Russian borrowings in english language

      During the period of his reign czar Ivan IV (The Terrible) invited many skilled British specialists: physicians, chemists and craftsmen. British physicians Robert Jacob, Mark Ridley and Arthur Dee worked at the courtyard of Ivan IV (The Terrible).

      In the second half of the 16th century British readers derived information about Russia not only from literary works but also from other documentary sources (Ocherki, http://russianculture.ru/brit/brit4.htm). For example, the British ambassador A Jenkinson made a geographical map of Russia which was published in London in 1552 .One of the well-known writers of the time, Gilles Fletcher (1548-1611), wrote the tractate Of the Russe Common Wealth.

      Cultural contacts between the two countries continued to develop even during the short reign of the czar Boris Godunov (1598-1605). The czar had a plan for starting a university and therefore he sent eighteen young men to Europe to study. Four of them were sent to England: to Winchester, Eton, Cambridge and Oxford. In 1617 another student, Ivan Almazenov, was sent to The University of Cambridge (Ocherki, http://russianculture.ru/brit/brit6.htm).

      It must be mentioned that in the first half of the 17th century the new elements of style appeared in the Russian architecture (Ocherki, http://russianculture-.ru/brit/brit7.htm). For instance, the British clock master Christopher Halloway was entrusted to replace the clock in Saviour Tower - a tower of The Moscow Kremlin. Apparently C. Halloway was not only a clock master but also an architect. He brought new elements in the architecture of the tower – the elements of the Gothic and Renaissance architectures. This style had analogies in the palace architecture of Scotland.

      Another British master, John Taler, constructed the court church of czarina Ekaterina in The Kremlin. In 1624-25 the main gates of The Kremlin were decorated in the Gothic- Renaissance style.

      In the reign of Peter the Great the development of the relations between the two countries got a new impulse. The importation of the foreign specialists was very significant for Russia because of Peter’s reforms (Ocherki, http://russian-culture.ru/brit/brit11.htm)

      The British specialists A. Farquarson, S. Gwyun and R. Grace were invited to Russia for the establishment of the School for Mathematical and Navigational Crafts. A. Farquarson made the first tables of logarithms and sine in Russia. Because of his fundamental knowledge the doctor of philosophy and medicine, the member of the London Royal Society Robert Areskin was appointed the head of Aptekarskij Prikaz. The Russian Academy of Sciences was founded in 1725 and its first honourable foreign member was Hans Sloan, the president of the London Royal Society. As known, at this period many young Russians were sent abroad in order to study.

      It must be mentioned that Russia was described in the writings of many English authors of this period, for instance, in Swift’s Rural Life and ‘Candelius and Vanessa’, in the second part of D. Defoe’s work Robinson Crusoe. Peter I became a popular figure in Britain. In 1718 Haaron Hill published the poem ‘The Northern Star’ which was about Peter I.

      Continually, in the 18th century the ideas of the English classicism and sentimentalism were spread in Russia (Ocherki, http://russianculture.ru/brit/brit-13.htm, Ocherki, http://russianculture.ru/brit/brit14.htm).

      At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century Britain, the homeland of socialism, attracted many Russian intellectuals (Kaznina, http://russian-culture.ru/brit/histbr7.htm). Congresses of the Russian revolutionaries took place in London.

      After the October Revolution some members of the Russian Royal family immigrated to Britain. The most influential group among Russian immigrants were Cadets lead by P.N. Miljukov. Among Russian immigrants there were also some writers, for instance, V.D. Nabokov.

      After the October Revolution the interest in Russia increased gradually. In 1921 Britain was the first European country to commit a trade agreement with USSR and in 1924 England established diplomatic relations with the country.

      Among famous Russian emigrants of the 1930s Bertold Ljubetkin should be mentioned. He was an architect and he represented the Russian avant-gardism in England.

      At the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century a very large amount of translations of Russian literary books were made. One of the most successful Russian books translated into English was F. Dostojevsky’s book The Brothers Karamasov.

      In the first years after the revolution nearly twenty periodicals about Russia were issued in England. Among them there are such journals as The New Russia, Russian life, The Russian, newspapers: The Russian Outlook, The Russian Gazette, Russian Times, The Russian Economist etc. The British Russian Gazette reported on the activity of the Russian industrials. In 1923 The Slavonic and East European Review was published in London.

      Thus permanent contacts between Russia and England were established in the middle of the 16th century and they have continued until now. These contacts involve trade, diplomatic and cultural relations. Therefore, people in both countries know a great deal about each other.

      Furthermore, Britain was not the only English-speaking country with which Russia established cultural, diplomatic and trade contacts. Russia had also such contacts with America in the 18th century (Bernbaum, http://www.racu.org-/context/reflect_feb1997.html). In the following chapters the linguistic consequences of these contacts in English will be analysed. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

      2.1. RUSSIAN LOAN WORDS IN ENGLISH

      2.1.1. THE LEXICAL CATEGORY OF THE RUSSIAN BORROWINGS

      All Russian borrowings chosen from dictionaries are nouns. Totally 59 nouns will be analyzed in this chapter and they are the following words: agitprop, babushka, balalaika, blin, Bolshevik, borzoi, boyar, bridge, chernozem, Comintern, crash, dacha, droshky, Doukhobor, galyak, glasnost, gley, gulag, Kalashnikov, kasha, kefir, kolynsky, kolkhoz, Komsomol, kopeck, kvass, Leninism, mammoth, Menshevik, muzhik, oblast, paulownia, perestroika, piroshki, podzol, politburo, polynia, pood, ruble, samarskite, samisdat, samovar, Samoyed, sastruga, seecatch, sierozem, soviet, sovkhoz, sputnik, starets, stishovite, sterlet, taiga, theremin, tovarich, troika, verst, vodka, zemstvo. 

      2.1.2. THE MEANINGS AND THE ETYMOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BORROWINGS

      Main Entry: agitprop Function: noun. Etymology: Russian, from agitatsiya agitation + propaganda. Date: 1935: PROPAGANDA; especially: political propaganda promulgated chiefly in literature, drama, music, or art. agitprop adjective (Merriam-Webster, http://www.m-w.com/home.htm). Ex.:

      The greater perversion of capitalist consumption, according to Veblen, was its willingness to waste – a tendency captured in Soviet agitprop as ‘Western decadence.’ (Neil, http://indyweek.com/durham/2000-02-23/rumble.html).

      Main Entry: babushka Function: noun Etymology: ‘Russian grandmother’, diminutive of baba old woman. Date: 1938. 1 a: ‘a usually triangularly folded kerchief for the head’ b: ‘a head covering resembling a babushka’; 2: an elderly Russian woman (Merriam-Webster, http://www.mw.com-/home.htm). Ex.:

      How to Tie a Scarf –Babushka. (Goltz, http://www.bellescarves-.com-/tie-babushka.html)

      …a wonderful, smiling Russian babushka (grandmother) appeared in my doorway with a steaming bowl of Pokhelbka…(Black, http://www.travellady.com-/articles/article-realrussian.html).

      Main Entry: balalaika Function: noun. Etymology: Russian. Date: 1788: a usually 3-stringed instrument of Russian origin with a triangular body played by plucking or strumming (Merriam-Webster, http://www.m-w.com/home.htm). Ex.:

      The varied family of Central Asian lutes is a large one, and one of the most popular and best known is the balalaika, with its unique triangular body shape

(Brown,http://www.larkinam.com/MenComNet/Business/Retail/Larknet/ArtBala-laika).

      Main Entry: blin Function: noun. Inflected Form(s): plural blini or blinis. Etymology: Russian. Date: 1888: a thin often buckwheat pancake usually filled (as with sour cream) and folded (Merriam–Webster, http://www.m-w.com-/home.htm). Ex.:

      When the guests arrived, we served them caviar on buckwheat blini, those tiny little pancakes

      …(Atkinson,http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/-2001/-0527/-taste.html)

      Main Entry: Bolshevik Function: noun. Inflected Form(s): plural Bolsheviks also Bolsheviki. Etymology: Russian bol’shevik, from bol’shii greater. Date: 1917. 1: a member of the extremist wing of the Russian Social Democratic party that seized power in Russia by the Revolution of November 1917: 2: COM-MUNIST. Bolshevik adjective (Merriam- Webster, http://www.m-w.com/home-.htm). Ex.:

      Would the Bolsheviks of 1917 act any differently? (Kreis, http://www-.historyguide.org/europe/lecture7.html)

     CanadianBolsheviks. (Angus,http://www.pathfinderpress.com/d600/628.shtml).

      Main Entry: borzoi Function: noun. Etymology: Russian borzoi, from borzoi ‘swift’.Date: 1887: ‘any of a breed of large long-haired dogs of greyhound type developed in Russia especially for pursuing wolves’ – called also Russian wolfhound (Merriam- Webster, http://www.m-w.com/home.htm). Ex.:

      to realize that they are dogs, too...accidents could happen when a Borzoi or even a pack of them chases a fast moving “object” under the full urge to hunt it down…(Ruoff, http://www.european-borzoi.de/working/obidience_e.htm)

      Main Entry: boyar Variant(s): also boyard. Function: noun. Etymology: Russian boyarin. Date: 1591: ‘a member of a Russian aristocratic order next in rank below the ruling princes until its abolition by Peter the Great’ (Merriam- Webster, http://www.m-w.com/home.htm). Ex.:

      On the other hand, the boyars and the lesser members of the ruling class were clearly not vassals of the princes. (Rempel, http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/russia/lectures/05feudalism.html)

      bridge NOUN: ‘Any of several card games derived from whist, usually played by four people in two partnerships, in which trump is determined by bidding and the hand opposite the declarer is played as a dummy.’ ETYMOLOGY: From earlier biritch (influenced by bridge1), from Russian birich, a call, from Old Russian birich. (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language). http:-//www.bartleby.com/61/94/B0479400.html). Ex.:

      Gates, a bridge fanatic who frequently plays the game online…(Ewalt, http://-www.commweb.com/article/IWK20020823S0008)

      Main Entry: chernozem Function: noun. Etymology: Russian, from chërnyi ‘black ‘ + zemlya ‘earth’.Date: 1841: ‘any of a group of dark-coloured zonal soils with a deep rich humus horizon found in regions (as the grasslands of central No. America) of temperate to cool climate’ – chernozemic adjective (Merriam- Webster, http://www.m-w.com/home.htm). Ex.:

      The lower limit of the optimal soil moisture on Chernozem for potato is 75–80% of field water capacity (FWC)… (Bosˇjak, Pejic, http://www.actahort.org/books/449/-449_29.htm)

      Main Entry: Comintern Function: noun. Etymology: Russian Komintern, from Kommunisticheskii Internatsional Communist International. Date: 1923: the Communist International was established in 1919 and dissolved in 1943 (Mer-riam-Webster, http://www.m-w.com/home.htm). Ex.:

      The 2nd world congress adopted a list of 21 conditions to determine the admission of parties to the Comintern (Sheehan, http://www.comms.dcu.ie/-sheehanh-/comintern1.htm).

      Main Entry: crash Function: noun. Etymology: probably from Russian krashe-nina ‘coloured linen’. Date: 1812: ‘a coarse fabric used for draperies, towelling, and clothing and for strengthening joints of cased-in books’ (Merriam- Webster, http://www.m-w.com/home.htm). Ex.:

      Verdugo linen crash for summer suits…(Kiplinger, http://www.fabrics.net/joan-1000.asp)

      Main Entry: dacha Function: noun. Etymology: Russian, from Old Russian, ‘land allotted by a prince’; akin to Latin dos’ dowry’. Date: 1896: ‘a Russian country cottage used especially in the summer’. (Merriam-Webster, http://-www.m-w.com/home.htm). Ex.:

      The plane came down 20 miles outside the Siberian city of Irkutsk in the middle of Russia’s southern border, close to the shores of Lake Baikal, where many locals have their dacha, or summerhouse (Aris, http://millenniumdebate.org/tel4-july012.htm).

      Main Entry: droshky Variant(s): also drosky. Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural droshkies also droskies. Etymology: Russian drozhki, from droga ‘pole of a wagon’. Date: 1808: ‘any of various 2- or 4-wheeled carriages used especially in Russia’ (Merriam- Webster, http://www.m-w.com/home.htm). Ex.:

      “The droshky stopped in front of a three-story house.”(Pushkin, http://faculty.-virginia.edu/dostoevsky/texts/postmaster.html)

      Main Entry: Doukhobor Function: noun. Etymology: Russian dukhobor, dukhoborets, from dukh spirit + borets wrestler. Date: 1876: ‘a member of a Christian sect of 18th century Russian origin emphasizing the duty of obeying the inner light and rejecting church or civil authority’. (Merriam-Webster, http://-www.m-w.com/home.htm). Ex.:

      The Doukhobors practice a form of Christianity and believe that Jesus Christ is a spiritually advanced teacher and example to others (Androsoff, http://www.ual-berta.ca/~jrak/doukhobors.htm)

      galyak NOUN: ‘A flat glossy fur made from the pelt of a stillborn lamb or kid’. ETY-MOLOGY: Russian dialectal golyak, ‘sheepskin coat of smooth fur’, from Russian goly, ‘smooth’, ‘bald’, ‘naked’. (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, http://www.bartleby.com/61/64/G0026400.html). Ex.:

      “…adding 1/2 collar of Galyak for collar of coat”( A & L. Tirocchi Databases,http://tirocchi.stg.brown.edu/database/transact_db.php3?ledgerID=L2685&client=C420).

      Main Entry: glasnost. Function: noun. Etymology: Russian glasnost’, literally, ‘publicity’, from glasnyi ‘public’, from glas’ voice’, from Old Church Slavonic glasu – more at CALL. Date: 1986 (Merriam-Webster, http://www.mw.com/-home.htm). Ex.:

      Mikhail Gorbachev began to promote a policy of openness in public discussions about current and historical problems. The policy was termed glasnost [‘openness’] (The Colombia Electronic Encyclopedia, http://www.factmonster.com/-ce6/history/A0820965.html).

      gley NOUN: ‘A sticky, bluish-gray subsurface layer of clay found in some waterlogged soils’. ETYMOLOGY: Russian dialectal gle, clay. (The American Her-itage Dictionary of the English Language, http://www.bartleby.com/61/93/G0-149300.html). Ex.:

      The profile is considered to be that of a ground –water gley, a modification of the calcareus ground water gley found elswere…(Wald, http://www.caithness.org/community/social/text/dunnetbayarea/dunnetarticle.htm)

      Main Entry: gulag Function: noun. Usage: often capitalized. Etymology: Russian, from Glavnoe upravlenie ispravitel’no-trudovykh lagerei ‘chief administration of corrective labor camps’. Date: 1974: the penal system of the U.S.S.R. consisting of a network of labor camps; also: LABOR CAMP. (Merriam-Web-ster, http://www.m-w.com/home.htm). Ex.:

      He ….was subsequently sentenced to five years internment in the infamous GULAG prison camps of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia

       (Ireland, http://www.ripnet.org/-besieged/pleads.htm http://www.ripnet.org/besieged/pleads.htm).

      Kalashnikov NOUN: Any of a series of assault rifles of Soviet design, especially the AK-47. ETYMOLOGY: After Mikhail Timofeevich ‘Kalashniko’v (born 1919), Soviet arms engineer (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, http://www.bartleby.com/61/54/K0005450.html). Ex.:

      …the adolescent human male equipped with a Kalashnikov-an AK-47 assault rifle

      (Klare ,http://www.bullatomsci.org/issues/1999/jf99/jf99klare.html).

      Main Entry: kasha Function: noun. Etymology: Russian. Date: 1808. 1: ‘a porridge made usually from buckwheat groats’; 2: ‘kasha grain before cooking’ (Merriam-Webster, http://www.m-w.com-/home.htm). Ex:

      Schi and kasha is the meal of Russian (http://www.russianfoods.com/cuisine/-article00010/default.asp).

      1. cup of medium or coarse kasha (Perez, http://www.jewish-food.org/-recipes-/kashties.htm)

      Main Entry: kefir Function: noun. Etymology: Russian. Date: 1884: ‘a beverage of fermented cow’s milk’ (Merriam-Webster, http://www.m-w.com/home.-htm). Ex.:

      Hi, this page is dedicated to sharing live Kefir grains among Kefir and yogurt lovers.

      (Smajlovic, http://www.torontoadvisors.com/Kefir/kefir.htm).