Russian language

Russian is an East Slavic language from the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is spoken by the Russian people and was the main language of the former Soviet Union. Today, it is an official language in several countries including the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Many people also use it in places like Ukraine, Moldova, and Central Asia.

With over 210 million speakers worldwide, Russian is the most spoken native language in Europe and the most widespread language in Eurasia. It is also one of the official languages of the United Nations and the International Space Station. People use Russian on the Internet and in many parts of the world.

Russian uses the Cyrillic script, which includes the Russian alphabet. One special feature of the language is how sounds change depending on their position in a word, especially with "soft" and "hard" consonants. Another feature is that unstressed vowels often sound different from stressed ones. These changes help speakers understand each other clearly. Russian also uses many prefixes and suffixes to create new words and can combine words in interesting ways.

Classification

Russian is an East Slavic language that belongs to the bigger Indo-European family. It is closely related to other languages like Belarusian, Rusyn, and Ukrainian. In some parts of Ukraine and Belarus, people often switch between these languages, creating mixes like surzhyk and trasianka.

Russian shares many words with Bulgarian because both were influenced by Church Slavonic. Over time, Russian also borrowed words from many other languages, including Latin, Polish, Dutch, German, French, Italian, and English. Learning Russian can take some time, with experts saying it needs around 1,100 hours of study for English speakers to become fairly fluent.

Standard Russian

Main article: Moscow dialect

Before Russia became a unified country, different areas spoke in their own ways, which made it hard to share ideas. As Russia grew into a stronger, more organized country, leaders realized they needed one main way of speaking so everyone could understand each other, especially for important government work.

In the 1700s, a leader named Peter the Great helped create this standard way of speaking Russian. He thought it was important for education, science, and growth. Over time, more writers and teachers helped shape this standard Russian, making it easier for everyone to use in everyday life and in schools.

Geographic distribution

Main article: Geographical distribution of Russian speakers

Russian is spoken by many people around the world. In 2010, about 259.8 million people spoke Russian. Most of these speakers lived in Russia, with many others in nearby countries and some in faraway places like Europe, Asia, and North America.

Russian is one of the official languages of the United Nations. It is still a popular language to learn in schools, especially in countries that were once part of the Soviet Union. Many children grow up learning Russian in these places.

As an international language

See also: Russophone, List of official languages by institution, and Internet in Russian

Russian is an important language around the world. It is one of the official languages at many big groups and organizations, such as the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Health Organization, and many others.

Russian is also used on the International Space Station. Astronauts from different countries often learn Russian to work together with Russian space travelers. This tradition started with the Apollo–Soyuz mission in 1975.

In 2013, Russian was found to be the second-most used language on the internet, after English. Many websites in countries that were once part of the Soviet Union use Russian, including Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

Dialects

Main articles: Russian dialects, Moscow dialect, and Pomor dialects

Even after 1900, many different ways of speaking Russian are still found across the country. Some experts group these ways of speaking into two main areas, "Northern" and "Southern", with the city of Moscow in between them. Others split them into three areas: Northern, Central (or Middle), and Southern, with Moscow in the Central area.

In the north, such as in areas near the Volga River, people often say the sound "o" clearly even when it is not stressed — this is called okanye (оканье). Some northern ways of speaking also change vowel sounds in special ways. In the south, people say certain sounds a bit differently, like turning "e" and "a" into "a" in some places — this is called yakanye (яканье). Southern speech also uses some special consonant sounds that are not used in standard Russian or northern dialects.

Comparison with other Slavic languages

Long ago, all Slavic people spoke a similar language. Today, Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian are very easy for each other to understand when talking to one another. Other Slavic languages also share some understanding, especially in everyday conversations.

Derived languages

Some languages and dialects have borrowed words or ideas from Russian. For example, Esperanto includes some Russian words and grammar features. Fenya is a special way of speaking used by some groups, with Russian grammar but very different words. Medny Aleut language was a mix of Russian and another language, with Russian verbs and nouns from a different tongue.

Other examples include Runglish, a mix of Russian and English, and Surzhyk, a mix of Russian and Ukrainian spoken in parts of Ukraine. There are many more such examples, each showing how Russian has influenced other languages.

Alphabet

Main articles: Russian alphabet and Russian Braille

Russian uses a special alphabet called Cyrillic. This alphabet was changed from an older one called Old Church Slavonic. There have been a few changes to how Russian is written over time. The most recent big change happened in 1917–1918.

The Russian alphabet has 33 letters. Here is a table showing each letter and the sound it usually makes:

Some older letters are no longer used but might appear in special cases. These letters changed to look like the letters we use today.

Transliteration

Further information: Romanization of Russian

Sometimes, Russian words are written using the regular Latin alphabet (like the one we use in English) because not everyone has a keyboard that can type Cyrillic letters. For example, the Russian word for "frost" is written as moroz using Latin letters. This used to be common for people living outside Russia, but now many people use special computer programs that let them type Russian letters directly.

Computing

Main article: History of computing in the Soviet Union

People started using Russian in computers after some early machines were made in 1951.

Orthography

Main article: Russian orthography

Sometimes, a special mark called an acute accent is used in Russian to show which part of a word is stressed, or to make the meaning clearer. For example, it can help tell the difference between words that look the same but have different meanings. This mark is often used in dictionaries and books for children learning Russian.

Phonology

Main article: Russian phonology

The Russian language has a complex way of forming syllables, with groups of sounds at the beginning and end of words. It can have up to four consonant sounds before and after the main vowel sound in a word.

Russian consonants are special because they can change based on how the tongue is positioned. This change is called palatalization, where the tongue lifts toward the roof of the mouth while making the sound. Some sounds are made with the tip of the tongue near the teeth.

Russian has several vowel sounds. In stressed parts of words, there are five or six vowel sounds, but when these vowels are not stressed, they often sound similar to just a few sounds.

Grammar

Main article: Russian grammar

Russian uses a special way of changing words to show meaning, which helps people put words in different orders in a sentence. Usually, Russian speakers put the subject, then the verb, and then the object, but they can change this order to stress different parts of the sentence.

Russian words change depending on their role in the sentence and their gender — masculine, feminine, or neuter. There are six different ways to change nouns and adjectives to show things like ownership, direction, or location. Verbs in Russian have past, present, and future tenses, and they can show if an action is completed or ongoing.

The language mixes everyday speaking styles with influences from older Church Slavonic and Western European styles. This creates a rich vocabulary that continues to evolve.

Vocabulary

The number of listed words in important dictionaries over the past two hundred years is shown here.

History and literary language

Main article: History of the Russian language

See also: Reforms of Russian orthography and Russian literature

The Russian language has an interesting history. Some people split its history into different periods. One way is to call the early years "Old Russian," from about the 11th to the 17th century, and then "Modern Russian" after that. Another way looks at three periods: Old Russian until the 13th–14th centuries, Middle Russian from the 14th to the 17th centuries, and Modern Russian from the 17th century onward.

Writing in Russian began around the year 1000, after a special language called Old Church Slavonic was brought in for religious services. At first, Old Church Slavonic and Old Russian were very similar, but they were used in different ways. Old Church Slavonic was used for important, formal writing, while Old Russian was used in everyday life. Over time, Old Church Slavonic changed to become more like Russian.

Important early books, like the Ostomir Gospels from 1056–1057, show the beginning of Russian writing mixing with Old Church Slavonic. Birch bark writings from the 11th to 15th centuries give us a closer look at everyday Old Russian.

As Moscow grew in power from the 14th to the 16th centuries, its dialect became the basis for standard Russian. During this time, Russian started to change with influences from other areas. By the 18th century, changes made by leaders like Peter the Great helped make Russian writing more like how people spoke. A writer named Mikhail Lomonosov suggested three styles for writing: a formal style for serious topics, a middle style for literature and science, and a simple style for everyday letters and comedy. The modern Russian language was shaped by writers like Alexander Pushkin in the early 1800s, who used everyday speech in his stories instead of old, fancy words.

During the time of the Soviet Union, Russian was the main language used across many countries. After the Soviet Union ended in 1991, some countries started using their own languages more, but Russian is still important in many places.

Sample text

Here is Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights written in Russian:

Все люди рождаются свободными и равными в своём достоинстве и правах. Они наделены разумом и совестью и должны поступать в отношении друг друга в духе братства.

This is the same idea written using the Latin alphabet:

Vse lyudi rozhdayutsya svobodnymi i ravnymi v svoyom dostoinstve i pravakh. Oni nadeleny razumom i sovest'yu i dolzhny postupat' v otnoshenii drug druga v dukhe bratstva.

And here is what it means in English:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.