Serafima Gettys - Russian For Dummies

Picture this: The year is sometime around AD 863. Two Byzantine monks and brothers, Cyril and Methodius, were commissioned by their emperor to Christianize the East European pagan tribes. To carry out the emperor’s order, the two brothers had to transcribe the Bible into Slavic. This task was very daunting because the Slavs didn’t have any written language at the time, and the Slavic dialect they were working with contained a lot of bizarre sounds not found in any other language. The brothers’ solution was to create an alphabet based on the Greek alphabet and certain old Latin words and sounds (which explains why some Cyrillic letters look and sound similar to Latin, which is the language much of English is based on). In other words, the Cyrillic alphabet, which was named after Cyril, is a mishmash of Greek and Latin spiced with a couple of Hebrew letters for good measure. The result was an alphabet that contains practically every sound necessary for the correct pronunciation of Russian. Cyrillic script is now used by more than 70 languages, ranging from Eastern Europe’s Slavic languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Macedonian) to Central Asia’s Altaic languages (Turkmen, Uzbek, Kazakh, and Kirghiz). Truth be told, however, after the collapse of the Soviet Union these former Soviet republics have been moving away from a Cyrillic-based alphabet toward a Latin-based one. Most people in these areas, especially those of the older generation who lived under the Soviet regime, speak and write Russian fluently.

You may notice that some of the letters in the Russian alphabet in Table 2-1look a lot like English letters: Check out Aa, Bв, Ee, Кк, Mм, Hн, Oo, Pp, Cc,and Xx,for example. Guess what? Some (but not all!) of them even sound like English letters. The letters that look like English and are pronounced like English letters are

Aa: pronounced as ah or uh, depending on the stress ( ah in a stressed syllable and uh in an unstressed syllable)

Кк: pronounced as k

Mм: pronounced as m

Oo: pronounced as oh or ah, depending on the stress ( oh in a stressed syllable and ah in an unstressed syllable)

Tт: pronounced as t

Some Russian letters look like English letters but are pronounced differently. You want to watch out for these:

Bв: The capital letter in this pair looks exactly like the English B, but don’t trust appearances: The letter is pronounced like the English letter v, as in victor or vase.

Ee: English speakers very often feel an irresistible urge to say it like ee, as in the English word g eese — but that sound in Russian is made by the letter И. In fact, it should be pronounced as ye in yesterday . Be aware, though, that the letter Ee is sometimes pronounced as ee, but only in an unstressed position in a word.

Ёё: Note the diaeresis (two cute little dots), and don’t confuse this one with the English letter E — Ee and Ёё are two different letters! Ёё is pronounced like the yo in yoke .

Hн: This letter looks like the English H, but actually, it’s pronounced like n, as in Nick.

Pp: In Russian, this letter is pronounced like an r, not like the English letter P, as in Peter .

Cc: This letter is always pronounced like the s in sun, never like the k in ca ke .

Уу: This letter is pronounced like the oo in sh oot, never like the y in yes .

Xx: Never pronounce this letter z or ks, like the first and last x , respectively, in the word Xero x . In Russian, the sound it represents is a coarse-sounding, guttural kh, similar to the German ch . (See “ Surveying sticky sounds” later in this chapter for info on pronouncing this sound.)

As you’ve probably noticed, quite a few Russian letters don’t look like English letters at all:

Бб

Гг

Дд

Жж

Зз

Ии

Йй

Лл

Пп

Фф

Цц

Чч

Шш

Щщ

ъ

Ыы

ь

Ээ

Юю

Яя

Don’t panic about these letters. They look weird but are easy to pronounce. Mastering them is just a matter of memorizing their proper pronunciations. (Refer to Table 2-1for details on how to say each letter.)

You may recognize several of these weird letters — such as Ф, Г,and П— from learning the Greek alphabet during your fraternity or sorority days.

Talkin’ the Talk

Jack, an American student studying Russian in St. Petersburg, and his Russian friend, Maksim, are on the main thoroughfare in St. Petersburg. Jack uses this opportunity to practice reading in Russian. They’re passing by the restaurant Rasputin.

Джeк: Maкcим, Чтo этo?

Maкcим: Этo pecтopaн. Bидишь вывecку? Чтo тут нaпиcaнao?

Джeк: He знaю. Чтo?

Maкcим: Кaкaя пepвaя буквa?

Джeк: П?

Maкcим: Heт, этo pуccкaя буквa P. A кaкaя втopaя буквa?

Джeк: И?

Maкcим: Heт, нeт, этo буквa E, a пoтoм буквa C, a пoтoм T, a пoтoм буквa O.

Джeк: A, я пoнял! Pecтopaн!! A кaк oн нaзывaeтcя?

Maкcим: Pacпутин. Tы знaeшь, ктo тaкoй Pacпутин?

Джeк: Кoнeчнo! Pecтopaн Pacпутин. Интepecнo. Этo xopoший pecтopaн?

Maкcим: Дa, нeплoxoй. Oн oчeнь дopoгoй

Джeк: Пoнятнo

WORDS TO KNOW

Чтo этo?

chtoh etoh

What is that?

Этo pecтopaн

Etoh ryes-tah-rahn

It’s a restaurant.

Кaкaя пepвaя буквa?

Ka-kaya pyer-vaya boohk-vuh?

What is the first letter?

Этo буквa E

Etohboohk-vuh

This is a letter [ye].

a пoтoм?

uh pah-tohm?

And then?

Я пoнял!

Yah poh-nyal!

I got it!

A кaк oн нaзывaeтcя?

Uh Kahk ohn nah-zi-vah-yet-sya?

What is it called?

Tы знaeшь, ктo тaкoй Pacпутин?

Ti znah-yesh ktoh tah-koyRahs-pooh-teen?

Do you know who Rasputin is?

Кoнeчнo!

Kah-nyesh-no.

Certainly.

Интepecнo

Een-tye-ryes-nuh!