But how is Russian similar and different from other Slavic languages?

Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian

The very fact that they belong to the same language group (East Slavic) suggests that Ukrainian and Belarusian are the closest to Russian. Before the XIII-XIV centuries the Eastern Slavs spoke the Old Russian dialect, from which three separate languages developed .

Despite the cultural and historical closeness of the languages, there are much more differences between them than is commonly thought.

For example, if there are 6 cases in Russian and Belarusian, then there are 7 in Ukrainian, along with the Vocative, which is responsible for the formation of forms of address. In Russian, by the way, they are found only in the literature. (As in Pushkin's "Goldfish": "What do you need, starche?")

Also in Ukrainian there is a form of the past tense ("znav buv"), which has no analogues in Russian.

All three languages use the Cyrillic alphabet, although some letters of the Ukrainian and Belarusian versions are missing from the Russian one:

• Ukrainian doesn't use Ё, Ъ, Ы, Э, but it does include Ґ, E, I, and Ї.
• Belarusian has a special letter U.

However, if you know Russian, it is not difficult to read what is written in these languages. Understanding what you read is another matter.

It was found that the vocabulary of Russian and Ukrainian is identical only by 60%, while the remaining 40% of words are of Polish origin due to historical circumstances. The vocabulary of the Belarusian language coincides with Ukrainian and Polish by about 70%.

Russian and West Slavic group

This group of languages includes Polish, Czech, and Slovak. They contain many borrowings from German, French, Italian, and Latin. In addition, they are phonetically most different from Russian, so the chance that knowing the latter will help you understand speakers of these languages by ear is not very high.

In addition, they have special sounds that are not found in other related languages – in Czech it is a consonant denoted by the letter y [rj], in Polish it is nasal vowels denoted by the letters u and u.

And the most difficult part. If in Russian there are only 3 declensions, then in Slovak there are already 12, and in Czech – as many as 14! Let's also add the hard and soft varieties of adjectives, which also have singular and plural forms and three genders – do not forget, they also need to be inclined!

Russian and South Slavic group

Serbian and Croatian:

During the time of Yugoslavia, Serbian and Croatian were considered one Serbo-Croatian language with minimal regional differences, while in Croatia only the Latin alphabet was always used, and in Serbia both the Latin and Cyrillic letters were used.

Most of the letters of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet coincide with the Russian one (with the exception of E, Y, Sch, B, S, B, E, U and I), but there are special letters that you will have to learn separately: J, L, Ђ, Њ, Љ and Џ. Unlike the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, each letter represents only one sound!

As in Russian, the stress in a word can fall on any vowel. But there is a "pleasant surprise": in the language of Kusturica and Tesla, there are "only" 4 types of stress and vowel length (they can appear depending on which case the word is in), and the meaning of the word may even depend on this. Mastering the Serbian musical accent is an almost incomprehensible task for a foreigner!

And in addition, a nice detail-incredible for Russian-the stress in Serbian and Croatian words, along with vowels, can fall on P, so words consisting of only consonants are not uncommon at all: vrt (sad), brk (us), Grk (Greek).

Bulgarian and Macedonian:

In these two languages, the system of case endings has not been preserved. Therefore, in Russian, a Bulgarian can easily say: "This melon is from my dad's garden"! (Yes, cases of the Russian language are difficult not only for non-Slavs).

Another very strange and unique feature of these two languages is the definite postpositive article. It serves to specify the meaning of what is said. In Russian, as you know, there are no articles, and in other languages they are most often separate words. Immediately, the article is added to the end of the word. For example, vvlk – vvlkyt, mama-mamata, dyado-dyadoto, etc. And in the plural in general: momiche-momicheta-momichetata ("girl-girls – (some specific) girls"). Articles are a delicate thing, only an expert in Bulgarian / Macedonian philology can handle them, and Russian will definitely not help you here.

And for dessert, there was a very complex system of verb forms. There are 9 tenses in the South Slavic group! Yes, yes, you didn't think so.

Slovenian:

A unique feature of this language is the presence of a dual number. That is, special forms that are used when it comes to two items.

For example, in the sentence "Red apple / Red apples":

• Jabolko je rdeče. (ед.ч.)
• Jabolki sta rdeči. (двойств.ч.)
• Jabolka so rdeča. (мн.ч.)

But so that you do not think that Russian is not at all like the South Slavic languages, add a spoonful of honey: they have a huge layer of common vocabulary. The fact is that the South Slavic and Russian lexis experienced a strong mutual influence. Old Slavonic vocabulary came to Russia with the first books as early as the tenth century, from the Balkans, where writing was spread. Since the end of the 18th century, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction, and already the South Slavic languages have experienced a powerful wave of Russian influence. Therefore, if you know Russian, you will probably have a good understanding of Serbian, Macedonian, and especially Bulgarian texts.

Here's what bilinguals and foreigners who speak Russian and other Slavic languages say:

Dejan, philologist, Russian scholar, native speaker of Serbian and Macedonian:

I don't think that knowing two Slavic languages helped me in any way in learning Russian. Rather, it complicated the task. The biggest obstacles for me are the order of words in a sentence, the control and pronunciation of certain sounds.

But this is just my example. I know a Serbian woman who speaks the purest Russian. At the same time, she is not able to explain any grammatical rules of the Russian language. I also know a lot of Serbs who have lived in Russia for decades and speak Pidgin Russian.

The vocabulary, of course, is similar, but there are also many words of the same root that mean different things and make you say something completely different from what you wanted. A Russian language lecturer I knew (who was half Macedonian) could literally translate the Macedonian expression " bursting with laughter "(puknav od smea) into"I farted with laughter."

Slavic languages, of course, are similar. But if you set yourself high goals, it should be all the same for a Slav: he studies Russian or Papuan. The tasks are the same.

Svetoslav, Serbian-Croat philologist, native speaker of Russian and Bulgarian:

I grew up in a bilingual Russian-Bulgarian family. My parents were proficient in each other's languages. Remaining in Russia, the pope eventually learned Russian perfectly and became fully assimilated in Russia. Although, having arrived in Moscow as a 20-year-old student, he knew the language at the school level (under socialism in Bulgaria, it was included in the mandatory program). At first, there were language curiosities. For example, one day, while telling my (future) mother about his hometown, he added: "And our roofs are covered... there was a pause as he tried to find the right word, "turtles..." (meaning, of course, "tile").

Kaname, philologist-Slavist, teacher of Russian and Serbian languages, native speaker of Japanese (speaks Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Rusyn, Slovak and Polish):

I have no doubt that knowledge of the Russian language helps when learning other Slavic languages, but it can not be said that it always leads to successful assimilation of them. At the initial stage of learning [other Slavic languages], Russian helps you quickly navigate the grammatical system of the language, and it seems that everything is very simple and understandable thanks to Russian. But then, at a later stage, you will have to "forget" about it, since it prevents you from getting into the features of the language you are learning and mastering it in a more natural way. It is better to start thinking in the same language, avoiding the thought: "How will it be in Russian?" I also encountered this problem more than once when I was learning, for example, Serbian, Bulgarian and Rusyn. But on the one hand, I am pleased to remember that during my first trip to Serbia, I noticed that I speak Serbian "with a Russian accent", and, on the other hand, I realized then that I had to somehow get rid of my " bad " habits in order to speak Serbian in English. After that, Russian and Serbian became completely different languages in my head, and I stopped confusing words or grammars.