Russian dialects are spoken variants of the Russian language.
Russian dialects and territorial varieties are divided in two conceptual chronological and geographic categories:
Standard Russian, based on the Moscow dialect, is now used throughout Russia. However, traditional dialects may still be heard among rural population, in particular of older generations. Some people speak language varieties intermediate between standard Russian and traditional dialects; such varieties are called prostorechiye (Russian: ÿÃÂþÃÂÃÂþÃÂõÃÂøõ). Prostorechiye is characterized by usage of certain phonetic, grammatical, and lexical features which are considered nonstandard in speech which would otherwise be standard Russian. The use of prostorechiye is highly stigmatized as a sign of uneducatedness. Even within standard Russian, certain regional variants may be distinguished; see in the Russian Wikipedia.
Depending on the presence or the absence of vowel reduction (akanye and/or ikanye) and the pronunciation of Proto-Slavic *g, Russian is divided into two main dialectical divisions and the intermediate one:
The dialects of the southern Ural, Siberia and the Far East may be of all three groups, depending on where the settlers from European Russia came from. The dialects of the Lower Don and the Northern Caucasus are of the Southern Russian origin.
Bashkort Russian is characterised by the adoption of native Bashkir and Tatar words such as ðùôð replacing ôðòðù to mean "let's go". It is primarily spoken in the Republic of Bashkortostan, which is an autonomous region of Russia.
Lake Peipus dialect (Russian: ÃÂÃÂøÃÂÃÂôÃÂúøù óþòþÃÂ) is a Russian language variety spoken on both sides of Lake Peipus in Pskov Oblast, Russia and some counties of Estonia where Russian is a frequently-spoken or dominant language. It originated as a mix of Pskov and Gdov dialects of the Central Russian cluster. As many other dialects from this area, it is often considered to be transitional between Russian and Belarusian. Lake Peipus dialects also include some loanwords from the Estonian language.
The dialect has been studied and described by Olga Rovnova of the University of Tartu who has conducted fieldwork in Russian Old Believers' communities in Estonia.
Astrakhani Russian is a collection of varieties of Russian spoken in Astrakhan Oblast, predominantly by the ethnically mixed populationâÂÂethnic Russians (61%), Kazakhs (17%), Tatars (7%) among the main speakers, and include many other groups such as Azeris, "Dagestani" (by self-identification according to the 2010 census), Nogay, and Ukrainians.
Like Dagestani Russian, Astrakhan Russian refers to many different dialects varying depending on a speaker's native language, ethnicity, age, occupation, and other social factors. Even in the metropolitan area of Astrakhan where a person of a minority background is likely to grow up speaking only Russian, traces of their heritage language are still present.
Balachka is spoken in the Kuban region of Russia, by the Kuban Cossacks. The Kuban Cossacks being descendants of the Zaporozhian Cossacks are beginning to consider themselves as a separate ethnic identity. Their dialect is based on Middle Dnieprian with the Ukrainian grammar. It includes dialectical words of central Ukrainian with frequent inclusion of Russian vocabulary, in particular for modern concepts and items. It varies somewhat from one area to another.
Moldovan Russian is characterised by differences in orthography, with the use of (Moldova) instead of (Moldavia) or (ChiÃÂinÃÂu) instead of in government and media of Moldova. It is also characterized by Romanian loanwords. This change is also widely accepted by Russian-language media inside of Russia, as well. Russian is more often used as a second language and as the language of interethnic communication than as a first language in the country, which contributes to influence from the state language, Romanian.
The Russian language in Ukraine has influence from the Ukrainian language in grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. When Ukrainians speak Russian, the Russian letter à(G) is mostly pronounced as /æ/, like in Ukrainian, instead of /g/. There are also clear differences in the intonation. Additionally, a mixture of Ukrainian and Russian (the so called surzhyk), is also spoken by many Ukrainians.
Abkhaz Russian is characterised by the use of Abkhaz terms, orthographical differences, and patterns of speech that diverge from that of Standard Russian.
Notable variety features include use of /u/ <ÃÂ> in place of /v/ <ò>, such as in <ÿÃÂøòõÃÂ>, pronounced /priuet/ [ÿÃÂøÃÂÃÂÃÂ]. Additionally, ôþý is used as a filler word, similar to ýàor úþÃÂþÃÂõ in standard Russian.
Dagestani Russian (Russian: ÃÂðóõÃÂÃÂðýÃÂúøù ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂúøù) is a regional variety of the Russian language spoken in Dagestan, a constituent republic of the Russian Federation, and some of the neighboring regions including Astrakhan Oblast and Kalmykia. It is characterized by heavy influence from vernacular languages, mostly those belonging to the Northeast Caucasian and Turkic language families. It is considered a low prestige language and mostly used in informal domains. By some measures, it is considered an ethnolect.
Armenian Russian is the regional variety of Russian spoken in Armenia and the partially-recognised Republic of Artsakh (as Artsakhi (Armenian) Russian), where parliament voted to establish Russian an official language in March 2021.
There are some vocabulary differences to the variety of Russian as spoken in Armenia/Artsakh, such as:
Most key word differences come in the form of toponyms of renamed cities after the 1991 independence of Kazakhstan. Not all renamings are manifested in the Russian language, such as with the city of Almaty, still known by its former name of Alma-Ata in Russian, because they sound similar. Other differences include names for authorities such as üðöøûøÃÂ, üðöøûøÃÂüõý which substitute the Russian word ôõÿÃÂÃÂðÃÂ. ÃÂúøüðàis a localised Russian construction of the borrowed word ÃÂúøü, meaning "mayor", and given the traditional -ðàsuffix in standard Russian that is used for words such as ÃÂõúÃÂõÃÂðÃÂøðàand ÃÂõúÃÂþÃÂðÃÂ. Kazakhstani Russian is often classified as being influenced strongly by Kazakh and the use of Kazakh words.
Kyrgyzstani Russian is characterised by phonetic differences as well as the use of some words from the Kyrgyz language. There are also some other differences in vocabulary, such as () replacing the standard () meaning "mobile phone".
The varieties of Russian spoken in Tajikistan are collectively referred to as "Tajikistani Russian" or "Tajik Russian". Both Russian and Tajik are recognised as official languages according to the Constitution of Tajikistan, and their usages often influence each other.
Tajik words and expressions are often found in the colloquial speech of Tajikistani Russian speakers, especially in Dushanbe, although qualitatively, Russian borrowings into Tajik exceed the reverse. The varieties are greatly affected by Russian-speaking families, intermarriages between different nationalities, Russian-language classrooms, and location.
Tajik lexical units have entered the Tajikistani Russian dialect. For example, the words 'mujahid, enemy' and 'tavern, shop' entered Russian through Tajik during the SovietâÂÂAfghan War.
The colloquial lexicon also includes words such as: ðûÃÂð (alcha), ôðÃÂÃÂðÃÂàðý (dastarkhan), ôöøóøà(dzhigit), úð÷ðý (kazan), úðùà(kayf), úðÃÂñþà(karbos), úøÃÂüøà(kishmish), óðÃÂøà(gashish), ÃÂþÿÃÂðý (topchan), ÃÂøýðÃÂð (chinara).
There are also words used in science, literature and academia, such as ñõùà(beyt), ôðÃÂÃÂðý (dastan), and ø÷ðÃÂõà(izafet).
Exoticisms include üðýÃÂà(mantu), úÃÂÃÂÿðÃÂð (kurpacha), ÿûþò (plov), ÃÂðýÃÂà(tanur), àþÃÂ÷ (khouz), ôøò (div), ôÃÂÃÂþà(dutor), ýðù (nay, ÃÂðüñÃÂÃÂð (sambusa), ÃÂðÿðý (chapan), and ÃÂ÷þÃÂà(ezory).
Both Russian and Tajik speakers are served by the following words to address unfamiliar people and acquaintances.
Calques are not very numerous and are often used with a humorous undertone. For example, àÃÂýÃÂúþòðÃÂþ (from Tajik meaning 'cold') in place of standard Russian .
There are also words used by Tajiki Russian speakers that have long had their own standard Russian equivalents:
Tajik expressions are often used: in lieu of for 'fortunately', ýðúþýõÃÂ-ÃÂþ (ôþÃÂû. ôþñÃÂþ) for 'finally', and in place of for 'remorse'.
In youth jargon, Russian affixes and endings are attached to Tajik stems, or a Tajik noun is paired with a Russian verb in a phrase. For example: óðÿàñÃÂþÃÂðÃÂàinstead of for 'to converse' (from Tajik 'speech, conversation').
After the end of the Soviet period, many Russian words were given Tajik equivalents. For example, ëòõûþÃÂøÿõôû â ëôÃÂÃÂðÃÂàðû for 'bicycle', ëúþüðýôðû â ëôðÃÂÃÂðû 'team', ëÃÂÃÂþýÃÂû â ëôöðñàðû for 'front', ëÃÂðúõÃÂðû â ëüÃÂÃÂðúû for 'rocket'.
Mixed speech also includes common Russian substitutions and additions either alongside or in place of other Tajik words such as þñÃÂÃÂýÃÂù or ÿÃÂþÃÂÃÂþù instead of þôðÃÂø; üþÃÂþöõýø instead of ÃÂàüþÃÂ; ÃÂÃÂðûõàinstead of üðñÃÂð÷; and ÃÂõÃÂÃÂÃÂ÷ýÃÂù instead of ôöøôôø.
A very noticeable feature of Tajikistani Russian is the usage of Tajik auxiliary verbs úðÃÂôðý ('to do') and ôþÃÂÃÂðý ('to have, to possess') in mixed speech. For example: öôðÃÂàôþÃÂÃÂðý; ÃÂÃÂÿõÃÂàúðÃÂôðý instead of ÃÂðÃÂøôð ÃÂðòþýøÃÂÃÂðý; ôþóþòþÃÂøÃÂÃÂÃÂàúðÃÂôðý instead of üÃÂòþÃÂøúðààþÃÂøû úðÃÂôðý; ÷ðòÃÂÃÂðúðÃÂàúðÃÂôðý instead of ýþýøÃÂÃÂð úðÃÂôðý. Additionally, ÃÂÃÂÃÂó úðÃÂôðý ('to iron') (Standard Russian]l: óûðôøÃÂÃÂ); ÃÂõûõÃÂþý úðÃÂôðý ('to call (someone)') (Standard Russian: ÷òþýøÃÂÃÂ); ÃÂñþÃÂúð úðÃÂôðý ('to clean') (Standard Russian: ÃÂñøÃÂðÃÂÃÂ).
Calques are also a very frequent domain in the usage of Tajik(istani) Russian:
Colloquial speech has retained almost all Russian borrowed elements (with the exception of words of purely Soviet semantics). Most borrowings, especially colloquial ones, change their phonetics and acquire a sound that is more suitable for the Tajik ear.
In most cases, this means, first of all,
A change of stress:
Loss of the soft sign (ÃÂ):
Change of the sound "ÃÂ" to the sound "ÃÂ":
Frequent replacement of the sound "ÃÂ" with the sound "ÃÂ":
The reduction of sound "ë" for the sound "ÃÂ":
Disappearance of the ending to zero:
Nevertheless, a number of words remain unchanged: üðÃÂÃÂ, óð÷õÃÂð.
There are words commonly used in Uzbekistani Russian not frequently used in that of Russia: òøûþÃÂÃÂ, ûðóðý, àÃÂÃÂôöÃÂú, àþúøü, ÃÂ÷ñþÃÂø, ðÃÂþûð, úð÷ÃÂ, ôøüûÃÂüð.
Various mixed phrases include: üõý àþÃÂþÃÂøùüðý, ôõòÃÂÃÂúðàþý, ÃÂòðý-ðúð, ÷ðúÃÂ÷-ÃÂðüÃÂð.
Kodiak Russian and Ninilchik Russian, together known as Alaskan Russian, are two isolated dialects of Russian spoken in Alaska.
The Russian language in Israel, spoken by Russian repatriates, differs from the Russian language in Russia. Differences range from individual words (such as ëùþü ÃÂøÃÂþýû, "yom rishon", instead of ëòþÃÂúÃÂõÃÂõýÃÂõû for Sunday; ëüðÃÂýðÃÂû, instead of ëúûÃÂñû for club) and expressions (such as ëñÃÂðÃÂàðòÃÂþñÃÂÃÂû, "take a bus", instead of ëõàðÃÂàýð ðòÃÂþñÃÂÃÂõû, "go by bus"; ëôõûðÃÂàðÃÂüøÃÂû, "make an army" or "do army", instead of ëÃÂûÃÂöøÃÂàò ðÃÂüøøû, "serve in the army"), to phonetics and phraseology. This variant is called by Israelis and scholars "Rusit"/"àÃÂÃÂøÃÂ", from the Hebrew name of the Russian language.
Russian dialects usually preserve many archaic words and forms which dropped out of use or were replaced with Church Slavonic counterparts. In North Russian there are about 200 words of Uralic origin.