10.16- The Russian Colony

Time to start mixing the baking soda and vinegar. 

Direct Link: 10.16- The Russian Colony

Comments

[Anik]

Just one note on pronunciation - when you see a two-syllable or more word with an "o" in it, and the o is not stressed (like "zyemstvo"), you have a short o as in "bob", not a long one as in "lone". Long os in Russian only appear if they are in the stressed syllable or it is a one-syllable word.

Source: Not a native speaker, but currently taking advanced Russian classes in college...

[Anna]

I have several comments.
1. Thank you for your podcast, I enjoy it a lot for many years and often want to comment, but never do. Unfortunately (for you) I'm a native Russian speaker, so I cannot shut up now :)
2. I agree with the previous comment about the pronunciation of not-stressed "o". Also in the word zyemstvo "y" is only used to make "e" soft. Generally you do a good job pronouncing russian words.
3. Lev Deutsch is pronounced Deich. Also I found a lot of inconsistencies in the English wiki about him. E.g. it wasn't possible in Russia to be a son of a Jewish merchant and a peasant. Both parents had to be the same religion. All Russian sources state that he was from a family of Jewish merchants and that his father got bankrupt when Lev was 12.
4. Another funny fact from the English wiki that he was never married and most likely was gay. Various Russian sources say that he was married and that he immigrated to US in 1915-1916 because his wife Esfir Zinovieva had some health issues.

And one more pronunciation comment unrelated to the Russian revolution. The province of Piedmont in Italy is written and pronounced in both French and Italian without “d” - Italian: Piemonte, pronounced [pjeˈmonte], French: Piémont. I used to live in Turin which is a capital of Piemonte and it hurts me to listen to the American PEED-mont pronunciation. I know it’s too late for the European revolutions, but maybe you’ll remember it when you come across this name in the future :). Piemonte is very beautiful and the piemontese is much closer to French than to Italian especially in the Val d’Aosta region, so I highly recommend it to you for a visit.

[DaveRobbinz]

I see the bubbles from the baking soda/vinegar.

When do we get to the turpentine and matches?

[MrJoeBlackwood]

Just curious, why are you "required by law" to tell us that the merry band of non-dictatorial revolutionaries (Deutsch and friends) left for 37 years? I assume you are publishing under French jurisdiction, and can't imagine what French law would stipulate this. :)

[Ron]

Anna, there is also a region in the U.S. known as the Piedmont, located between the Appalachian mountains and the eastern coastal plain. I am from the southern Piedmont. It was named for it’s supposed geographical resemblance to the European Piemonte. The natives always pronounce it as “Peed-mont”. I’m sure that is where the American mispronunciation of Piemonte comes from. My Piedmont is also beautiful. I would love to see your Piemonte.

[Martin]

How were these professional revolutionaries financed? I hear of these people moving around and relocating etcetera. That is not cheap.