Questions tagged [история-языка]
Questions on the history of the Russian language, its origin and changes it underwent through the centuries.
99
questions
38
votes
8
answers
5k
views
Why doesn't Russian have native words beginning with А?
I've heard that Russian has no native words beginning with the letter A. The claim is that the words appearing under A in dictionaries were all imported at some stage or another. Browsing through the ...
- 1,905
25
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Как бы звучало по-русски название медведя *r̥ḱs-os/*r̥ḱt-os, доживи оно до наших дней?
Как известно, слово "медведь" это слово-заменитель табуированного "истинного" имени зверя. Похоже что такие замены происходили неоднократно - старое "истинное" имя забывалось и табу переходило на ...
- 11.3k
24
votes
5
answers
4k
views
How come the Russian cognate for the Czech word "čerstvý" (fresh) means entirely the opposite thing (stale)?
In Russian, черствый хлеб (chorstvy khleb) is stale bread.
And to my great surprise, I recently learned that in Czech, čerstvý chléb is precisely the opposite thing: fresh bread.
My question is: ...
- 11.3k
23
votes
6
answers
9k
views
Why do Russians call a joke a stake (прикол)?
In modern Russian, прикол is a very frequently used word and means a joke, a funny incident, or just anything funny, but the original meaning of this word is very different: a stake to which a ship, a ...
- 11.3k
19
votes
4
answers
5k
views
Why are there so many Dutch words that sound similar to Russian words?
Some examples:
Dutch
Russian
English
appelsien
апельсин
orange
broek
брюки
pants
dam
дамба
dam
jacht
яхта
yacht
kajuit
каюта
cabin
matroos
матрос
sailor
meubel
мебель
furniture
paprika
...
user15699
19
votes
1
answer
5k
views
What kind of Russian orthography is this?
This is a screenshot from Tchaikovsky's Harmony textbook:
(from page 5 of an 1897 edition — link to PDF)
And here is a transcription:
Ученіе объ интерваллахъ.
Хотя предполагается, что приступающій ...
18
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Why are United Nations and United Arab Emirates translated as "Объединённые", but United States as "Соединённые"?
Are there two different ways to be "United", or is one simply the more modern usage while the other was used historically in previous centuries?
- 884
17
votes
3
answers
910
views
Why do verbs in past tense—and not other parts of speech—have gender?
In Russian, verbs in the past have gender information attached to them, so that “я спросил” implies that the asker was male, whereas “я спросила” comes from a female.
Why no other tenses have this ...
- 173
15
votes
2
answers
688
views
Странный слог А. Дубровского
В романе Пушкина «Дубровский» повествователь, комментируя следующее письмо, написанное одним из персонажей,
Государь мой премилостивый,
Я до тех пор не намерен ехать в Покровское, пока не ...
- 211
15
votes
1
answer
588
views
Н > И change in Cyrillic, when and why?
The modern Cyrillic letter had the shape of H a thousand years ago, it descends from the Greek H η 'Ήτα, Ēta'. What is interesting is when and why this letter changed the angle of its bar from H to И.
- 26k
14
votes
1
answer
674
views
Why is there a "ц" in "Сан-Франциско"?
San Francisco, Сан-Франциско in Russian, is a Spanish name meaning "Saint Francis".
The Сан in the city name is a direct phonetic adoption, but the Франциско differs from the Spanish in the inclusion ...
- 1,396
14
votes
5
answers
1k
views
What does "кося" in phrase "накося выкуси" exactly mean
These days I'm reading a book "История моего современника" by V. G. Korolenko (don't feel guilty for reading it online, you are not breaching any copyright laws in this case, since the author is ...
- 37.9k
12
votes
6
answers
556
views
Talking of historical grade systems, how should I call "отличник"?
In pre-prevoluationary times in Russian gymnasiums there was a 12-level grade system. In Soviet Union, as well as in Russian Federation, schools stand with 5-level grade system, but there is an ...
- 37.9k
12
votes
3
answers
635
views
What circumstances led to the dramatic change in the Russian language between the 17th and 18th centuries?
The language of the 19th century (even at its beginning), judging from the poetry and prose of Pushkin and Lermontov, was much the same language that we speak today. If somebody decided to compose ...
11
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Russianization of Ancient Greek personal names
Can anyone shed some light onto the process by which (masculine) personal names of the Ancient Greek world were Russianized? With some notable exceptions (Homer, Aristotle, Hadrian, et al.), English ...
- 277
11
votes
2
answers
333
views
10
votes
1
answer
522
views
What is "Э оборотное"?
Today I heard from my friend "Э оборотное". I still do not understand why he called it "оборотное". Is there a secret letter "э", which only Russian native speakers know about, which is turned the ...
- 1,049
10
votes
3
answers
636
views
Origin of the verb form "(я) ем"
Can please someone explain the origin of "-м" in "(я) ем".
Why do other verbs have "-у (-ю)" ending in the 1st person singular of present ("я работаю, я учу"), but this verb has "-м"?
- 6,558
10
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Why did the frequency of the word "черт" (devil) in books increase by a few times since the October Revolution?
I see in the Google Books statistics that the frequency of the word "черт" (devil) per unit of text length in books increased by ~3 times since the October revolution: Link. I used the case-...
- 11.3k
10
votes
7
answers
731
views
Was "сладкий" ever synonymous with "пресный" in Russian
Fresh (non-salt) water is also called sweet in English.
Surprisingly, the word sweet is also used in some Slavic languages.
To be precise:
in Polish, woda słodka
in Czech, sladká voda
in Croatian (...
- 37.9k
10
votes
2
answers
516
views
Может ли известное ругательство с упоминанием матери быть сохранившимся аористом 1 л. ед. ч.?
У глаголов с основой на согласный формы аориста 1 л. ед. ч. (несъ, везъ и т.п.) совпадают с их прошедшим временем ед. ч. м. р. в современном русском. (Которое, разумеется, возникло гораздо позже с ...
- 19.3k
10
votes
4
answers
638
views
Почему с конца 30-х перестали употреблять словосочетание "в Украине"?
В русском языке сочетание "в Украине" используется издавна.
Господин гетман, <...> того ради вам надлежит итти по Киева, в Украйну свою и смотреть того, о чем уже вы известны.
(К Мазепе)
...
- 8,572
10
votes
4
answers
457
views
Comprehensibility of "Sub-Standard" Speech?
I suspect that this question may be both too specific and too vague for this forum, but here goes...
I recently tried to watch the film "Жила-была одна баба" (2011) -- I'm not sure I'd recommend it ...
9
votes
2
answers
10k
views
"достичь" vs. "достигнуть"
Словарь указывает оба варианта как допустимые. Но хотя достичь и считается основным, в его спряжении все равно присутствуют формы с суффиксом -ну \ -н: достигну, достигнешь, и т.п.
Как получилось, ...
- 6,558
9
votes
4
answers
895
views
Any way to trace when «учёный» became a noun?
I need to know the approximate time учёный was substantivised.
Dahl has no separate entry for the word as either noun or adjective, but he does use it as a noun when defining other terms (e.g. «...
- 19.3k
8
votes
2
answers
290
views
What are the differences between "и" and "і" in pre-reform orthography?
In very old texts, sometimes the letter і is used, but it has been replaced by и in modern spelling.
I, like many others, learned modern orthography, so I don't understand why sometimes і is used, and ...
- 1,293
8
votes
1
answer
374
views
What are the advanced Russian words якобы and дабы?
Very recently in a russian newspaper I came across the words якобы and дабы. I surfed the internet for these words and found out that generally якобы is alike псевдо or как будто бы, and дабы is так ...
- 1,049
8
votes
2
answers
660
views
Alternate shapes of cyrillic letters?
In the below image, the two characters underlined don't seem to have a match in the character map program I'm using:
The closest matches I can find are п and д, respectively. Are these indeed the ...
- 183
8
votes
2
answers
363
views
Думпкар и самосвал
Чуковский в книге "Живой как жизнь" перечисляет заимствованные слова и возникшие русские эквиваленты, например "голкипер" и "вратарь". Впервые в этом списке встретил слово "думпкар" аналогом которого ...
- 11.3k
8
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Значение слова кощун в средние века
Современные словари определяют слово кощун как "насмешник, богохульник".
Однако в "Материалах для словаря древнерусского языка" Срезневского напротив слов кощуна, коштяна, коштюна написано "μύθος, ...
- 11.3k
8
votes
6
answers
876
views
The exact origin of шёл
I'm aware of шёл's derivation from Proto-Slavic *xьdlъ, related to ходить, but that form still seems irregular — given that вёл, which has the exact same relation to водить, had e rather than ь in the ...
- 19.3k
7
votes
7
answers
1k
views
Why are German soldiers of WWII commonly referred to in the Russian language as fascists (фашисты)?
I read quite a few Russian materials about WWII and noticed that Russians commonly refer to German soldiers of WWII as фашисты (fascists). Here are some typical examples:
(1) Фашисты заняли ...
- 11.3k
7
votes
5
answers
2k
views
"Красная" Площадь
It seems to be relatively common knowledge that the name "Красная Площадь," while translated in English as "Red Square," does not actually mean "Red Square" in Russian, but rather "Beautiful Square." ...
- 384
7
votes
2
answers
578
views
What were the original half-Russian Siberians called?
What were the Imperial Russian terms for a mixed-race Siberian person?
Historical background: As Russia expanded eastward, many mixed children were born to native women and Russian men. Near the end ...
- 1,396
7
votes
1
answer
1k
views
History of /f/ sound in Russian
My wife is Russian and I am learning it. One thing I seem to see is that no "native" or "elementary" words seem to start with the letter ф (other than the name Fedor perhaps, and I ...
- 173
7
votes
2
answers
543
views
Orthodox priests' facility with the Church Slavonic language
What I got from reading this is that the Russian recension of Church Slavonic (церковнославянский язык) is probably not terribly difficult to understand, at least generally, for an educated Russian. ...
- 277
7
votes
2
answers
423
views
"Качели" vs. "качель"
While reading Osip Mandelshtam, I came across the word качель in singular.
Я качался в далеком саду
На простой деревянной качели,
И высокие темные ели
Вспоминаю в туманном бреду.
...
- 2,071
7
votes
2
answers
437
views
The origin of complex plural forms
What caused complex plural forms in Russian? Were they borrowed from another language, inherited from Old Russian, or is there another reason why they appeared?
By "complex plural forms" I mean the ...
- 355
7
votes
2
answers
960
views
Несовершенный вид в значении совершенного
Мы то и дело используем в прошедшем времени несовершенный вид там, где он по базовому смыслу вполне заменим на совершенный, однако контекст требует подчеркнуть, что было выполнено некое предписанное ...
- 19.3k
7
votes
2
answers
399
views
When did (Old) Russian lose its Plusquamperfect?
Did it disappear in some transitional period or later, when Modern Russian already existed?
- 4,502
6
votes
3
answers
283
views
Раз, два и обчёлся
I was just wondering what would be the origin of the verb обчёлся? Does it have something to do with закончил считать? I don't think we use other forms of this verb, but in this idiom. How old is this ...
- 398
6
votes
1
answer
394
views
6
votes
1
answer
299
views
Kакова этимология слова "варяг"? What is the etymology of 'varyag'?
Имеется в виду буквальное значение слова. The word is meant in its literal sense.
- 4,502
6
votes
2
answers
672
views
Why was it decided in 1956 to abolish the spelling чорт (devil) in favor of чёрт?
I read in Wiktionary:
чорт
This spelling of the word was officially abolished in 1956 in favor of чёрт and is no longer in use. Both variants are pronounced identically.
(Source)
I see in Ngram ...
- 11.3k
6
votes
3
answers
343
views
What are all the times where "е" changes to "ё"?
I don't know if this was asked before but I never saw it in search, so I'll just ask it.
Can someone list all the situations where "е" would be changed to "ё" ?
Like maybe after 2 vowels or if the ...
- 61
5
votes
3
answers
263
views
"дочерям их не будет ни в пути, ни при Дворе никаких обид"
The ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЙ ОЧЕРК ГЛАВНЕЙШИХ СОБЫТИЙ В КАМЧАТКЕ. 1650—1855 by Sgibnev, 1869, contains this passage:
Января 13-го 1758 г. прибыл в Нижнекамчатск штат-фурьер Шахтуров для выбора ко двору ...
- 1,396
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Did Russian language brought any thing from Tamil language?
My mother language is Tamil (which considered to be a very old language). While creating Russian language did they got any words or characters from Tamil language?
- 267
5
votes
1
answer
237
views
How early is the word "животноводство" attested?
"Животноводство" (from "животные") describes animal husbandry, particularly cattle-raising. From how long ago is this word attested?
- 1,396
5
votes
2
answers
214
views
"Промышленники" working for the fur companies
The term промышленник described individuals seeking furs and the employees of 1700s and 1800s fur companies such as Shelikhov-Golikov and the Russian-American Company. Those workers were involved in a ...
- 1,396
5
votes
2
answers
353
views
Use of "да" instead of "и"
In Mussorgsky's operas Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina it strikes me how often "да" (usually meaning "yes") is used as a substitute for "и" ("and"). Is that how they normally spoke in the late 19th ...
- 171