A rip on the “motivational” posters, this one courtesy Demotivation.ru is also a play on words. Depending on where you choose to place the stress in the word “стоит” it might mean either “It’s not worth it” (if the stress is on the “o”, from “стОить” [to cost]) or “It’s not standing up” (if the stress is on the “и”, from “стоЯть” [to stand]).
Are you struggling with stresses in Russian words? Well, don’t feel alone. You’ve got plenty of company. The issue of improperly stressed words affects native speakers of Russian, including such well-educated and highly trained professionals as «телеведущие» [TV anchors]. Add to the mix politicians who constantly entertain their «электорат» [voters] with «ляпы» [bloopers] and commercials that disregard correct stress and the situation quickly gets out of control.
Still, «правильное ударение» [correct stress in words] is a sign of «культурный человек» [a cultured person].
So why is it so hard even for the native speakers to get it right? Well, it’s a “good news, bad news” situation. The bad news is that stress in Russian words doesn’t follow any kind of pattern. Some call it «свободное ударение» [free stress] (Russia might rank low on the World Freedom Score, but «наше ударение – самое свободное ударение в мире» [our stress is the freest stress in the world]). Others call it «непредсказуемое ударение» [unpredictable stress].
The good news is the fact that «это устойчивое ударение», meaning that it doesn’t move within the same word, meaning that once you memorize where the stress belongs in a particular word, you’re set for life. «Но это – теория» [but that’s theory].
«На практике» [In real life], it would be entirely out of character for the Russian language to have grammar rules without exceptions. Russians learn from the youngest age that «нет правил без исключений, но есть исключения без правил» [there are no rules without exceptions, but there are exceptions without rules].
By the way, you’ll see the adverb «как правило» [as a rule] used quite often, as in this headline: «Хозяева кошек, как правило, образованнее хозяев собак» [As a rule, cat owners are more educated than dog owners]. If you happen to be «владелец собаки» [a dog owner], don’t get upset, just remember that «нет правил без исключений».
«Но вернёмся к нашим баранам» [But let’s get back to where we were]… Some of the exceptions from the rule include the following words:
«Девичий» – «девичий» [maidenly]
«Издалека» – «издалёка» [from afar]
«Обеспечение» – «обеспечение» [provisioning]
«Творог» – «творог» [cottage cheese]
and a few others
But that’s a tiny minority of Russian words, 4%. The vast majority of words in Russian language, 96% if I did my math right, conform to the rule of «устойчивое ударение» [stable stress], yet still get mispronounced.
One of the reasons is differences in regional pronunciation. «Диалекты» [dialects] account for some of the most common differences in placing the stress. For example, folks from Northern Russia tend to place stress at the beginning of the words, such as in «договор» instead of «договор» [agreement] and «напасть» instead of «напасть» [misfortune].
Southerners, on the other hand, favor the endings of the words, frequently changing them in the process, as in «выбора» instead of «выборы» [elections], «договора» instead of «договоры» [agreements], «средства» instead of «средства» [means], «понял» instead of «понял» [understood].
It is also important that «повседневная речь» [everyday speech] tends to be more «небрежная» [careless], resulting in such «бытовые ударения» [household stress] as «звонишь» instead of «звонишь» [calling], «процент» instead of «процент» [percent], and «красивее» instead of «красивее» [more beautiful]. Such carelessness frequently becomes deeply ingrained and makes its way even into more formal speech.
Finally, foreign borrowings bring their own share of havoc as in «маркетинг» vs «маркетинг», «каталог» vs «каталог» [catalog], etc.
Fortunately, you can always check the proper stress by looking up each word in «орфоэпический словарь» [orthoepic dictionary]. If you don’t have one handy, use this online version (enter the word into the «проверка слова» [word check] field and hit the «проверить» [check it] button).
If you don’t mind memorizing a dozen or so words (of course you don’t!), here’s a list, with proper stress, of some of the most frequently mangled ones:
«торты» [cakes]
«банты» [bows]
«порты» [ports]
«броня» [reservations], but «броня» [armor]
«баловать» [to spoil]
«вероисповедание» [religious belief]
«завидно» [enviably]
«зубчатый» [toothed or cogged]
«искра» [spark]
«черпать» [to scoop] and «исчерпать» [to exhaust]
«километр» [kilometer]
«ломоть» [slice]
«оптовый» [bulk]
«свёкла» [beetroot]
«щавель» [sorrel]
Finally, I started this post fully intent on explaining the mystery of the word «беспринципный» [unprincipled]. Why would the stress fall on the last «и» even though it falls on the first «и» in the word «принцип» [principle]. Before you read any further – what follows is not for the faint-hearted.
You see, the adjective «беспринципный» is formed by adding both the prefix «без» [without] and a suffix «-н» to the root noun «принцип». At the same time, there is another adjective formed from the same root, but without prefix – «принципиальный» [principled]. These two facts combine to make «беспринципный» a so-called «префиксально-суффиксальное прилагательное» [prefix-suffix type adjective]. Besides, this is a «прилагательное акцентного типа А» [accent type A adjective].
Are you still with me? So, there’s actually a rule (here we go again) that says that in the prefix-suffix adjectives of accent type A the stress must fall on the same vowel as in the root word. Hah! Shouldn’t it be «беспринципный» then? No way! Because… drum roll, please… this particular word is a good old exception to the rule! I told you, didn’t I?!
And now, with a major headache, I depart to “sleep, perchance to dream”, of someone sending me «экспертное объяснение акцентных типов» [expert explanation of accent types], please!
P.S. If you are interested in learning more about the state of things in Russian orthoepia, listen to this episode of a podcast (it’s in Russian) I recently came across. If you like what you hear, get more of “Говорим по-русски” [Speaking Russian] podcasts here.
