Derek Offord - Using Russian - A Guide to Contemporary Usage

them quite independently of one another but within view of the other participants, and some of them not easily intelligible to outsiders who do not know what has been said before.

From the linguistic point of view the passage illustrates the extreme informality of speech in this medium. The participants, even those

who are apparently communicating with one another for the first time, express themselves with a greater freedom (exemplified by frequent

sexual innuendo) than would be usual among strangers if they were

suddenly brought physically together in a social situation.

The normal conventions of written language, which tends towards a

standard and is subject to editing, correction and revision, are not observed in this cybertext. Consequently usage is extremely lax. For instance, letters are omitted (thus мозо´в for мозго´в (7), будм for бу´дeм (31), кодa´ for когдa´ (38)). Words are misspelt, owing to careless keying of characters or possibly to ignorance of correct usage, e.g.

покa´зивaли (14) for покa´зывaли, поe´дитe (27) for поe´дeтe,

рaскaзa´лa (49) for рaсскaзa´лa. Words are incorrectly joined together (скeм (26) for с кeм). Punctuation is often omitted, e.g. full stops at the end of sentences, the comma or full stop required after ни с кeм (26), and the hyphen required in нaконe´ц-то (31). Incorrect punctuation

marks may be used, e.g. exclamation marks instead of a question mark 38

2.2

R1: internet chatroom conversation

(4, 14). Participants frequently insert emoticons into the text (6, 16, 33, 37, 44), that is to say they use a new form of punctuation that has developed in the language of the internet. Rules relating to the use of capitals are also broken. Thus a lower-case form is generally used for the first letter of the first word of a sentence.

We try in our translation to preserve the flavour of the original

cybertext by imitating the typing errors and lax usage of the

participants in the chatroom, omitting or misusing certain marks of

punctuation, and using lower-case letters instead of capitals where the participants themselves have done so.

Participants’ spelling of words in this text, besides containing

mistakes, sometimes also reflects pronunciation in rapid speech, e.g.

вaщe´ for вообщe´ (11), грю for говорю´ (12), то´кa for то´лько (12), здрa´сти for здрa´вствуйтe (15), грит for говори´т (27). Participant D’s spelling of the word дислокa´ция as дислaкa´ция (17) reflects the

phenomenon of a´kane (see 1.5 above) in the second syllable.

Participant I spells some words in the affected, drawn-out way in

which she claims to have pronounced them in the conversation that

she reports, e.g. минe´ (11; i.e. мнe), дee´нeх (11; i.e. дe´нeг).

Besides intermittently reflecting colloquial pronunciation, the

passage also illustrates many other colloquial speech habits, e.g.

use of:

r the informal pronoun ты (5, 16, 21, etc.), the related possessive forms твои´х (6) and твоё (35), and second-person-singular verb forms,

especially imperatives, e.g. Cдe´лaeшь (50); He томи´ (25); Paсскa´зывaй

(25); пообщa´йся (46); дaвa´й (54). Three of the participants actually discuss or allude to such informal usage (16, 24, 31);

r the very familiar form of address рa´дость моя´ (18);

r simple syntax. Many sentences are constructed around an understood verb to be , e.g. e´сли нe сeкрe´т (3); гдe вa´шa зeмe´льнaя дислокa´ция

(3-4); нa ли´чном о´пытe осно´вaнa? (19); ты Haтa´шa (21); я нe однa´

(42); я с охрa´ной (42); ты зa´мужeм!? (45); сeго´дня прa´здник (52).

Subordination, where it occurs, is of a simple kind: see e.g. the clauses introduced by e´сли (3, 50), хотя´ (13), что (3, 7), кaк (16), когдa´ (38) and кото´рый (44). In sentences that contain more than a single clause, the clauses are most frequently linked by the coordinating conjunctions и (12, 27, 28, 39, 48), но (52), or a, which is very loosely used (10, 11, 31, 37, 39). Often ideas are linked by no conjunction at all, so that sentences may take on a rambling quality;

r verbs in the present tense, in order to give a sense of immediacy to reported events, e.g. тaкси´ проeзжaéт ми´мо (10); опя´ть э´тот пa´рeнь

подкa´тывaeт (39–40);

r ellipsis (see 11.13 below), e.g. он мнe (10, i.e. he [says] to me ); он –

сто´льник (11–12, i.e. he [says/asks for] a hundred-rouble note ); вы о чём?

(20, i.e. you [are talking] about what? );

39

2

Passages illustrating register

r slovenly expressions, e.g. ти´пa (10), вро´дe бы (47), both meaning like or sort of (see the comments in 1.5 above about кaкбыи´зм); r colloquial words or expressions and colloquial variants of words, e.g.

улыбa´ться во всe 32 зу´бa (12), lit to smile with all thirty-two teeth ; томи´ть ду´шу (25), lit to torment the soul , i.e. to keep sb in suspense ; тeлeфо´нчик (27), telephone number ; лы´бится (28), smiles , i.e.

улыбaéтся; слыхa´л (32), instead of слы´шaл; зря (36), to no purpose, for nothing ; мaршру´ткa (39), a diminutive equivalent of мaршру´тноe тaкси´, a fixed-route taxi ; подкa´тывaeт (40), to roll up (trans), in the sense of to drive up (intrans); нeсклa´дно (49), awkwardly, not well . The expression вопро´с в спи´ну (45), used by C, may be a conscious or

unconscious muddling of two established expressions, вопро´с в лоб, a blunt question , and нож в спи´ну, a stab in the back ; r modish usage, slang or jargon, e.g. дислокa´ция, stationing of troops , in the sense of place where one lives (4); the verb тормози´ть, to brake , in the sense of to wave down a vehicle (10); сто´льник, hundred-rouble note (11); охрa´нa (42), guard in the sense of minder ; винзи´п, zip file (43), a term from the language of computing;

r particles, e.g. ну or ну и (5, 16, 22, 31, 52); жe (39); -то (31); a as a means of introducing a question (2, 23);

r interjections, e.g. брa´во! (14), вa´у, вa´у! (45), aх (47), and phrases of an interjectional nature, e.g. вон оно´ кaк! (47);

r fillers, e.g. мдa (49) and вот (31).

Occasionally a turn of phrase occurs that is associated with a higher register, but such turns of phrase are used only for some clear stylistic reason. For example, participant C deploys the high-flown expression обитa´ть нa нeбeсa´х (3), lit to dwell in the heavens , for jocular effect, and later on he employs the phrase скрa´сить одино´чeство (34), to relieve loneliness , euphemistically as a means of making a sexual advance.

Again, G uses the bookish copula зaключaéтся в том, что (7; see 4.2

below) because he is delivering himself of what he thinks is a rather clever aphorism.

On greetings of the sort C но´вым Го´дом! (1) and C прa´здником!

(18), which are stylistically neutral, see 7.8 below.

2.3