Borrowings from Russian in English
List of English words of Russian origin
Many languages, including English, contain words most likely borrowed from the Russian language. Not all of the words are truly fluent Russian or Slavic origin. Some of them co-exist in other Slavic languages and it is difficult to decide whether they made English from Russian or, say, from Polish. Some other words are borrowed or constructed from the classical ancient languages, such as Latin or Greek. Still others are themselves borrowed from indigenous peoples that Russians have come into contact with in Russian or Soviet territory.
Compared to other source languages, very few of the words borrowed into English come from Russian.[1] Direct borrowing first began with contact between England and Russia in the 16th century and picked up heavily in the 20th century with the establishment of the Soviet Union as a major world power.[2] Most of them are used to denote things and notions specific to Russia, Russian culture, politics, history, especially well-known outside Russia. Some others are in mainstream usage, independent of any Russian context. |
[edit] Common
-nik, a borrowed suffix
Babushka[3] (Russian: ба́бушка [ˈbabuʂkə] "grandmother"), a headscarf folded diagonally and tied under the chin (this meaning is absent in the Russian language).
Balalaika[3] (Russian: балала́йка, [bəlɐˈlajkə]) (Tartar origin) A triangle-shaped mandolin-like musical instrument with three strings.
Bridge game (from the Old East Slavic: бирич biritch).
Cosmonaut[3] Russian: космона́вт (IPA [kəsmɐˈnaft] (κόσμος kosmos a Greek word, which in Russian stands for 'outer space', rather than 'world' or 'universe', and nautes 'sailor', thus 'space sailor'; the term cosmonaut was first used in 1959; the near similar word "cosmonautic" had been coined in 1947) A Russian astronaut. Cosmodrome (by analogy with aerodrome) was coined to refer to a launching site for Russian spacecraft.[3]
Gulag (Russian: Главное Управление Исправительно-Трудовых Лагерей и
Many languages, including English, contain words most likely borrowed from the Russian language. Not all of the words are truly fluent Russian or Slavic origin. Some of them co-exist in other Slavic languages and it is difficult to decide whether they made English from Russian or, say, from Polish. Some other words are borrowed or constructed from the classical ancient languages, such as Latin or Greek. Still others are themselves borrowed from indigenous peoples that Russians have come into contact with in Russian or Soviet territory.
Compared to other source languages, very few of the words borrowed into English come from Russian.[1] Direct borrowing first began with contact between England and Russia in the 16th century and picked up heavily in the 20th century with the establishment of the Soviet Union as a major world power.[2] Most of them are used to denote things and notions specific to Russia, Russian culture, politics, history, especially well-known outside Russia. Some others are in mainstream usage, independent of any Russian context. |
[edit] Common
-nik, a borrowed suffix
Babushka[3] (Russian: ба́бушка [ˈbabuʂkə] "grandmother"), a headscarf folded diagonally and tied under the chin (this meaning is absent in the Russian language).
Balalaika[3] (Russian: балала́йка, [bəlɐˈlajkə]) (Tartar origin) A triangle-shaped mandolin-like musical instrument with three strings.
Bridge game (from the Old East Slavic: бирич biritch).
Cosmonaut[3] Russian: космона́вт (IPA [kəsmɐˈnaft] (κόσμος kosmos a Greek word, which in Russian stands for 'outer space', rather than 'world' or 'universe', and nautes 'sailor', thus 'space sailor'; the term cosmonaut was first used in 1959; the near similar word "cosmonautic" had been coined in 1947) A Russian astronaut. Cosmodrome (by analogy with aerodrome) was coined to refer to a launching site for Russian spacecraft.[3]
Gulag (Russian: Главное Управление Исправительно-Трудовых Лагерей и
References: * The American Heritage Dictionary (2006) Fourth edition, published by Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-395-82517-2 * Ayto, John (1999) * Hendrickson, Robert (1997) Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins. Checkmark Books, ISBN 0-8160-4088-5 * Kabakchi, Victor V * Merriam Webster 's Collegiate Dictionary (1995) Tenth edition, published by Merriam-Webster, ISBN 0-87779-709-9 * The New Oxford American Dictionary (2005) Second edition, published by Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-517077-6 * Pyles, T. (1964). The Origin and Development of the English Language. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. * Speake, Jennifer (ed.) (1997) * Webster 's New World College Dictionary (1997) Third edition, published by Macmillan, ISBN 0-02-861673-1 [edit] External links