'Lord have mercy' in Russian?
 

Can someone teach me how to say and properly pronounce 'Lord have mercy' in Russian? Thank you.

Well, technically, actually you would say it in Slavonic, not "Russian". And it would depend on where you are as to how it is pronounced.

It could either be Hospodi pomilui (Ukraine) or Gospodi pomilui (Russia).

Herman the Carpatho-Russian Pooh (by adoption)

Господи помилуй

Gospodi pamilui with the stress on the bold syllables.

Russians mostly pronounce an 'o' on which there is no stress as a flattened 'a'. The district in Moscow called Polyanka is pronounced 'Palyanka', and if I drove a Volvo car my wife would call it a 'Volva'. We shop at a Tesco supermarket which my wife still calls 'Tesca'.

The phrase is in daily use among Russians as an expression rather like 'good heavens', along with 'slava Bogum' ('glory to God') and 'spasi Gospodi' ('thank God'). What is odd is that these expressions can be heard in Soviet films, but when my wife was a little girl, having spent the long summer holiday on her grandfather's farm outside Moscow and hearing her very pious grandparents use these expressions, she used them in school, the teacher demanded to know whom she had heard say these things, and my wife's mother was called to the school to be questioned to make sure it really was only the grandparents who said these things.

Andreas:So it is Gospodi (which I have picked up the pronunciation by hearing it in Liturgy/movies/etc.) ..and PaMIL oui (as in the French 'oui'? ) ?

Also, do both Gospodi and Bogum mean Lord/God?

Thanks.

Herman: Yes, I thought of going back and editing to put in 'Slavonic' instead of 'Russian', since I had a hunch someone would correct me on that, but then I thought of Greek, and if someone asked how to say 'Lord have mercy' in Greek, I would understand that it was being asked for Byzantine Greek and not modern Greek...but maybe my analogy was off. :=)

Also, thank you for giving me the Ukrainian as well, as I had thought that I heard 'hospodi' instead of 'gospodi' here and there...

Try this youtube video. Note that they start out with "hospo depo milwil" and end up with "Gospodi pomilui"


If they can do it so can you.

Fr David

The 'i' is almost not heard.

Also, do both Gospodi and Bogum mean Lord/God? Respectively, yes.

Alice, when I say a 'flattened' 'a', I mean it sounds a bit like 'palm' but said very shortly. You will hear some say 'pomilui' so it sounds like 'pom'; my wife says that sounds 'very provincial' (but born and bred Muscovites like her are rather snobbish! When once I asked her if she had been any further east than Nizhni Novgorod, she replied very firmly, 'of course not!'). Her mother (born across the river from the Kremlin) told me off for saying 'Polyanka' instead of 'Palyanka'.

I think it is important to point out that however slight the differences may seem to us non-Russian speakers (or even non-native Russian speakers) there is a distinct difference in pronunciation between Church Slavonic and Russian. In Russian, many of the vowels, especially in non-accented syllables are (to use Andreas' term) "flattened" or palatized, so that in this case "o" comes out a short "ah". In Church Slavonic, however, this does not happen and the vowels are always given their full and proper sounds - so "o" is always "o". Therefore in Russian you might say "Gahspadi" but in Slavonic it remains "Gospodi".

Interestingly enough when the Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate began direct talks, many of the "modern Russians" noted how "provincial", "old fashioned" and "quaint" the pronunciation of the emigres sounded to them.

Fr David

My wife has just come in, and she says that this is correct in that during church services, the intonation whist chanting is slightly different. To her the different between 'pom' and 'pahm' is slight and of little consequence.

Alice wrote Andreas:So it is Gospodi (which I have picked up the pronunciation by hearing it in Liturgy/movies/etc.) ..and PaMIL oui (as in the French 'oui'? ) ? In Canada we say and sing it as: Go (o as on God but with a bit of a Brooklyn touch to it; as in 'gotcha') spah (as in 'spud')- dee. Pa-mee-loy (with a slight u before oy but say it as one sound). Many of our people use something in between a hard and soft g when saying: Gospodi or Bog, like gh...

My wife is telling us not to be so concerned about exactly the 'right' pronunciation since there isn't one absolute standard.

It is less about "standards" and more about culture. It is the difference between how a Welshman, a Scot, and a Londoner say the same word. Or an American and a Texan ...

Herman, you have misunderstood the sense in which my wife used 'standard' - she meant 'no authoritative or recognized exemplar of correctness'. People from different places will say Господи Помилуй slightly differently. And it doesn't matter much.

So, it is definitely an Orthodox word. Since Orthodoxy has the same definition ie; isn't one absolute standard.
It is less about "standards" and more about culture. It is the difference between how a Welshman, a Scot, and a Londoner say the same word. Or an American and a Texan ... HEY! I was sitting here reading quietly all to myself minding my own business and you had to go and call me out. Welsh, Scots and the english are not the same, but Texans are Americans. I guess to be correct, we are southern Americans. No, that's not right either. I guess you were right Herman. Texans do say it differently. If I were to correct our dear Fr. Raphael's lesson...
Go (o as on God but with a bit of a Brooklyn touch to it; as in 'gotcha') spah (as in 'spud')- dee. Pa-mee-loy (with a slight u before oy but say it as one sound). Many of our people use something in between a hard and soft g when saying: Gospodi or Bog, like gh... and add a ya'll (as in yawn) but add the double ll (as in fall).

Paul

Now, folks, you can see why the Priest keeps Paul behind the scene and hidden quietly in the alter area. It should be noted that his Greek pronunciation would bring tears to Effie's eyes and, it is rumored that if he ever wants to return to Mt. Athos he will have to show proof of having taken a remedial course in the Greek language. http://www.monachos.net/forum/images/smilies/smile.png

But we all love him (you know, sort of like a stray puppy.)

Ya'll know what happens when you feed strays.....

Thank you Andreas and Fathers...I have picked up the sounds a little bit from listening, and I think that I have it right now...I am also proud to say, though it may be a bit late, that I can also pronounce then name Medvedev properly now! hehehe...Anyway, I also noticed that if I try to read the word in the Cyrillic alphabet, it is helpful, because it is not very different from the Greek alphabet...

I can also pronounce then name Medvedev properly now! Probably not to be used much since Putin's win! 'Medved' means 'bear', by the way.

I just remembered this. I'm not sure that the second person has an appropriate pronunciation for a church setting though. It sounds like he made the recording after quite a few zakuski and warm discussions about something or other.

Knowing Greek is definitely an advantage in learning Russian. The grammar is also similar, so my wife tells me (she knowing a little Greek).