History questions not worth their own thread II

[LightSpectra]

Isn't that fascinating, given the geographic sparsity and ethno-cultural diversity in Russia? If I didn't learn foreign languages at a snail-pace I'd probably be looking to get a career in linguistics.

 

[Traitorfish]

Isn't that fascinating, given the geographic sparsity and ethno-cultural diversity in Russia? If I didn't learn foreign languages at a snail-pace I'd probably be looking to get a career in linguistics.

I wonder what process it took, whether if it was a gradual conforming to a single standardised dialect, as with the standard forms of most Western European languages, or a foreign or semi-foreign language gradually winning out over the various regional languages and dialects, as with Latin in the Roman Empire? Possibly both, I suppose, given the scale involved.

Does anyone know if there is any remaining regional dialects or hybrid dialects, akin to Scots or Scottish English? That would seem to suggest the former process in those regions in which it occurred.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Would someone born in Moscow have any trouble in communicating in Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and Murmansk? Was this also true in the early 20th and 19th centuries?

No, there would be no trouble right now. There may be very slight differences, however (when I was in Moscow, linguistically observant people realized that I'm not a Muscovite as soon as I opened my mouth). The differences are becoming less and less pronounced with time, though.

 

[Louis XXIV]

I wonder what process it took, whether if it was a gradual conforming to a single standardised dialect, as with the standard forms of most Western European languages, or a foreign or semi-foreign language gradually winning out over the various regional languages and dialects, as with Latin in the Roman Empire? Possibly both, I suppose, given the scale involved.

Does anyone know if there is any remaining regional dialects or hybrid dialects, akin to Scots or Scottish English? That would seem to suggest the former process in those regions in which it occurred.

If I had to hazard a guess, given the connections between the East Slavic languages of Russian, Belorussian, and Ukranian, my guess is the biggest diversity in Russian dialects happens along the border (fitting the general trend where the greatest diversity occurs at the point of origin). Russian eastern expansion would probably mirror American western expansion. The East coast of the United States is filled with various regional accents that are quite diverse (although all very mutually intelligible). As you move west, the language becomes more homogenized (giving birth to what people refer to as the "American accent").

You also have to keep in mind the period of Russification that began to occur in the 19th century. I know this process was more aimed at places that didn't speak Russian at all, but I'd have to imagine those that spoke dialects (especially more distant dialects) would have felt pressure to move towards a Moscow/St Petersburg standard.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Old Russian people that lived in Siberia for a long time have a specific non-standard dialect.

 

[LightSpectra]

I've heard that Hans Litten's cross-examination of Hitler was so psychologically damaging to him that Hitler refused to allow anybody to say the name "Litten" in his presence. I was curious if I could find some sort of transcript of the Tanzpalast Eden Trial online somewhere.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Old Russian people that lived in Siberia for a long time have a specific non-standard dialect.

It sounds then, that the standardization has to do with the sudden explosion of the Russian Speaking population in the 19th century.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

It sounds then, that the standardization has to do with the sudden explosion of the Russian Speaking population in the 19th century.

That, and a very fun thing called Official Nationality.

 

[ParkCungHee]

That, and a very fun thing called Official Nationality.

I know I'm running from the Wikipedia version, but that doesn't sound too particularly different from policies seen throughout Europe.

 

[Karalysia]

It wasn't, since Peter the Great, Russia always sought to imitate Europe.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I know I'm running from the Wikipedia version, but that doesn't sound too particularly different from policies seen throughout Europe.

It wasn't, really, I just have the impression that the Tsarist version was a bit more fanatical.

 

[ParkCungHee]

It wasn't, really, I just have the impression that the Tsarist version was a bit more fanatical.

Possibly, still, considering the failings of similar policies elsewhere, that doesn't seem to be a very compelling answer for linguistic uniformity.

 

[Atticus]

Sorry, but I've got couple of nazi questions.

1. Did Stukas really have sirens installed in them to demoralize the enemy? I've read that this is the case, but find it hard to believe.

2. The use of gas in holocaust had obviously the effect that killing felt less like killing for the killers. Was this the reason for the use of gas? If it was only one of the reasons, is there reason to believe that this aspect was consciously considered? (I know this sounds like weird question, but it relates to politics, society and human psyche, and that's why I'm asking, not out of morbid curiosity). I have a recollection there was first "the holocaust by bullets", where Jews were shot, and after that they switched to gas.

 

[Masada]

1. I believe so.
2. Yes. It was hard to butcher thousands of people face to face. The Einsatzgruppen dudes were actually breaking up from doing it. The gas was also a far faster and more efficient means of mass killing that bullets.

 

[Dachs]

Sorry, but I've got couple of nazi questions.

You should be sorry.

2. The use of gas in holocaust had obviously the effect that killing felt less like killing for the killers. Was this the reason for the use of gas? If it was only one of the reasons, is there reason to believe that this aspect was consciously considered? (I know this sounds like weird question, but it relates to politics, society and human psyche, and that's why I'm asking, not out of morbid curiosity). I have a recollection there was first "the holocaust by bullets", where Jews were shot, and after that they switched to gas.

That was certainly part of the reason that gas chambers were more widely introduced. It's an indicator of how much the Holocaust was kind of an ad hoc affair in the beginning: initially much of the killing was done by army units (or reserve police battalions, as it were) in the field, by gun, and over time the Nazis developed ways for the killing to be less emotionally painful for the executioners, and later moved much of the operation to the Vernichtungslager, using the gas chambers/furnaces or whatever, more impersonal stuff.

 

[Karalysia]

What is the most successful usage of damnatio memoria?

 

[ParkCungHee]

What is the most successful usage of damnatio memoria?

Presumably, we don't know.

 

[Lord Baal]

Sorry, but I've got couple of nazi questions.

1. Did Stukas really have sirens installed in them to demoralize the enemy? I've read that this is the case, but find it hard to believe.

2. The use of gas in holocaust had obviously the effect that killing felt less like killing for the killers. Was this the reason for the use of gas? If it was only one of the reasons, is there reason to believe that this aspect was consciously considered? (I know this sounds like weird question, but it relates to politics, society and human psyche, and that's why I'm asking, not out of morbid curiosity). I have a recollection there was first "the holocaust by bullets", where Jews were shot, and after that they switched to gas.

1. Not as part of the regular equipment, but some whackjobs installed them. The whistling sound was usually just caused by the planes diving at high speeds - though some clever pilots also added a few old wine bottles to their wings, producing a far more ominous sound than either the plane itself or sirens.

2. This was certainly part of the reasoning for using gas. Himmler himself suggested gas based on these grounds after vomiting from the sight of several mass executions he visited.

 

[Atticus]

Thanks, boys!

You should be sorry.

It's a generally known fact that the world history consists of Sparta, Rome, Nazis, Nazis and Nazis.

 

[Plotinus]

You forgot Tudors, the bridge linking Rome and Nazis.