ELEMENTA RY RUSSIA N GRA MMA R ( 0 B y E : PROK OSCH B rén M awr Co llege THE U NIVERSITY OF CHICA GO PRESS CHICA ILLI IS GO , N O COPYRIGHT 1 9 2 0 BY THE U NIVE RSITY 01? CHICA GO A ll Rights Reserved P ubli shed Sept ember 1 92 0 Co mpo sed and Printe d B y The U nivexs ity o f Chica go Press Chicago . Ill ino is . U . S . A . PRE FA CE A bo ut a year ago t he U niversity of Chicago Press invit e d m e t o writ e a brief element ary gramm ar of Ru ssian with t he prim e obj e ct of int ro ducing t he st udent s in a reaso nably sho rt t im e t o the r adin o f im le t ext s such as are accessible fo r inst ance t hro u h e g s p , , , g ’ ’ i B - r a a Harper s adapt at on o f oyer Spe anski s Russi n Re der. hil I undert o o k t he int ere stin t ask wi h so m e ea rn ss I W e g t ge e , ll r f i i fi ul It wo uld have been eas indee d t o was we awa e o t s d f c ty. y com pile a satisfact o ry t abulatio n o f rules and paradigm s for curso ry t ud and s st emat ic re erence and su ch a bo o kl et mi ht have s y y f , g ” proven fairly useful for t he nee ds of t radit io nal reading by m eans r l i B ut m in rain d o n i c io n o f t he limit at ions of of t ans at on . y g e c v t such a st udy of a m o dern fo reign language t urne d me from t hat line of least re sist ance and made it incumbent upon m e t o embo dy even in this mo de st bo o kl et t he m o st e ssential feat ure s of what is generally “ ” t erm e d t he dire ct m etho d re re sentin bot h m theo reti cal view s , p g y ’ and t he result s of t wenty years experience in t he t eaching o f several orei n lan ua e s R ssia m o n h hi im li d number of u n a t em . T s e a f g g g , g p culiar m li i pe co p cat o ns . The first requirem ent co nsist e d in an expo sit ion of Russian pro nunciatio n o n a honet ic basis unav oidabl co nne ct e d wit h ho netic p , y p t ranslit ratio n The elusive las i i f ian ar iculation on e . e t c ty o Russ t t he one hand and he ne d o f h r im li cit att ainable , t e t e g eat e st s p y o n t he o t her hand inv o lv e d m an m arrassin ro blem s and , y e b g p dem ande d considerable deviatio ns fro m the st andard of t he A ssoci a ti on honé ti ue hich I sho uld ha r rr d o ado t in it s p q , w ve p efe e t p entire ty. A not her eat ure of t he direct m et ho d t he inductive re sent atio n f , p of ramm atical rinci les t h u h a arentl s wit h seri ous g p p , o g pp y be et di fi culti s i th f r e n . e st ud o Russ ian re sult ed in som e rather int e est f y , in sim lifications of t raditio nal ram m ar e s e ciall in the virt ual g p g , p y elim inatio n of the num ero us de clensio nal classes and t he reductio n t o a minim um o f t he int ricacies o f h i r The re uent t e Russ an v e b . f q conflict s bet ween pedago gical expediency and philolo gical accuracy have almo st unifo rmly been decide d in fav o r o f the former ; fo r inst ance t he im er i r f l d in , p fect ve fo m o t he verb is co nsist ent y quot e vi PRE FACE the first lace alt ho u h t he er e ctive as ect is x r p , g p f p e t emely o ft en the rim ar t he im er e ctive as e ct t he derived o rm p y, p f p , f . The t hird e ssential feat ure of thi s met ho d i s t he o ral appro ach t o an element ar vo cabular hro u h hi y y t g obj e ct t eac ng. Given s uffi cient t ime and s ace t his o u ht t o ro v unusuall p , g p e y att ract ive in t he case o f Russian artl o n ac o un f it a r , p y c t o s ppa ent remo t eness rom t he En li sh vo cabular artl o win t o t he m r h f g y, p y g o p olo gi cal o r f h ussian lan H we er in t h narro m vi o t e R ua e . o v e w co g g g , pass o f this primer but meager att ent io n co uld be dev o t ed t o this int rin ll im r ant firs has f o a l r il i Th f sica y po t t p e o v c bu a y bu d ng. e very ew m ont hs generally allo tt e d t o element ary gramm ar are also obvio usly in u ficient fo r the se cond hase the accumulat io n of a m ore ext s f p , en sive vo cabulary t hro ugh t he st udy of conne ct e d t ext s ; the brief select io ns presented in t his bo ok must be supplement ed by copio us r m h r r reading f o ot e sou ce s . No twithst anding t he se handicaps the author ho pe s that his bo oklet m ay in a measure help t o acco mplish these ends : a con i l c rr t ro nuncia ion an int itive eelin fo r rammatical s c o us y o ec p t , u f g g s ru t ure and above all the o undat ion o f an endeavo r t o read t c , , , f o r i n lit erat ure ro m he s im le st t o the mo st inv olve st le f e g , f t p d y , Of co rse his resu o e s that h h r h o f ran la io n . wit out t e c ut c t s t u , t p pp s t eachers and st udent s co - Operat e fro m t he out set in t he avo idance f ransl io r l in hi i nsiv st ud and ractice of the o t at n, ep ac g t s by nt e e y p t ext s . The typo graphical side o f the bo o k sho uld be j udge d with some l ni nc since t he t e sett in was done b the autho r himsel for e e y, yp g y f, ’ His whom t his was the first vent ure int o Gutt enberg s black art . crude workmanship was happily m ende d by t he skill and patience f h x r af f h r i f hi a o Pre ss and he t ake s o t e e pe t st f o t e U ni ve s ty o C c g , l Likewise r x r i r h ir ffi i n h . pleasu e in e p e ss ng his thanks fo t e e c e t e p , he ackno wle dges a debt o f gratit ude t o the o fficials and instruct ors o f t he Lanst o n M ono type Co mpany o f Philadelphia fo r their valuable ai in h o m o i io f he o o k d t e c p s t n o t b .