User talk:Realvodka

Vodka
I don't know about Grand Duchy of Lithuania and other such matters, but if you mean that in Russian vodka is pronounced vod-ka, with the stress on ka, then you are obviously wrong. This is utter nonsense. In Russian vodka is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable. And anyway, I don't see how a mere difference in stress or accent can give "the best clue to the origins of vodka and its name". I will remove this passage again, as it is misleading. 131.111.8.103 19:37, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

P.S. See corresponding article in Russian Wiktionary, if you're still unconvinced, and stop adding nonsense to Wikipedia. 131.111.8.103 19:42, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Why don't you, then, follow the links and do some research into the Grand Duchy, its history, geography and the use of Belarussian as official written language BEFORE you vandalise.

Are you Russian, Polish or Belarussian? My wife is Ukranian but is a linguist having qualifications in all three languages, plus her native language, English and Hungarian.

The natural pronunciation is taken from how 'water' is pronounced in all three languages refered to and then applying the diminutive 'ka' instead of 'da'.

In Russian water is vod-a - hence the natural pronunciation would be vod-ka

In Belarussian water it pronounced vod-a - hence the pronunciation would naturally be vod-ka

So, now convince me that you know what you are talking about and my wife doesn't. Also, please identify yourself.


 * Reply:
 * First of all, in Russian the word "vodka" is pronounced "vod-ka", with the stress on the first syllable, exactly as in English, German, and all other languages. No Russian will ever say vodka with the stress on the last syllable.  And the fact that voda is pronounced with the stress on "a" absolutely does not mean that vodka should also have the stress on the last syllable.  In fact adding "ka" always shifts the stress, for example "trava" ("grass") -- "travka" ("little grass"), "strela" (arrow) -- "strelka" (little arrow) etc. (And please bear in mind that "vodka" is not the actual diminutive of "voda".)  In absolutely no sense can "vod-ka" be said to be the "natural" pronounciation of that word, it simply isn't.
 * In fact no word in Russian with the diminutive suffix "ka" has stress on that (last) syllable.
 * If you're still unconvinced, check the Russian wiktionary entry on the word водка. Check any Russian dictionary, or any English-Russian dictionary, you'll see that the stress is on the first syllable.
 * And lastly, your whole argument does not make any sense. Suppose Russians and Belorussians really pronounced the word in different ways (which I don't adimit), with the stress on different syllables, how can it possibly say anything about the origin of the word?  Why do you think that your "Belorussian" pronounciation gives any clue about the origin, simply because you think it is closer to the English one?
 * Summarising, if you have any reliable, well-referenced information on why the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is important in the history of vodka, you can insert that information somewhere, but please do not put nonsensical things such that the Russian pronounciation is "vod-ka". This is simply not true.
 * --131.111.8.96 23:15, 24 August 2006 (UTC)