{"id":12617,"date":"2020-07-02T10:00:35","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T10:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=12617"},"modified":"2020-07-02T04:38:21","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T04:38:21","slug":"%d1%82%d0%b2%d1%91%d1%80%d0%b4%d1%8b%d0%b9-%d0%b7%d0%bd%d0%b0%d0%ba-hard-sign-a-case-study-in-russian-language-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/%d1%82%d0%b2%d1%91%d1%80%d0%b4%d1%8b%d0%b9-%d0%b7%d0%bd%d0%b0%d0%ba-hard-sign-a-case-study-in-russian-language-reforms\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0422\u0432\u0451\u0440\u0434\u044b\u0439 \u0437\u043d\u0430\u043a (hard sign): a case study in Russian language reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last month we looked at <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/%D0%BC%D1%8F%D0%B3%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9-%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BA-%D1%8C-soft-sign-or-the-charlie-chaplin-of-the-russian-alphabet\/\">\u043c\u044f\u0433\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u0437\u043d\u0430\u043a<\/a> (soft sign) and the rules that govern its proper use. In this blog, let&#8217;s explore the other unusual letter of the Russian alphabet: \u0442\u0432\u0451\u0440\u0434\u044b\u0439 \u0437\u043d\u0430\u043a (hard sign).<\/p>\n<p>\u0422\u0432\u0451\u0440\u0434\u044b\u0439 \u0437\u043d\u0430\u043a \u201c\u044a\u201d is the 28<sup>th<\/sup> letter of the Russian alphabet and similar to the soft sign, it doesn\u2019t carry its own phonetic meaning. The hard sign separates prefixes ending on consonants from morphemes that begin with \u0435, \u0451, \u044e, \u044f by bringing out the \u201c\u0439\u201d between the consonant and the palatalized vowel.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12622\" style=\"width: 462px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12622\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12622\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/06\/hard_sign_small.png\" alt=\"hard_sign\" width=\"452\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/06\/hard_sign_small.png 452w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/06\/hard_sign_small-247x350.png 247w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 452px) 100vw, 452px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-12622\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image by <a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/users\/Larchick-186124\/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1136203\">Lara Larina<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1136203\">Pixabay<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Compare the following two words:<\/p>\n<p>\u0421\u0435\u043b [sel] (past tense of the verb \u0441\u0435\u0441\u0442\u044c, as in \u043e\u043d \u0441\u0435\u043b \u043d\u0430 \u0434\u0438\u0432\u0430\u043d = he sat on the couch)<\/p>\n<p>\u0421<u>\u044a<\/u>\u0435\u043b [sjel] (past tense of the verb \u0441\u044a\u0435\u0441\u0442\u044c, as in \u043e\u043d \u0441\u044a\u0435\u043b \u0432\u0435\u0441\u044c \u0430\u0440\u0431\u0443\u0437 = he ate the whole watermelon)<\/p>\n<p>\u0422\u0432\u0451\u0440\u0434\u044b\u0439 \u0437\u043d\u0430\u043a inside the word &#8220;\u0441\u044a\u0435\u043b&#8221; changes both the meaning and the pronunciation of the verb.<\/p>\n<p>Hard sign usage rules are generally easy to follow. The big one to remember is that &#8220;\u044a&#8221; is only used after the letters \u0435, \u0451, \u044e, \u044f and in the following situations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>After prefixes that end on consonants (including prefixes that with time became part of the root):<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u041f\u041e\u0414-<\/p>\n<p>\u041f\u043e\u0434\u044a\u0451\u043c (ascent)<\/p>\n<p>\u041e\u0411-<\/p>\n<p>\u041e\u0431\u044a\u0435\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0435\u0301\u043d\u0438\u0435 (union)<\/p>\n<p>\u041f\u0420\u0415\u0414-<\/p>\n<p>\u041f\u0440\u0435\u0434\u044a\u044f\u0432\u043b\u044f\u0301\u0442\u044c (to show)<\/p>\n<p>\u0420\u0410\u0417-<\/p>\n<p>\u0420\u0430\u0437\u044a\u044f\u0441\u043d\u0438\u0301\u0442\u044c (to explain)<\/p>\n<p>\u0421\u0412\u0415\u0420\u0425-<\/p>\n<p>\u0421\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0445\u044a\u044f\u0301\u0440\u043a\u0438\u0439 (very bright)<\/p>\n<p>\u041c\u0415\u0416-<\/p>\n<p>\u041c\u0435\u0436\u044a\u044f\u0437\u044b\u043a\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0301\u0439 (interlingual)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In compound words after numerical morphemes \u0434\u0432\u0443\u0445-, \u0442\u0440\u0451\u0445-, \u0447\u0435\u0442\u044b\u0440\u0451\u0445-<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u0414\u0432\u0443\u0445\u044a\u044f\u0301\u0440\u0443\u0441\u043d\u044b\u0439 (EXCEPTION: \u0434\u0432\u0443\u044f\u0437\u044b\u0301\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0439)<\/p>\n<p>\u0422\u0440\u0451\u0445\u044a\u044f\u0437\u044b\u0301\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0439 (trilingual)<\/p>\n<p>\u0427\u0435\u0442\u044b\u0440\u0451\u0445\u044a\u044f\u0301\u0440\u0443\u0441\u043d\u044b\u0439 (four-tier)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>After foreign prefixes that end on a consonant:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u0438\u043d- \u0438\u043d\u044a\u0435\u0301\u043a\u0446\u0438\u044f (injection)<\/p>\n<p>\u043e\u0431- \u043e\u0431\u044a\u0435\u0301\u043a\u0442 (object)<\/p>\n<p>\u043f\u0430\u043d- \u043f\u0430\u043d\u044a\u0435\u0432\u0440\u043e\u043f\u0435\u0301\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 (pan-European)<\/p>\n<p>\u0441\u0443\u0431- \u0441\u0443\u0431\u044a\u0435\u0301\u043a\u0442 (subject)<\/p>\n<p>\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0441- \u0442\u0440\u0430\u0301\u043d\u0441\u044a\u0435\u0432\u0440\u043e\u043f\u0435\u0301\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 (trans-European)<\/p>\n<p>Here is when to NOT use the hard sign:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hard sign is not used in clipped compounds (\u0441\u043b\u043e\u0436\u043d\u043e\u0441\u043e\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0449\u0451\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0435 \u0441\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0430), for example:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u041c\u0438\u043d\u044e\u0441\u0442 (\u043c\u0438\u043d\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0435\u0301\u0440\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e \u044e\u0441\u0442\u0438\u0301\u0446\u0438\u0438) \u2013 Department of Justice<\/p>\n<p>\u0418\u043d\u044f\u0437 (\u0418\u043d\u0441\u0442\u0438\u0442\u0443\u0301\u0442 \u0438\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0301\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0445 \u044f\u0437\u044b\u043a\u043e\u0301\u0432) &#8211; Language Institute<\/p>\n<p>\u0414\u0435\u0442\u044f\u0441\u043b\u0438 (\u0434\u0435\u0301\u0442\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0435 \u044f\u0301\u0441\u043b\u0438) &#8211; nursery<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hard sign is never written before the vowels \u0430, \u0438, \u043e, \u0443, \u044b, \u044d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u0422\u0440\u0451\u0445\u044d\u0442\u0430\u0301\u0436\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0434\u043e\u043c (three-story house)<\/p>\n<p>\u0411\u0435\u0437\u043e\u043f\u0430\u0301\u0441\u043d\u044b\u0439 (safe)<\/p>\n<p>\u041e\u0431\u0443\u0447\u0435\u0301\u043d\u0438\u0435 (educational training)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hard sign is also never written in hyphenated words:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u041f\u043e\u043b-\u0415\u0432\u0440\u043e\u043f\u044b (half of Europe), \u043f\u043e\u043b-\u044f\u0431\u043b\u043e\u043a\u0430 (half an apple)<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12619\" style=\"width: 809px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12619\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12619\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/06\/russian_typewriter.jpg\" alt=\"russian_typerwriter\" width=\"799\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/06\/russian_typewriter.jpg 799w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/06\/russian_typewriter-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/06\/russian_typewriter-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-12619\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image by Image Catalog from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/image-catalog\/17618699644\/in\/photolist-sQUrzw-F4gdA-fNZPuF-xXmfj1-84XGcF-f8trcg-fPhnW7-fNZPhv-6aS3sK-fNZP94-fPhnM1-fNZPdp-fNZQ5a-fNZQ2z-6aWcv1-fNZPYk-fNZPq4-fPhnYj-fPhnRQ-fPhn5W-fNZPmi-Mg7dRa-fPhnGo-fPhnBY-dbBP9u-7vFVqd-6aWd31-JYsztB-xFsKgp-xX6kEf\">Flickr<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u0422\u0432\u0451\u0440\u0434\u044b\u0439 \u0437\u043d\u0430\u043a was part of the alphabet proposed by the Saints Cyril and Methodius (\u041a\u0438\u0440\u0438\u043b\u043b \u0438 \u041c\u0435\u0444\u043e\u0434\u0438\u0439), though speculations vary as to the original purpose of \u201c\u044a\u201d or \u201c\u0435\u0440\u044a\u201d. Some argue that the hard sign served as a sort of separation sign between words. Others claim the sign was a way to avoid ending words on consonants and, later on, to identify masculine gender.<\/p>\n<p>Most critics of the hard sign were concerned with how expensive it was to keep it: a Russian writer Lev Uspensky calculated that an extra 8.5 million pages were being printed annually just because of the hard sign. So, when the Bolsheviks were conducting a number of linguistic reforms in 1917, the rules about the usage of the hard sign changed: &#8220;\u044a&#8221; at the end of the word was banned. As part of the reform, many typewriter manufacturers of the time were instructed to abandon the hard sign key altogether, so when people had to use the hard sign inside a word, they had to substitute it with an apostrophe. Therefore, a number of publications that went into print had the apostrophe sign instead of the \u201c\u044a\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Russian poet Konstantin Balmont&#8217;s remark on the matter paints a curious picture on what many thought of the world without the hard sign at the time: &#8220;\u0421\u043b\u043e\u0432\u043e \u0431\u0435\u0437 \u0442\u0432\u0451\u0440\u0434\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0437\u043d\u0430\u043a\u0430 \u043d\u0430 \u043a\u043e\u043d\u0446\u0435 \u043f\u043e\u0445\u043e\u0436\u0435 \u043d\u0430 \u0441\u043e\u0431\u0430\u043a\u0443 \u0441 \u043e\u0442\u0440\u0443\u0431\u043b\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u043c \u0445\u0432\u043e\u0441\u0442\u043e\u043c&#8221;. (&#8220;A word without the hard sign at the end is akin to a dog with a chopped tail&#8221;.) Obviously, the hard sign is still very much part of the Russian language, though speculations about the future of this letter have a place to be. I certainly have always wondered why the Russian keyboard on my phone has the hard sign \u201chidden\u201d behind the soft sign. It can only be accessed by pressing and holding the soft sign button. Do you think this layout will gradually nudge us to move away from using the hard sign completely or will \u0442\u0432\u0451\u0440\u0434\u044b\u0439 \u0437\u043d\u0430\u043a carry on?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"247\" height=\"350\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/06\/hard_sign_small-247x350.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"hard_sign\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/06\/hard_sign_small-247x350.png 247w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/06\/hard_sign_small.png 452w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 247px) 100vw, 247px\" \/><p>Last month we looked at \u043c\u044f\u0433\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u0437\u043d\u0430\u043a (soft sign) and the rules that govern its proper use. In this blog, let&#8217;s explore the other unusual letter of the Russian alphabet: \u0442\u0432\u0451\u0440\u0434\u044b\u0439 \u0437\u043d\u0430\u043a (hard sign). \u0422\u0432\u0451\u0440\u0434\u044b\u0439 \u0437\u043d\u0430\u043a \u201c\u044a\u201d is the 28th letter of the Russian alphabet and similar to the soft sign, it doesn\u2019t carry its&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/%d1%82%d0%b2%d1%91%d1%80%d0%b4%d1%8b%d0%b9-%d0%b7%d0%bd%d0%b0%d0%ba-hard-sign-a-case-study-in-russian-language-reforms\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":12622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6,178],"tags":[507314,385633,11571,1248,1674],"class_list":["post-12617","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","category-history","tag-grammar","tag-history","tag-russian-alphabet","tag-russian-language","tag-1674"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12617"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12635,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12617\/revisions\/12635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}