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Russian Speakers of the World, Unite!

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? ???????????? ?????€: Russian world, broadly and vaguely defined


As someone deeply concerned with the protection of human rights — mine in particular — I have of course been very interested in the whole notion of ?€?????????????·?‹?‡???‹?? ?‡?µ?»?????µ?? (a Russian-speaking person) and Russia's eagerness to take such a person — possibly me — under her governmental wing.

So I started reading up on ways of being a Russian speaker and citizen. As usual, it's all a bit more complicated than I thought. Dictionaries are not in agreement about some terms, and people, those ?€?????????????·?‹?‡???????? (Russian speakers, slangily), have their own definitions too. Here's what I have learned so far:

?“?€?°?¶???°??????/???€?°?¶???°?????° ? ??????????: Citizen of Russia. If you are born in Russia, it does not matter what your native language or ethnicity is.

? ????????????????/?€???????????????°: Russian citizen. Like the word ?€??????????????????, this means a person who is a citizen of Russia regardless of ethnicity or language.

? ????????????/?€?????????°??: Ethnic Russian. May or may not be a citizen of Russia.

?§?µ?»?????µ??, ?‡?µ?? ?€?????????? ???·?‹?? — ?€????????????: A person whose native language is Russian. Seems to be the highest grade Russian speaker, cited wittily by Joseph Brodsky in his Nobel Prize speech: ?????‚?? ???»?? ?‡?µ?»?????µ???°, ?‡?µ?? ?€?????????? ???·?‹?? — ?€????????????, ?€?°?·?????????€?‹ ?? ?????»???‚???‡?µ???????? ?·?»?µ ???‚???»?? ?¶?µ ?µ???‚?µ???‚???µ?????‹, ???°?? ?????‰?µ???°?€?µ?????µ, ?? ?…???‚?µ?» ?±?‹ ?‚?µ???µ?€?? ???µ?€?µ???µ?????‚?? ?‚?µ????. (Although discussions about political evil are as natural as digestion for someone whose native language is Russian, I'd like to change the topic.) ? ?????????? ???·?‹?? (native language) is a person's primary functional language and not the language of one's ethnicity.

?????????‚?µ?»?? ???·?‹???°, a language speaker who is not necessarily native. For fast-track citizenship in Russia, ?????????‚?µ?»?µ?? ???·?‹???° ???€???·???°?µ?‚???? ?‡?µ?»?????µ??, ?????‚???€?‹?? ???»?°???µ?µ?‚ ?€???????????? ???·?‹?????? ?? ?????????µ?????µ?????? ?????????»???·???µ?‚ ?µ???? ???????° ?? ?? ?????»???‚???€?????? ???„?µ?€?µ (a language speaker is someone who speaks Russian and uses it at home and in the cultural sphere every day).

That's me! I definitely speak Russian, at home the pooch and I converse exclusively in Russian — ?“???µ ?????‡????? ???????‰??! (Where's your ball? Go look for it!) — and even though I'm a little shaky on what ?????»???‚???€???°?? ???„?µ?€?° is, watching television and translating must count, right?

?’?»?°???µ???‰???? ?€???????????? ???·?‹??????: A person who knows Russian, often qualified: ???????±???????? (fluently), ?…???€?????? (well), ?‡?°???‚???‡???? (somewhat).

? ?????????????·?‹?‡???‹??: Russian speaking, Russian-language. Can be used to describe media like ?€?????????????·?‹?‡???°?? ???°?·?µ?‚?° (Russian-language newspaper) as well as people. Some dictionaries define it as "Russian speakers outside Russia," others define it as "Russian speakers in general." Level of fluency varies from total to sketchy, depending on the speaker. Synonym: ?€???????????????????€???‰????.

And then there's a new group of Russian state-protected people, who fall outside the standard international categories: ?‚?° ?‡?°???‚?? ?????€?°?????????????? ???°???µ?»?µ??????, ?????‚???€?°?? ?‡???????‚?????µ?‚ ???????? ???µ?€?°?·?€?‹???????? ???µ ?‚???»?????? ???‚?????‡?µ????????, ???? ?? ?????»???‚???€??????, ???·?‹?????????? ???????·?? ?? ? ?????????µ??, ?‡???????‚?????µ?‚ ???µ?±?? ?‡?°???‚???? ?????€?????????? ?€?????????????? ?????€?°. (That part of the Ukrainian population who feel an inseparable ethnic as well as cultural and linguistic connection with Russia, who feel part of the broad Russian world.)

Yowzah. You don't need be a citizen, co-religionists, or even ethnically Russian to fall under Russia's governmental linguistic wing. It's going to get crowded under there.

Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.

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