Unit 1 2007-09-13

Outline Learning vocabulary Russian intonation An alternative approach to learning Russian endings

Learning vocabulary If you didn’t do as well as you would have liked on your quiz Quizzes and exams require you to write only active vocabulary Look at the English side of your flashcard Without peeking, write the entire Russian word or phrase Check yourself by looking at the other side You haven’t learned a word until you can write it If you’re doing everything right and not getting results, come see us

Russian intonation English statements and questions have different intonation Russian also uses different intonation for statements, questions with question words, and yes/no questions Russian intonation may differ from English intonation

Intonation in statements Your voice drops on the last stressed vowel of the sentence Я́ живу́ в Москве́. Ты́ у́чишься в университе́те. Меня́ зову́т Ва́ня. Э́то моя́ подру́га Ната́ша. До свида́ния.

Intonation in questions with question words Your voice drops sharply on the stressed vowel of the question word, which is emphasized more than other words, and your intonation then says low Где́ ты́ живёшь? Где́ ты́ у́чишься? Ка́к вы́ сказа́ли? Don’t raise your voice toward the end, as you would in English

Intonation in yes/no questions Yes/no questions are indicated only by intonation “Do you live in Pittsburgh?” “You live in Pittsburgh (don’t you)?” Your voice peaks sharply on the stressed vowel of the word you are questioning and then drops and remains low for the rest of the sentence Ты́ живёшь в Пи́ттсбурге? Ты́ у́чишься в университе́те? Don’t raise your voice toward the end, as you would in English

Prepositional case endings (according to the textbook) Indeclinable nouns don’t change their endings If a noun ends in a consonant other than й add –е Нью́-Йо́рк, в Нью́-Йо́рке If a noun ends in й, а, or я drop that letter and add –е музе́й, в музе́е Москва́, в Москве́ But if the prepositional would wind up ending in –ие Write –ии instead Пенсильва́ния, в Пенсильва́нии

About testing grammar in this course Grammar will be tested only by asking you to produce Russian forms You will not have to explain grammatical rules You may learn from the explanation in the textbook, alternative explanations presented in lecture, or both, as long as you can produce the correct forms We present different perspectives because students learn in different ways

An alternative approach to Russian endings Your textbook teaches endings according to spelling If a noun ends in [the letters] й, а, or я, drop that letter and add the letter –е (в музе́е, в Москве́) An alternative approach is based on sounds, rather than letters Regardless of how the Nsg of a noun ends, add the sound /’е/ to the stem (not to the N, but to the stem) Пи́ттсбург = /p’íttsburg + Ø/ в Пи́ттсбурге /v p’íttsburg + ’e/; музе́й = /muz’éj + Ø/ в музе́е = /v muz’éj + ’e/ Москва́ = /moskv + á/ в Москве́ = /v moskv + ’é/ You still need the rule for Пенсильва́ния, в Пенсильва́нии

Stems and endings Russian words other than prepositions (в) and conjunctions (и) consist of stems and endings The unvarying stem is the lexical part of the word, and conveys meaning (e.g., ‘museum’ vs ‘university’) The variable ending is the grammatical part of the word, and indicates case, number, gender, etc. университе́т (zero ending = subject) в университе́те (/’е/ = location) whatever is present in all inflected forms of a word is part of the stem Think of stems and endings in terms of sounds, not letters

Stems and endings: possessive pronouns мо́й, моя́, моё moj + Ǿ = мо́й moj + á = моя́ moj + ó = моё Stem is moj+, stress is on the endings ва́ш, ва́ша, ва́ше váš + Ø = ва́ш váš + а = ва́ша váš + о = ва́ше Stem is váš+, stress is on the stem Payoff Stem is invariable for all forms of a particular possessive pronoun Endings are the same for all possessive pronouns

The zero ending мо́й, моя́, моё moj + Ǿ = мо́й moj + á = моя́ moj + ó = моё Stem is moj+, stress is on the endings мо́й is not just a stem; it has gender (m) and case (N), and only an ending (in this case, zero) can reflect gender and case Payoff: all words that can reflect gender, case, and number do so with an ending (m isn’t exceptional)

The zero ending and stress мо́й, моя́, моё moj + Ǿ = мо́й moj + á = моя́ moj + ó = моё Stem is moj+, stress is on the endings Payoff: Stress doesn’t shift; it is regularly on the endings, but since the zero ending can’t be pronounced, stress is realized on the nearest place (the preceding syllable)

All stems end in a consonant университе́т = un’iv’ers’it’ét + Ø Москва́ = moskv + á сло́во = slóv + o Payoff: All stems end in a consonant (all genders are alike) Stems don’t change because lexical meaning doesn’t change Endings change for case, etc. Exception: indeclinable words (Бу́ффало, такси́, ра́дио) never change at all (i.e., they are all stem and don’t have endings)

Nominative endings for nouns The only mNsg ending is the sound Ø /un’iv’ers’it’ét + Ø/ (университе́т) /muz’éj + Ø/ (музе́й) The only fNsg ending is the sound /а/ (except for nouns like любо́вь) /moskv + á/ (Москва́) /p’ens’il’ván’ij + a/ (Пенсильва́ния) The only nNsg ending is the sound –o (except for и́мя and one other in –мя) /slóv + o/ (сло́во) Endings are the same for all nouns

Stems, endings, and regularity А́нглия /ángl’ij+a/ в А́нглии v /ángl’ij+i/ The Nsg ending is the sound /a/ The payoff А́нглия has the same Nsg ending as Москва́ ия isn’t an ending because /ij/ is present in all inflected forms

Prepositional ending for nouns (according to the textbook) If a noun ends in a consonant other than й add –е Нью́-Йо́рк, в Нью́-Йо́рке If a noun ends in й, а, or я drop that letter and add –е музе́й, в музе́е Москва́, в Москве́ But if the prepositional would wind up ending in –ие Write –ии instead Пенсильва́ния, в Пенсильва́нии Costs You have to check the ending of a word before you can begin to form the prepositional Masculine nouns ending in й are exceptional, and pattern like feminines

Prepositional ending for nouns (alternative perspective) Add the sound /’e/ to all stems, regardless of the Nsg form Нью́-Йо́рк, в Нью́-Йо́рке (n’jú-jórk + ’e) музе́й, в музе́е (muz’éj + ’e) Москва́, в Москве́ (moskv + ’é) If the prepositional would wind up ending in –ие Write –ии instead Пенсильва́ния, в Пенсильва́нии Payoff Two rules instead of three Nouns ending in й, in other consonants, or in vowels are all the same: just add the sound /’e/ to the stem

Under the hood Nouns (and other inflected words) consist of stems and endings Zero is a possible ending and has real and specific meaning (mNsg) Stems and endings consist fundamentally of sounds (not letters) Stems reflect lexical meaning and don’t change Anything present in all inflected forms is part of the stem Endings change to reflect grammatical categories (case, etc.) The same grammatical category (e.g., mNsg) has the same ending

Sounds and spelling Sounds and spelling do not coincide Two letters = one sound кокте́йль /kokt’éjl’ + Ø/ One letter = two sounds моя́ /moj + á/ в музе́е /v muz’éj + e/ These statements are true about Russian spelling and pronunciation regardless of how one regards stems and endings

Soft vowel letters After consonants, soft vowel letters mean that the consonant is soft (/j/ pronounced simultaneously with consonant) и́мя /ím’a/ Elsewhere: two sequential sounds (/j/ followed by vowel sound) я́ /já/ моя́ /moj + á/ моё /moj + ó/ Пенсильва́ния /p’ens’il’van’ij + a/ The boundary between stem and ending is in the middle of the я letter The ending of Пенсильва́ния is the sound /a/, just like the ending of Москва́ The sounds /ij/ before the /a/ in Пенсильва́ния are part of the stem

How to spell the sound /j/ When /j/ precedes a vowel sound, use a soft vowel letter моя́ /moj + á/ моё /moj + ó/ Elsewhere, use й мо́й /moj + Ǿ/ колте́йль /kokt’éjl’ + Ø/ Some foreign words are exceptions Нью́-Йо́рк (pronounced like *Нью́-Ёрк)