favorite Russian is филипп киркоров! Gotta love his music. It's so cheesey and catchy....

Kirkorov (a.k.a. Филя) is actually Bulgarian.

Codswollop, laxxy, the English reduce like crazy: li'bry, prob'ly, fo'c'sle, etc. In Woolwich there's no second w, in Greenwich there's no w and the ee isn't an ee at all. Leicester is pronounced Lesta. And get this - in 'Featherstonehaugh' most sounds have been reduced to **** cos it's pronounced 'fanshaw'!

P.S. The rest of your post I agree with.

Originally Posted by VendingMachine

Codswollop, laxxy, the English reduce like crazy: li'bry, prob'ly, fo'c'sle, etc. In Woolwich there's no second w, in Greenwich there's no w and the ee isn't an ee at all. Leicester is pronounced Lesta. And get this - in 'Featherstonehaugh' most sounds have been reduced to **** cos it's pronounced 'fanshaw'!

P.S. The rest of your post I agree with.

i know, those english are kinky
americans do reduce them too of course -- just not as much as russians.

Welf, Konstantin Vasiliev is also one of my favorite Russian artists! I have spent many hours in his museum next to Lianozovo Park (about 20 min walk from metro Altufevo). His paintings are so powerful and interesting that I have started reading up on Russian mythology.

Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky: 1857-1935

"Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was a true visionary and pioneer of astronautics. He theorized many aspects of human space travel and rocket propulsion decades before others, and played an important role in the development of the Soviet and Russian space programs." -- From a biography(click to read all)

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

Just curious... what does a pest look like?

Originally Posted by laxxy

americans do reduce them too of course -- just not as much...

I am not so sure about this. In fact, this is exactly the opposite of what someone I know is being taught in English pronunciation class at the university. She has real difficulties giving up her Russian habit to pronounce every syllable and word and replace them with what she calls hiccups. And this is American English, mind you. Alota kntrakshn cuz its fun.

Leicester as /l

Originally Posted by adoc

Originally Posted by laxxy

americans do reduce them too of course -- just not as much...

I am not so sure about this. In fact, this is exactly the opposite of what someone I know is being taught in English pronunciation class at the university. She has real difficulties giving up her Russian habit to pronounce every syllable and word and replace them with what she calls hiccups. And this is American English, mind you. Alota kntrakshn cuz its fun.

Russians do not pronounce every syllable, even though some of them believe they do. many russians think the words in russian are pronounced the way they are written as well, and we all know that is incorrect.

She _might_ be coming from one of regions where the reduction is less prevalent (e.g. heavy ukrainian-russian forms ("surzhik") do not have much reduction, and Moscow dialect does not reduce some a's).

But i think that most likely she learned her english in Russia, and got accustomed to pronouncing some words phonetically, and is just getting her vowels wrong. Also, if she had limited english speaking practice, she might be overly attentive to her pronunciation, watching every sound, so she does not reduce them much either. If her rate of speech in english is slower than yours, this is likely the case -- a typical russian rate of speech is a great deal higher than in american english.
In any case, a foreign accent may have features which are not present in that speaker's native language, and they are affected by things like the means of instruction and such.

my favorite russian is my girlfriend

Yuri Gagarin . . . the first human to orbit the earth!!

Seriously now, two of my favourites are Ivan the 3rd and Gagarin.

My all time favourite Russian has got to be my lovely girlfriend Galina.......I tell you, no-one in my life has ever made me feel this happy and 'alive'.....................my second favourite Russian, I think must be the man himself, President Putin.........a good president and not a bad looking man as well (dont worry, Im not gay when I say that!)

Privet Dudes
You guys talk about how a Russian pronounces English words etc, but I have got to tell you, when my girlfriend talks........man! she has a really sexy accent.........you see, when you have been born and bred in England, you get used to hearing and saying the regular words, but when someone from another country says the same words with there own accent, I think it sounds great! I am teaching my girlfriend English and she is teaching me Russian as well, so I have a teacher who I love (wow!)

Guys, I have got to tell you this, but in my part of the country if you speak a foreign language, people look at you as though you are super intelligent, so anyway, there is this coffee bar I usually visit with some pals of mine, and there are some Russian students working there, and you should have seen my friends faces when I ordered a coffee in Russian, it was funny as hell!

And now these guys have learned some Russian words and are now incorporating them into there own, so, instead of saying 'its good' they say 'its dobre man dobre!' I think they are forming a new language.

Those people here who were talking about how us Brits say things, may I just point out that it also depends on what part of the country you are from, like if you are from London (where I originated from) you sometimes tend to use slang, whereas if you go north like Yorkshire, Birmingham, Newcastle, they talk so much differently, even to the point where us Londoners cant understand them.
Oh well, I think I have bored you guys enough for now !!lol this is a great site by the way..........I'll be back soon............Hasta La Vista Baby!

Not boring at all. You're lika a missionary of the russian language

Privet russian dudes and lady dudes!

I am hoping to go to Moscow next month and I am unsure about something because our customs are somewhat quite different. I am wanting to propose to my Gala, but at the sametime I dont want to look like a right sap! In the UK its kind of romantic to go down on one knee and ask, and when (or if) the lady accepts, you put an engagement ring on her left finger, I have recently found out that if a russian lady has a ring on her left finger, she is divorced or something, I mean, I dont want my girl to get tired of me that quick! I am planning on springing the question to her when she is least expecting it, like in the middle of Red Square, or if its possible, inside the Kremlin itself!......any advice would be very much appreciated. Hey I may even be able to become a Russian citizen............now thats cool!
thanking you guys in advance..........LM

A ring is good but proposing in Red Square in the summer with a jillion tourists is not romantic ( in the winter during a snow storm when the square is empty, maybe). The Kremlin is definately NOT romantic. The knee thing is OK for in private but not in public. I think one of the most romantic places is along the Moscow River between the Sparrow Hills Metro station and Gorky park (on the Gorky Park side). In the late afternoon the sunlight shines on the city buildings on the other side while you are walking along the stone path with beautiful trees and flowers with lots of benches to sit on and overlook the river as the boats go by. At the river entrance to Gorky is an outdoor cafe with tables under the trees where you can have a beer and shashleek and enjoy the view. Good Luck!