Runglish, Ruslish, Russlish (russian: рунглиш, руслиш, русслиш), or Russian English, is a term describing a language born out of a mixture of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

languages. This is a common among Russian speakers who speak English as a second language, and it is mainly spoken in

post-Soviet States The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

The earliest of these

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsaffixes, with the purpose of using it in everyday communication. Runglish is a

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

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 Tok Pisin (,Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh ; Tok Pisin ), often referred to by English speakers as "New Guinea Pidgin" or simply Pidgin, is a creole language spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an ...

, 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 Brighton Beach is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach is bounded by Coney Island proper at Ocean Parkway to the ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. Brighton Beach has been nicknamed ''Little Odessa'' due to its population of Russian-speaking immigrants from

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Runglish is considered to be used and spoken by at least 130 million people. This number mainly consists of Russian-speaking immigrants and their descendants.

Origins

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 (

pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...

s), * Russian Revolution, *

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

, * Soviet era repressions * Post-Soviet period. The exposure of English to Russian speech and literature continued with the fall of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, as the Iron Curtain had been eliminated, which opened a possibility for international tourism and communication. Additionally important was the expansion of international contacts, the creation of partnerships and alliances in which English was the main language of communication, state computerization, and, most importantly, the introduction of the Internet.

Brighton Beach

In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, Runglish is used in a number of Russian communities. Runglish is particularly popular among the Russian-speaking community in

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 Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. 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_-_20151226_-_05_-_The_Boulevard_Under_the_Elevated_Tracks

Brighton_Beach_-_20151226_-_05_-_The_Boulevard_Under_the_Elevated_Tracks

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, ''vyesti mashinu/yekhat'') * Case: Kейс, ''Keis'' (proper Russian: портфель-атташе, ''portfel-attashe,'' also дело, ''delo'' as in ''legal case'') * Donuts: Донаты, ''Donaty'' (proper Russian: пончики, ''ponchiki'') * Appointments: Аппойнтменты, ''Appoyntmenty'' (proper Russian: Назначения �а приём ''naznacheniya a priyom')

NASA

The term "Runglish" was popularized by

Cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

Sergei Krikalev Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev (russian: Сергей Константинович Крикалёв, also transliterated as Sergei Krikalyov; born 27 August 1958) is a Russian mechanical engineer, former cosmonaut and former head of the Yuri Ga ...

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 Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (, ; rus, Влади́мир Влади́мирович Маяко́вский, , vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ məjɪˈkofskʲɪj, Ru-Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky.ogg, links=y; – 14 Apr ...

"American Russians"), music (

Splean Splean (russian: Сплин) is a popular Russian rock band, formed in Saint Petersburg in 1994.Андрей Бурлака. Рок-энциклопедия. Популярная музыка в Ленинграде – Петербурге. 19 ...

" My English-Russian dictionary") and in prose ( Arthur С. Clarke's 1982 novel, 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 Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

’s novel ''

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein about a lunar colony's revolt against absentee rule from Earth. The novel illustrates and discusses libertarian ideals. It is respected for i ...

'' 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 1962 novel ''A Clockwork Orange'' by

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire ''A Clockwork ...

is partially written in a

-influenced

argot A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argo ...

called "

Nadsat Nadsat is a fictional register or argot used by the teenage gang members in Anthony Burgess's dystopian novel ''A Clockwork Orange''. Burgess was a linguist and he used this background to depict his characters as speaking a form of Russian-infl ...

", 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. * korova - корова - cow * moloko - молоко - milk Even though "Nadsat" is a fictional

constructed language A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction ...

that is very different from Runglish, it exemplifies a common usage of a slang combining the English and Russian languages.

Examples

Word formation in Runglish have some specific features: # 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); # Confusion of languages in phrases like that: забукать номер в отеле (to book – зарезервировать), зачекиниться в аэропорту (to check in – зарегистрироваться); # 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 - учетная запись), брифинг (briefing – информационное совещание), трафик (traffic – дорожное движение), спичрайтер (speechwriter – составитель текстовых речей), мануал (User's manual - инструкция по применению), адаптер (adapter – переходник), коннектор (connector – соединитель, ''soyedinitel''), cплиттер (splitter – разветвитель, ''razvetvitel'') # Borrowing of English language abbreviation: АСАП (ASAP – “as soon as possible” - как можно быстрее), ИМХО (IMHO – “in my humble opinion” – по моему скромному мнению), бтв (BTW – "by the way" – если что), ЛЭД ( LED – light-emitting diode; in Russian: светодиод, ''svyetodiod'') etc. Linguists have highlighted the following spheres, where Runglish is actively used: # Designation of new activities and professions, for example: «мерчендайзер» (merchandiser), «фрилансер» (freelancer), «менеджер» (manager), «супервайзер» (supervisor); # Designation of new areas of human knowledge: «блог» (blog), «пиар» (PR), «промоушн» (promotion); # Designation of items: «лэптоп» (laptop), «мэйк-ап» (make-up), «постер» (poster), «чипы» (

microchip An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

s), «чипсы» (

potato chips A potato chip (North American English; often just chip) or crisp (British and Irish English) is a thin slice of potato that has been either deep fried, baked, or air fried until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or ap ...

); # Designation of

musical genres This is a list of music genres and styles. Music can be described in terms of many music genre, genres and styles. Classifications are often arbitrary, and may be disputed and closely related forms often overlap. Larger genres and styles comprise ...

: «транс» (

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

), «фолк» (folk), «рэп» (rap), «эмбиент» (ambient), «ар-эн-би» (R'n'B), «фьюжн» (

fusion jazz Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...

), «лаунж» ( lounge music), «дип хаус» ( deep house). Dmitry Kuplinov uses word «музяка» ("''

muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments. The name has been in use since 1934, and has been owned by a division or subsidiary of one or another company ever since. In 1981, Westingho ...

''-ah") for the

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

in his streams. # Designation of terms to give them prestige: «джоб-оффер» (job offer), «клиент» (client), «кейс» (case), «Джейсэм» (GSM), «cаттелит» (satellite, as in "satellite city"); Some Russian brands use an English name to imply some "western" concept used in its business model. * " Fix Price" chain of stores are a prime example of that: the store originally introduced the "everything costs X" concept of fixed price.

Runglish as Russians' lish

Runglish has some peculiarities which distinguish it from regular English. That's because Russian language is a synthetic language: words in Russian use various

morphemes A morpheme is the smallest meaningful constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. In English, morphemes are often but not necessarily words. Morphemes that stand alone a ...

, which depend on

grammatical cases A grammatical case is a category of nouns and noun modifiers ( determiners, adjectives, participles, and numerals), which corresponds to one or more potential grammatical functions for a nominal group in a wording. In various languages, nom ...

, declensions and some other traits; while, as a rule of thumb, every letter in Russian has its own only sound. * Runglish speakers hardly make any distinction between closed/open and long/short vowels (examples: "heat" vs "hit"; "port" vs "pot"). * Consonants/soundless at the end of words may be confused ("leave" vs "leaf"). * Absence of "θ" and "ð" in Russian phonology causes words to be mispronounced (examples: "''th''ing" vs "sing", "then" vs "zen") * "Runglish" fail to differentiate articles (''а''/''an'' vs ''the'' vs

zero article An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" and "a(n)" ...

), as articles do not exist in Russian grammar. * Tenses are broken in Runglish, as instead of 12 tenses (simple tenses, continuous tenses, perfect tenses, perfect-continuous tenses), Russian language only has 3 (past, present, future). ** Russian language has "forms" instead: either perfective or imperfective aspect. * Sometimes prepositions are misused ("during" vs "for", "in" vs "at"/"оn"). * It is very common for Runglish speakers to misuse double negation ("I didn't do ''nothing''" (instead of "I didn't do anything"); and use wrong tags ("You don't like it, do you?" - Runglisher may ambiguously answer "Yes, I don't" / "No, I like it"). * G and J may be confused in Runglish speech: programmers in Russia would often pronounce "

Git Git () is a distributed version control system: tracking changes in any set of files, usually used for coordinating work among programmers collaboratively developing source code during software development. Its goals include speed, data in ...

" as "Jit", confusing it with another "JIT" -

Just-in-time compilation In computing, just-in-time (JIT) compilation (also dynamic translation or run-time compilations) is a way of executing computer code that involves compilation during execution of a program (at run time) rather than before execution. This may co ...

technology. Another example:

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...

abbreviation in Runglish sounds as "Jay Sam".

Transliteration-related speech issues

The pronunciation of the letter R varies between many languages, and Russian is no exception: in Russian, the typical sound would be close to the "Japanese "R" sound, or "burst-like R" (to English ears, with a hint of "D") as in drilling noises. Conversely, English "R" may be hard to interpret for a Russian as "r" and not a "v/w" sound if any ("horny" vs "honey"). Words "bat"/"bad"/"bet"/"bed" are especially difficult for Runglishers to tell apart. * A/E letters and D/T letters can be confusing for a Russian. * The "T" sound in English sounds softer, compared to Russian way to say "T"; but it's the other way round for "D". Therefore, "d" and "t" may be confused in Runglish. In fact, words like "card" and "standard" can be found in Russian as "карта" and "стандарт". * The Æ_.html"_;"title="Æ.html"_;"title="Æ">Æ_">Æ.html"_;"title="Æ">Æ_diphthong_(as_in_"bad"_or_"bat")_can_be_a_problem._While_Russian_language_has_"Я.html" ;"title="Æ">Æ_.html" ;"title="Æ.html" ;"title="Æ">Æ ">Æ.html" ;"title="Æ">Æ diphthong (as in "bad" or "bat") can be a problem. While Russian language has "Я">Æ">Æ_.html" ;"title="Æ.html" ;"title="Æ">Æ ">Æ.html" ;"title="Æ">Æ diphthong (as in "bad" or "bat") can be a problem. While Russian language has "Я" letter with its sound, close to "æ"; the letter is almost never used to transcribe that sound. Russians unironically transliterate "and" the same way they transliterate "end": " Энд" ** There is no strict "A with �sound in English word ---> Э with "eh" in the resulting word" rule, though. In some words (e.g. "caliber"/"calorie"/"bar"/"plastic"/"card"/"standard"/"bank"), Russian language replaces the "Æ"-like sounds with " cyrillic А" letter and " ɐ" sound. ** Instead, most words with "-ia", are transliterated as "- и я". Older example:

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

and ''малярия'', recent example:

Costa Concordia ''Costa Concordia'' () was a cruise ship operated by Costa Crociere. She was the first of her class, followed by sister ships ''Costa Serena'', '' Costa Pacifica'', ''Costa Favolosa'' and ''Costa Fascinosa'', and ''Carnival Splendor'' built for ...

was immideately transliterated as ''Коста Конкордия''. Incidentally, there are "krem" and "lin" words in Runglish. Both words illustrate the issues with pronunciation of "-ea-". * Words "cream" and "cram" are homophones in Runglish: ''Крем'', "krem" word may refer both to creamy goods and (sometimes) to crammed second-hand clothing. * Meanwhile, word "lean" is borrowed as ''Лин'', "lin": term "Lean Philosophy" would be translated to Russian as ''Философия Лин''. In this phrase, word "Lin" sounds like an oriental name to a Russian, rather than an occidental noun.

Simple past/present/future tenses

Runglish has improper use of simple tenses (''X did Y'') in place of "perfect" ones (''X have done Y''). * In Russian language verbs have "forms" instead; "imperfect form" (imperfective aspect) or "perfect form" (perfective aspect). The idea of "perfect" form of a verb is used in Russian language on situations "simple" tenses in English cover (I did X = Я ''сделал'' Х); while any "imperfect" verb would be often used in situations English speaker would use "continuous" form (I was doing X = Я делал Х)

Misused negation

* " We don't need no education" line implies misused double negation (additional "no" in place of "any"). Meanwhile, in Runglish, the second "no" may mean of some kind of "additional negating". In fact, that phrase would translate as «Нам не нужно никакого образования» into Russian.

Silent letters and historically defined spelling

In Russian language, the letters with voiceless sounds (like the "e" in words like "dice" or "prone") is exceptionally rare (with the exception of ''designated'' "soundless" letters Ь (soft sign) and Ъ (hard sign)); it may be challenging to learn proper

pronunciation Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particular ...

since the very idea of "silencing" letters may feel foreign to a person from Russia. In Russian, it's vanishingly rare to mix letters to represent one complex sound, where 2 "usual" letters form a double-tone, let alone 3-4 letters would be used for 1 sound; a combination of those may look misleading to a Russian. A basic example:

Borscht Borscht () is a sour soup common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word "borscht" is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients, which g ...

spelling (with "sch" plus silent "t") may be such a word; in Russian Cyrillic, the same word is ''борщ'';

Overly "official" vocabulary

Such a lish may fail to feel neutral and clear to western English speakers, since many words, widely used in Russian in day-to-day chat, can be perceived as official-styled, and may sound like a show-off attempt. * Say, along with "Беречь еду" ("to save food") phrase, Russians would use "''Экономить'' еду" (to "''economy''" food) in same exact meaning. Such day-to-day use of "officially sounding" borrowed words instead of words native for Russian language is often called out by Russians as "канцелярит" (''kan-tsee-lya-rit''), basically, language people from offices would "get infected with".

Different meanings of similar "official-sounding" words

Meanwhile, phrase "To ration food" (strict saving of food) won't directly translate into Russian; similar-sounding word "рацион" (pronounced ''rah-tsee-on'') normally means "one's regular diet" instead. Mixup of such words (due to influence of Continental European languages) may also be called out as "runglish". * The very word "канцелярия" refers to accounting and office clerks who make internal reports, rather than chancellors. Therefore, "канцелярит" may be loosely translated as "''clerk's soreness''" or "''clerk''-itis''"; and the word refers to a specific style of speech, with use of words people not working in offices wouldn't use much.

Runglish in Russia

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 Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

signed the 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

and 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.

References

{{Russian language English-based pidgins and creoles Russian-based pidgins and creoles Macaronic forms of English Russian-American culture Russian-Australian culture Russian-Canadian culture Russian-New Zealand culture