I have for many years joked that it really says something about Russians that the fact that the word “Hello” in Russian is one of the hardest words to say. I also joke with native speakers about how ridiculous it seems to me that the word “Help!” is a four syllable word. I mean, who has time to choke out that many syllables when you’re drowning?
Yesterday was another funny example of what you can learn about a culture from the language. I was helping some other PCVs translate into a Russian an invitation to a health expo. They had a seemingly innocuous sentence: “Please confirm your attendance early by email or phone to:”. I struggled over this phrase, wracked my brain how to say it, searched the English-Russian dictionary, and even looked through a bunch of emails from Moldovan NGOs about their upcoming seminars and activities – all to no avail; not a one of those invitations contained a sentence like the one I needed. I was getting some strange looks from my fellow Romanian-speaking PCVs, who seemed quickly to start doubting that I had any language ability at all. I finally called my host brother for help. I explained in Russian the general concept we were trying to convey, that we want people to call or email in advance so we know who plans to attend the expo. He asked me a couple questions, trying to grasp the notion. He tried it a couple ways, thinking out loud, but clearly nothing came to his mind as the common and usual way of saying what I wanted to say. He even asked the friend he was with to help. Finally they agreed on the phraseology, albeit with the disclaimer “it doesn’t sound really good, but it’s possible to say it like this.”
I managed to save face with the PCVs when I told them it wasn’t just me, even a native speaker couldn’t figure out how to say it. I remember hearing once that Eskimos have something like 30 words for different kinds of snow. This was a perfect example at the other extreme – absolutely no word or phrase to express a concept that doesn’t seem to exist in Moldova: R.S.V.P.! 🙂
Anka in Kyiv 