Odesan Russian
{{short description|Dialect of the Russian language spoken in Odesa, Ukraine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Odesan Russian
| region = Odesa
| ethnicity = Various
| speakers =
| date =
| ref =
| speakers2 =
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=Balto-Slavic
|fam3=Slavic
|fam4=East Slavic
|fam5=Russian
|fam6=Surzhyk
|ancestor=Proto-Balto-Slavic
|ancestor2=Proto-Slavic
|ancestor3=Old East Slavic
| script = Cyrillic script (Russian alphabet)
| isoexception = dialect
| notice = IPA
| ietf = ru-u-sd-ua51
}}
Odesan Russian ({{langx|ru|Одесский язык|Odessky yazyk|Odesan language}}) is a regional dialect of the Russian language spoken in and around the city of Odesa, Ukraine. Influenced heavily by Yiddish, Bulgarian, Turkic and Ukrainian, the Odesan dialect has been variously described by linguists as a Koiné language, a Jewish language, or a mixed language.{{Cite news |last=Dondiuk |first=Mykola |date=1 April 2017 |title='Шоб он так жил': одеська мова, схожа на джаз |language=ru |trans-title='So that it may live': the jazz-like Odesan language |work=Hromadske |url=https://hromadske.ua/posts/odeska-mova-shozha-na-dzhaz |access-date=19 July 2023}} It is a staple of Odesan culture, appearing in the works of Isaac Babel and Mark Bernes, and is also a source of parts of the fenya criminal jargon.
History
Odesan Russian emerged amidst the Russification of Odesa during the early 19th century, replacing the previously dominant influence of French and Italian languages.{{Cite journal |last1=Kravchenko |first1=Volodymyr |last2=Zychowicz |first2=Jessica |date=1 July 2022 |title=Odesa's Many Frontiers: Introduction |journal=East/West: Journal of Ukrainian Studies |page=13}} Other important languages in the early development of Odesan Russian were Greek and the Turkic languages. Less distant languages, however, became the primary sources for the Odesan dialect; Ukrainian and Yiddish served as the primary non-Russian influences on the Odesan dialect, with Polish as a less important, but still notable influence.{{Cite web |last=Grenoble |first=Lenore A. |title=The Sociolinguistics of Variation in Odessan Russian |url=https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/grenoble/files/2014/06/Grenoble_2015_VariationOdR.pdf |access-date=19 July 2023 |website=University of Chicago |pages=337, 340}}
= Since World War II =
With the advent of World War II, Odesa's Jewish population was largely killed in the Holocaust. Further declines were brought on as a result of the 1970s Soviet Union aliyah and migration to Odesa from other parts of Ukraine, and today Odesan Russian as it was historically spoken remains most common in the Brighton Beach neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It may also be spoken in Israel.{{Cite web |last=Grenoble |first=Lenore A. |title=The Sociolinguistics of Variation in Odessan Russian |url=https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/grenoble/files/2014/06/Grenoble_2015_VariationOdR.pdf |access-date=19 July 2023 |website=University of Chicago |pages=337–338}} Modern Odesan Russian, while retaining aspects from historical speech, has largely evolved in a different form. The differences have been vast enough for various Odesites and linguists to declare that the dialect is extinct in Ukraine.{{Cite news |last=Pomerantsev |first=Igor |date=15 October 2016 |title=A Dialogue About That 'Infamous Odessan' Language With Boris Khersonsky |work=The Odessa Review |url=https://odessareview.com/dialogue-infamous-odessan-language-boris-khersonsky/ |access-date=19 July 2023}} Other Odesite authors, however, have disagreed with this claim.{{Cite web |last=Koltunova |first=Viktoriya |date=28 January 2014 |title=Пара слов за одесский язык. Он таки да живой! |trans-title=Some words about the Odesan language: yes, it lives! |url=https://mspru.org/literaved/8237-para-slov-za-odesskij-yazyk-on-taki-da-zhivoj.html |access-date=19 July 2023 |website=Interregional Union of Writers |language=ru}}
Pronunciation, intonation, or gesticulation
Odesan Russian is influenced partially by Southern Russian dialects, which use Akanye extensively. Another part of the Odesan dialect owing to the influence of Southern Russian is the usage of a voiced velar fricative {{IPAslink|ɣ}}, rather than the voiced velar plosive {{IPAslink|ɡ}} found in standard Russian.{{Cite web |last=Grenoble |first=Lenore A. |title=The Sociolinguistics of Variation in Odessan Russian |url=https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/grenoble/files/2014/06/Grenoble_2015_VariationOdR.pdf |access-date=19 July 2023 |website=University of Chicago |page=339}}
An important part of the Odesan dialect is the importance of intonation in determining the meaning of a word. For example, the phrase {{lang|ru-UA|таки да}} ({{transl|ru|taki da}}) can either be used to mean yes or no depending on the intonation used. Gestures are also uniquely significant in the Odesan dialect, being used to emphasise a point or show direction.{{Cite news |date=9 December 2007 |title=Одесский вор и говор |language=ru |trans-title=Odesan thieves and speech |work=Kommersant |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2299975 |access-date=19 July 2023}}{{Cite web |last=Kaminsky |first=Ilya |date=9 March 2022 |title=An ode to Odessa: Ilya Kaminsky's accounts evoke Ukraine's spirit of resilience |url=https://www.stirworld.com/think-opinions-an-ode-to-odessa-ilya-kaminsky-s-accounts-evoke-ukraine-s-spirit-of-resilience |access-date=19 July 2023 |website=StirWorld}}
Vocabulary and grammar
The vocabulary of Odesan Russian includes significant differences from other forms of Russian, owing to the influence of Ukrainian and Yiddish, among other languages. Some notable vocabulary changes in Odesan Russian include:
- {{lang|ru-UA|Як}} (yak, from Ukrainian), rather than standard Russian {{lang|ru|как}} (kak, {{translation|like, as}}).
- {{lang|ru-UA|Бо}} (bo, from Ukrainian), rather than standard Russian {{lang|ru|потому что}} (potomu chto, {{translation|because}}).{{Cite web |last=Grenoble |first=Lenore A. |title=The Sociolinguistics of Variation in Odessan Russian |url=https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/grenoble/files/2014/06/Grenoble_2015_VariationOdR.pdf |access-date=19 July 2023 |website=University of Chicago |pages=342}}
- {{lang|ru-UA|Каюк}} (kayuk, from Turkish), rather than standard Russian {{lang|ru|конец}} (konets, {{translation|finish}}).{{Cite web |title=Немного 'за одесский язык' |trans-title=A bit 'about the Odesan language' |url=https://www.tic.in.ua/?page_id=3836&lang=ru |access-date=19 July 2023 |website=Odesa Tourist Hub |date=2 October 2015 |language=ru}}
Other terms or phrases are completely unique{{dubious|date=April 2025}} to Odesan Russian:
- {{lang|ru-UA|Азохен вей}} (azokhen vey, from Yiddish), most often used as an expression of discontent.
- {{lang|ru-UA|Шлемазль}} (shlemazl, from Hebrew via Yiddish), a clumsy individual.{{Cite web |title=Какие слова часто слышны в Одессе |trans-title=Which words are often heard in Odesa? |url=https://takprosto.cc/kak-govoryat-v-odesse/ |access-date=19 July 2023 |website=Tak Prosto |date=30 May 2018 |language=ru}}
- {{lang|ru-UA|Босявка}} (bosyavka), a derogatory way of referring to a person; translated as "deadbeat" by Michael Katz.{{Cite web |last=Grenoble |first=Lenore A. |title=The Sociolinguistics of Variation in Odessan Russian |url=https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/grenoble/files/2014/06/Grenoble_2015_VariationOdR.pdf |access-date=19 July 2023 |website=University of Chicago |pages=3438}}
- {{lang|ru-UA|Мадам}} (madam) and {{lang|ru-UA|месье}} (monsieur), terms of address borrowed from French.{{Cite journal |last=Rothstein |first=Robert A. |date=Winter 2001 |title=How It Was Sung in Odessa: At the Intersection of Russian and Yiddish Folk Culture |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2697495 |journal=Slavic Review |volume=60 |issue=4 |page=783 |doi=10.2307/2697495 |jstor=2697495 |s2cid=163549178 }}
- {{lang|ru-UA|Таки да}} (taki da), meaning yes or no depending on intonation.
Another aspect of Odesan Russian is its differing and relatively liberal grammar rules compared to standard Russian. For example, the term {{lang|ru-UA|за}} (za) is used as a preposition similar to "about" (as in "tell me about yourself") in the dialect, rather than the standard Russian {{lang|ru|о}} (o). This, along with the usage of {{lang|ru-UA|с}} (s) in lieu of {{lang|ru|над}} (nad) in the meaning of "at", as in "I am laughing at you", is credited to Ukrainian influence by linguist Robert A. Rothstein. The dialect is notable for the frequent misuse of grammatical cases, owing in part to the relative simplicity of grammatical cases in Yiddish compared to Russian.{{Cite journal |last=Rothstein |first=Robert A. |date=Winter 2001 |title=How It Was Sung in Odessa: At the Intersection of Russian and Yiddish Folk Culture |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2697495 |journal=Slavic Review |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=783–785 |doi=10.2307/2697495 |jstor=2697495 |s2cid=163549178 }}
Cultural impact
The Odesan dialect has come to be seen as a symbol of Odesa in popular culture, reaching its literary peak in the early 20th century. Authors such as Isaac Babel popularised the dialect, as well as Odesa as a whole, throughout the Russian-speaking world with works like Odessa Stories (1931),{{Cite web |title=Так кто же, таки да, создал одесский язык? |trans-title=So who, taki da, created the Odesan language? |url=https://proza.ru/2011/10/24/926 |access-date=19 June 2023 |website=proza.ru}}{{Cite journal |last=Briker |first=Boris |date=March–June 1994 |title=The Underworld of Benia Krik and I. Babel's Odessa Stories |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40870776 |journal=Canadian Slavonic Papers |volume=36 |issue=1/2 |pages=115–134 |doi=10.1080/00085006.1994.11092049 |jstor=40870776 }} and the dialect later became known for its position in Soviet music, with singers including Mark Bernes.{{Cite news |date=4 October 2016 |title=Образ одессита для Бернеса "создал" неумелый парикмахер |language=ru |trans-title=The Odesite image for Bernes was 'created' by an inept hairdresser |work=Odesa Life |url=https://odessa-life.od.ua/article/7203-obraz-odessita-dlya-bernesa-sozdal-neumelyy-parikmaher |access-date=19 July 2023}}
The Odesan dialect has also established its presence in Russian criminal jargon, or fenya. Certain terms, such as {{lang|ru-UA|Поймать халтуру}} (Poymat khalturu, meaning to rob the house of a deceased individual or to find additional income in non-criminal slang) have entered public lexicon,{{Cite news |date=17 February 2023 |title=Одесский сленг: знаменитые фразы старого города |language=ru |trans-title=Odesan slang: famous phrases from the old city |work=Odesa Life |url=https://odessa-life.od.ua/article/odesskij-sleng-znamenitye-frazy-starogo-goroda |access-date=19 July 2023}} while others, like {{lang|ru-UA|ксива}} (ksiva, or "documents"), have entered into non-Odesan fenya.