Cover not available

Article published In: Language of Empire, Language of Power
Edited by Kees Versteegh
[Language Ecology 2:1/2] 2018
► pp. 112–127

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

The Russian-Chinese Pidgin

An attempt at the sociology of grammar

 | European University at St. Petersburg
Published online: 9 November 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/le.18003.fed
Abstract
For a long period in history, the border between Russian Empire and China was a place of constant and intensive cultural and language contacts, which resulted in the emergence of the Russian-Chinese Pidgin. In the 19th century it was used by no less than one million people around the border with China, in an area of more than 3,000 kilometers long. The grammatical analysis of Russian-Chinese Pidgin reveals several features (e.g. using the imperative as a basic verb form), which can be interpreted not only linguistically but sociologically as well, because they are intertwined with the social positions of the contact groups and their attitudes towards each other. Interestingly, features found in the pidgin’s grammar have certain parallels in foreigner-directed talk used nowadays by Russian speakers when communicating with Chinese speakers in the border area, which may indicate there are rather stable linguistic stereotypes associated with these contact situations.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Brief history of the Russian-Chinese Pidgin
  • 3.Social context of pidgin usage
  • 4.The Russian-Chinese Pidgin’s lexicon and grammar: An overview
  • 5.Grammar and social asymmetry
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • Sources
  • References
References (44)
Sources
Arsenjev, Vladimir. 1921. Po Ussurjiskomu kraju (Dersu-Uzala): Putešestvie v gornuju oblast’ “Sixote-Alin’”. Vladivostok: Tipografija “Exo”.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Belikov, Vladimir and Perexval’skaja, Elena. 1990. Field records.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kaufman, A. A. 1905. Po novym mestam: Očerki i putevye zametki. 1901–1903. St. Petersburg: Izdanie tovariščestva ‘Obščestvennaja pol’za’.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Klaprot, G.-Iu. 1816. Opisanie Kjaxty (iz putešestvij G. Klaprota). Syn Otečestva 411: 81–104.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maksimov, S. V. 1864. Na Vostoke. St. Petersburg.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martynov, Andrej. 1819. Živopisnoe putešestvie ot Moskvy do Kitajskoj Granicy. St. Petersburg: Tipografija Aleksandra Pljušara.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Noskov, Ivan. 1861. Kjaxta. Irkutsk.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Staxeev, Dmitrij. 1994 [1865]. Zapiski moego znakomogo. Bajkal 1994(3): 99–124.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Timkovskij, Egor. 1824. Putešestvie v Kitaj čerez Mongoliju v 1820 i 1821 godax. I. Perejezd do Pekina. St. Petersburg: Tipografija Medicinskogo Departamenta Ministerstva Vnutrennix Del.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Timkowski, Georg. 1825. Reise nach China durch die Mongoley in den Jahren 1820 und 1821. I. Reise nach Pekin. Leipzig: Fleischer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vigel, Filipp. 2000 [1856]. Zapiski. Moscow: Zaxarov. Online publication: [URL] Accessed 19 June 2017.
References
Åfarli, Tor A. and Mæhlum, Brit. 2014. Language variation, contact and change in grammar and sociolinguistics In Tor. A. Åfarli and Brit Mæhlum, eds. The Sociolinguistics of Grammar. Amsterdam/ Philadephia: John Benjamins. 1–12. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Anikhovskij, S. E., D. P. Bolotin, A. P. Zabiyako, and T. A. Pan. 2005. “Man’čžurskij Klin”: Istorija, narody, religija. Blagoveščensk: Amurskij gosudarstvennyj universitet.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bakich, Olga. 2011. Did you speak Harbin Sino-Russian? Itinerario 35(3): 23–36. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cejtlin, Stella. 2009. Očerki po slovoobrazovaniju i formoobrazovaniju v detskoj reči. Moscow: Znak.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Čerepanov, S. I. 1853. Kjaxtinskoe kitajskoe narečie russkogo jazyka. Izvestija imperatorskoj Akademii Nauk po Otdeleniju Russkogo Jazyka i Slovesnosti 21: 370–377.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fedorova, Kapitolina. 2000. Specifika upotreblenija svjazki “est’” i processy uproščenija v russkom jazyke. Problemy Social’nogo i Gumanitarnogo Znanija II1: 334–348. St. Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo Evropejskogo Universiteta.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. Russian foreigner talk: Stereotype and reality. In Dieter Stern and Christian Voss, eds. Marginal Linguistic Identities: Studies in Slavic Contact and Borderland Varieties. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. 177–190.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. Transborder trade on the Russian-Chinese border: Problems of interethnic communication. In B. Bruns and J. P. Miggelbrink, eds. Subverting Borders: Doing Research on Smuggling and Small-Scale Trade. Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften Springer. 107–128.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2013. Speaking with and about Chinese: Language attitudes, ethnic stereotypes and discourse strategies in interethnic communication on the Russian-Chinese border. Civilisations 62(1&2): 71–89. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ferguson, Charles. 1971. Absence of copula and the notion of simplicity: A study of normal speech, baby talk, foreigner talk and pidgins. In Dell Hymes, ed. Pidginization and Creolization of Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 141–145.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Foust, Clifford M. 1969. Muscovite and Mandarin: Russia’s Trade with China and its Setting, 1727–1805. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gusev, Valentin. 2013. Tipologija imperativa. Moscow: Jazyki slavjanskoj kul’tury.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holm, John. 2004. An Introduction to Pidgins and Creoles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Itkin, Ilja. 2007. Russkaja morfonologija. Moscow: Gnozis.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lass, Roger. 1980. On Explaining Language Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lindgren, E. J. 1938. An example of culture contact without conflict: Reindeer Tungus and Cossacks of Northwestern Manchuria. American Anthropologist 40(4): 613–614. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nesterova, E. I. 2008. Atlantida gorodskogo masštaba: Kitajskie kvartaly v dal’nevostočnyx gorodax (konec XIX – načalo XX veka). Etnografičeskoe Obozrenie 2008(4): 44–58.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Neumann, Günter. 1966. Zur chinesisch-russischen Behelfssprache von Kjachta. Die Sprache 121: 237–251.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Niedzielski, Nancy and Dennis Preston. 1999. Folk Linguistics. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oglezneva, Elena. 2007. Russko-kitajskij Pidžin: Opyt sociolingvističeskogo opisanija. Blagoveščensk: Amurskij gosudarstvennyj universitet.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perexval’skaja, Elena. 2007. Dialektnye različija kak rezul’tat jazykovogo sdviga (bikinskij dialekt udegejskogo jazyka). In Nikolaj Vakhtin, ed. Jazykovye izmenenija v uslovijax jazykovogo sdviga. St. Petersburg: Nestor. 252–281.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. Russkie pidzhiny. St. Petersburg: Aleteija.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. Sovremennye formy russkogo pidžina: Ussurijskij variant. In Arto Mustajoki, Ekaterina Protassova and Nikolai Vakhtin, eds. Instrumentarium of Linguistics: Sociolinguistic Approaches to Non-Standard Russian. Helsinki: University of Helsinki. 175–187.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Romaine, Suzanne. 1988. Pidgin and Creole Languages. London: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sebba, Mark. 1997. Contact Languages: Pidgins and Creoles. Houndmills and London: Macmillan Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shapiro, Roman. 2010. Chinese Pidgin Russian. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 25(1): 5–62. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stern, Dieter. 2005. Myths and facts about the Kyakhta trade pidgin. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 20(1): 175–187. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Šprintsin, A. G. 1968. O russko-kitajskom dialekte na Dal’nem Vostoke. Strany i Narody Vostoka VI1: 78–85. Moscow: Vostočnaja Literatura.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Šukhardt, G. 1884. Majmačinskoe narečie. Russkij filologičeskij sbornik 12(4): 318–320.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Todd, Loreto. 1984. Pidgins and Creoles. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Dijk, Teun. 1993. Principles of critical discourse analysis. Discourse and Society 4(2): 249–283. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Versteegh, Kees. 2014. Pidgin verbs. Infinitives or imperatives? In Isabelle Buchstaller, Anders Holmberg and Mohammad Almoaily, eds. Pidgins and Creoles beyond Africa-Europe Encounters. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 141–169. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vrubel’, S. A. 1931. Russko-kitajskie jazykovye skreščenija. Kultura i Pis’mennost’ Vostoka 7–81: 131–140.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

Fedorova, Kapitolina
2022. Border Texts: Border-Crossing Narratives and Local Myths in the Russian-Chinese Border Areas of Russia. In New Directions in Linguistic Geography, ► pp. 87 ff. DOI logo
Fedorova, Kapitolina
2022. Can We Witness the (Re)making of a Pidgin in Real Time? Contact in the Russian–Chinese Border Area. Languages 7:4 ► pp. 248 ff. DOI logo
Versteegh, Kees
2022. Marking statements of fact in early pidgins. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 37:1 ► pp. 53 ff. DOI logo
Fedorova, Kapitolina S.
2021. Communication on the Russian–Chinese Border: Problems in Obtaining Data. In Strategies for Knowledge Elicitation, ► pp. 143 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 25 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue