Discover the Fascinating World of Russian Dialects

Variants of the Russian Language

• Russian dialects are spoken variants of the Russian language.

• Russian is divided into two main dialectical divisions and the intermediate one, depending on the presence or absence of vowel reduction and the pronunciation of Proto-Slavic *g.

• The dialects of the southern Ural, Siberia, and the Far East may be of all three groups, depending on where the settlers from European Russia came from.

• Bashkort Russian is characterized by the adoption of native Bashkir and Tatar words such as айда replacing давай to mean "let's go".

• Lake Peipus dialect is often considered to be transitional between Russian and Belarusian, and it includes some loanwords from the Estonian language.

• Astrakhani Russian is a collection of varieties of Russian spoken in the Astrakhan Oblast, predominantly by the ethnically mixed population.

• Balachka is spoken in the Kuban region of Russia, by the Kuban Cossacks, and their dialect is based on Middle Dnieprian with the Ukrainian grammar.

• Moldovan Russian is characterized by differences in orthography and Romanian loanwords.

• Odesan Russian is influenced by Yiddish and Ukrainian in grammar, vocabulary, and phraseology.

• Abkhaz Russian is characterized by the use of Abkhaz terms, orthographical differences, and patterns of speech that diverge from that of Standard Russian.

• Dagestani Russian is a regional variety of the Russian language spoken in Dagestan, a constituent republic of the Russian Federation, and some of the neighboring regions.

• Tajikistani Russian is characterized by Tajik words and expressions in the colloquial speech of Tajikistani Russian speakers, especially in Dushanbe, and both Russian and Tajik speakers are served by words to address unfamiliar people and acquaintances.Russian Dialects Summary

• Russian dialects have developed regionally over time, resulting in distinct variations in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

• Northern Russian dialects are known for preserving archaic words and forms that have been replaced in standard Russian.

• Southern Russian dialects, such as the Kuban dialect, have been influenced by Ukrainian and have a distinct phonetic system.

• Siberian Russian dialects have been influenced by indigenous languages and have unique vocabulary related to hunting and fishing.

• The usage of Tajikistani Russian includes mixed speech, calques, and Russian substitutions and additions.

• Uzbekistani Russian includes official government introductions of Uzbek replacement words and little-used Uzbek words falling out of favor.

• Ninilchik Russian is an isolated dialect spoken in Alaska.

• The Russian language spoken by Russian repatriates in Israel, called "Rusit," differs from standard Russian in vocabulary, expressions, phonetics, and phraseology.

• North Russian dialects have about 200 words of Uralic origin.

• The preservation and study of Russian dialects is aided by text corpora.