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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:24pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Geography as part of language</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 20, 2014 <a href="http://rbth.com/author/Alexey+Mikheev"><span style="color:blue">Alexey
Mikheev</span></a>, special to RBTH </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A number of expressions and
collocations in Russian feature geographical adjectives. Many of these refer to
places abroad and have their origins in food, history and culture. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><a><span style="color:blue">inShare</span></a> </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tags </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><a href="http://rbth.com/tag/russian+language"><span style="color:blue">russian
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><a href="http://nl.media.rbth.ru/web/en-rbth/files/mikheev_chinese_1536.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue;text-decoration:none"><span style><br>
</span></span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:rgb(136,136,136)"><a href="http://nl.media.rbth.ru/web/en-rbth/files/mikheev_chinese_1536.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">Click to enlarge the image</span></a>.
Drawing by Niyaz Karim</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">Like any
other language, Russian is full of set expressions and collocations based on
place names or adjectives derived from them. Some of these expressions easily
translate into English, e.g. Russian roulette; others do not, e.g.
"Swedish table" (<i>shvedsky stol</i>, </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">шведский
стол</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">), which
means </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">a </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">smorgasbord, or buffet.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">The
adjective Swedish is used in two other set expressions in Russian, which do not
quite translate into English: wall bars are called a "Swedish wall" (<i>shvedskaya
stenka</i>, шведская стенка) and "Swedish family" (<i>shvedskaya </i>semya,
шведская </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">семья) refers to an </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">open
relationship.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">Another
expression that will probably baffle a foreigner but is known to practically
everybody who grew up in the Soviet Union is "Armenian radio" (<i>armyanskoye
radio</i>, армянское радио</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">)</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">, which was
a fixture of numerous, often political, jokes in which (for some reason) the
Armenian radio received a naïve question from the audience and came up with an
invariably paradoxical answer.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><a href="http://rbth.com/multimedia/slideshows/2014/03/20/humorous_maps_of_europe_from_world_war_i_35237.html"><b style><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue;text-decoration:none"><span style><img src="file:///C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image006.jpg" alt="Allegoric maps of Europe from the First World War" height="110" border="0" width="165"></span></span></b></a><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><a href="http://rbth.com/multimedia/slideshows/2014/03/20/humorous_maps_of_europe_from_world_war_i_35237.html"><span style="color:blue">VIDEO: Allegoric maps of Europe from the First World War</span></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">The
adjective Chinese is used in Russian in the expressions "Chinese
puzzle" (<i>kitaiskaya golovolomka</i>, </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">к</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">итайская
головоломка), meaning a conundrum or something dizzyingly complex, and
"the last Chinese warning" (<i>posledneye kitaiskoye preduprezhdenie</i>,
Последнее <i>китайское предупреждение</i>), meaning numerous but empty threats.
While the adjective ‘Spanish’ comes up primarily in the collocation
"Spanish boot" (<i>ispansky sapog</i>, </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">испанский
сапог</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">), the name
of a medieval torture instrument.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">Some
geography-inspired set expressions derive from literature or arts. For example,
the expression "secrets of the Madrid court" (</span><i><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">taini Madridskogo dvora</span></i><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">,
т</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">айны <i>Мадридского
двора), </i>meaning intrigue and scheming in the high echelons of power, goes
back to the title of a popular historical novel by a 19th century German
writer, George Fullborn.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">The
adjective ‘Swiss’ in Russian is usually associated with accuracy (thanks to the
watch), while punctuality and precision are usually described as German.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">There are
many geographic adjectives in names of various foods, e.g. Korean carrot salad,
French bread (which in the 1940s, at the height of </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">the </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">Stalin-era campaign against cosmopolitanism, was
renamed "</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">С</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">ity bread"), Dutch cheese, or
Krakow sausage. As well as in the names of drinks like Riga balsam or Warsaw
coffee (coffee with baked milk). The names of many desserts for some reason
came from the old Socialist bloc: Berlin biscuits, Prague cake, Tula
gingerbread, or Leningrad ice cream.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">Some Russian
</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">geographical</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB"> names have acquired additional
meanings and connotations. For instance, the desks at the back of a classroom
are often described as “Kamchatka”. While Kolyma, an unofficial name for the
Magadan Region, which used to be primarily known for its labor camps, has
become part of a popular meme thanks to cult 1960s Soviet comedy "The
Diamond Arm". In it, the main character, who is afraid of being convicted
of a crime he did not commit, makes a casual acquaintance at a restaurant and
his new companion, on leaving, tells him: "Next time you are in Kolyma, be
sure to look me up." On hearing this, the main character chokes on his
drink and replies: "I'd rather you come over instead."</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><a href="http://rbth.com/tag/russian%20picture%20dictionary"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue;text-decoration:none"><span style><img src="file:///C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image007.jpg" alt="http://nl.media.rbth.ru/web/en-rbth/images/2013-09/extra/dictionary-extra.jpg" height="180" border="0" width="331"></span></span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><a href="http://rbth.com/tag/russian%20picture%20dictionary"><span style="color:blue">The Russian picture dictionary</span></a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">The city of
Tambov, located in the heart of central Russia, has for some reason become a
symbol of everything provincial. While the southern port of Odessa (now part of
Ukraine) has become associated with its own inimitable brand of humor.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"" lang="EN-GB">Generally
speaking, North in Russia is associated with hard labor, while South is where
people go on holiday. West is a symbol of civilization and progress, while East
brings to mind conservative traditions and a certain mysteriousness. A famous
quote from another film classic, the 1960s Soviet western "White Sun of
the Desert" - "The East is a delicate matter" (<i>Vostok – delo
tonko</i>, <i>Восток – дело</i> тонко) - has too now become a meme. </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://rbth.com/blogs/2014/03/20/geography_as_part_of_language_35233.html">http://rbth.com/blogs/2014/03/20/geography_as_part_of_language_35233.html</a></p>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br>
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