Thread: Strange accents from native Russians

Hello,

I came across an artist recently called "ST" who has a very strange pronunciation. It feels like he does not roll his "r" like the usual Russian native does.

Here is an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GG7gdkXV3A (skip to one minute if you like, there he speaks clearly)


I have heard similar accents from Russians since (in short interviews on the news for example) and I've been wondering about it. First I thought they may be foreigners themselves, but ST is born in Moscow.


Is this some sort of "ghetto" accent (It sounds terrible when I write it, but I can't think of another way to put it) ? Or are there Russians, too, who simply can't pronounce the "r" because of anatomical reasons?


Thank you in advance for all your insights.


Kind regards

Michael

I'm not an expert, but as far as I know, there are several aspects to that kind of mispronounciation of "R":

1. Rarely, some people have a minor anatomical variance that does not allow them to easily roll strong "R".

2. Most often, as kids start speaking, they mispronounce all kinds of sounds. So, if the parents do not bother too much to correct (or mispronounce the sounds themselves), the kids grow up that way and when they realize they have a speech defect, it's most likely too late to be corrected. (That is most likely a case with ST.)

3. At the 19th - early 20th century, Russian culture was highly influenced by French. So much so that aristocrats were native French speakers and French was the primary language spoken at home and in the gatherings. Russian language was secondary and less of importance. As a result, Russian aristocrats used to pronounce "R" in a French-like manner. That was a fashion of the day and the chic, but nowdays it is considered a speech defect and as such is treated by speech therapists.

Or even so:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6emdlaxd_4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxsfBLFPROI
Игорь Иртеньев | * * *

Originally Posted by Micha

I came across an artist recently called "ST" who has a very strange pronunciation. It feels like he does not roll his "r" like the usual Russian native does.

There is a word that describes this issue - картавить
The reasons are perfectly described above

Originally Posted by Crocodile

the kids grow up that way and when they realize they have a speech defect, it's most likely too late to be corrected.

In most cases (if it's not caused by physiological reasons) it's never too late to be corrected. I corrected my [ʁ] at the age of 23-25, it wasn't that hard actually - you just have to always keep track of what you say and not be shy to sound funny when trying to pronounce [r] correctly.