Fw: "Rossianin": QUERY

[Pendergast, J. CPT DFL]

For what it's worth...

"Rossiyanin" and "rossiyanka" appear in the Soviet-era Ozhegov dictionary of
1987 published by "Russkij Yazyk" and in the 1983 4-volume Dictionary of the
Russian Language edited by A. P. Evgen'ev, strongly suggesting that the term
was not coined in the 90's.  Both dictionaries indicate that the word is
(was) antiquated and high-style.  Nonetheless, it is also true that your
average Russian finds the word stilted and amusing.

John Pendergast

-----Original Message-----
From: Erin Trouth [mailto:edt4 at GEORGETOWN.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2002 2:33 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Fw: "Rossianin": QUERY


To add my two cents to this:

As I understand, the word "rossiyanin" was coined in the early 90s to be the
noun form of the adjective "rossiiski," which is used to describe things
pertaining to the Russian state, not to the language or culture.  However,
"rossiyanin" (and "rossiyanka" even more so) is still not widely used.  The
plural, "rossiyane" is used more freqently, but it can sound funny to many
Russians, especially when used multiple times in a single speech or paper.
They understand the term but it sounds a bit too politically correct, I
think.

Erin Trouth

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