language query

[Zev bar-Lev]

>A Russian from Kirov, educated at the Univ. of Lviv with a degree in
>Russian, tried to tell me that saying "ia govoriu na russkom iazyke" is
>just as good as "ia govoriu po-russki" (and the same with "chitat'").
>My 2 MGU native informants told me she is wrong. Could she have been
>contaminated by Ukrainian, or perhaps the provinces? I am trying to
>figure out how she could be using incorrect Russian. Is it some
>kind of substandard variant? Thanks! Emily Tall

This looks like prescriptivism run wild.  While "ya govoryu na r. ya." may
be a little more complex -- and might therefore raise the question of why
such extra complexity is being used -- I also wouldn't be surprised to hear
the "MGU native informants" themselves saying "ya govoryu na r. ya."
unsuspectingly.

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          zev bar-Lev (prof.)
          dept. of linguistics & oriental languages,
          san diego state university, san diego CA 92182
          e-mail ZBARLEV at mail.sdsu.edu
          tel. (619)-594-6389
          fax: (619)-594-4877
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