What Does Russian Sound Like?

An unnecessary question, that’s clear from the start. You hear how Russian sounds everywhere here, and you’ll come to an answer yourself if you haven’t already. Still, it might be interesting to hear how others perceive the sound of Russian. Also, to see what kind of reputation the language enjoys (or endures).

Harsh

A common and crude judgment about Russian is that it’s rude or грубо, meaning rough or harsh.

• Why Russian Sounds Rude (Rush into Russian, 2020, 32 m)
• Почему Русские звучат так грубо (Джастин, 2020, 7 m), also see 2 Причины Русские Звучат Грубо На Английском (2019, 4 m)

Backwards

“Like someone’s playing a vinyl backwards,” according to Trevor Noah in Some Languages Are Scary (2018), imitation from 4:06. Previously included in Grappen over Russen en Rusland. There’s also a version with Russian voice and subtitles.

A similar thought comes from Russell Peters in Almost Famous (2017). “You ever hear people speak Russian? It’s amazing—they just sound like they’re talking backwards the whole time” (starting at about 0:45). There’s also a version with Russian subtitles.

Put it to the test: English backwards sounds like Russian and German (Fusion Plays, 2020, 1 m). But if you ever sat around playing your albums backwards, you are Satan ( Bill Hicks).

“Like Klingon”

Mila Kunis compares Russian to the fictional Star Trek language. Just to say it can sound strange or alien.

See Mila Kunis Thinks Russian Sounds Like Klingon (on Conan O’Brien) and Mila Kunis: Russian Sounds Like Klingon! (on Graham Norton).

Like Portuguese

Apparently, Russia and Portugal (or Brazil) are less far apart linguistically than geographically.

See Why Does Portuguese Sound Like Russian? (Veni Vidi Vandali, 2020, 14 m) and Why Does Portuguese Sound Like Russian?! (or Polish) (Langfocus, 2018, 11 m).

Read Portuguese ≠ Russian? (Transparent Languages, 2017) and Here’s why Portuguese sounds like Russian (or Polish) (Portuguesepedia).

Scary

Help!

• Why does Russian sound so scary? (Anna Sorokina, Russia Beyond 2020)
• Why does the Russian language sound scary? (RussianDict)

Evil

Jon Stewart took it even further, stating that in Russia, “everything they say just sounds evil.” See How Russian speakers can sound harsh in English without realizing it.
Это просто шутка—it’s just a joke. And if that sounds evil, well, maybe it’s you.

Comparison

This is, of course, a bit over the top, but maybe it’s also a little funny: How Russian sounds compared to other languages (Die Koslowskis, 2017, 1.5 m).

Very brutal

Also see Как иностранцы слышат русский язык? (Кру, 2019, 6 m).

Read

• What does Russian sound like to those who don’t know it? (Russian Step by Step)
• How does Russian sound to non-natives when spoken? (Reddit)
• Foreigners on the Russian Language (RussiaSlam, 2012)

The latter from a Russian source, with vivid descriptions:

• “very brutal, masculine”
• “somewhere between the roar of a walrus or a Brahms melody”
• “the sounds that a cat would make if you put it in a box full of marbles: squeaks, squeal, and a complete mess”
• “like an invitation to flirt desperately”
• “like the sound of sandpaper scraping on a rough surface covered with a thin layer of varnish”
• “like the roar of a bus stuck in traffic”
• “like a very badly tuned radio—completely full of unnecessary rustles, crackles, and creaks”