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7
votes
6 answers
What are the original Russian words for a prostitute?
Prostitution is referred to as the oldest profession, but the modern Russian word for a prostitute, "проститутка," is a relatively new borrowing, which started being used in the Russian language just a couple of centuries ago. I am curious what the…
Mitsuko
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7
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5 answers
Что сделал мальчик с воздушным шариком?
Я тут составляю задачу для студентов. Она звучит примерно так:
В ряд расположены N воздушных шариков разных цветов. Мальчик проходится по последовательности шариков и, как только видит два соседних шарика одинакового цвета, он их...
Дальше мысль…
Armen Tsirunyan
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7
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5 answers
Why are "охотиться" and "рыться" with "ся"?
My understanding of the concept of возвратный глагол is simple:
учить себя (to teach oneself) → учиться (to learn)
готовить себя (to prepare oneself) → готовиться (to get prepared)
ложить себя (to lay oneself) → ложиться (to lie down)
возбуждать…
Mitsuko
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7
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3 answers
How should I inflect animate nouns when they are used to figuratively call inanimate objects, and vice versa?
In Russian, animate and inanimate nouns inflect differently. Let's compare "кабан" and "стакан":
Я вижу кабанов. Я стреляю в кабана.
Я вижу стаканы. Я стреляю в стакан.
It is all easy-peasy unless it comes to situations where animate nouns are…
Mitsuko
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7
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3 answers
Is there a [b] or a [p] in "Египет"?
I've looked up the pronunciation of the word "Египет" at forvo.com, and while it says that the pronunciation is /jɪˈgʲipʲɪt/, I hear a [b] and not a [p] in both available sound files. Am I hearing it correctly? If I am, then in what enviroments is…
ymar
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7
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3 answers
The original word for a wild boar
I recently accidentally discovered that the Russians call wild boars by a word borrowed from Turkic languages - "кабан." The etymological dictionary by Preobrazhensky clearly states:
Заимств. из тюрк.: сѣврнтюрк. кабан.тат.-азерб. кирг. тж.
My…
Mitsuko
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7
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3 answers
Succinct and gender-neutral Russian word for "writer"
Imagine I want to translate to Russian the word "community of working writers" such that "writers" means both male and female ones.
Here are obvious variants:
Сообщество работающих литераторов и литераторш
Сообщество работающих писателей и…
Glory to Russia
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7
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2 answers
Subtleties of choosing the sequence of tenses in Russian
I am very happy to have found such an interesting forum and to have received an excellent detailed answer from a native speaker to my first question, and I am very tempted to ask about something else I have not yet fully understood in the Russian…
Mitsuko
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7
votes
7 answers
What is the etymology of берлога?
I am wondering why the shelter of медведь is берлога.
Trident D'Gao
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7
votes
2 answers
"Качели" vs. "качель"
While reading Osip Mandelshtam, I came across the word качель in singular.
Я качался в далеком саду
На простой деревянной качели,
И высокие темные ели
Вспоминаю в туманном бреду.
In modern language the word, as far as I know, is…
petajamaja
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7
votes
1 answer
How do I parse this popular linguistic joke in Russian?
There is a popular example of a syntactically ambiguous phrase in Russian sometimes used as a linguistic joke:
Возьмём предложение Косой косой косил косой косой и попробуем определить все возможные варианты частеречной разметки для повторяющихся…
michael_best
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7
votes
4 answers
When to use “на первом месте” – and “в первую очередь”?
In conversation, I just said:
Пусть он предприниматель, но думает не только о деньгах. Будь нажива для него на первом месте, он бы больше заработал, нарушая правила.
Now I'm wondering how "в первую очередь" would have compared to "на первом месте"…
Con-gras-tue-les-chiens
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7
votes
3 answers
"Апартаменты" or "квартира"
When studying I always come across words such as apartment, when I search many dictionaries I sometimes get an exact translation апартамент, but there is also another Russian word that has the exact same meaning, квартира.
What is the difference…
Almonds812
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7
votes
2 answers
When did (Old) Russian lose its Plusquamperfect?
Did it disappear in some transitional period or later, when Modern Russian already existed?
Manjusri
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7
votes
1 answer
Dative case in subjects and titles
Why is dative case used in the following for example:
месяцы в году
игры на снегу
There is no sentence, so how can there be an indirect object..
Lawrence DeSouza
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