When the lockdown blues first hit in 2020, people adopted various coping mechanisms. Baking breads, brewing a foaming cup of Dalgona coffee, playing unending rounds of Among Us- you name it! And when the guilt of not being productive hit, one of the most common pastimes became picking up a new language. 13 Cool Facts About English Language That Will Make You Go ‘WOAH!’.
French, Spanish, Korean, German, the list is endless. So today we’re going to break down 11 fun facts about a not so famous but equally compelling language- Russian! Get ready to be hit with full-blown Russophilia with these amusing, absurd and simply fascinating facts!
1. The most widespread language in Eurasia!
With 170 million native speakers and another 130 million from former republics of the USSR, Russian is the 8th most-spoken language in the world. Russia’s enormous size has lead to native Russian speakers covering the greatest geographical reach out of all the languages in Eurasia!
2. The Russian language pays special attention to the colour blue
Some languages don’t even differentiate between blue and green, but Russia carefully splits the colour blue into dark shades and light shades. Russian speakers can hence categorise and differentiate shades of blue better than native English speakers.
3. Aversion to the letter A!
Native Russian words almost never begin with the letter a/A. When a Russian word begins with the letter a/A, it has most likely been appropriated from western languages.
4. The Russian language has its own unique script!
The Russian script is called Cyrillic or azbuka, and it became the third recognised script of the European Union in 2007.
5. There are English words of Russian origin!
Bolshevik, cosmonaut, mammoth, pogrom, samovar, sputnik, tsar and vodka are some popular examples.
6. The present tense conundrum
Russian is unique in that the verb “to be” exists, but it’s never used in the present tense. Instead, it’s used to specify the past or future.
7. The Language of Space!
The computer system of the ISS uses both English and Russian and astronauts are required to have a working knowledge of Russian as part of their training. Astronauts even do a homestay in Moscow to learn local lingo.
8. Recognition at the UN
Russian, Chinese, Spanish, French, Arabic, and English are the six official languages of the UN.
9. Russian has less than half the number of words English does!
There are only approximately 200,000 words in the Russian language. Russians actually use very few of these words, and that is due to many words having more than one meaning.
10. 1 in 10 Russian words bear a resemblance to English
For instance, проблема (pronounced as “problema”) means “problem”, and кофе (pronounced as “kofi”) is “coffee”.
11. Russian middle names vary by gender!
Russian names consist of a first name, a family name, and a patronymic name. The suffix ovich or evich is added to the father’s name for boys, and ovna or evna for girls.
If you’re looking to learn this fascinating and unique language, audio course material is the best way to do so. RussianPod101 and Rocket Russian are the go-to podcasts and audio courses, respectively. Glossika Russian is another famous student guide. So if you’ve ever been fascinated by Tolstoy’s War and Peace, here’s your chance to pick up your book and get learning!
(The above story first appeared on Morning Tidings on Jul 26, 2021 10:43 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website morningtidings.com).
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