{"id":8175,"date":"2015-07-22T04:14:28","date_gmt":"2015-07-22T04:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=8175"},"modified":"2018-08-15T15:35:08","modified_gmt":"2018-08-15T15:35:08","slug":"the-curious-case-of-russian-prefix-without","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/the-curious-case-of-russian-prefix-without\/","title":{"rendered":"The Curious Case of Russian Prefix “Without”"},"content":{"rendered":"

You might have noticed that some nonnative English speakers (myself included) have a way of \u201cinventing\u201d new words. They might say things like \u201cunproper\u201d instead of \u201cimproper\u201d or \u201cmisagreement\u201d instead of \u201cdisagreement,\u201d etc. The abovementioned prefixes all have a similar meaning, a meaning that points to the opposite of the word they are attached to. That observation made me wonder if learners of Russian are facing similar challenges. To help conquer these challenges, I will give you some info on the curious Russian prefixes \u0411\u0415\u0417-<\/b><\/span><\/span> and <\/span>\u0411\u0415\u0421-<\/b><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The meaning of the prefixes \u0431\u0435\u0437-\/\u0431\u0435\u0441-<\/b><\/span><\/span> can be best described as without<\/b>, with the exception of.<\/b> Before we go any further, I would like to clarify that there is also a preposition \u0431\u0435\u0437<\/b><\/span><\/span>; <\/span>it has the same meaning but this can be a topic of a separate post. A prefix, obviously, is a part of the word so you write it together with the word, a preposition stands alone. It is usually fairly easy to distinguish the two:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    \u041e\u043d\u0430 \u0441\u043f\u043e\u043a<\/span>\u043e<\/u><\/span>\u0439\u043d\u043e, <\/span>\u0431\u0435\u0437 \u044d\u043c<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u043e<\/b><\/u><\/span><\/span>\u0446\u0438\u0439<\/b><\/span><\/span> \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0442\u044f\u043d<\/span>\u0443<\/u><\/span>\u043b\u0430 \u0435\u043c<\/span>\u0443<\/u><\/span> \u043a\u043e\u043b\u044c\u0446<\/span>\u043e<\/u><\/span>. <\/span>– She gave him the ring calmly, without expressing any emotion.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    \u041a\u043e\u043d\u0446\u0435<\/u>\u0440\u0442 \u0437\u0430\u043a\u043e<\/u>\u043d\u0447\u0438\u043b\u0441\u044f \u0432 \u0434\u0435<\/u>\u0432\u044f\u0442\u044c. \u041e\u043d\u0430<\/u> \u0438\u0433\u0440\u0430<\/u>\u043b\u0430 \u0445\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0448\u043e<\/u>, \u043d\u043e \u0431\u0435\u0437\u044d\u043c\u043e\u0446\u0438\u043e\u043d<\/b><\/span>\u0430<\/b><\/u><\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e<\/b><\/span>. – The concert was over at nine. She played well but without any emotion. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As you can see, the first example has preposition <\/span>\u0431\u0435\u0437<\/b> in it followed by the noun <\/span>emotions<\/b><\/span>, while the second has an adverb with the prefix <\/span>\u0431\u0435\u0437<\/b>–<\/b><\/span>. The meaning in both cases is essentially the same. I believe, this is how this prefix came into existence: certain words were used with this preposition frequently enough to morph into one word. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Later, according to certain sources, <\/span>\u0431\u0435\u0441<\/b><\/span>–<\/b><\/span><\/span> <\/b>(<\/span><\/span>a<\/span> version of this prefix) was added to the Russian language to make certain words sound better. <\/span><\/p>\n

    The trick to knowing when to use <\/span>\u0431\u0435\u0437<\/b><\/span>–<\/b><\/span><\/span> and when to use <\/span>\u0431\u0435\u0441<\/b><\/span>–<\/b><\/span><\/span> is fairly easy to master. You might know that in Russian all consonants<\/a> are divided into voiceless and voiced.<\/a> Remember!<\/span><\/p>\n

    -If the root of the word begins with a voiced consonant (such as <\/span>\u0431, \u0432, \u0433, \u0434, \u0437, \u0436, \u0439, \u043b, \u043c, \u043d, \u0440) or a vowel<\/span>, then use prefix <\/span>\u0431\u0435\u0437<\/p>\n

    –If the root of the word begins with a voiceless consonant (such as <\/span>\u043f, \u0444, \u043a, \u0442, \u0441, \u0448, \u0445, \u0446, \u0447, \u0449), then use prefix <\/span>\u0431\u0435\u0441.<\/p>\n

    Now let’s look at some examples.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0411\u0415\u0417:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0437\u0434\u0435<\/u>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0438\u043a \u2014 a lazy person, a deadbeat <\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0437\u043e<\/u>\u0431\u043b\u0430\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0434\u0435\u043d\u044c \u2014 a clear day, a day with no clouds in the sky<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0437\u0434\u0435<\/u>\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u2014 childless <\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0437\u0433\u0440\u0430<\/u>\u043c\u043e\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u2014 illiterate <\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0437\u0436\u0430<\/u>\u043b\u043e\u0441\u0442\u043d\u043e \u2014 ruthlessly, relentlessly <\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0437\u0434\u0430<\/u>\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044c \u2014 a person of little talent, a poor performer<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0437\u043d\u0430\u0434\u0435<\/u>\u0436\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044c \u2014 despair, hopelessness <\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0437\u0437\u0443<\/u>\u0431\u044b\u0439 \u2014 toothless <\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0411\u0415\u0421:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0441\u043f\u0440\u0438\u0437\u043e<\/u>\u0440\u043d\u0438\u043a \u2014 an orphan<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0441\u043f\u0440\u0430<\/u>\u0432\u0438\u0435 \u2014 lack of rights, lawlessness, powerlessness <\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0441\u043f\u043e\u043a\u043e<\/u>\u0439\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e \u2014 anxiety, uneasiness <\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0441\u0442\u043e\u043b\u043a\u043e<\/u>\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u2014 clueless<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0441\u0441\u043e<\/u>\u043d\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0430 \u2014 insomnia<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0441\u043f\u043e<\/u>\u0447\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u2014 ungrounded, unfounded<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043d\u0435<\/u>\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u2014 endless <\/span><\/p>\n

    \u0431\u0435\u0441\u043f\u043b\u0430<\/u>\u0442\u043d\u043e \u2014 free of charge <\/span><\/p>\n

    You might wonder what is so \u201ccurious\u201d about this particular Russian prefix. A few hours ago I might have thought the same thing but in the process of brushing up on my Russian for this post I came across a few articles<\/a> that state that a large number of Russian Orthodox Christians flat out refuse to use the prefix <\/span>\u0431\u0435\u0441<\/b><\/span>–<\/b><\/span><\/span>. This is due to the fact that <\/span>\u0431\u0435\u0441<\/b><\/span>, coincidentally, also means <\/span>demon, devil, or evil spirit <\/b><\/span>in Russian. Needless to say, they feel uncomfortable with this association and use <\/span>\u0431\u0435\u0437<\/b><\/span>–<\/b><\/span><\/span> in all cases even if <\/span>\u0431\u0435\u0441-\u00a0is technically correct. <\/span><\/p>\n

    On that note, I wish you <\/span>\u0431\u0435\u0437<\/b><\/span>\u0443\u043f\u0440\u0435<\/u>\u0447\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0437\u0434\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0432\u044c\u044f, \u0431\u0435\u0441<\/b><\/span>\u043a\u043e\u0440\u044b<\/u>\u0441\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0445 \u0434\u0440\u0443\u0437\u0435<\/u>\u0439 \u0438 \u0431\u0435\u0437<\/b><\/span>\u0440\u043e<\/u>\u043f\u043e\u0442\u044b\u0445 \u0441\u043f\u0443<\/u>\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0432 \u0436\u0438<\/u>\u0437\u043d\u0438!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    You might have noticed that some nonnative English speakers (myself included) have a way of \u201cinventing\u201d new words. They might say things like \u201cunproper\u201d instead of \u201cimproper\u201d or \u201cmisagreement\u201d instead of \u201cdisagreement,\u201d etc. The abovementioned prefixes all have a similar meaning, a meaning that points to the opposite of the word they are attached to…<\/p>\n

    Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[385640,35348],"class_list":["post-8175","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-language","tag-russian-for-beginners","tag-russian-prefixes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8175","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\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11017,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8175\/revisions\/11017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}