User:Tsygankovgleb/Runglish

Runglish - combination of Russian and English

Runglish or Russian English, Ruslish, Russlish, etc. (рунглиш, руслиш, русслиш) is a term describing a language born out of a mixture of English and Russian languages. This is a common phenomenon among Russian speakers with English as a second language, spoken in the post-Soviet States.

The earliest of these portmanteau words is Russlish, dating from 1971. Appearing later are (chronologically): Russglish (1991), Ruglish (1993), Ringlish (1996), Ruslish (1997), Runglish (1998), Rusglish (1999), and Rusinglish (2015)

Runglish is formed by adaptation of English phrases and words into Russian-style by adding affixes, with the purpose of using it in everyday communication. Runglish is a neologism used to represent at least two different combinations of Russian and English: pidgin and informal latinizations of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Although less widespread than other pidgins and creoles, such as Tok Pisin, Runglish is spoken in a number of English-Russian communities, such as in Southern Australia and most notably the Russian-speaking community of Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York. Brighton Beach has been nicknamed Little Odessa due to its population of Russian-speaking immigrants from Ukraine and Russia.

Origins

Russian Immigration

History

The appearance of Runglish has been caused by a number of social, scientific and political factors from the 19th to 21st centuries.

One of the multiple causes for the blending of the two languages is the increased immigration of Russian speaking communities to the English-speaking parts of the world, and specifically the United States. The main periods of the immigration are the following:

• The Imperial Russian religious prosecutions (pogroms),
• Russian Revolution,
• Russian Civil War,
• Soviet era repressions
• Post-Soviet period.

The exposure of English to Russian speech and literature continued with the fall of the Soviet Union, as the Iron Curtain has been eliminated, which opened a possibility for international tourism and communication. Additionally, the expansion of international contacts, creation of partnerships and alliances, in which English was the main language for communications, state computerization, and, most importantly, introduction of the Internet.

Brighton Beach

In the United States, Runglish is used in a number of Russian communities. Runglish is particularly popular among the Russian-speaking community on Brighton Beach in New York. Brighton Beach, a small area in New York, is rightfully considered the capital of "Russian English". Before the Great Depression, Brighton Beach used to be a fashionable destination. However, as the economic crisis progressed, luxurious life in the southern part of Brooklyn came to an end, and poor immigrants began populating it instead of wealthy European tourists. For a long time Brighton Beach was considered to be poor, inaccessible and criminal. Soon, Brighton Beach became a home for many immigrants from all over the world, particularly from the USSR. The arrival of Russian-speaking immigrants helped to gradually develop a former disadvantaged neighbourhood into a powerful community with its own infrastructure, lifestyle and language.

Brighton Beach has a large Russian-speaking population of immigrants from Ukraine and Russia.

The following are the examples of the Runglish words that are widely used on daily basis in Brighton Beach:

• Driving: Драйвить, Draivit (Proper Russian: вести машину/ехать)
• Case: Kейс, Keis (Proper Russian: портфель-атташе, also дело as in legal case)
• Donuts: Донаты, Donaty (Proper Russian: пончики)
• Appointments: Аппойнтменты, Appoyntmenty (Proper Russian: Назначения [на приём])
• Manual (as in "User's manual"): Мануал (Proper Russian: Инструкция)
• Adapter: Адаптер (Proper Russian: переходник)
• Connector: Коннектор (Proper Russian: соединитель)
• Splitter: Cплиттер (Proper Russian: разветвитель)
• LED: Лэд (Proper Russian: светодиод)

International Space Station crew: Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko (left), Commander Bill Shepherd (center), and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev (right)

NASA

The term "Runglish" was popularized by Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev in 2000, describing the way Russian and American cosmonauts spoke on the International Space Station. Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev said: "We say jokingly that we communicate in 'Runglish,' a mixture of Russian and English languages, so that when we are short of words in one language we can use the other, because all the crew members speak both languages well." Ever since, NASA has begun listing Runglish as one of the on-board languages.

In culture

Runglish is widely used in poetry (Vladimir Mayakovsky "American Russians"), music (Splean "My English-Russian dictionary") and in prose (Arthur С. Clarke "2010: Odyssey Two"). A monthly published periodical called Wind—New Zealand Russian existed from 1996 to 2003.

Literature

A small subplot in Arthur C. Clarke's novel 2010: Odyssey Two concerned the crew of a Russo-American spaceship, who attempted to break down boredom with a Stamp Out Russlish!! campaign. As the story went, both crews were fully fluent in each other's languages, to the point that they found themselves crossing over languages in mid-conversation, or even simply speaking the other language even when there was no-one who had it as their native tongue present. Robert Heinlein’s novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is written in the heavily Russian-influenced English (much Russian vocabulary, some Russian grammar) of a joint Australian/Russian penal colony on the Moon.

A Clockwork Orange

The novel «A Clockwork Orange» by A. Burgess is partially written in a Russian-influenced argot called "Nadsat", which takes its name from the Russian suffix that is equivalent to '-teen' in English. The language in the novel is a secret, used as boundary separating the teen world from the adult. There are multiple examples of the words used by teenagers in the novel:

• droog - друг - friend;
• ooko - ухо - ear;
• oomny - умный - smart;
• oozhassny - ужасный - horrible/awful;
• oozy - цепь (узы) - chain/bond;
• osoosh - осушать/вытирать - drain/wipe;
• otchkies – очки - glasses.

Even though "Nadsat" is a fictional constructed language, that is very different from Runglish it exemplifies a common usage of a slang combining English and Russian languages.

Examples

Word formation in Runglish has some specific features:

1. hybrids, i.e. words formed by joining the foreign roots of Russian suffixes, prefixes and endings, for example: юзать (to use - использовать), зафрендить (to befriend), пофиксить (to fix - исправить), пошерить (to share – делиться), прочекапить (to check up - проверить);

2. confusion of languages in phrases like that: забукать номер в отеле (to book – зарезервировать), зачекиниться в аэропорту (to check in – зарегистрироваться);

3. loan translation or calque, i.e. a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word or root-for-root translation. For example: аккаунт (account - счет), брифинг (briefing – информационное совещание), трафик (traffic - движение), спичрайтер (speechwriter – составитель текстовых речей).

4. borrowing of English language abbreviation: асап (ASAP “as soon as possible” - как можно быстрее), ИМХО (IMHO – “in my humble opinion” – по моему скромному мнению), etc.

Linguists have highlighted the following spheres, where Runglish is actively used:

1. Designation of new activities and professions, for example: «мерчандайзер» (merchandiser), «фрилансер» (freelancer)
2. Designation of new areas of human knowledge: «блог» (blog), «пиар» (PR), «промоушн» (promotion)
3. Designation of items: «лэптоп» (laptop), «мэйк-ап» (make-up), «постер» (poster),
4. Designation of musical genres: «транс» (trans), «фолк» (folk), «рэп» (rap),
5. Designation of terms to give them prestige: «джоб-оффер» (job offer), «клиент» (client)

At certain instances, Runglish is used as a way for describing poor usage of english words/grammar by Russian-speakers. Runglish speakers do not make a distinction between closed/open and long/short vowels (heat/hit; port/pot; sheep/ship). Consonants at the end of words are pronounced as voiceless (leave/leaf). Absence of certain sounds in Russian phonology causes words to be mispronounced - thing is pronounced as "sing" or then is pronounced as "zen". Often, speakers do not differentiate а, the, and zero article, as they do no exist in Russian grammar. Tenses are used wrong, as instead of variety of perfect, continuous, and other tenses, Russian language simply has past, present, and future. Sometimes prepositions are used wrong ("during" instead of "for", "in" instead of "at" or "оn"). It is very common among Runglish speakers to use double negation ("I didn't do nothing") and wrong tags ("You don't like it, do you?" "Yes, I don't/ No, I like it").

Runglish in Russia

Young Russian speakers tend to often use Runglish in daily life

With the increase in globalization after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, English has made its way into the language used in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other ex-soviet states. Runglish is used everyday when talking about politics, economics and other fields of modern life. For many people, English seems more prestigious and therefore the mixing of words help to indicate the level of education and involvement in the world community where English is dominant. Today, Runglish can be often see in various articles and news headlines of official media - «Снегопад в России: травмы, пробки и блэкаут» ("Snowstorm in Russia: injuries, traffic, and blackout"; «Снеговики, волки, сасквочи. Предшественники сочинских маскотов» ("Snowmen, wolves, and sasquatches. Predecessors of Sochi Olympics mascots").

Young people, who are known for their creativity, also are big contributors to the popularization of Runglish. The use of anglicisms has been on the rise in recent years, and is now an essential part of the youth's vocabulary.

Criticism

The opinions of linguists on the effects of Runglish are divided. Whether some argue that incorporation of foreign words into Russian language enriches it and broadens the culture, others claim that "the large-scale penetration of English is destroying the system of the Russian language, its identity and culture".

In 2006, Vladimir Putin signed a decree «On holding a year of the Russian language». Following that, 2007 had been declared the Year of the Russian Language in Russia and abroad, in order to promote the importance and beauty of Russian language and make the youth limit the usage of foreign words. The rector of A. Pushkin State Institute of the Russian Language Yuri Prokhorov admitted that it was impossible to stop the tendency of the widespread use of foreign terms. However, he believed that the bigger issue was that a large number of Russians could not use their own language correctly.

Further readings

Mariupolsky, K. "The inevitable birth of Runlgish–When Russian and English merge." Russian Bazaar (2010).