{"id":2316,"date":"2011-09-16T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2011-09-16T08:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=2316"},"modified":"2014-07-17T17:24:56","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T17:24:56","slug":"ten-little-words-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/ten-little-words-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Little Words – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

As promised, here’s the second part of David’s excellent post about the only ten neuter Russian nouns<\/a> that end in -\u043c\u044f<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Meanings and connections of the words<\/strong><\/p>\n

After this digression you couldn\u2019t be blamed if you\u2019ve forgotten the list of \u00ab<\/strong>\u2013<\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> nouns, but now we\u2019ll go through their meanings and their connections, this time in inverse Cyrillic alphabetical order.<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0422<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> is given in the dictionary as \u201ccrown<\/em> (of the head)\u201d, \u201ctop<\/em> (of the head)\u201d, \u201cpate<\/em>\u201d (not to be confused with French p\u00e2t\u00e9). The connection is fairly simple: mutate \u043c<\/strong> to \u043f<\/strong>, drop the \u044f<\/strong> and convert to the Latin alphabet \u2013 we get \u201ctop\u201d. \u00ab\u0422<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> is not used in the plural. [I doubt if it is much used, except by hairdressers, in the singular either].<\/p>\n

The English word \u201cpate<\/em>\u201d might possibly be an example of what I think of as the \u201cSpoonerism\u201d mutation, where two consonants swap places, so \u201ctop\u201d becomes \u201cpot\u201d and the vowel changes to become pate. Spoonerisms are so-called after a 19th<\/sup>\/20th century Oxford don, The Rev. William Archibald Spooner, who was allegedly prone to accidental switching of consonants, e.g. “A well-boiled icicle” (well-oiled bicycle).<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0421\u0442\u0440<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> means stirrup<\/em>. Nowadays not a word in everyday use except by people who are involved with horse-riding, but when Proto-slavic was spoken, the people who knew about stirrups \u2013 Asiatic warrior tribes \u2013 had a big military advantage over the people who still didn\u2019t \u2013 the Europeans. To get from sti<\/strong>rr<\/strong>up<\/em> to \u00ab\u0441\u0442\u0440<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>, remove the highlighted i, change the double rr to single r, and mutate p to m. Convert to Cyrillic, add \u044f<\/strong>, and we\u2019re there. \u00ab\u0421\u0442\u0440<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> is declined normally except for the genitive plural, which is not \u00ab\u0441\u0442\u0440<\/strong>\u0435\u043c<\/strong>\u0451\u043d<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong>, but \u00ab\u0441\u0442\u0440<\/strong>\u0435\u043c<\/strong>\u044f<\/span><\/strong>\u043d<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0421<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> means seed<\/em>. We can see relationships without needing to mutate anything. Think of words like sem<\/em><\/strong>inal<\/em>, insem<\/strong>inate<\/em>\u2026 The Spanish for seed is semilla<\/em> (Spanish -lla is often pronounced like Russian \u044f<\/strong>). \u00ab\u0421<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> is declined normally except for the genitive plural, which is not \u00ab\u0441<\/strong>\u0435\u043c<\/strong>\u0451\u043d<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong>, but \u00ab\u0441<\/strong>\u0435\u043c<\/strong>\u044f<\/span><\/strong>\u043d<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u041f\u043b<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> means tribe<\/em>. Not very obvious how this word relates to anything familiar, but possibly: mutate the initial \u043f<\/strong> to \u0444<\/strong> and switch \u043b<\/strong> and \u043c<\/strong> in a Spoonerism mutation, and we end up with something very like family<\/em>. When populations were very much smaller than today, there probably wasn\u2019t much difference between a tribe and a large extended family.<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u041f\u043b<\/strong>\u0430<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> is quite simple: mutate the initial \u043f<\/strong> to \u0444<\/strong> and we get something that looks very much like flame<\/em>, and this is exactly what \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u043b\u0430<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> means. In Russian flam<\/em>e is treated as a \u201csubstance word\u201d rather than a countable object, so \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u043b\u0430<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> isn\u2019t used in the plural. However, \u00ab\u044f\u0437\u044b\u043a\u0438<\/span> \u043f\u043b\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> (tongues of flame<\/em>) can be used to convey the message of more than one flame.<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0418<\/span>\u043c\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [name], is next on the list. This is so commonly used that we don\u2019t really need to look for ways to remember it.<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0417\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> means flag<\/em> or banner<\/em>. It is probably the third most common of these \u00ab-\u043c\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> words, after \u00ab<\/strong>\u0438<\/span><\/strong>\u043c\u044f<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0432\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u044f<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong>. It comes up often in soviet-era song lyrics (\u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0437\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u044f<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong>) Its declension is slightly different from the others in the plural \u2013 the infix -\u0435\u043d-<\/strong> becomes -\u0451\u043d-<\/strong> and is stressed, in all the plural cases. Mutate \u0437<\/strong> to s and insert \u0438 <\/strong>before \u043d<\/strong> and the first part of the word becomes English sign<\/em> (the g being silent). Sign<\/em> comes from Latin signum<\/em>, meaning sign, mark, emblem<\/strong><\/em>. Signum<\/em> can be mutated completely into \u0437\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u044f<\/strong> (after silencing the g, which was sounded in Latin), so we now have a clear connection.<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0412\u044b<\/span>\u043c\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> comes next. An important word for people involved with dairy farming. It means udder<\/em>. Mutate \u0432<\/strong> to \u043c<\/strong> and change to Latin script, and we can see the link to words such as mammal, mammary, mom (American English)\/mum (UK English)\/mam (northern UK English). Typically, \u00ab<\/strong>\u0432<\/strong>\u044b<\/span><\/strong>\u043c\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> is not used in the plural.<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0412\u0440<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [time], is so common that we don\u2019t need to look for ways to remember it.<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0411\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> completes the list. It means burden<\/em>, usually in a rather abstract sense as in \u201cthe burden of responsibility\u201d. For a physical burden \u00ab\u043d\u043e<\/span>\u0448\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> or \u00ab\u0433\u0440\u0443\u0437\u00bb<\/strong> is preferred. If we eliminate the u from burden<\/em> we see that the first two consonants br correspond to the \u0431\u0440<\/strong> of \u00ab\u0431\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Can we complete the connection by finding a mutation pathway between \u043c<\/strong> and d? D belongs to the t, d, th group. If we mutate it to th we change burden to burthen. The th sound provides a bridge to the p, b, v, f, m group, by mutating to f. In some English dialects \u201cth\u201d as in \u201cthinking about things\u201d is often pronounced as f \u201cfinkin\u2019 about fings\u201d or \u201cFings ain\u2019t wot they used to be<\/a>\u201d. So now we\u2019ve got from burden to burfen<\/em>. Mutate the f to m, to get burmen<\/em>, and now when we get rid of u and insert e between r and m, we see the full connection to \u00ab\u0431\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>. Although \u00ab\u0431\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> isn\u2019t much used, one of its derivatives, the adjective \u00ab\u0431\u0435\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0430\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>, is more common. It looks as though it should mean \u201cburdened\u201d, but in fact this is only in a figurative sense. It means pregnant<\/em>, and it is listed in the dictionary in its feminine form. However the masculine form, \u00ab\u0431\u0435\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u0435\u043d\u043d<\/strong>\u044b\u0439<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong>, does exist \u2013 it is the title of a film. Can you think of biologically plausible circumstances where \u00ab\u0431\u0435\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u0435\u043d\u043d<\/strong>\u044b\u0439<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> might be used?<\/p>\n

How did these feminine-looking nouns come to be neuter?<\/strong><\/p>\n

To find the answer it\u2019s better to put the question the other way round \u2013 how did these neuter nouns come to be feminine-looking? First we need to bear in mind that \u044f<\/strong> is a multitasking letter that, in unstressed positions, can represent other sounds in addition to its principle sound. When unstressed, –<\/strong>\u044f,<\/strong> –<\/strong>\u0435<\/strong> and -\u0438<\/strong> can all sound very similar. If you\u2019d never read these \u2013<\/strong>\u043c\u044f<\/strong> words, but just heard them spoken, you wouldn\u2019t always know what to write for the final letter.<\/p>\n

Many of these 10 –<\/strong>\u043c\u044f<\/strong> nouns look very similar in other Slavonic languages, but some of the differences tell us a lot. Here they are in all their variety.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Russian<\/em><\/td>\nUkrainian<\/em><\/td>\nBelarusian.<\/em><\/td>\nSerbian<\/em><\/td>\nBulgarian<\/em><\/td>\nPolish<\/em><\/td>\nCzech<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u0431p\u0435<\/strong>\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\u0431\u044fp\u044d\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u0431p\u0435\u043c\u0435<\/td>\n\u0431p\u0435\u043c\u0435<\/td>\nbrzemi\u0119<\/td>\nb\u0159emeno<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u0432p\u0435<\/strong>\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u0432p\u0435<\/strong>\u043c’\u044f<\/td>\n\u0432p\u0435\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u0432p\u0435\u043c\u0435<\/td>\n\u0432p\u0435\u043c\u0435<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u0432\u044b<\/strong>\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u0432\u0438<\/strong>\u043c’\u044f<\/td>\n\u0432\u044b\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u0432\u0438\u043c\u0435<\/td>\n\u0432\u0438\u043c\u0435<\/td>\nwymi\u0119<\/td>\nvemeno<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u0437\u043d\u0430<\/strong>\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u0437\u043d\u0430<\/strong>\u043c’\u044f<\/td>\n\u0437\u043da\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u0437\u043da\u043c\u0435<\/td>\n\u0437\u043da\u043c\u0435<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u0438<\/strong>\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u0456<\/strong>\u043c\u2019\u044f<\/td>\n\u0456\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u0438\u043c\u0435<\/td>\n\u0438\u043c\u0435<\/td>\nimi\u0119<\/td>\njm\u00e9\u0159no<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u043f\u043b\u0430<\/strong>\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u043f\u043e<\/strong>\u043b\u0443\u043c\u2019\u044f<\/td>\n\u043f\u0430\u043b\u044b\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u043f\u043b\u0430\u043c\u0435\u043d<\/td>\n\u043f\u043b\u0430\u043c\u0435<\/td>\np\u0142omie\u0144<\/td>\nplamen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u043f\u043b\u0435<\/strong>\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u043f\u043be<\/strong>\u043c’\u044f<\/td>\n\u043f\u043b\u0435\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u043f\u043b\u0435\u043c\u0435<\/td>\n\u043f\u043b\u0435\u043c\u0435<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u0441\u0435<\/strong>\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\u0441\u0435\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u0441\u0435\u043c\u0435<\/td>\n\u0441\u0435\u043c\u0435<\/td>\n<\/td>\nsemeno<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0435<\/strong>\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0435<\/strong>\u043d\u043e<\/td>\n\u0441\u0442\u0440\u044d\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0435<\/td>\n<\/td>\nt\u0159men<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u0442\u0435<\/strong>\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\u0442\u0435\u043c\u044f<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\u0442\u0435\u043ce<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

To see why these words ended up with normal neuter-looking endings in some languages but with \u2013\u044f in others, we need to consider the history of the Slavonic languages.<\/p>\n

The modern Slavonic languages are all descended from Proto-slavic, which was spoken up till about 600 CE or later. It was not a written language (not everyone is agreed on this, but even if it was to some extent written down nobody knows how to decifer it). Our ten neuter nouns, in Proto-slavic, all ended with a soft m followed by a nasalized e sound, like the modern Polish \u0119, so they would be bremi\u0119, vremi\u0119\u2026etc, and they were declined similar to the way they are today, with the epenthetic n.<\/p>\n

By the time Slavonic writings appeared, around the 9th<\/sup> and 10th<\/sup> centuries, Proto-slavic was beginning to separate into different dialects, but not yet so different that Slavic speakers couldn\u2019t all understand each other. Some of these populations were Christianised by the Roman Catholic church, and their versions of Proto-slavic were written in the Latin alphabet, while others were Christianised by the Greek Orthodox church, and their versions of Proto-slavic came to be represented in an early form of Cyrillic by the written language Old Church Slavonic.<\/p>\n

By this time the nasalized \u0119 had become denasalized in most dialects. But it was, and remains, still nasalized in the dialect that evolved into Polish. Importantly, it was also still nasalized in the Macedonian dialect on which Old Church Slavonic was based. The nasalised soft e sound was represented in Old Church Slavonic by the letter called \u00ab<\/strong>\u044e\u0441\u044a \u043c\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044b\u0439\u00bb <\/strong>(unfortunately, the special character doesn’t come through in WordPress, but here’s the link<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As the East Slavonic languages (Russian, Ukrainian and Belarussian) developed, \u00ab\u044e\u0441\u044a\u00bb<\/strong> took on the role of representing the \u044f<\/strong> sound. Modern \u044f<\/strong> developed from a handwritten version of \u00ab\u044e\u0441\u044a\u00bb<\/strong>, and for a while the alphabet contained both \u00ab\u044e\u0441\u044a\u00bb<\/strong> \u00a0and \u044f<\/strong>. The alphabet was simplified by decree of Peter the Great in 1708, and \u00ab\u044e\u0441\u044a\u00bb<\/strong> \u00a0was officially discarded, its role being taken over by \u044f. So our ten nouns, that started life as neuter nouns in nasalized \u2013e, ended up as \u00ab<\/strong>\u0431<\/strong>p<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>, \u00ab\u0432p<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>, \u00ab\u0432<\/strong>\u044b<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>, \u00ab\u0437<\/strong>\u043d<\/strong>\u0430<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>, \u00ab\u0438<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f<\/strong>\u043b\u0430<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f<\/strong>\u043b<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>, \u00ab\u0441<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>, \u00ab\u0441\u0442\u0440<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> and \u00ab\u0442<\/strong>\u0435<\/span><\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f\u00bb<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

At this point you might like to test yourself. Can you match up the above 10 with their English equivalents, which are in alphabetical order: banner, burden, crown, flame, name, seed, stirrup, time, tribe, udder?<\/p>\n

Are there any others?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Russian there are no nouns ending in \u2013<\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f<\/strong> apart from the 10 we\u2019ve discussed. There are a few others that started out as Proto-slavic \u2013<\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>+ the nasalized e, but didn\u2019t make it into modern Russian as \u2013<\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f<\/strong> neuters either because they evolved differently or they just died out. There were quite a lot of Proto-slavic neuter nouns ending in the nasalized e (without \u043c<\/strong>), but only one of these has made it into modern Russian as a neuter noun ending in \u2013\u044f<\/strong>. This is \u00ab\u0434\u0438\u0442\u044f<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> \u2013 note that the stress is on \u044f<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0414\u0438\u0442\u044f<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> is used often in its plural form \u00ab\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> (children) but the singular is rarely used, and then only in the nominative. Nowadays the masculine noun \u00ab\u0440\u0435\u0431\u0451<\/span>\u043d\u043e\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> is normally used for child in the singular. This usage is exclusive to Russian. You are likely to encounter the singular \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u0438\u0442\u044f<\/span><\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> in the works of classical literature, but also in such phrases as \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u0438\u0442\u044f<\/span><\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u0441\u0430<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [a child of progress], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u0438\u0442\u044f<\/span><\/strong>\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u0430<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [a child of the time], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u0438\u0442\u044f<\/span><\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0438\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u044b<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> [a child of nature].<\/p>\n

Not all proto-slavic nouns that ended in \u2013<\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f<\/strong> \u00a0made it to the modern Russian:<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0427\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u043c<\/strong>\u044f<\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong> is a word that failed to come into existence. It mutated, acquired a \u201cconventional\u201d neuter ending, and became \u00ab\u0447\u0438\u0441\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [number].<\/em><\/p>\n

Another might have been word is \u00ab\u043f\u0438\u0441\u043c<\/strong>\u044f<\/span><\/strong>\u00bb<\/strong>, but it became a regular neuter, \u043f\u0438\u0441\u044c\u043c\u043e, <\/span><\/strong>instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, although there are only 10 Russian nouns ending in \u2013<\/strong>\u043c<\/strong>\u044f<\/strong>, and most of them are rarely used, they take us deep into the history of not only Russian but also the other Slavonic languages, and they help us to see why apparent irregularities in other families of words are the way they are.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to test yourself:<\/p>\n