05_780014 ch01.qxp 3/23/06 3:29 PM Page 9 Chapter 1 You Already Know a Little Russian L A In This Chapter I (cid:1)Getting a grip on Russian words you know R (cid:1)Understanding the Russian alphabet E (cid:1)Pronouncing words properly T (cid:1)Discovering popular expressions A (cid:1)Reading Russian with confidence M D W elcome to Russian! Whether you want to read a Russian menu, enjoy E Russian music, or just chat it up with your Russian friends, this is the T beginning of your journey. In this chapter, trust your eyes, ears, and intuition, and you quickly discover tHhat Russian isn’t that hard after all. When you’re done with this chapter, you’ll be able to recognize all the letters of the Russian alphabet, discoGver the basic rules of Russian pronunciation, and be able to say some popular Russian expressions and idioms. I R Y Scoping Out Similarities between P English anOd Russian C You may be surprised to find out that English and Russian are very distant relatives. They both come from the same ancestor — Sanskrit — and both belong to the same family of Indo-European languages. The similarities don’t stop there. If you know English, you already know many Russian words. In this section, you discover Russian words that are already part of English, and you find out about Russian words that have the same meaning and pro- nunciation as their English counterparts. We also warn you about a few words that sound similar in both languages but have very different meanings. 05_780014 ch01.qxp 3/23/06 3:29 PM Page 10 10 Part I:Getting Started Identifying Russian words in English As the world becomes more and more international, languages and cultures are constantly borrowing from and lending to one another, and Russian is no exception. Many Russian words that now appear in English either describe food and drinks or came into use during important historical periods. Eating and drinking up If you drink vodka,then you can already speak some Russian, because the word, like the drink, came from Russia. Maybe you can even rattle off the dif- ferences between Smirnoff(smeer-nohf) and Stoly.If so, you’re already on your way to sounding like a real Russian, because Smirnoffis a Russian person’s last name, and Stolyis an abbreviation for the word Stolichnaya (stah-leech-nuh-ye), which means “metropolis” in Russian. When you go out to eat, do you like to order a great big bowl of borsh’ (bohrsh’; beet soup) with sour cream? Well, then you’re eating one of the most famous Russian dishes, and when you order it, you’re using a com- pletely Russian word. Hearing historical terms If you’re interested in world history, then you probably know that the head of the Russian state in previous centuries was not the president or the king, but the tsar, which is just what they called him in Russia, too: tsar’(tsahr’). Some of the best-known Russian words actually came into English during the Cold War period, when the Soviet Union was competing with the United States in the areas of science, technology, military, and education. Who would’ve thought that a short and simple Russian word, sputnik (spoot-neek; traveling companion), which refers to the first Soviet artificial Earth satellite, would become a household word in English and even lead to a revolution in American space education? And if you’ve ever used the word sputnik, then you were speaking Russian. Sputnikmeans “companion” in Russian. Maybe you followed world news in the 1980s. If so, you may remember a guy by the name of Mikhail Gorbachev, who reformed Russian Soviet society. He also added two new words to the English language: glasnostand perestroika, or in Russian: glasnost’(glahs-nuhst’; openness) and pyeryestroika(pee-ree- strohy-kuh; restructuring). These words have become part of American speech. Even Ronald Reagan, who was president during Gorbachev’s era, liked to repeat the famous Russian phrase, Dovyeryai, no provyeryai!(duh- vee-ryahy,noh pruh-vee-ryahy; Trust but verify!), when talking about the new nuclear weapons treaties he was negotiating with the Soviet Union. 05_780014 ch01.qxp 3/23/06 3:29 PM Page 11 11 Chapter 1: You Already Know a Little Russian Recognizing English words in Russian Russian today is filled with words that came from English. Words that have a common ancestry are called cognates.Cognates are like foreign political refugees or immigrants. They settle down in their new country and start to adapt to their new life, and even begin to look and behave like native words of their new country. Your ability to recognize English cognates when you read or hear Russian will be very helpful to you. Cognates are your allies, and they greatly increase your Russian vocabulary. Here are some examples of common cognates you should recognize: (cid:2) aeroport (ah-eh-rah-pohrt;airport) (cid:2) akadyemiya (uh-kuh-dye-mee-ye; academy) (cid:2) algyebra (ahl-geeb-ruh; algebra) (cid:2) amyerikanyets (ah-mee-ree-kah-neets; American man) (cid:2) astronomiya (uhs-trah-noh-mee-ye; astronomy) (cid:2) bank (bahnk; bank) (cid:2) biologiya (bee-ah-loh-gee-ye; biology) (cid:2) biznyes (beez-nehs; business) (cid:2) biznyesmyen (beez-nehs-mehn;businessman) (cid:2) boks (bohks; boxing) (cid:2) dyemokrat (dee-mah-kraht;democrat) (cid:2) diryektor (dee-ryek-tuhr; director) (cid:2) doktor (dohk-tuhr; doctor) (cid:2) dokumyent (duh-koo-myent; document) (cid:2) effyektivnyi (eh-feek-teev-nihy; effective) (cid:2) fyermyer (fyer-meer; farmer) (cid:2) filarmoniya (fee-luhr-moh-nee-ye; philharmonic) (cid:2) futbol (foot-bohl; football) (cid:2) gamburgyer (gahm-boor-geer; hamburger) (cid:2) gyenyetika (gee-neh-tee-kuh; genetics) (cid:2) gyeografiya (gee-uhg-rah-fee-ye; geography) 05_780014 ch01.qxp 3/23/06 3:29 PM Page 12 12 Part I:Getting Started (cid:2) gimnastika (geem-nahs-tee-kuh; gymnastics) (cid:2) gol’f (gohl’f; golf) (cid:2) intyeryesnyj (een-tee-ryes-nihy; interesting) (cid:2) istoriya (ees-toh-ree-ye; history) (cid:2) kommunizm (kuh-moo-neezm;communism) (cid:2) kosmonavt (kuhs-mah-nahft;astronaut) (cid:2) kosmos (kohs-muhs; cosmos) (cid:2) kryedit (kree-deet; credit) (cid:2) lityeratura (lee-tee-ruh-too-ruh; literature) (cid:2) muzyka (moo-zih-kuh; music) (cid:2) nos(nohs; nose) (cid:2) profyessor(prah-fye-suhr; professor) (cid:2) sotsiologiya (suh-tsih-ah-loh-gee-ye; sociology) (cid:2) sport (spohrt; sports) (cid:2) sportsmyen (spahrts-myen;sportsman or athlete) (cid:2) stadion (stuh-dee-ohn;stadium) (cid:2) studyent (stoo-dyent;student) (cid:2) styuardyessa (styu-uhr-deh-suh; stewardess) (cid:2) tyeatr (tee-ahtr;theater) (cid:2) tyelyevizor (tee-lee-vee-zuhr; TV) (cid:2) tyennis (teh-nees; tennis) (cid:2) tyeoriya (tee-oh-ree-ye; theory) (cid:2) univyersityet (oo-nee-veer-see-tyet;university) (cid:2) viski (vees-kee; whiskey) (cid:2) viza (vee-zuh; visa) (cid:2) vollyejbol (vuh-leey-bohl;volleyball) (cid:2) zhiraf (zhee-rahf;giraffe) (cid:2) zhurnal (zhoor-nahl;journal) (cid:2) zoologiya (zuh-ah-loh-gee-ye; zoology) 05_780014 ch01.qxp 3/23/06 3:29 PM Page 13 13 Chapter 1: You Already Know a Little Russian Watching out for words that may seem similar but aren’t Beware of false cognates!These are words that look and sound like allies (cog- nates) but aren’t. You won’t find too many of them, but they can be tricky. And when used incorrectly, they can lead to some funny and even embarrass- ing situations. Here’s a list of the false friends that trip English speakers up the most: (cid:2) simpatichniy (seem-puh-teech-nihy; good-looking) — This word doesn’t mean “sympathetic,” so be careful who you say it to! (cid:2) normal’no (nahr-mahl’-nuh; okay, fine) — This word doesn’t mean “normally”! (cid:2) klass (klahs; classroom) — This word is the room where a class takes place but doesn’t refer to the academic course itself. It also indicates a group of kids in the same grade. (cid:2) banda (bahn-duh; band of gangsters) — This word has nothing to do with a musical band, so be careful when you use it! (cid:2) magazin (muh-guh-zeen; store)—This word doesn’t mean “magazine,” but you can buy one there! (cid:2) familiya (fuh-mee-lee-ye; last name)—This word isn’t your family, but your family name. Talkin’ the Talk Vladimir and Irina are talking about their new university. How many English cognates can you recognize? Vladimir: Irina, ya schitayu, chto biologiya, astronomiya, i gyeografiya ochyen’ intyeryesnyye pryedmyety. ee-ree-nuh, ya sh’ee-tah-yu shtoh bee-ah-loh-gee-ye, uhs-truh-noh-mee-ye, ee gee-uhg-rah-fee-ye oh- cheen’ een-tee-ryes-nih-ee preed-mye-tih. Irina, I think that biology, astronomy, and geography are very interesting subjects. 05_780014 ch01.qxp 3/23/06 3:29 PM Page 14 14 Part I:Getting Started Irina: Nye soglasna. Samyye intyeryesnyye pryedmyety v etom universityetye sotsiologiya, istoriya, algyebra, muzyka i tyeatr. nee-sahg-lahs-nuh. sah-mih-ee een-tee-ryes-nih-ee preed-mye-tih v eh-tuhm oo-nee-veer-see-tye-tee suh- tsih-ah-loh-gee-ye, ees-toh-ree-ye, ahl-geeb-ruh, moo-zih-kuh ee tee-ahtr. I disagree. The most interesting subjects at this univer- sity are sociology, history, algebra, music, and theater. Vladmir: A tvoj profyessor po lityeraturye intyeryesnyj? ah tvohy prah-fye-suhr puh lee-tee-ruh-too-ree een- tee-ryes-nihy? Is your literature professor interesting? Irina: Da, intyeryesnyj, no u nyego bol’shoj nos i on vysokij kak zhiraf. dah, een-tee-ryes-nihy, noh oo nee-vohbahl’-shohy nohs i ohn vih-soh-keey kahk zhih-rahf. Yes, he’s interesting, but he has a big nose, and he’s as tall as a giraffe. Words to Know ya schitayu ya sh’ee-tah-yu shtoh I believe that ochyen’ oh-cheen’ very pryedmyety preed-mye-tih academic subjects nye soglasna nee sahg-lahs-nuh I disagree u nyego oo nee-voh he has 05_780014 ch01.qxp 3/23/06 3:29 PM Page 15 15 Chapter 1: You Already Know a Little Russian Looking at the Russian Alphabet (It’s Easier than You Think) If you’re like most English speakers, you probably think that the Russian alphabet is the most challenging aspect of picking up the language. The idea of having to memorize all those letters, some of them weird-looking, can be a little bit daunting to the newcomer. But not to worry. The Russian alphabet isn’t as hard as you think. In fact, compared to some other features of Russian, such as case ending and verbs (see Chapter 2 for details on those), the alphabet is a piece of cake. When you’re done with this section, you’ll be able to recognize and pronounce all the letters of the Russian alphabet. From A to Ya: Making sense of Cyrillic The Russian alphabet is based on the Cyrillic alphabet, which was named after the ninth-century Byzantine monk, Cyril (see the sidebar “Who was this Cyril guy, anyway?” later in this chapter). Throughout the centuries, Cyril’s original alphabet went through many attempts to shorten it from its original 43 letters. Today the alphabet is still pretty lengthy — 33 letters in all, com- pared with the 26 letters in the English alphabet. But don’t panic. You don’t have to master every letter. Throughout this book, we convert all the letters into familiar Latin symbols, which are the same symbols we use in the English alphabet. This process of converting from Cyrillic to Latin letters is known as transliteration.We list the Cyrillic alphabet below for those of you who are adventurous and brave enough to prefer reading real Russian instead of being fed with the ready-to-digest Latin version of it. And even if you don’t want to read the real Russian, check out Table 1-1 to find out what the whole fuss is about regarding the notorious “Russian alphabet.” Notice that in most cases a transliterated letter corresponds to the way it’s actually pronounced. As a rule, you may assume that the transliteration fairly well represents the actual pronunciation. The biggest exceptions to this are the letter Jj,which is transcribed as jbut pronounced like an English y,and the soft sign :;,which is transcribed as ’but only softens the preceding consonant. 05_780014 ch01.qxp 3/23/06 3:29 PM Page 16 16 Part I:Getting Started As we walk you through the Russian alphabet, pay attention to the way the alphabet is transliterated, because that’s how we spell out all the Russian words throughout the rest of the book. Table 1-1 has the details on Cyrillic letters, their transliteration, and their pronunciation. You can also find a guide to pronunciation on the audio CD that comes with this book. Scholars do not agree on the letter j. Some believe that it’s a consonant; others think that it’s a vowel. We don’t want to take sides in this matter and are listing it both as a consonant and a vowel. Table 1-1 The Russian Alphabet in Cyrillic The Letter Transliteration Pronunciation Vowel or in Cyrillic (The Corresponding Consonant Letter or Sound in the English Alphabet) Aa A ahif stressed as in father; Vowel uhif appearing in any unstressed syllable, as in human Bb B bas in book; pif at the end Consonant of the word Vv V vas in Victor; fif at the end Consonant of the word Gg G gas in great; kif at the end of Consonant the word Dd D das in duck; tif at the end Consonant of the word Ee Ye yeas in yes; eeas in seek if appear- Vowel ing in any unstressed syllable |\ Yo yoas in yoke Vowel "… Zh zhas measure; shif at the end Consonant of the word Zz Z zas in zebra; sif at the end Consonant of the word Ii I eeas in peek Vowel Jj J very short yas boyor May Vowel or Consonant Kk K kas in Kate Consonant Ll L las in lamp Consonant 05_780014 ch01.qxp 3/23/06 3:29 PM Page 17 17 Chapter 1: You Already Know a Little Russian The Letter Transliteration Pronunciation Vowel or in Cyrillic (The Corresponding Consonant Letter or Sound in the English Alphabet) Mm M mas in mommy Consonant Nn N nas in note Consonant Oo O ohas in as in talk; ahas in park, Vowel if appearing one syllable before the stressed syllable; uhas in Mormon, if appearing in any other unstressed syllable Pp P p as in port Consonant Rr R flap r, similar to trilled r in Spanish, Consonant asin “madre,” for example Ss S sas in sort Consonant Tt T tas in tie Consonant Uu U ooas shoot Vowel Ff F fas in fact Consonant Xx Kh khlike you’re clearing your throat, Consonant or like the German “ch” Cc Ts tsas in cats Consonant Hh Ch chas in chair Consonant Ww Sh shas in shock Consonant }] Sh’ soft sh, as in sheep Consonant = ‘’ hard sign (makes the preceding Neither letter hard) Yy Y ih Vowel ; ‘ soft sign (makes the preceding Neither letter soft) ?/ E eas in end Vowel {[ Yu yu as in use Vowel Qq Ya yaif stressed as in yard; eeif Vowel unstressed and not in the final syllable of the word; yeif unstressed and in the final syllable of the word 05_780014 ch01.qxp 3/23/06 3:29 PM Page 18 18 Part I:Getting Started Who was this Cyril guy, anyway? Picture this: The year is sometime around AD words and sounds. That was a clever solution 863. Two Byzantine monks and brothers, Cyril because by drawing on different languages, and Methodius, were commissioned by their Cyril’s alphabet contained practically every emperor to Christianize the East European sound necessary for the correct pronunciation pagan tribes. To carry out the emperor’s order, of Russian. the two brothers had to transcribe the Bible into In honor of Cyril’s clever idea, the alphabet Slavic. This task was very daunting because the became known as the Cyrillic alphabet. The Slavs didn’t have any written language at the Cyrillic script is now used by more than 70 lan- time and the Slavic dialect they were working guages, ranging from Eastern Europe’s Slavic with contained a lot of bizarre sounds not found languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian, in any other language. Bulgarian, Serbian, and Macedonian) to Central One of the brothers, Cyril, came up with an inge- Asia’s Altaic languages (Turkmen, Uzbek, nious idea: create a Slavic alphabet from a Kazakh, and Kirghiz). mishmash of Greek, Hebrew, and old Latin I know you! Familiar-looking, same-sounding letters You may notice that some of the Russian letters in the previous section look a lot like English letters. The letters that look like English and are pronounced like English letters are: (cid:2) Aa (cid:2) Kk (cid:2) Mm (cid:2) Oo (cid:2) Tt Whenever you read Russian text, you should be able to recognize and pro- nounce these letters right away. Playing tricks: Familiar-looking, different-sounding letters Some Russian letters look like English letters but are pronounced differently. You want to watch out for these: