this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2023
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Keep it simple (lemmy.ca)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
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[–] o0joshua0o 33 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Russian doesn't have articles at all, but it sure isn't simple.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The grammar can be complicated, but with Russian I find the pronunciation can be particularly difficult. There's a lot of vowel I, e, and y sounds that are subtly different. И, й, э, ы, е all sound kinda similar, with ы not having a direct equivalent in English (it's like an "eeyeh" pronounced with the frontal palette which is weird because English doesn't have a lot of frontal letters).

The consonant clusters are also tough because there's so many of them and connecting vowels are absent. A classic example of this is Здравствуйте (Zdrasvuitse) with the Zdr pronounced with a rolling r as well.

I'm sure if I'm trying to say things I've got a heavy gringo accent.

[–] margaritox 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But it’s also simpler in many ways. For example, it doesn’t use the verb “to be”. So, for example, instead of saying “I’m a boy”, you would say “I boy”.

[–] o0joshua0o 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yes, that one aspect of the language is simpler, but the six grammatical cases, three genders, two aspects, and unpredictable stress make up for it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Three genders!? Sign me up!

[–] margaritox 1 points 1 year ago

My boyfriend is very good at picking up languages, so he’s been pretty good at picking up Russian too. But yea, he mentioned the unpredictable stress thing being a bitch and that’s something I never noticed.