Russian language class

[Maria]

Thank you!
The tongue should be a little higher than the front teeth.

Okay, so the soft "д" sound is made with the tongue slightly forward from the alveolar ridge.

Sorry for this detour, but I would like to practice the spoken Russian the way it should sound rather than relearning (a difficult journey) to pronounce things all over again. Russian is a beautiful language.

When I was studying Spanish, I was living in a college dormitory for Spanish speaking women. It was wonderful, and I acquired Spanish naturally without an accent. However, when I moved out of the dormitory, without an understanding of linguistics, I reverted to the California way of pronouncing Spanish ... which is not Spanish, but an adulterated form of Spanglish. It was not until I started studying linguistics, especially phonetics, that language made sense once I understood the placement of the tongue and jaw.

[Maria]

From the previous list of Proper names of cities and countries:

Санкт-Петербург, Sankt-Peterburg (St. Petersburg) - Where is the accent in the word Petersburg?

Суздаль, Suzdal - Accented syllable?

Россия, Rossiya (Russia) - How would this word be broken into syllables, and which syllable is stressed?

Украина, Ukraina (Ukraine) - How would this word be broken into syllables, and which syllable is stressed?

Are there any linguistic rules for determining the syllabic break in words or which syllable is stressed?
Have borrowed words into Russian been "Russified" so that the words have different stressed syllables once introduced into Russian?

Please explain the Russian diphthongs we may be encountering or if any of the words above contain a diphthong. Thanks.

[Alexander Kuzmin]

Here are the accents:

Санкт-Петербург, Sankt-Peterburg (St. Petersburg)
Суздаль, Suzdal
Россия, Rossiya (Russia) Рос-си-я
Украина, Ukraina (Ukraine) У-кра-и-на

We do not have diphthongs.
I do not think that Russian have any rules for accents (stresses). Only ё is always stressed. But I believe if you learn enough words you will feel how to accent the new words. There is some inner system in it that you will feel.

And here are several words and expressions for your learning cards:

Спасибо - Thank you
Я не знаю - I do not know
Я из Америки - I am from America (in Russia we usually do not say "USA", we use the word "America" for the USA, and for the continents we add "North" or "South)
он - he
она - she
Он из Франции - He is from France

And several more words to read in Russian (to practice letters). These are words for professions (профессии). You will understand them all. Note that English G often corresponds to Russian дж or ж, the same is true about J:

пианист, спортсмен, директор, пилот, президент, студент, секретарь, банкир, менеджер, офицер, профессор, министр, бандит, ковбой, актёр, доктор, инженер, журналист, боксёр, программист, таксист.

[Maria]

Спасибо - Thank you (spa-si-bo)
Я не знаю - I do not know (Ya nye e-na-yu) - Is 'na' accented?
Я из Америки - I am from America (Ya ie A-mye-ri-ki)

• (in Russia we usually do not say "USA", we use the word "America" for the USA, and for the continents we add "North" or "South)

он - he (on)
она - she (on-a) - Is 'on' accented?
Он из Франции - He is from France. (On ie Fran-tsi-i)

• Is the noun-subject "France" written Франция (Fran-tsi-ya)?
  Франции would be the object of a preposition, isn't that true?

Is из the preposition "from"?

[Maria]

These are words for professions (профессии). You will understand them all. Note that English G often corresponds to Russian дж or ж, the same is true about J:

пианист, pia-nist

спортсмен, sports-myen (sportsman)

директор, di-ryec-tor (director)

пилот, pi-lot

президент, prye-ei-dyent - I gotta hear this one! Mr. President

студент, stu-dent

секретарь, syek-rye-tar (secretary)

банкир, ban-kir (banker)

менеджер, myen-gyer (manager)

офицер, o-fits-yer (officer) - Is this syllabification correct?

профессор, pro-fyes-sor (professor)

министр, mi-nis-tr (minister)

бандит, ban-dit

ковбой, cov-boj (cowboy)

актёр, act-yor

доктор, doc-tor

инженер, in-gye-ner (engineer)

журналист, gur-na-list (journalist)

боксёр, boc-syor (boxer)

программист, pro-gram-mist (computer programmer)

таксист, tac-sist (cab driver or a tax collector) ??

[Alexander Kuzmin]

Very good!
Yes, cab driver!

[Barbara]

Wouldn't it be better be : ZHurnalist - not with the "g" ?
I can tell from that character in the beginning of the word, plus that
instinctive sense for how it may be pronounced, after hearing a lot of spoken Russian
but never speaking myself !
This is great, Alexander.

One thing one hears ALL the time, anywhere, on the bus or in Church,
is that - I didn't get the exact spelling but the Ya Neeznayo.
"I don't know". It is disappointing to hear IF that is a reply directed at me
when I have asked a question like "When does the Museum open ?"
I want to know the exact answer and don't like hearing that reply, usually accompanied by a shrug....
we've all seen that, I am sure !

I assume in Russia it happens more than it needs to, because of the wish to avoid
responsibility drummed in by the Soviet era. What do you think, Alexander ?
Is that true, or was it always this way ? Of course, you weren't alive during the Romanov
Empire, so you might not be able to give a definitive answer !