#slavic languages

[jezykowadupokanapka]

I always express admiration for how polish is just not borrowing words that other slavic languages got from non-slavic languages, but I draw the line at the declension causes, I keep mixing up genitive and accusative because it doesn't translate easily in my head, in russian it makes sense, Родительный падеж and Винительный падеж, in bulgarian it makes sense, Родителен and Винителен, in ukrainian it kinda makes sense, родовий (passes the vibe check) and знахідний (starting to get weird), czech didn't even try with genitiv and akuzativ so please tell me how did the polish language get stuck with dopełniacz and biernik

[sertralineman]

old polish* names are metal as fuck, cause they can literally mean something like "the destroyer of peace" (Kazimierz), "the rage has come"(Przybygniew), "the one that praises killing/murdering" (Morzysław), "the one that does not know peace" (Nieznamir), or, my personal favorite, "the one that avenges his comrades" (Mściwoj).

it gets even more badass - because the pre-christian slavic traditions and language were rather poorly documented, and throughout history, there have been attempts to erase the records, we can't actually know for sure what exactly some of them were supposed to mean, or how were they used. we're left with names that could belong to a demonic antagonist in a fantasy book, their sound harsh, their origin shrouded in mystery.

*many of those are names in other slavic languages, too, but i'm talking specifically old polish names because i am polish and that's the language i know the most about.

[thyinum]

Please, when you see something written in Cyrillic, don't assume right away that it's russian. Russian is not the only language that uses Cyrillic. There are also Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Serbian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Mongolian.

It's a sensitive topic especially for us Ukrainians because russian language is a weapon. It's a colonial language, it's presented like one and only true slavic language, it erases and replaces other languages. Belarusian is literally on the verge of extinction because of russian. Ukrainian has been banned 134 times throughout history, it is still called a "village language", a dialect of russian. Russian colonialism is literally the reason why there are so many russian speaking people in Ukraine (I was one of them btw). Ukrainian is banned on russian occupied territories and people are getting in trouble or even killed for using it there, Ukrainian POWs in russian captivity are getting brutally beaten for speaking Ukrainian.

Like okay, I can get why there's this confusion, so here's a clue to understand that the language you're looking at definitely is not russian — the letter і. If you see ї (like i but with two dots) it's 100% Ukrainian. If you see j it's Serbian. Russian alphabet also doesn't have such letters as Ђ, Љ, Њ, Ў, Џ (dont confuse with Ц ). Yes, it's not always gonna be easy to detect that the language in front of you is not russian, but when you have trouble with it just ask or run it through any translation app and it'll probably tell you the language.

Hope this will be helpful.

[kutyozh]

If i may give one (1) tip to A0-A2 learners of Slavic Languages:

Study both verb aspect forms from the get-go.

Slavic languages have a grammatical category called 'verbal aspect' which, simply put, expresses either that you are/were/will be in the process of doing something (imperfective aspect) or that you have or will have gotten a certain result (perfective aspect).

What do I mean by 'study them from the get-go':

Personally I use Anki (beloved) for vocabulary study, but I guess you can apply this to whatever suits you best.

Russian example sentence in the text book: "Вчера я купил яблоки." [Včerá ja kupíl jáblka. Yesterday I bought apples.]

In the vocab list* I find the infinitive of купил [kupíl; bought]: купить [kupít'; to buy].

I head over to wiktionary and type in the search bar the infinitive form and hit enter. You should now see something like this:

What we're looking for is the 'Verb' section, and, specifically, that first line of the paragraph that mentions the infinitive, an abbreviation for its aspect [ipf. = imperfective, pf. = perfective] and, in brackets, the 'opposite' verbal aspect. In this example, we learn that купить has the perfective aspect, and its imperfective equivalent is покупать [pokupát'].

This is how I structure my Anki card then:

(german is my mother tongue so it's russian - german - spanish. the latter is there just as a reminder for myself, please ignore lol)

I always put the imperfective form on the left - then slash - then perfective form. I highly recommend to maintain a consistent order.

How I study:

So, our textbook example mentioned only one form. That is the one I am going to be studying actively. Meaning: When the card 'to buy' pops up, I try to remember only the word that came up in class/read in the textbook etc., in this case купить. I turn the card and check if I got it right, then read both forms (optional, but helpful: read them aloud).

What this does is that it familiarises you with both aspect forms without putting the pressure of learning twice as much vocabulary on you.

You will have to learn both aspects at some point, but it will be so much easier when you're already actively familiar with one form and passively familiar with the other. I started doing this during my second semester and it was SO WORTH IT.

Let me know if you have any questions or if this was helpful to you! <3

*in absence of a vocab list, I use this website for Russian and this website for Czech. you can type the exact verb form as you encounter it (in this example купил) and it will show you the entire conjugation table. extremely useful to have at hand

[invisiblefoxfire]

Dear @dimension20official @dropoutdottv @samreich and whoever else is responsible:

Kočka means CAT. Not rat.

Straka means MAGPIE. Not crow.

So either you (whoever named these things) got the words wrong twice (shoddy work, you're better than that), or you intentionally chose the wrong words in order to torment the members of your audience who understand Slavic languages (me, specifically), in which case I am owed for emotional damages, you bastards.

[yellow-dejavu]

[lichozestudni]

:)

[thebellekeys]

Serbian Language

Ljudi preziru sve one koji ne uspiju, a mrze one koji se uspnu iznad njih; Navikni se na prezir ako želis mir, ili na mržnju ako pristaneš na borbu... People despise all those who fail, and hate those who rise above them; Get used to the feeling of contempt if you want peace, or that of hatred if you decide to fight...

– Meša Selimović (1910-1982)

[renegade-hierophant]

Slavic speakers have an easier time learning to speak Sanskrit than speakers of any modern Indian language. Although you would need at least two Slavic languages, one that distinguishes vowel length (like Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, or Serbo-Croatian), and one that has some retroflex consonants (Polish and all East Slavic languages). However, no Slavic language has retroflex plosives (ṭ, ḍ, ṇ) or aspirated consonants, but these can be learned relatively easy, the former for example for Polish speakers by placing the tongue in the position to pronounce /sz/ but then forcing the sound for /t/, /d/, /n/; and the later especially for speakers of Czech, Slovak, Rusyn, and Ukrainian by opening the throat as if to pronounce /h/ (/г/) and then forcing /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, etc.

A good example of a Sanskrit consonant that Slavs pronounce way better, or rather closer to how it is supposed to be pronounced following the rules of Pāṇini, is ज्ञ (IAST /jña/). In each Slavic language it's:

Czech, Slovak: /ďňa/

Serbo-Croatian: /đnja/

Polish: /dźnia/

East Slavic: /дьня/

Most Indians pronounce it as IAST /gya/ or /dña/.

Because all languages change over time, it often so happens that languages far away from each other in both space and time can end up with a more similar pronunciation by accident. And because the change happens, that a descendant language is different from its ancestor is to be expected. It can't be both "languages change" but "we speak the same way as our ancestors". That's not how this works. Your ancestors spoke a foreign language, not from a foreign land but from a foreign time.

[learnukrainian]

Free online courses about Ukraine

Basics of the Ukrainian Language and Culture - https://www.open.edu/openlearn/languages/introduction-ukrainian-language-and-culture/

Ukraine: History, Culture, and Identities; this course is available in English, French, Italian, and Norwegian on Coursera: https://ui.org.ua/en/sectors-en/the-first-online-course-about-ukraine-in-english/

The Making of Modern Ukraine with Timothy Snyder: https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-making-of-modern-ukraine

Crimea: History and People on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/crimea-history-and-people/

[multilingualpotato]

Autumn in Czech

Hey guys, autumn is in full swing in the Czech Republic so I thought it's time for some autumn vibes and vocabulary! Enjoy~

podzim (m)- autumn

list (m) - leaf

strom (m) - tree

mrholení (n) - drizzle

déšť (m) - rain

bláto (n) - mud

kaluž (f) ; louže (f) - puddle

deštník (m) - umbrella

kabát (m) - coat

pláštěnka (f) - raincoat

šála (f) - scarf

čaj (m) - tea

kakao (n) - hot cocoa

svíčka (f) - candle

krb (m) - fireplace

dýně (f) - pumpkin

kaštan (m) - chestnut

šípek (m) - rosehip

září (n) - September

říjen (m) - October

listopad (m) - November

počasí (n) - weather

špatné počasí (n) - bad weather

Verbs:

pršet – to rain

zmoknout - to get wet from the rain

Phrases:

venku je zima – it is cold outside

venku prší – it is raining outside

venku je ošklivě – it is bad weather outsider

Czech proverbs:

počasí že by psa nevyhnal – weather that one couldn't even get the dog outside

meaning that the weather is so bad, that even the dogs (who usually love to be outside) do not want to go outside

* f = feminine, m = masculine, n =  neuter

[fruitfulchaos]

What I think the English language is really lacking are proper diminutives and augmentatives. All you have is stuff like cat -> kitty or lord -> overlord. As a polish speaker, this sucks ass. Our diminutives and augmentatives are MUCH more expressive and y'all are really missing out. We can diminutivise words until they become nearly unintelligible. Example:

1. kot (cat)

2. kotek (kitty)

3. koteczek (smaller/cuter kitty)

4. koteczuniek (even more)

5. kotesiunieczek (holy shit)

Not only that, but we can also diminutivise adjectives, verbs, pronouns and adverbs. You can cuteify the adjective "cute"!

More linguistic yapping:

That is, because not only do we include the process of deminutiva sensu stricto, which is your average diminutive, but we also make use of hypocorisms (the process of pet-name-ification) in a much wider area of speech. The diminutive can also be used in a demeaning way and that is actually, factually a separate type of diminutive!

Not only that, but because of, yknow, the way language is used, often words which were already diminutives have replaced its root word in degree of usage, which led to NEW diminutives being created for these diminutives!

An example could be the word książka, as in book. It came from diminutivising the word księga, but soon the roles reversed and książka became the root word, with księga being treated as an augmentative. That meant, however, that książka still needed a further diminutive - that's how książeczka came to life.

I could write an entire article about it but I'll spare myself the work lol this is me exposing myself as a linguist

[mynawyspie]

Zalia & Lackluster - Plany

[deadgoatproject]

Do Europeans (and do Ukrainians) criticize for low foreign language skills?

Today, I found a post of a non-European who complained about how the Spanish criticized foreigners for nor speaking Spanish. It reminds me of posts about how Europeans hate when Americans are not bilingual or are not speaking their mother tongue.

As an Eastern European, specifically, as a Ukrainian, I personally give no sheesh whether you speak Ukrainian or not. However...

First, not all Ukrainians speak English/Spanish/French/German etc.

You cannot simply come here and expect us to speak English fluently. Elder generations speak English badly, my generation (um...actually, I am not gen Z according to our generation theory...I am Y...uummmm...however!) also refuses to speak (but learns), the youngest gen Alpha cannot speak English yet. Why? Because we cannot practice it, we have no extra money to travel all around the world (even before the war, ye know), and as an English language teacher, I have to say the methods of teaching English in Ukraine are...particularly ineffective. Same situations with less spreaded languages.

Second, we want you to speak Ukrainian.

It is a common situation (especially before the war) when a foreigner surely learns French or German but thinks English will be enough in Ukraine. You may say that is because Slavic languages are hard to (at least) speak, but many of you choose russian to learn. Moreover, there are absolutely brainless and somehow pragmatic people (yeah, Chinese, I am speaking about you) thinking it is enough to speak russian in Ukraine, the mother language of Ukrainians does not matter.

We want you to speak Ukrainian. We do not really care how bad you speak. We will surely (try to) understand you and correct if it is necessary. Our language is unique, and we want not only all the Ukrainians to speak it but also foreigners to learn.

btw how did I learn English...? well...I am a philologist of English and Chinese languages, and I have a bachelor degree (yet).

теє-то, кулєги, поширюйте допис, я пітнів і без перекладача писав, як справжній профі!

[kutyozh]

it's funny how яблоки felt natural to me in the beginning bc my brain defaulted to -и/-ы endings for the nom pl

but now it feels WEIRD. why did they do that

especially since the nom/acc pl in czech is jablka

[chiara-klara-claire]

Multiple languages fruit/food vocabulary lists! 🇮🇸🎌 🇫🇮🇨🇿🇵🇱🇸🇮

(Icelandic/Japanese/Finnish - Slavic languages: Russian/Czech/polish/Slovenian)