Russian Alphabet - Treatment of Foreign Sounds

Treatment of Foreign Sounds

Because Russian borrows terms from other languages, there are various conventions in dealing with sounds not present in Russian. For example, while Russian has no, there are a number of common words (particularly proper nouns) borrowed from languages like English and German that contain such a sound in the original language. In well-established terms, such as галлюцинация ('hallucination'), this is written with ⟨г⟩ and pronounced with /g/ while newer terms use ⟨х⟩, pronounced with /x/, such as хобби ('hobby').

Similarly, words originally with in their source language are either pronounced with /t(ʲ)/), as in the name Тельма ('Thelma') or, if borrowed early enough, with /f(ʲ)/ or /v(ʲ)/, as in the names Фёдор ('Theodore') and Матве́й ('Matthew').

There are also certain tendencies in borrowed words. For example, in loanwords from French and German, palatal and velar consonants tend to be soft before /u/ so that, for example, Küchelbecker becomes Кюхельбе́кер .

Read more about this topic:  Russian Alphabet

Famous quotes containing the words treatment of, treatment, foreign and/or sounds:

    [17th-century] Puritans were the first modern parents. Like many of us, they looked on their treatment of children as a test of their own self-control. Their goal was not to simply to ensure the child’s duty to the family, but to help him or her make personal, individual commitments. They were the first authors to state that children must obey God rather than parents, in case of a clear conflict.
    C. John Sommerville (20th century)

    The treatment of the incident of the assault upon the sailors of the Baltimore is so conciliatory and friendly that I am of the opinion that there is a good prospect that the differences growing out of that serious affair can now be adjusted upon terms satisfactory to this Government by the usual methods and without special powers from Congress.
    Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)

    Frankly, I do not know how to effect a permanency in American foreign policy.
    Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)

    I that so long
    Was Nothing from Eternity,
    Did little think such Joys as Ear and Tongue
    To celebrate or see:
    Such Sounds to hear, such Hands to feel, such Feet,
    Such Eyes and Objects, on the Ground to meet.
    Thomas Traherne (1636–1674)