Facts to go
A wide reach and high importance – why Russian is an important language
In terms of both the number of speakers and its territorial reach, Russian is the most widely spoken Slavonic language. Around 258 million people speak it as their first or second language throughout the world (Polish is in second place as the most widely spoken Slavonic language). Most of them live in Russia and the surrounding countries of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, but there are also sizable Russian-speaking communities in countries such as the USA, Canada, Germany and Israel.
In addition to
English,
French,
Spanish,
Chinese and
Arabic, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (UNO) and thus an important trading language in international communication between business partners. And because Russian (and Russia) have such a big influence on the whole word,
professional translations from and into Russian are very important.
The Cyrillic alphabet – what it means for translation
The Cyrillic alphabet has 33 letters. While it is unreadable for many people, it is widely used in the Slavonic languages, such as Ukrainian, Serbian and Bulgarian. When converting a text from the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet – also referred to as transliteration – not all the letters correspond one-to-one. The consequence can be different versions of the same text. If you translate both the alphabet and the language, the variations can be even greater. And that’s precisely why it is worth appointing a professional
translation agency to carry out your Russian translations. Native speakers who are familiar with both alphabets will produce accurate translations for you here.
The external appearance of a text also changes because of the different alphabets and letters. In marketing texts, in particular, the design of the message has a significant influence on how well it is received by potential customers. Whether it’s a flyer, a poster, a brochure, a catalogue or an advertisement – for
marketing translations of files with a specific layout, you should always ensure that the translation is correct in terms of content, linguistically accurate and properly formatted. In this case, too, a translation agency is your best option. Experts in graphic design and typesetting can
adapt the layout of your translation and match it down to the smallest detail with the look of the original.
Russian v. Belarusian – two similar languages that are nevertheless different
Russian and Belarusian are both part of the Slavonic family of languages and therefore have many features in common – but also several differences. Phonetically, the languages differ in pronunciation and emphasis: Belarusian has a softer tone and the stress tends to fall on the final syllable (and not on the penultimate, as it does in Russian). At the grammatical level, the number of cases is striking: while there are six cases in Belarusian, there are eight in Russian. The list of these deviations, both major and minor, could be extended into other areas.
Although many Belarusians also speak Russian, there is a strong movement in Belarus to preserve and promote the Belarusian language. As a consequence, there are also efforts to emphasise the differences between the two languages further. When it comes to translations, it is therefore important to decide which of the two variants of the language you want to translate into (or from). Especially in the business context and in
translations of official documents and
contracts, you should ensure that you choose the right language. You do not want to end up in difficulties because of any misunderstandings.
