Word of the Week: «Учиться» Posted by josefina on Oct 15, 2008 in Uncategorized
The word of this week is a verb (do note the «ь» [‘soft sign’] right after the «т», as that is a sure sign of the verb being in infinitiv, oh and don’t forget to pay attention to the «ся», because if you fail to do so, then you will not be aware of the fact that this verb is a [yes, I knew you’d figure it out long before I could say «Грамматика современногорусского языка под редакцией Белошапковой»!] «возвратныйглагол» reflexive verb) and a quite useful one aswell, if I may say so myself. And not just nowadays, I assure you, but there is solid proof that this verb has been around for some time now, as it is found in the popular saying by ВладимирИльичЛенин [Vladimir Il’ich Lenin]: «Учиться, учитьсяиучиться!» [‘Study, stydy and study!’].
«учиться» – to study (somewhere); be a student; (only with dat.) to study (a subject, a foreign language, etc)
«учёба» – studies; training
«учебник» – textbook
«учебный» – educational; teaching; training
«учебное заведение» – educational institution
«учебные пособия» – teaching aids
«учебноеполе» – training ground
«учебныигод» – school year; academic year
«учебный план» – curriculum
«учебная стрельба» – firing practice
«учение» – studies, studying, learning; apprenticeship; teaching; exersice; doctrine; (with gen.) the teachings (of)
«ученик/ученица» – pupil; appprentice; disciple
«ученический» – pupil’s, pupils’; crude, amateurish
«ученичество» – time spent as a student; apprenticeship
«учёность» – learning; erudition
«учёный» – learned, erudite, scholarly; scientific; academic; (of animals) trained; scholar
«учёная степень» – (college) degree
«училище» – (specialized) school
«учитель/учительница» – teacher
«учительская» – (sub.) teachers’ room
«учительство» – teaching; teachers
«учительствовать» – to be a teacher; to teach
«учить» – to teach; to study (something); to memorize (a lesson); to learn (a language)
«выучить» – perfect of «учить»
«научить» – perfect of «учить»
These words all share the root «уч» which can be found in the following words, which have meanings related to those above:
«изучать» – (impfv.) to study
«изучение» – study; studying
«изучить» – (pfv.) to study; to learn; to get to know
I suppose it would take a long time to gather all these words related to each other together all in one place, just like it takes much effort to gather a family of humans together. But it sure is interesting, isn’t it? I always try and look for a familiar ‘root’ in any new Russian word I meet, and if I find one, then, unless it is a really long and difficult words made out of 5 roots, I already have a hunch, and sometimes more than just a hunch, of what the meaning of the word is. My lesson to all is as follows – not too far from Lenin, I must admit – know your «словообразование» [word construction]! If you know how to find the root in one word, you’ll be able to find it in any word. Trust me. Or don’t – see for yourself, that’s always better.
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Comments:
Alec L:
I always thought that выучить was not only the perfective, but also carried a connotation of ‘learn very thoroughly,’ or even ‘commit to memory’ (“наизусть”). Either way, it’s a very useful word — I used it today down at the St. Petersburg National Library when asking about Internet access: “Только в учебые сайты?”.
Alec L
http://eagleandthebear.wordpress.com/
stas:
There is a usage difference between выучить и научить which is not that apparent from the list above. Выучить have a reflective connotation: You can sit and выучить a poem, commit it to memory, memorize it, etc. But you can’t научить old dog to do new tricks. Or you will, maybe, someday научишь your future pupils how to use the word учиться… I am sure someday you will have your pupils.
Igor:
Josephina, great blog!
You say “I suppose it would take a long time to gather all these words related to each other together all in one place, just like it takes much effort to gather a family of humans together”. I like it and I have put it down into my pocket-book.
TO ADD
1. OK, you write that “These words all share the root «уч» which can be found in the following words” etc. I think that the root “уч-” is closely related to “ук-“. I mean the interchange of sounds in the root “уч-“/”ук-“:
“УЧить” to learn;
“наУКа” – science, literally “learning”;
“наУКа” – “наУЧный” (scientific)
Best regards!
Igor
Josefina:
@Stas: Мне лень было (у кого не бывает?) write the usage difference between выучить и научить, and that’s why it is not that apparent from the list above. So thank you for clearing that one out for me!
@Igor: Yes, it is a common known fact in linguistics that the sound ‘k’ likes to change in to ‘ч’, so наука, научный are all really third cousins of “учить” 🙂
Delia:
WHat I found missing here: “учить” means both to learn/to study and to teach.
Я учу русский язык – I study Russian (accusative as direct object)
Я учу русскому языку – I teach Russian (instrumental as indirect object)
ВЫУЧИТЬ is perfective of to study/to learn
НАУЧИТЬ is perfective of to teach
Delia:
Учить has two meanings to study/to learn and to teach.
Я учу русский язык – I study Russian (accusative after the verb as it is direct object)
Я учу русскому языку – I teach Russian (Dative as indirect object)
Выучить – is perfect of “to study”
Научить – is perfect of “to teach”
Delia:
I want to correct my mistake: Я учу русскому языку – DATIVE, not Instrumental