pronunciation of 'Rus'

Status
Not open for further replies.

GeneD

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2017
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Belarus
Current Location
Belarus
Do you pronounce the vowel in 'Rus' as 'a' or 'u'? I guess it might be 'u' like in 'Ruthenia'. Is it so?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
It's not pronounced as "a" nor like the "oo" sound in "Ruthenia". It's pronounced the same as the "u" in "but/bus/cut/rut" etc.
 

jutfrank

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Firstly, when GeneD asks whether we say a or u, I'm pretty sure he's talking about the vowels in but and boot respectively. (Or if that's not right exactly, then at least whether the vowel is articulated with the jaw down or up.)

I've always used, and only ever heard, the second pronunciation (as in Ruthenia and Belarus). In fact, I really don't think anyone is likely to use the first way. I'm quite surprised that posts #2 and #3 seem to disagree.
 
Last edited:

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Well, maybe it's a phonetics thing. I don't really do phonetics so I don't see how the "u" in "but" can be described as "a". "a" is the sound in "bat". I'm aware that some phonetic symbols don't resemble the letter they represent so it could well be that that's throwing me off.

However, I can definitely say that the "u" in Ruthenia and Belarus don't sound the same as the "u" in Russia. This is the best I can do for my own pronunciation.

Russia = Rusher
Ruthenia = Roo-theen-ya
Belarus = Bella-rooss

From Forvo:

Russian (8 recordings): https://forvo.com/word/russian/#en
Belarus (7 recordings): https://forvo.com/word/belarus/#en
Ruthenia (1 recording): https://forvo.com/search/Ruthenia/
 

jutfrank

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
I don't really do phonetics so I don't see how the "u" in "but" can be described as "a". "a" is the sound in "bat". I'm aware that some phonetic symbols don't resemble the letter they represent so it could well be that that's throwing me off.

I'm just guessing (from experience of Russian speakers) that "a" is meant to represent the vowel in but, which is a sound that doesn't exist exactly in Russian, and so which is usually approximated to something a bit longer like baat.

Anyway, the point is that we pronounce the vowel in Rus in the same way as we pronounce it in Belarus, right?
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Anyway, the point is that we pronounce the vowel in Rus in the same way as we pronounce it in Belarus, right?

My point is that, in BrE, that's not the case. The "u" in "Russia" is not pronounced the same as the "u" in "Belarus".
 

jutfrank

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
My point is that, in BrE, that's not the case. The "u" in "Russia" is not pronounced the same as the "u" in "Belarus".

Yes, but aren't we talking about Rus, not Russia?
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
OK, I see where I've got distracted now! Since I didn't recognise "Rus" as a word, I imagined it as the first syllable of Russia and have dragged myself down that path ever since. I still don't think it's a word so all I can say is that the "u" in "Belarus" is pronounced the same as the "u" in "Ruthenia".
Sorry for the confusion, everyone!
 

jutfrank

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Here's a link to a Youtube video about the history of the Rus (people). Go to 4:15 - 4:25 to hear two instances of how the narrator pronounces it. As I said, I've never heard it pronounced any other way. I suppose that the way native-English-speakers pronounce it is trying to approximate the way that Russian speakers do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XGmtzZU6mE
 
Last edited:

GeneD

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2017
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Belarus
Current Location
Belarus
Sorry everyone for the confusion my poor knowledge of phonetics and transcription caused. Yes, Frank got everything right. I meant exactly those sounds.

And yes, there is the word 'Rus', and in post 1 I gave the link to the Wiki-article where it's mentioned, but I see my mistake: I should have made the link easier to notice (to make it bolder or something else).

Thanks for the answers. They've helped a lot.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top