Introduction to the Russian Accent 1.0

[Trotsky]

Basic Tips on Speaking Russian and Russian Pronounciation

With the introduction of a new lore for DayZRP, paired with some major groups, I thought I'd take my time to explaint the basics of how to do a Russian accent for those of you who are unfamiliar with the sounds of the language. I am a native Russian speaker myself, so I have quite a bit of experience when it comes to speaking the language.

To start off, here are some basic things which you need to remember about the language:

1. Firstly, the English letter R, written as "р" int he Cyrillic script in Russian, is always a rolled sound. This means that you need to press the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth and 'roll' the tongue quickly, making rapid sound that sounds a little bit like an engine. 
   1. Don't roll the R for too long, as you'll just sound stupid. The sound is always short, blending with the following letter in rapid succession. Try practicing words like: reka (river), ruka (arm), korova (cow), rak (cancer).
2. Similarly to the point above, the letters V and W are often mixed up as Russian doesn't have the W sound. Instead of saying 'weather', say 'vether'.
3. The language is naturally harsh and fast. As a result, a lot of times the vowels in a word will become blended, forming a combined sound. Saying a word like 'faster' will usually come out as 'fester' with a Russian accent, as the speed at which the word is pronounced is maximised by using two Es.
   1. Additionally, it is common for A sounds to sound like E. A word like 'that' will often sound like 'thet' instead as the A letter in Russian isn't as starkly pronounced as in the English alphabet. The same rule applies for the letter I as it becomes EE. A word like 'thing', the vowel in which comes out short and fast, is instead elongated into a EE.
4. The letter U can be a problem for Russians. When you listen to a native Russian, a lot of times their pronounciation will be altered when it comes to using U and Uh-related sounds. 'Butter', a longer U, becomes 'batter', whereas a short sounding 'put' becomes 'poot' instead.
5. 1. The letter O is often shortened when pronounced, making the word itself sound rearranged. For example, when someone says the word 'roam', it will instead come out as 'rom' as the speed at which the O is said will often affect the vowel that follows it.
6. The common TH combination in the English is dumped completely. There is no such sound in Russian, or most other Eastern European languages. Instead, you'll often find people replacing that sound with a Z or a F. 'That' becomes 'zet', as per 2.1, 'cloth' becomes 'clof'.
7. Intonation fluctuation is very common in Russian. The average person's voice will change drastically throughout the sentence they are saying, starting off as higher and dropping down in their intonation towards the end. This is a very common part of speech - intonation is higher at the start and slowly starts dropping to the end, the opposite of what people might do when they are asking a question in English.
   1. That said, you can play around with the fluctuation of your intonation when it comes to accented phrases. A sentence like "Put your hands in the air!" in English will have the accent usually fall on the end of the sentence. In Russian, however, you might often find it that the intonation will instead shift to somewhere towards the middle, usually highlighting words a bit more randomly, like "Put your HANDS in the air!"
8. Although some people might think that Russians speak slowly, that isn't the case at all. A native Russian speaker will speak extremely quickly with another native, however they might slow down their English, depending on how good their linguistic skills are, naturally. It's very common for a Russian person to try and speak English very quickly to the point of blending together words and syllables to speed up their pronounciation. Practice this when speaking English.

 

Here are some commonly used phrases in RP which you might want to learn how to pronounce in Russian. This will include a list of commonly used insults and threats too.

1. Dog - sobaka
2. City - gorod
3. Village - derevnya
4. Russia - Rossiya / Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
5. Country - strana
6. Weapon - oruzhiye
7. Knife - nozh
8. Soldier - soldat
9. Major - mayor
10. Captain - kapitan
11. Enemy - vrag
12. Ally/Friend - droog
13. Comrade (stop using Comrade if you're Russian, it's not a Russian word) - tovarisch
14. Traitor - predatel
15. Mountain - gora
16. Tree - derevo

 

1. Fucker - dolbayeb
2. Penis - huy
3. Suck a dick - sosi huy
4. Go fuck yourself - idi na huy (lit. go on a penis)
5. Slut - blyad
6. Fuck! (as suprise) - blyad!
7. Ah, fuck... (as dissapointment) oi, blyad...
8. Holy shit (as surprise) - yebat!
9. Fuck my life - yebat menya v rot...
10. Gay (insult) - pidor
11. Scum - ublyedok
12. Someone you don't know - Huy s gori (lit. penis from the mountain)
13. Ti - you (singular)
14. Vi - you (plural)

As a side note, Russian swearing is actually far more creative than any other language, maybe with the exception of other E. European languages. This means that you can technically take any swear word and pair it with another to make a combination. DM me if you want to find out more about your customisation options.

1. Good morning - Dobroe utro!
2. Good day - Dobriy dyen!
3. Good evening - Dobriy vecher!
4. Good night - Dobroy nochi! (used in reference to sleeping)
5. Goodbye - Do svidaniya
6. Hello - Privet
7. Farewell (forever) - Proschay
8. Excuse me - Izvinite
9. Sorry (apology for misdemeanour) - Prostite
10. Yes, sir! (Military) - Tak tochno!
11. Do you speak Russian? - Govorite po Russki?
12. Drop your weapons! - Brosj oruzhie!
13. Put your hands up! - Ruki vverh!
14. Surrender now! - Sdavaytes!
15. You're surrounded! - Vi okruzenni!

 

I will keep updating this thread if people have any questions or other interests, as well as if I remember other things that are key. The other rules are a little more complex to explain, so bear with me for a little while. I hope this is clear and helpful enough to you guys.

 

P.S.: I used this guide as inspiration and reference.

P.P.S.: Thanks to @OldSchoolfor linking this channel which can be a great source. 

Edited June 1, 2020 by Trotsky

[Bigrat]

Very good read and super useful for me. I almost feel you made this guide just for me  

 

[CamoRP]

Thank you! I am playing my first Chernarussian character, and I needed this desperately! 

[Trotsky]

31 minutes ago, Bigrat said:

Very good read and super useful for me. I almost feel you made this guide just for me  

 

I definitely made it with this in mind haha

[BravoActual]

Much appreciated! 

[Guest Generic Name]

That's a very good guide and it will be useful to many, your efforts are very much appreciated. Now, I don't mean to hijack your thread but I just wanted to add some more sources that I've found were invaluable when I did my research for my Russian character. This красивый ублюдок here helped me understand Russian specific phrasing, expressions and how to not overdo the accent. The short videos are to the point and there's hundreds of them in which you can pinpoint specific things that you might want to improve or learn. That's where I learned for example that Russians use the expression хрен знает (khren znayet) which literally translates to horseradish knows, which means "I don't know"/"who knows?" in a very informal way. Have fun in Chernarus друзья!

Edited June 1, 2020 by Generic Name