Analogies in Russian and German vocabulary
Analogies in the Russian and German vocabulary compares terms in the German and Russian language and searches for matches. Analogies (from the Greek: agreement, correspondence, resemblance) are words that have the same meaning and pronunciation in different languages. This means that a Russian word was modeled on a German word.
origin
Analogies in Russian and German vocabulary are a historical document of the German presence in Russia. The first German words were mentioned in a document when the first German settlements arose in the time of Ivan IV the Terrible (1533–1584). Since Peter I the Great and Catherine II the Great, the Russian tsars followed a policy of targeted recruitment of German skilled workers in order to advance the modernization and colonization of the Russian Empire. When the First World War broke out, around two and a half million German immigrants were living in the Russian Empire. With the Germans, German words as well as other foreign words, which originally mostly came from Greek and Latin, came to Russia and were adopted into the Russian language. Several thousand of these words were completely borrowed into the Russian language (the perfect analogies), several thousand were partially Russified (the imperfect analogies), and a few of them were given different meanings (apparent analogies).
Analogies in linguistics
properties
The analogy is a somewhat broader term compared to the term “Germanisms” that exists in linguistics or borrowed from German into the Russian language. Because these terms do not take into account the Latin transcription of Russian words. But the Latin transcription is an important element that connects Russian and German analogies. The Latin script or the transcription (using diacritical marks also transliteration) is a conversion of the Cyrillic letters into Latin, which are easy to understand for German and Russian users. It is better to reproduce the spelling and the Latin script according to the Duden, because this transcription is the best known and the difference between the Duden and scientific transliteration or IPA is insignificant (3–5%) or not decisive for the pronunciation of the students. The German words also include the foreign words that mostly found their way into the German language from Latin, Greek and French and - coming from Germany to Russia - were thus integrated into the Russian language.
state of research
Analogies provide the linguist with a treasure trove to examine the historical development of the two languages Russian and German. Why were many thousands of German words perfectly and others imperfectly adopted into the Russian language? How and when did the Russification of this and that German word take place? It is well known that every language has many foreign words in its vocabulary. Think of “kindergarten” and “sauerkraut” in English. But the number makes the difference. Few German words were completely borrowed in English, but several thousand in Russian, although the number of German immigrants in the USA and in Tsarist Russia was comparable. The number of German words adopted into Russian is enormous and unique compared to other naturalized foreign words in the Russian language. In terms of linguistics, borrowings from German have not been sufficiently examined. Only a few publications are currently known about it.
Perfect, imperfect, and apparent analogies
The perfect analogies
If the meaning and Latin writing of the Russian analogies match the spelling (orthography) of the German and the pronunciation of the German and Russian words one hundred percent, then this match is called the perfect analogy.
| German |
Latin script
of Russian analogies |
Russian |
| adrenaline | adrenaline | Адреналин |
| chord | chord | Аккорд |
| artist | artist | Артист |
| Auditor | auditor | Аудитор |
| balcony | balcony | Балкон |
| barricade | barrikáda | Баррикада |
| bastion | bastion | Бастион |
| petrol | bensin | Бензин |
| biathlon | biatlon | Биатлон |
| bivouac | bivouac | Бивак |
| librarian | bibliotekar ' | Библиотекарь |
| bureaucrat | bjurokrát | Бюрократ |
The imperfect analogies
An imperfect analogy means that the spelling and pronunciation of a German word differ slightly from the pronunciation and the Latin transcription of the Russian analogies with the same meaning. They are based on some adjustments made to the Russification of German words and foreign words that came to Russia from Germany over time.
| German |
Latin script
of Russian analogies |
Russian |
| Agiotage | ashiotásh | Ажиотаж |
| active | aktivnyj | активный |
| current | aktuál'nyj | актуальный |
| acupuncture | аkupunktura | Акупунктура |
| Excise | excis | Акциз |
| allergy | allergy | Аллергия |
| amoral | amorál'nyj | aморальный |
| anesthetize | anestesirowat ' | aнестезировать |
| analytically | analitichesky | ANALITICHESKY |
| applaud | aplodirowat ' | аплодировать |
| Bionics | bionics | Бионика |
| delicate | delikátnyj | деликатный |
| demagogue | demagogue | Демагог |
| Devalvation | dewal'wázija | Девальвация |
| decimeter | decimetr | Дециметр |
| Dogmatic | dogmatics | Догматик |
| impotence | impotenzija | Импотенция |
| Speech therapist | logoped | Логопед |
| capitalism | capitalism | Капитализм |
| Drugs | narcomaniac | Наркоман |
| nationality | nazionál'nost ' | Национальность |
| virtuoso | wirtuosnyj | виртуозный |
The apparent analogies
An apparent analogy is when the meaning, pronunciation, and Latin script of a German word do not match the Russian word, even though the German word is similar to a Russian one and can create false associations.
| German |
Latin script
of Russian analogies |
Russian |
| advance | awáns | Аванс |
| Detective novel | detectiv | Детектив |
| Imitation | doubles | Дублет |
| Women's jacket | shaket | Жакет |
| magazine | shurnál | Журнaл |
| Tie | gálstuk | Галстук |
The Bazi rules
Many perfect analogies and some imperfect analogies were transferred from German into Russian, not chaotically, but in order and in groups from different subject areas: craft, technology, mining, administration, military, education, science, philosophy, medicine, cultural and social life. Accordingly, terms, facts and objects that have been adopted have also adopted their names in German or borrowed them into the Russian language. A precise chronological order and in particular the respective choice of German words for inclusion in the Russian language can only be proven to a limited extent at the moment. However, it is possible to derive some rules, i.e. Bazi rules, from certain regularities of the Russification. "Bazi" was derived from the name of the author of the dictionary of analogies in the Russian and German vocabulary Baziyan. According to the Duden, it also means (jokingly in southern Germany and Austria) “ cunning person ”, “ rascal ”. Based on the Duden, it says: Learn Russian smartly.
The Bazi rules say
I. If the users of the dictionary only remember certain German suffixes (suffixes), they can translate entire words from German into Russian or recognize the part of speech, the Latin script and the pronunciation of many Russian nouns, verbs and adjectives. The gender (grammatical gender) of nouns can also be determined.
II. If the users of the dictionary remember certain Russian suffixes and endings, they can translate the Russian words into German and also identify the gender of the nouns.
III. A link in the Bazi rules is the Latin script of Russian words. With the help of a conversion table, the Russian words can be easily converted into Latin script and vice versa.
| German | Latin script | Russian |
| a | a | а |
| b | b | б |
| v, w | w | в |
| G | G | г |
| d | d | д |
| e, Ä | e | е |
| jo, ö | jo | ё |
| zh | sh | ж |
| s, z | s | з |
| i, ie | i | и |
| j | j | й |
| k | k | к |
| l | l | л |
| m | m | м |
| n | n | н |
| O | O | о |
| p | p | п |
| r | r | р |
| s, ss | s | с |
| t | t | т |
| u | u | у |
| f, v, ph | f | ф |
| h, ch, kh | ch | х |
| ts, s, z | z | ц |
| ch | ch | ч |
| sch | sch | ш |
| chtsch | chtsch | щ |
| - | " | ъ |
| y | y | ы |
| - | ь | |
| e, Ä | e | э |
| ju, iu, ü | ju | ю |
| yes, ia | Yes | я |
| Letter combinations | ||
| eu, eu | oj | ой |
| qu | kw | кв |
| ck | кк | кк |
| sp | shp | шп |
| chr | kr | кр |
| st | scht | шт |
| ei, ey | aj | ай |
Accordingly, users of the dictionary do not need to memorize entire words to expand their vocabulary. With many perfect analogies, it is enough to just remember the appropriate suffixes. In the case of imperfect analogies, users should also memorize types of word formation along with the suffixes and endings: supplement, replace or omit.
literature
- Vitaly Baziyan: Dictionary of analogies in Russian and German vocabulary with Bazi rules: Russian-German, German-Russian: around 10,000 headwords . Wrocław: Amazon Fulfillment. 2017
- Vitaly Baziyan: Dictionary of Analogies Russian – German / German – Russian. 2nd edition with visualization based on the traffic light principle. Wrocław: Amazon Fulfillment. 2017
- WA Bogoroditskij: General course in Russian grammar . State socio-economic publisher; Moscow / Leningrad 1935
- LA Bulakhovsky: Russian literary language course . Volume 2. Soviet School. Kiev 1953
- Ingeborg Fleischhauer : The Germans in the Tsarist Empire. German publishing company, 1991
- VV Vinogradov: Essays on the history of the Russian literary language of the XVII to XIX centuries . State Educational Publishing House, Moscow 1938