| François Micheloud 1998- ©www.micheloud.com- ©www.micheloud.com |
Archeology of the russian dictionary |
| Russia has always been a westward looking country. Strong
leaders imported new institutions and artefacts from European cultures, and the way the
russian language assimilated them was to swallow the word. Other languages try to
substitute it with an artificial new words instead of taking the word from the leading
culture of the time (in french you say ordinateur for computer, but
instead of walkman some people try to impose baladeur. This page documents my personal efforts to shed some light on the huge number of russian words that come from languages I am familiar with, and to connect them with a period of russian history. Under Alexis Mikhaïlovitch (1645-1676), many military and musical italian words were borrowed. Words I'm certain were borrowed during that time are written in the BLUE zone. Under Peter the Great (1682-1725), a lot of german words, often with a latin origin, were adopted. More than a quarter described administrative structures. Other came from french, especially military vocabulary. These words are in the Grey zone. Under Kathrin II (1762-1796), many french words came from Versailles, often in indirect ways. In the modern period, many international words came as in any other language. As I'm neither a philologist by study nor by occupation, I am certain there are errors in this page and I'd welcome your comments if you happen to know more on some words. |
| Russian word | English | German | Italian | French |
| Alexis Mikhaïlovitch (1645-1676) | ||||
| ïèñòîëåòú | handgun | ? | pistoletto | pistolet |
| ãðàíàòà | grenade | ? | ? | grenade |
| èíãåíåðú | engineer | Ingenieur | ingeniero | ingénieur |
| Peter the Great (1682-1725) | ||||
| èìïåðàòîðú | emperor | Imperator | ? | empereur |
| ãóáåðíàòîðú | governor | ? | ? | gouverneur |
| êàìåðãåðú | ? | ? | ? | chambellan |
| èíñïåêòîðú | inspector | Inspektor | ? | inspecteur |
| êàíöëåðú | chancellor | Kanzler | ? | chancelier |
| âåêñåëü | letter of change | Wechsel | ? | billet à ordre |
| àðåíäà | ? | ? | ? | bail |
| øòðàôëú | fine | Straf | ? | amende |
| àðõèâú | archive | Archiv | ? | archive |
| êîíâåðòú | enveloppe | ? | ? | enveloppe |
| êîíñòèòóöèÿ | constitution | ? | ? | constitution |
| äåìîíñòðàöèÿ | demonstration | ? | ? | démonstration |
| ëîçóíãú | ? | ? | ? | mot de ralliement |
| ëàãåðü | camp | Lager | ? | camp |
| þíêåðú | low officer | Junker | ? | junker |
| áàòàëüîíú | batallion | ? | ? | bataillon |
| ãàðíèçîíú | garnison | ? | ? | garnison |
| ïàðîëü | orders | ? | ? | parole |
| Time of borrowing unkown to me | ||||
| àòàìàí | chief of cossacks | Hauptmann | ? | capitaine |
| ïîìèäîð | tomato | Tomato | pommodoro | tomate |
| ìàñøòàá | scale | Masstab | ? | échelle |
| áóõãàëòåð | accountant | Buchhalter | ? | comptable |