Thread: Accent variation across Russia

Ну да конечно :)

Broadcasting, movies, interviews etc. often consist of some phonetically unrecognizable English words. Often I cannot guess them. That's why learning English is a lot of frustrution.

When strangers talk Russian - they have 2 problems:
1. They don't use typical language for a situation.
2. They speak with accent.

The less noticable accent have, I think, Ukranians and Belorussians. Hollanders from the west have very slight accent too.

Originally Posted by VendingMachine

In Russia we have a wide variety of different accents and dialects. Native speakers can easily tell which part of the country you come from. People from rural areas tend to have thicker accents. Also, the higher on the social ladder you are, the closer to standard Russian is your accent. Just go to the villages in Lyeshukonye, you won't understand jack @@@@ if you listen to native speakers converse. (I don't, being a native speaker from another area) However, when they address a stranger, they will tone their accents down for his/her benefit - that's probably why you never heard much difference. To hear a thick accent you should go to places where Russians have lived for centuries, not some relatively young cities like Irkutsk, etc. Go to Kurskaya, Bryanskaya, Vologodskaya, etc. oblasts.

P.S. I can pick up subtle differences in the accents of native Petersburgers (not recent migrants!) from different city districts (docklands vs. north-east, etc.)

Yes, of course Russia has variations in accent. After a while, even non-native speakers can detect them. I can hear the difference between Moscow and St. Petersburg accents, although I couldn't explain what that difference is, exactly... But it's obvious.

To think that a language would not have different accents and dialects in the largest country in the world is a little... unusual.

Originally Posted by Paxan

It's just not true. Everybody(99%) say [што]

+1

Yes, of course Russia has variations in accent. After a while, even non-native speakers can detect them. I can hear the difference between Moscow and St. Petersburg accents, although I couldn't explain what that difference is, exactly... But it's obvious.

To think that a language would not have different accents and dialects in the largest country in the world is a little... unusual.

I think you're wrong in a way, thinking that there is some differences between Moscow and St. Petersburg accents. I have been living in SPB for my whole life, listening to TV (films, news and so on) and I haven't heard any differences between accents!!! If you see the difference, you must know Russian better than me...

Originally Posted by Chuvak

I think you're wrong in a way, thinking that there is some differences between Moscow and St. Petersburg accents. I have been living in SPB for my whole life, listening to TV (films, news and so on) and I haven't heard any differences between accents!!! If you see the difference, you must know Russian better than me...

I'm assuming you're Russian, right?

Like you, I've never heard any difference between accents on TV (films, news and so on), but I've definitely heard a difference in person. Maybe what I'm hearing is not an accent, per se, but rather, a slightly different manner of speaking? It seems that people from St. Pete speak with a softer pronunciation than Москвичи.

When I asked some other Russians if this was accurate, some of them agreed that there is a slight difference. Maybe you'd notice it if you spent more time in Moscow....?

Originally Posted by ezhikvtumane

I've definitely heard a difference in person. Maybe what I'm hearing is not an accent, per se, but rather, a slightly different manner of speaking? It seems that people from St. Pete speak with a softer pronunciation than Москвичи.

When I asked some other Russians if this was accurate, some of them agreed that there is a slight difference. Maybe you'd notice it if you spent more time in Moscow....?

It's interesting that you could hear a difference. I think it's mostly a thing of the past. I spent most of my life in SPb and I used to go to Moscow quite frequently and I don't remember noticing much difference, while at school we were taught that it is actually moscovites who speak softer. We were taught that they say дожжи instead of дожди, булошная instead of булочная, etc. I think it might have been true at some point in the past, but mass migration combined with mass media brought everything to a more or less common denominator. There are however words that are used only in SPb and not used in Moscow and vice versa. A common example is поребрик... Somewhere online there is a Moscow-Spb dictionary. It's mostly a joke, but I've met a lot of people who wouldn't know what I meant when I would say поребрик