Does the word Бог (Nom. Sg.) end in a sound like г or х?
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5See wiktionary. In English see here.– ArtemixApr 13, 2015 at 16:31
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1I pronounce Бог. But you can pronounce Бох if x is said shortly– OlegApr 14, 2015 at 21:38
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2U can talk as u want really: Бог or Бох, we talk both variants... It depends from personal pronounce more.– Denis SteinmanJul 9, 2017 at 20:47
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1See answers to the recent question russian.stackexchange.com/questions/14448/…– AriochJul 17, 2017 at 13:35
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4 Answers
It depends. In the nominative case it's definitely бох. The consonant -г- is pronounced close to Ukrainian -хг- in set expressions like "Слава богу!" (Dative) or "Ступай с богом!" (Instrumental), "Проси у бога милости" (Genitive), where бог is in Christian sense; however it is often reduced to the simple -г-. It's usually typical -г- in plural (боги, богами, богам, богов...) or if it's about a pagan god (бога, богу, богом, о боге - except the Nominative case - still бох).
answered Aug 21, 2017 at 10:22
The spelling "г" is due to old pronunciation. But in modern Russian, we usually say "Бох" due to Church Slavonic (although in Church Slavonic spelling the word still ends in "гъ"). Also sometimes people say "Бок", but this is thought to be an error.
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So in a Church service they say "Бог" - 1. With they, do you mean the "priest", the "clergy" or everyone participating? 2. With in a Church service, do you mean during the event when people gather in the so called church building, they (see 1.) switch generally to
[бог]or only when reading texts or only when reading from the scriptures itself? Apr 13, 2015 at 16:45 -
2Actually, Russian recension of Church Slavonic requires pronouncing г as a fricative, so бог is (or at least should be) rendered [box] in the church service. This has influenced fricative г in this only word in Moscow dialect of Russian, which renders г as a stop ([g] or [k]) elsewhere, except for adjectives in m. sg. gen.– Quassnoi ♦Apr 13, 2015 at 16:56
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1Sorry, I'm not really a christian so I made a foolish mistake. It's just other way round. The spelling is due to Old Russian pronounce "г". But in modern Russian the Church Slavonian variant "х" has prevailed. I rewrite the answer.– MattApr 13, 2015 at 17:02
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If someone is referring to non-Christian deity or Christian one outside of idioms, then u cannot pronounce it with a fricative.– AnixxApr 18, 2015 at 8:47
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It is neither г nor x. It is something between г and x, like г in Belarusian or in Ukrainian. Yes, this sound doesn't exist in Russian as a single letter, but it may appear in some words.
The pronunciation is [бог] in standard Russian, in general context (outside of idioms). This follows the general Russian rules of devoicing at the end in certain circumstances so it can become [бок] before voiceless consonants.
