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Living Creatures
of the Psyche....
....Much More
than a String
of Phonemes.
MEANING,
INTELLIGENCE,
AND THE SOUL.
Russian Verbs of Motion Sickness
Every student studying Russian must face the dizzying experience of understanding how Russian deals with the notion of 'going.' At first learners find it difficult and challenging, but after mastering the art of expressing 'going' in Russian, you will look at English as lacking, vague and often confusing. So, give yourself time to come through the maze and I guarantee that you will overcome any 'motion sickness' that you might feel at this point of your journey into the Russian psyche.
Just where are we going with this….?
When you express the idea of going in Russian the very choice of verb you use indicates not just HOW you are going, but DIRECTION and FREQUENCY! For now we will consider HOW and DIRECTION.
We have been considering three basic verbs of 'going' in Russian.
idti xodit'
To go by foot (walk) To go by foot (walk)
From point A to point Non-directional
B in one direction
In the past tense
it refers to a 'round trip'.
Examples:
Ya idu (idti) v restoran. I am going (walking) to a restaurant. (A to B)
Ya xozhy (xodit') po parku. I am going (walking) in the park. (Non-directional)
Where were you? Ya xodil (xodit' in the past tense) po parku. I was in the park, but now I have returned. (Meaning- I went to go for a walk in the park)
Now let's add the third verb: exat' (by vehicle)
Ya idu (idti) v restoran. I am going (walking) to a restaurant.
Ya edu (exat') v restoran. I am going (driving/riding) to a restaurant.
This is all we need for now. As we get new verbs of motion I will update this portion of the grammar section.
Grammar
Save the best for last!
Let's talk a bit about English and Russian word order. Briefly speaking, English word order is very restricted. Russian word order, on the other hand, is significantly less restricted. Here's an example:
English: Mike loves Tanya.
Russian: Misha lyubit Tanyu.
The U on the end of 'Tanya' tells you that 'Tanya' is the direct object. If we said: Tanya lyubit MishU, then we have a different sentence because now 'Misha' is the direct object. This sentence would be translated as: Tanya loves Misha.
Let's go back to the first sentence. In Russian you can actually say: Tanyu lyubit Misha. Even though the word order has changed, it means the SAME thing as the first sentence because the ENDINGS of the words are the same. Since Russian has CASE ENDINGS it is much easier to move words around in the sentence and keep the general meaning of the sentence the same.
Now let's compare Russian and English again using the same sentences:
English Russian
Mike loves Tanya. Misha lyubit Tanyu
Tanyu lyubit Misha.
Misha Tanyu lyubit.
Tanyu Misha lyubit.
Lyubit Misha Tanyu
Lyubit Tanyu Misha.
For one sentence in English you get SIX possibilities in Russian. So, how do Russians determine which sentence structure they are going to use? Well, it is not a haphazard system where anything goes. Russians will put the NEW INFORMATION or MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION at the end of the sentence.
Let's consider a sentence with more information.
In June Paul bought Nancy a new car for her birthday.
What other possibilities does English have for word order?
1. Paul bought Nancy a new car for her birthday in June.
2. For her birthday, Paul bought Nancy a new car in June.
You can only imagine the amount of possibilities that could arise in Russian. The point to remember is for a Russian the NEWEST INFORMATION of MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION will be placed at the END of the sentence. Context will dictate what sentence word order to use. (I am using English to express Russian word order.)
See how the list of following questions can elicit a different word order in Russian:
What happened? (General Questions)
In June Paul bought Nancy a new car for her birthday.
Possible in English and in Russian.
What did Paul buy Nancy?
In June for her birthday Paul bought Nancy a new car.
Possible in English and in Russian.
When did Paul by Nancy a new car?
Paul bought Nancy a new car for her birthday in June.
Possible in English and in Russian.
For whom did Paul by a new car?
Paul bought a new car for her birthday in June Nancy.
Not possible in English, but possible in Russian.
Who bought Nancy a new car?
In June bought Nancy a new car for her birthday Paul.
Not possible in English, but possible in Russian.
Did you say that Paul saw a new car?
In June Paul a new car for her birthday Nancy bought.
Not possible in English, but possible in Russian.
There are even more possibilities. Did you notice that the NEWEST INFORMATION or the MOST IMPORTANT information is carried to the end of the sentence?
RULE TO REMEMBER
English tends to resort to stressing the word that is the NEWEST INFORMATION or MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION, and Russian tends to shift this information to the end of the sentence. If you learn remember this rule, then your Russian sentences will sound more authentic! Also, you will understand that in some instances if you miss the first part of a sentence in Russian that might not be so bad since what is most important will be the last few words that you hear! Happy learning!
'To be'
or
'not to be'
In Russian, the answer is 'not to be' — at least in the present tense.
Yes, Russian has no verb 'to be' in the present tense for the most part. Does that mean that Russian is primitive and somehow lacking the ability to express 'to be' in the present? Nyet!
Think about it for a minute. In English we say, “I am a student.” Russian says, “I student.” Is there anything missing from the meaning in Russian that is present in the English? No. Russians understand that the meaning is 'present' without the use of a verb. The meaning is clear and the tense is clear, so we can almost say that the use of the verb in English is superfluous.
However, we don't want to say that. The conclusion we should come to is that languages expresses ideas and thoughts differently, but they do find a way to express them. Something that one language deems (to be) an indispensable part of the grammar is approached by another language as superfluous or unnecessary.
The most important thing to remember is that every language is capable of expressing its needs. It might interest you to know that Russian does not really express 'to have' the same way we do in English. You'll have to tune-in next month for that story. Poka!
In any Case....
Over the next few weeks I will be adding to this section and explaining the case system in Russian. These exercises will provide a clearer overview of the language and also prepare you for your next semester of Russian.
So far you have studied the nominative and prepositional cases. Now it is time to focus on the accusative case. The accusative case is the ending that is put on words when they are being used as the direct object. For example, look at the following two sentences:
The book is on the table.
I see the book on the table.
Both sentences contain the phrase "on the table." This is the prepositional case in Russian, followed by the preposition "on," which is "na" in Russian. Look closely at the use of the word "book" in each sentence. In the first sentence, book is the subject (nominative case). In the second sentence, book is the direct object (accusative case) of the sentence.
Where do the names
of the cases come from?
Nominative comes from the Latin root word meaning "name."
Prepositional comes from the Latin root word meaning, you guessed it, "preposition." This is a great term for those little words that are "placed before" the noun. "Pre" is Latin for "before" and "position" comes from the Latin root "pos," which means "to put" or "to place."
Accusative comes from same Latin root word that gives us the verb "to accuse." It is as if the action of the verb "accuses" or "points its finger" at the receiver of its action. So, if you look at the second sentence, the verb see "accuses" or "points its finger" at the noun book since it is the receiver of the action of seeing. More on the accusative soon!
*This is the next step toward THE One World Language.
Step Eighty-Two: *Your action verb running wild!
Planet Russkij is ruled by Dr. Todd Alden Marshall, professor of Russian and Slavic Linguistics at the University of Central Arkansas. An independent entity in the CornDancer consortium of planets, Planet Russkij is dedicated to the study and exploration of the Russian language, culture, and society. CornDancer is a developmental website for the mind and spirit maintained by webmistress Freddie A. Bowles of the Planet Earth. Submissions are invited.
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