Written Russian does not use the Latin alphabet that English and the West Slavic languages do. (some people do however, learn to write it in Latin letters) It mostly uses the Cyrillic alphabet, whose letters, like those of Latin, came from Greek, but are different from them. The other East Slavic languages and some of the South Slavic languages use the Cyrillic alphabet as well.
Russian is an official language of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, along with English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Chinese.
Standard Russian is also called modern literary Russian (Современный русский литературный язык). It first appeared at the beginning of the 18th century. Peter the Great was then working to make the state more modern. Standard Russian grew out of the dialect of Russian that was spoken by people in and around Moscow. In some ways, Standard Russian was also like the Russian used in government offices in earlier centuries.
Mikhail Lomonosov wrote the first book on Russian grammar in 1755. The Russian Academy of Sciences published the first full dictionary of Russian in 1783. The grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation of Russian became stable and were standardized at the end of the 18th century and during the 19th century. That was called the "Golden Age" of Russian literature because it was a good period for the subject, which became very famous across the world.
All of Russia began to use Russian as the language of literature, education, and official communication. Until the 20th century, only the upper classes and people in cities spoke the literary language. Russians from the countryside continued to speak their local dialects. In the 20th century, all children were required to go to school. Many people had radios and televisions, which helped to spread Standard Russian. By the mid-20th century, Russian dialects had mostly disappeared. Standard Russian replaced them almost completely especially to talk to people from different oblasts.
In Russian, a person's name has three parts: the first name, the second name and the family name.
Parents choose the first name for their child. Some common Russian names for boys are Ivan, Vladimir, Mikhail and Nikolai. Some common Russian names for girls are Anna, Anastasia, Svetlana and Yekaterina.
The second name is the "patronymic" (Russian: "otchestvo") and comes from one's father's first name. For example, a boy whose father is "Ivan" would havae as patronymic is "Ivanovich". If a boy's father is "Nikolai", his patronymic is "Nikolaevich". If a girl's father is "Ivan", her patronymic is "Ivanovna". If her father is "Nikolai", her patronymic is "Nikolaevna". The patronymic of a boy ends with -"ovich" or "-evich". The patronymic of a girl ends with "-ovna" or "-evna".
Boys have the same family name as their fathers. Girls use their father's family name but an "-a" is added to the end of the name. A man whose family name is "Romanov" would have a son with the family name "Romanov" and a daughter with the family name "Romanova".
If a man's name is "Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov" and has a son, "Aleksei", and a daughter, "Anastasia", the son's full name is "Aleksei Nikolaevich Romanov", and the daughter's full name is "Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova".
There are also many people in Russia whose family names are not Russian. Some of the family names have only one form, which is the same for both sons and daughters. Some examples are "Glushko" (a Ukrainian name), "Rubinstein" (a German/Jewish name) or "Shevardnadze" (a Georgian name).
Like Latin, Greek, and German, Russian has a case system. In Russian, it applies to nouns, pronouns, adjectives, numerals and participles with a set of word endings (sounds/letters attached to the ends of words) that show the grammatical roles of words in a sentence. Because the grammatical roles are shown by the endings, word order is freer in than in English. There are six cases in Russian.
The nominative case, the form listed in the dictionary, is used for the subject of the sentence. The genitive case often shows ownership. The accusative case is used for a direct object, the dative case for an indirect object. The instrumental case is used for the tool or instrument with which something is done. The prepositional case is used after certain prepositions, such as "in" and "on", but other prepositions may require the use of other cases. Each case has other uses than those listed.
In Russian, nouns have one of three genders: masculine, feminine, or neutral. This is the same for languages like French, Spanish, etc. Masculine nouns usually end in consonants, neutral nouns usually end in -o or -e, and feminine nouns usually end in -a or -я. The plural acts like a fourth gender because gender does not change plural words.
In Russian, an adjective must agree with the word that it describes in gender, case and number. In the nominative case, adjectives that describe feminine words usually end in -ая or -яя. Those that describe masculine words usually end in -ый, -ий or -ой. Those that describe neuter words usually end in -ое or -ее. Those that describe plural words usually end in -ые or -ие. The endings change depending on case.
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1982 (MCMLXXXII) was .
Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as "prof.") is an academic rank at most universities and colleges. The word "professor" comes from Latin. It means a "person who professes", being usually an expert in arts or sciences. A professor is a teacher of the highest rank. Professors are often active in research. In many institutions, the job title 'professor' is synonymous with that of an instructor.
A professor is an accomplished and recognized academic. In most Commonwealth nations, as well as northern Europe, the title "professor" is the highest academic rank at a university. In the United States and Canada, the title of "professor" is also the highest rank, but a higher percentage achieve it. In these areas, professors are scholars with doctorate degrees (typically Ph.D. degrees) or equivalent qualifications. Most professors teach in four-year colleges and universities. An emeritus professor is a title given to selected retired professors with whom the university wishes to continue to be associated due to their stature and ongoing research. Emeritus professors do not receive a salary. However, they are often given office or lab space, and use of libraries, labs, and so on.
The term professor is also used in the titles assistant professor and associate professor, which are not considered non-tenured professors. In Australia, the title "associate professor" is used in place of "reader", ranking above senior lecturer and below full professor.
Beyond holding the proper academic title, universities in many countries also give notable artists, athletes and foreign dignitaries the title "honorary professor", even if these persons do not have the academic qualifications typically necessary for professorship and they do not take up professorial duties. However, such "professors" usually do not undertake academic work for the granting institution. In general, the title of professor is strictly used for academic positions rather than for those holding it on honorary basis.
An adjunct professor, also called an adjunct lecturer or adjunct instructor is a non-tenure position in the U.S. and Canada. They usually rank below a full professor. They are usually hired on a contract basis. They are often hired as part-time instructors especially at universities and colleges with tightening budgets. The position of an adjunct can often lead to a full-time professorship. It is also an opportunity for professionals to teach part-time.