(no subject)

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

What would be the male equivalent of девушка? Молодой человек sounds too wordy, and мужчина sounds too old. I was once told that it would be мальчишек, but then come to think of it, wouldn't that be the diminuitive of the already diminuitive мальчик?

And, because my map of Russia only shows Russia, and from other maps I can only be sure of 6 or 7 countries... which are the 15 countries of the former Soviet Union?

Comments

[lima-pcp.livejournal.com]

Russia
Ukraine
Belarus
Latvia
Lithuania
Estonia
Moldova
Azerbaijan
Armenia
Georgia
Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan

[the-waste.livejournal.com]

юноша
парень

[prosto-los.livejournal.com]

Молодой человек is commonly used, but there is also - юноша.
The 15 states ("republics") are listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Soviet_states

[solito.livejournal.com]

It is still молодой человек

[ja-va.livejournal.com]

парень

[ja-va.livejournal.com]

btw,- "мальчишек" is not a word, it is accusative case of a plural of the word мальчишка.

[buddah-gautama.livejournal.com]

"Юноша" is like a "young man" in one word
"Парень" is like "fellow", "guy"

[solito.livejournal.com]

I think you need a bigger map then... :)

[ducking.livejournal.com]

I like the word юноша way better than the awful phrase of "молодой человек". Btw, early in the work on the USSR project there used to be plans of proclaiming a 16th republic, Karelia, which is now part of Russia. Ethnically speaking, they're closer to Finland, though.

[definite.livejournal.com]

Actually, the Karel and Finnish Republic was the 16th rebublic of the USSR from 1940 to 1956.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

This is correct. There was even a joke (анекдот) that explained why it was eliminated (well, actually, converted into an autonomy inside Russian Federation):
В результате переписи в Карело-Финской ССР выяснилось, что в ней проживают всего два финна - фининспектор и Финкельштейн, однако впоследствии обнаружилось, что это вообще одно и то же лицо.
As a result of the census in Karel-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic, it was discovered that there are only two Finns - a financial inspector and one Finkelstein, but then it became clear that they were the same person.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Actually, Karjäla and Suomi (Karelian and Finnish) peoples are as indistinguishable as Romanians and Moldovans :)

[ducking.livejournal.com]

Oh, really? I've completely forgotten the fact.

[ducking.livejournal.com]

Shame on me. Back to the history books, then.

Though I know a Russian (hailing from Moldova) who seriously reckons that Moldovans are a true nation in their own right. You should mind that he's mega-patriotic and objects to the proposed merging of the two countries (he's not far right, though, not at all).

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, there's an entire country claiming that, called Transnistru (Приднестровье). Not that this "country" is recognized by anybody except themselves, though :)

[nbuwe.livejournal.com]

Are you sure about the umlaut in Karjala?

[ashalynd.livejournal.com]

"Юноша" is slightly dated and often used ironically.
"Парень" is a bit simplistic, somewhat like "dude".
"Молодой человек" is a perfectly neutral way to address an unknown male person if he is not a child already (then you'll just say "мальчик") but does not look too old either (actually, it depends on your age - if you are over 60 then you'll probably call the 40-year-old guy "молодой человек"). But it is not possible to call a female person "молодой человек" - "девушка" should be used.

In the beginning of 90s, the word "барышня" (old-fashioned form of addressing a young unmarried lady) was promoted as a replacement for "девушка", but it, like "юноша", is mostly used to convey some irony. "Милая барышня, Вы заблуждаетесь" - "Sweet damsel, you are mistaken" - is something a teacher could say to a young female prodigy.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Oh, sorry. My mistake. There's plain A, you're right.

[this-bugs-4-you.livejournal.com]

this is completely off topic, but reading your last example made part of a song enter my brain and now it won't leave me alone until i can find the rest of it...do you (or anyone) by any chance remember the rest of this chorus:

"Милая мая, солнешке лесное..." ???

also, that is almost certainly spelled wrong.

[sverb.livejournal.com]

It's Юрий Визбор(Yurij Vizbor).

Всем нашим встречам разлуки, увы, суждены.
Тих и печален ручей у янтарной сосны.
Пеплом несмелым подернулись угли костра.
Вот и окончено все, расставаться пора.

Припев:
Милая моя, солнышко лесное,
Где, в каких краях встретишься со мною?

Крылья сложили палатки - их кончен полет,
Крылья расправил искатель разлук - самолет.
И потихонечку пятится трап от крыла...
Вот уж, действительно, пропасть меж нами легла.

Припев.

Не утешайте меня - мне слова не нужны.
Мне б разыскать тот ручей у янтарной сосны.
Вдруг сквозь туман там краснеет кусочек огня,
Вдруг у огня ожидают, представьте, меня.

Припев

[this-bugs-4-you.livejournal.com]

*sigh of relief* Спасибо!

also likely spelled wrong :)

[sverb.livejournal.com]

You are welcome

[serialcondition.livejournal.com]

lol

[ducking.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know, of course I do. That's not a country, that's a misconception.
Though it's a reporter's paradise (see Spiegel, Newsweek and the kind).

[schwarzer-tod.livejournal.com]

Finnish doesn't have umlauts. An umlaut is a Germanic ligature that indicates an E after a vowel, and should be not confused with other similar marks (like a diæresis or the diacritically marked letters in Scandinavian languages). The distinction is important because you cannot write "Eduard Hämäläinen" as "Eduard Haemaelaeinen". Because ä is a completely independent grapheme, the only correct way to write it is, sadly, "Are you sure Karjala is spelled with an ä?"

[branwen.livejournal.com]

I don't see why "молодой человек" should seem too wordy--we use "young man" here. Sure, it's more syllables, but...

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

FYI, that map of Russia is the only "poster" I'm taking with me to college :D

[solito.livejournal.com]

That's very touching :)

[ex-kurunir601.livejournal.com]

What would be the male equivalent of девушка? Молодой человек sounds too wordy, and мужчина sounds too old. I was once told that it would be мальчишек, but then come to think of it, wouldn't that be the diminuitive of the already diminuitive мальчик?

Парень.

BTW it's depends of year old of subject
150 - 120 - carrier lost...
120 - 70 - Старик
70 - 65 - дед
65 - 22 - мужчина (муж)
22 - 18 - парень
18 - 14 - юноша
14 - 5 - мальчик
5 - 1 - спиногрыз :-)
0 - connection.