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Author Topic: Reading signs in Cyrillic  (Read 55778 times)

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Offline mendeleyev

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Reading signs in Cyrillic
« on: May 16, 2013, 10:04:58 PM »
alphabet height=400

33 letters in the Cyrillic alphabet.

10 vowels

21 consonants

2 letters which make no sound but influence how adjacent letters are spoken



It is easy to learn the block print form of the letters first, but within 5 minutes after arriving almost anywhere in the FSU you'll be confronted with the stylistic habit of Russian sign makers to mix between printed and cursive letters, forcing you to learn both. Besides, Russians/Ukrainians believe that use of only print letters is a sign of low intelligence. Just about every form of handwritten communication will be in cursive.

So, with that being said let us see the cursive version of the alphabet as well:

alphabet script height=343

(Cursive chart source: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/russian.htm)


Nice to know:
The Ukrainian and Belorussian also use the Cyrillic alphabet but have a few letters not found in Russian. There are 36 letters in Belorussian Cyrillic and while Ukrainian uses 33 letters, there are some differences from Russian Cyrillic.

Bulgarian uses Cyrillic, but only 30 of the letters are in use.

Macedonian uses 31 of the Cyrillic letters.
« Last Edit: May 16, 2013, 10:06:59 PM by mendeleyev »
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Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2013, 10:08:49 PM »
There are many useful aids in learning Russian Cyrillic at this page of the Mendeleyev Journal: http://russianreport.wordpress.com/russian-language/learn-the-cyrillic-alphabet/








« Last Edit: May 16, 2013, 10:11:58 PM by mendeleyev »
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Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2013, 10:41:59 PM »
Of course our first sign would be humorous.

Toilet comfortable height=372

There are two words you'll wish to learn right away on this sign:


туалет is an important word, especially when you need one: toilet.


kафе is important if you're hungry: cafe


This sign points to a cafe with a comfortable toilet inside where you can dive into a world of beauty. Frankly, I'd be afraid to ask for a full explanation.


Egads, there is an epidemic!

??????????????????????????????? height=370


Toilet comfortable c height=291

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Offline SANDRO43

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2013, 06:12:24 AM »
The Ukrainian and Belorussian also use the Cyrillic alphabet ...Bulgarian uses Cyrillic...
Serbo-Croatian, the only European language with active digraphia, uses both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets.
Quote
Russians/Ukrainians believe that use of only print letters is a sign of low intelligence.
Or low literacy, as was my initial impression when I first opened a Russian book a long time ago: if you look at the print alphabet, many lower-case letters are just a smaller version of the upper-case ones, unlike in Latin print ::).
Quote
туалет is an important word, especially when you need one: toilet.
kафе is important if you're hungry: cafe
Another two words straight from French ;).
Milan's "Duomo"

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2013, 06:21:22 AM »
Good subject Mendy for anyone venturing to the FSU.  Learn the alphabet and then read the signs.  One will quickly pick up real Russian words such as "Stop" and "Patio Pizza". :D
 
Seriously if a man is traveling alone in the FSU and not always with a RW, he needs to know the alphabet so that he can read a map and not become lost.  The trouble is finding the placard with the name of the road.

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2013, 06:33:26 AM »
alphabet height=400
Typical that new learners should be given the same type of aid used in kindergarten :D. Attached is what I received when I started studying Arabic.
Milan's "Duomo"

Offline tfcrew

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #6 on: May 18, 2013, 06:58:44 AM »

This sign points to a cafe with a comfortable toilet inside  ...
  That being the uncomfortable would be the bushes out back?

 The international symbols would be helpful.
   


 
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Offline Shadow

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #7 on: May 18, 2013, 09:50:12 AM »
Typical that new learners should be given the same type of aid used in kindergarten :D . Attached is what I received when I started studying Arabic.
Looks quite similar to mine.  ;D
No it is not a dog. Its really how I look.  ;)

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #8 on: May 18, 2013, 01:49:26 PM »
2e6-0yu0OfA height=372


It is helpful when you have English printed on signs for tourists and more and more that is becoming common in places like Peter and Moscow. But many locales won't have translations on signs.

At the top is the word центр meaning "the centre" or as Americans might say "downtown." In Russia it can mean downtown or Moscow is often called the центр of Russia, not because of where it is on the map, but as the capital.  This sign in Vladivostok refers to the "downtown" area.

Transliteration of центр: ts-e-n-t-r


The bottom listing can help us learn by deciphering the name of the highway: Военное шоссе or V-o-ye-n-n-o-ye  sh-o-s-s-ye.

That name means "military highway" and in Vladivostok it is primarily a rail terminal. The Vladivostok military road is primarily an electric (urban) train network that carries heavy military as needed along Russia's Far East Railway, thus the rail line is considered to be part of the military highway. Passengers can board and ride the train.

The more common word you'll run into while traveling is шоссе, sh-o-s-s-ye, which means "highway."



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Offline Oops

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #9 on: May 18, 2013, 06:13:54 PM »

 The international symbols would be helpful.
   

 :ROFL:

That's exactly how I mime it when locals don't understand my attempts in saying "toilet".    :D

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #10 on: May 18, 2013, 08:00:18 PM »
milk c height=372


молоко is the word for "milk" and is spelled as m-o-l-o-k-o. It sounds as "ma-la-KO" when spoken, easy to master!

In speaking the first two "O" sounds are converted to "ah" in this case and only the third and last is spoken as an "O sound.


сахар also shown on this sign (с сахаром = with sugar) is the term for "sugar" and spelled s-a-kh-a-r. This is a hard word for most beginners to say, "SA-khar."


milk 2 height=400


If you're struggling with saying "sugar" correctly, check out this video. The announcer says "SH-khar" (сахар) 8 times in the first 26 seconds.





There is a link to hear it spoken here.
« Last Edit: May 18, 2013, 08:14:14 PM by mendeleyev »
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Offline Ooooops

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #11 on: May 18, 2013, 08:06:20 PM »
WOW, that is a lot of сгущёнка!!!    :o

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #12 on: May 18, 2013, 08:15:54 PM »
Indeed, we don't have room in the pantry for cans that big!
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Offline Voyager36

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #13 on: May 18, 2013, 10:06:36 PM »
Quote
This sign points to a cafe with a
comfortable toilet inside  ...
  That being the uncomfortable would be the bushes out back?

 The international symbols would be helpful.
   
Strangely enough, there have been a few times where the toilets can only be found by those who understand British English...  ;D
On a short ferry trip in the Black Sea, my American friends (all perfectly fluent in Russian) couldn't find the toilet - marked only as "WC"  :o
 
Anyways, back on topic...
Almost as important as finding the туалет , is knowing which one to go into.  :o
In many cases, the doors will only be marked Ж and Ч which are the cyrillic abreviations for "Women" and "Men"
(Женщины and Человека)
« Last Edit: May 18, 2013, 10:25:21 PM by Voyager36 »

Offline Ooooops

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #14 on: May 18, 2013, 11:19:08 PM »
Anyways, back on topic...
Almost as important as finding the туалет , is knowing which one to go into.  :o
In many cases, the doors will only be marked Ж and Ч which are the cyrillic abreviations for "Women" and "Men"
(Женщины and Человека)


Where did you see this marking?  In Ukraine?   That will explain it because "man" is "Чоловік" in Ukranian, but in Russian it will be Ж (женский)and М (мужской).
« Last Edit: May 18, 2013, 11:22:02 PM by Ooooops »

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #15 on: May 18, 2013, 11:25:48 PM »

Where did you see this marking?  In Ukraine?   That will explain it because "man" is "Чоловік" in Ukranian, but in Russian it will be Ж (женский)and М (мужской).
Yes indeed! I forgot about that.  :cluebat:
 

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #16 on: May 19, 2013, 12:04:24 AM »
Voyager, just a slight correction as I think you'll more often see this:


Toilet men women height=473


человек (Chelovek) while a correct term for man is often used more as "man, person, human being" while public toilet signs are usually labeled женский и мужской with the ж for ladies and м for men.
 
 Below: Men's salon and Women's Salon at GYM department store.


Toilet men women GUM height=321

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Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #17 on: May 19, 2013, 12:51:08 AM »
Next up, keeping some similar words straight:

There was a time when coffee wasn't so common in the FSU, usually reserved for a strong Turkish coffee served to guests after dinner with dessert. While tea is still by far the beverage of choice, outpacing even vodka and beer, coffee has caught on in a big way especially among the younger demographics. Among those younger demos, the more exotic the coffee, the better.


Coffee chai height=372


But how do you keep some very similar words apart? Like Cafe and Coffee? They're distinguishable from each other in English, but a bit closer when reading Russian.

Write the English name beside each term:

a- kафе _________________

b- kофе _________________

c- чай  __________________


Which one is "ka-FyE" meaning cafe?

Which one is "KO-fe" meaning coffee?

Which one is "chai" meaning tea?


No one is going to confuse chai, that is recognizable as "tea" in several languages but when it comes to coffee and cafe, if you don't put the stress on the correct vowel (Russian stresses vowels) then you might not be clearly understood. In coffee, the O receives the stress. In cafe, the ye (e) receives the stress.


Coffee house c height=349


There are several really good coffee cafes in the FSU, one of them being КофеХауз (KO-fye  khaus), CoffeeHouse: Good coffee, tasty desserts, nice locations that are convenient and great for first dates, and free WiFi.



Visual Quiz

Can you find the word for desserts in photo a or b, and if so, where?

Did you find the word for menu in photo a or b, and if so, where?

Photo a:

Coffee house dessert height=331


Photo b:

coffee house menu height=331

Click on the photos if you need to have a better view of the Cyrillic letters.
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Offline Ooooops

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #18 on: May 19, 2013, 06:10:41 PM »
While tea is still by far the beverage of choice, outpacing even vodka and beer...


 :ROFL:

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #19 on: May 19, 2013, 07:19:19 PM »
To keep this topic about sign reading, a new topic of who drinks what and when and how much is here: http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=16072.new#new

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #20 on: May 19, 2013, 08:53:25 PM »
One of the conveniences travelers to the FSU are looking for is Internet access. In most cities of any size the more Westernized cafes and coffee/tea shops have free WiFi. We mentioned the very comfortable КофеХауз (Coffee House) chain earlier and another great place to eat dessert, enjoy coffee or tea, and meet for first dates or first business meetings is the popular cafe Шоколадница which specializes in desserts and chocolates. They are somewhat similar to КофеХауз but the specialty at Шоколадница is more about the chocolate, juices and teas.

This of course brings us to the term for chocolate, Шоколад, sh-o-k-o-l-a-d. Speak it as "shah-ka-lat."

You remember than an "O" is spoken as an "ah" unless it is stressed, but by now you're probably wondering why the "d" at the end is spoken like a "t" instead. There is a grammatical rule that certain consonants must be voiced or in some cases de-voiced at the end of a word or a cluster of consonants. This "d" is one of those cases so it is written correctly as a "d" but spoken as a "t" here: "shah-ka-lat" is chocolate.


427787_372353929466720_2122188329_n height=600



The banner proclaims мы открылись! (we are open!) at this new Шоколадница cafe. From desserts to sandwiches, the food is very good in both of these chain cafe's we've mentioned so far.

Remember, free WiFi inside.


250642_390626204306159_1688525265_n height=655



Inside these modern chain cafes you are very likely to be served by young waiters who speak English, to varying degrees of course, but these are great places not just for WiFi but also for asking directions, etc. With their language skills and your hunger pangs, ordering from the menu with their help should be easy.



418254_327975953904518_1188157581_n height=697


When renting an apartment, asking about Internet access may be just as important as a washing machine. But there could be times in your travels when Internet access is harder to find. That is when you need an Интернет кафе, I-n-t-e-r-n-e-t C-a-f-e. Sometimes they're called Интернет клуб (I-n-t-e-r-n-e-t  C-l-u-b) as this sign says.

This sign is on the side door of a food market in Moscow. The market primarily serves clientele from the Caucasus regions and the Internet Club is on the 2nd floor above the market. The market sells good quality melons from places like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan so in the melon season especially it is well worth visiting that location about twice a week.


Internet Club Moscow 001 height=823


The top of the sign reads Интернет клуб (Internet Club) while the bottom reads Все виды Интернет услуг (all types of Internet services).
« Last Edit: May 20, 2013, 01:12:03 AM by mendeleyev »
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Offline SANDRO43

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #21 on: May 20, 2013, 06:32:42 AM »
Pirog with mascarpone, a Russian-Italian marriage :D. Is it similar to our tiramisù?


In my family, mascarpone was usually eaten as a bread spread after being mixed with some sugar and a dash of French cognac :).
Milan's "Duomo"

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #22 on: May 20, 2013, 11:22:19 AM »
Quote
Pirog with mascarpone, a Russian-Italian marriage :D. Is it similar to our tiramisù?

I'm going to say yes because mascarpone is the same Italian cheese used in both. It appears that the main difference is that tiramisu uses ladyfinger style breading while pirog (pie) is uses thin blini (crepe-like pancakes) instead.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2013, 01:21:59 PM by mendeleyev »
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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #23 on: May 20, 2013, 02:39:18 PM »
Tourist season is opening up with signs appearing at major attractions.This sign at the Hermitage (эрмитаж - ehr-me-tazh) in St P uses both Russian and English but you may not always have that convenience everywhere so we'll look at several important tourism related terms:


Hermitage sign height=684


At first you see the term сеансы (seance) and perhaps are thrown off. Why are they hosting a summoning of the dead at the Hermitage? Fortunately they're not. This is one of those times when a familiar word means one thing in your language and something different in another language.

сеансы (seance) or сеансы (plural) is a session as in a tour in this case. Spoken as "ce-ahns"

адрес is the a-d-r-e-s or address. "ah-dres"

дворец is "palace" and to aid in learning the alphabet we'll spell it out: d-v-o-r-ye-ts, "dvar-yets"

музей and музея is the term for "museum" and the only difference you see in the last letter is the grammar related case in which the word is used. Spoken like "mu-zey" and "mu-zeya"

Finally, since you are a tourist (турист = t-u-r-i-s-t) or "tur-EEst" don't forget to take a photo (фото) "FO-ta) and purchase some souvenirs (сувениры), "su-ve-neri" along the way.

сувенир (souvenir singular) and сувениры (plural) are cognates, borrowed words and so will sound almost like you speak it already. Listen to it spoken in this song. The first reference comes at :12 seconds.




« Last Edit: May 20, 2013, 02:42:21 PM by mendeleyev »
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Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Reading signs in Cyrillic
« Reply #24 on: May 23, 2013, 01:02:04 AM »
I wasn't going to use this word for awhile but having found myself in a linguistic debate over its use with Lyuba Ambrose from Kyiv National Linguistics University, here goes.

A couple days ago the Moscow Times newspaper reported on a story about ремонт (re-MOnt) activities in an apartment building. You know that peculiar kind of noise: hammering at all hours, walls being smashed, appliances removed from kitchens and baths and those sounds are by nature noisy affairs.

Perhaps you've done a ремонт yourself or lived next door to a neighbor performing a ремонт.

So along comes Lyuba to protest the Moscow Times' use of the term since it is a borrowed word and not originally Russian. Tell me, dear reader, do you care? I didn't think so.

Frankly, it isn't that ремонт arrived to Russia the day before yesterday. Folk have renovated and remodeled (ремонт) for a long time using that word. 

Lyuba believes such usage to be a blight on the Russian language and fears that someday the language will take on so many borrowed words that it just won't be "Russian" anymore. My attempts to convince her that the Moscow Times simply mirrored the culture and times of their readers have so far fallen on unremitting ears.

I sometimes share those same fears myself, but am not about to admit it to her as I'd never hear the end of it. Besides I have faith in this beautiful and resilient language and its ability to adapt yet survive. I respect her however as we share the love of language and for FSU culture and history.

Lyuba says that she is whining for clarity of thought.

As for me, I'm just whining.

Now, go make some noise. ремонт something.

« Last Edit: May 23, 2013, 01:11:40 AM by mendeleyev »
The Mendeleyev Journal. http://mendeleyevjournal.com Member: Congress of Russian Journalists; ЖУРНАЛИСТЫ.RU (Journalist-Russia); ЖУРНАЛИСТЫ.UA (Journalist-Ukraine); ЖУРНАЛИСТЫ.KZ (Journalist-Kazakhstan); ПОРТАЛ ЖУРНАЛИСТОВ (Portal of RU-UA Journalists); Просто Журналисты ("Just Journalists").

 

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