Russian Language Blog

…Александр Невский [Alexander Nevsky]! If you remember (and have been a reader of this blog for long enough – thanks, by the way!) I wrote about the Russian people voting in the national contest/TV show «Имя России» [Name of Russia] in a post of mine back in July [Имя России: who's your pick?]. Well, ladies and gentlemen, yesterday the voting was finished and we have a winner! Not only is he a saint in the Russian Orthodox Church, he also beat the Swedes once upon a time, this Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky [Александр Ярославич Невский] (May 30, 1220 – November 14, 1263). He was the Grand Prince of Novgorod and Vladimir during some of the most trying times in the country’s history. He is regarded as the key figure of medieval Russia, and was the grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest. Alexander Nevsky rose to legendary status on account of his military victories over the German invaders while employing shrewd conciliatory policies towards the powerful Golden Horde. Though it is not clear – at least not to me – exactly what Nevsky will be doing now that he has been honored with this bright, shiny title. Since he’s dead he won’t be around to open any malls, and since he’s already a saint, there’s very little left for him (or his fans more likely) to strive for. I’m just kidding. I get it. I understand that this was planned as a way to make the Russian public look at things in a broader, historical context, try to search deep into the country’s history and find someone in there who they think would be a good source for patriotic feelings and of inspiration for the young generation. In that aspect I think this contest turned out splendid, because it did get many people more interested in history. What wasn’t so splendid was when Stalin, during the summer, was number one, but was knocked down several places after the producer of the show appealed to viewers to vote for someone else. Though this is as sure a sign as anything that Stalin has been ‘rehabilitated’ in Russia during 2008, I still think people should take a moment and think about things. In this contest Stalin came in third, yet Pushkin, who Russians claim so fiercely is «наше всё» [‘our everything'], finished fourth. What if the same contest had taken place in Germany and Hitler would have beat Goethe? Think about. And try not to freak out.

His last name – «Невский» – comes from the name of the river «Нева» [Neva]. Which is a river between Lake Ladoga and the Baltic Sea, traveling through – of all places! – «Питер» ['Piter'; more known abroad as Saint Petersburg... or perhaps Leningrad?]

But if you’re browsing the site for «Имя России», (something that I would highly recommend you do, even if your knowledge of Russian isn’t as good as you’d like it to be. There’s goodies for everyone with a passion for Russia there!) you should make sure to check each of the top 12 persons’ sites. For every candidate there is not only a short biography, but also a collection of their most famous quotes, as well as a test. The test is for you. For you to find out how well you know you Pushkin or Nevsky or – why not? – Stalin and Dostoevsky. I did the test for the two last candidates, and my results are embarrassing. I think I need to stop studying Russian literature, and go get my major in Russian history instead. Why? Because I scored 15 out of 15 in the test on Stalin on my first try, yet could not manage to get more than 11 out of 15 in the test of Dostoevsky. I tried to fix my terribly shameful score, but no matter how I hard I try and google and think, I can’t do it. Another funny thing is also the little text you receive after completing each test:

My result for Dostoevsky:

«Вы ответили правильно на 11 вопросов  из 15:

За это Вы награждаетесь медалью “Знаток биографии Достоевского”. Вы, безусловно, поклонник творчества Фёдора Михайловича, но у вас есть пробелы в знании его жизни. Хотите узнать больше? Приглашаем ознакомиться с его досье.»

[You correctly answered 11 out of 15 questions:

For this you receive the medal "Connoisseur of Dostoevsky's Biography". You are, undoubtedly, an admirer of Fyodor Mikhailovich's art, but you have some gaps in your knowledge of his life. Do you want to find out more? We invite you to get acquainted with his dossier.]

My result for Stalin:

«Вы ответили правильно на 15 вопросов из 15:

За это Вы награждаетесь медалью “Корифей биографии Сталина”. Поздравляем! Вы оправдали, оказанное Вам высокое доверие. Увы, краткий курс ВКП(б), больше не преподают в высшей школе, но вы могли бы быть его преподавателем.»

[You correctly answered 15 out of 15 questions:

For this you receive the medal "The Leading Light of Stalin's Biography". Congratulations! You have lived up to the high confidence that was given to you. Too bad that they no longer teach the short course of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in higher education, though you could have been the teacher of it.]

What can I say – I know my Simon Sebag-Montefiore as well (or, as was proved today – worse) than the history of realism in Russia during the second half of the 19^th century. Did anyone else have a deep, long, satisfying love affair with his “Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar”?

«С Рождеством с Урала!» This Christmas card is old – from 2006, when I had just moved to Yekaterinburg, and there’s a mistake in it (guess where?). When I sent it out to friends and family that year it caused a sensation because of its… well, partly because of its portrait of Russian contemporary society, and its use of prepositions. One «с» but after it two different cases – how come?

As much as I today just want to wish all of you readers a wonderful, beautiful, cozy, warm, tender, loving Christmas together with family and friends, I feel that I should take a moment to explain the situation with the prepositions above. First of all, most I think are familiar with the preposition «c» in the context of «с чем, с кем?» [with what, with whom?], meaning it is followed by instrumental case. The original way of congratulating someone with some holiday of sort was «поздравляю тебя с праздником» but soon half of the sentence was shortened, and that’s why we’re in Russian language today only left with «С Рождеством Христовым!» [Merry Christmas! lit. 'with Christ's birth'], but everyone knows that it’s all about congratulations anyway. But «с» can also mean ‘from’, if it is paired with a noun that needs «на» to mean ‘on’. Okay, so that may not help anyone. Let’s take a look at an example instead – «на завод» is in this case accusative, meaning ‘to the factory’, and that makes «на Урал» mean ‘to the Urals’. But in a sentence like «он работает на заводе» [he works at the factory] the same preposition needs to be followed by the locative case. The very same happens in «она живёт на Урале» [she lives in the Urals]. But when you want to leave the factory or the Urals, you have to use «с» like you would normally use «из» [for nouns that need «в» in locative and accusative] with genitive – «он ушёл домой с завода» [he went home from the factory] and «она уехала в Москву с Урала» [she went to Moscow from the Urals]. I hope that makes at least a little bit sense!

The mistake I made, by the way, back in 2006 was that I wrote «Рождество» with a small «р», which is as much against the rules in Russian as is saying ‘Merry christmas’ in English or ‘God jul’ in Swedish. Which makes sense, since He, our Lord, is always written with a big L or a big H.

Santa Clause, or «Дед Мороз», or Tomten – or perhaps it was a mix of the three! – arrived and gave me the gift of the year today – guess what…? 

I wish you all a wonderful holiday! 

НАСТОЯЩЕГО СЧАСТЬЯ, ЗАМЕЧАТЕЛЬНЫХ УСПЕХОВ, КРЕПКОГО ЗДОРОВЬЯ, СИЛЬНОЙ ЛЮБВИ И ВЕЧНОЙ ДРУЖБЫ ВАМ!

[I WISH YOU REAL HAPPINESS, WONDERFUL SUCCESSES, STURDY HEALTH, STRONG LOVE AND ETERNAL FRIENDSHIP!]

This is the weather forecast for next week in my corner (read ‘igloo’) of the planet Earth. In Russia igloo is «иглу». This is not a Russian word, even though Russia is a cold country. One knows that some words are not Russian words by the way they’re written. If a word ends on an «и» but isn’t plural, like for example «такси» [taxi], then that’s a clear sign of that its etymology isn’t Slavic. Or when a word ends on «о», as if it was a classic neuter, but then it doesn’t change in different cases, like «метро» [subway], and you know you’ve met one of them ‘foreigners’ in the Russian language. This goes for «иглу», which doesn’t change in any of the cases.

I have sent out a wish to «Дед Мороз» this year about the only thing I want for «Новый Год» (since in Russia they celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January, and then without any gifts, and as they say – when in Rome…). I want этимологический словарь [an etymological dictionary]. It’s the only thing I don’t have in my life, and the only thing I can honestly say that I truly, deeply, really need. If I had such a dictionary then I could look up all sorts of words and find out where they came from and how they changed through the centuries and I’m sure that then, right then, with that dictionary, I would be happy. And my life would be fulfilled

What can I say; I did after all grow up in a Western Capitalistic Country…