Mat (Russian profanity)

Mat (Russian: мат; матерщи́на / ма́терный язы́к / мáтный язы́к, matershchina / materny yazyk / matny yazyk) is the term for vulgar, obscene, or profane language in Russian and some other Slavic language communities. The term mat derives from the Russian word for mother, a component of the key phrase "Ёб твою мать", "yob tvoyu mat'" (fuck your mother).[1]

The mat-word "хуй" ("khuy") in Max Vasmer's Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language). Heidelberg, 1950–1958

Four pillars of mat

In 2014, Roskomnadzor compiled a list of four words of the Russian language for Russia, which, in their opinion, are "absolutely unacceptable in the mass media": khuy ("cock"); pizda ("cunt"); yebat ("to fuck"); and blyad ("whore").[2] David Remnick believes that mat has thousands of variations but ultimately centers on those four words.[3]

All mat-words were included by the publisher Jan Baudouin de Courtenay in the 3rd and 4th editions of the Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, which was printed 4 times in 1903–1909 (twice) and in 1911–1912, 1912–1914.[4][5][6][7][8] The inclusion of rude and abusive words became an obstacle to the reprinting of this version of the dictionary in the Soviet Union for censorship reasons.[9]

Khuy

Khuy (хуй; хуй ) means cock, penis, or for an equivalent colloquial register: dick. The etymology of the term is unclear. Mainstream theories include from Proto-Indo European (PIE) *ks-u-, related to хвоя (khvoya, "pine needles"), attributed to Pederson, 1908;[10][11] from PIE *hau-, related to хвост (khvost, "tail"), attributed to Merlingen, 1955; from Mongolian хуй (khui, meaning "sheath" or "scabbard"). This was the etymology endorsed by the Soviet government and attributed to Maxim Gorky, who claimed it was a loan word, imposed during the Mongol yoke. Alexander Gorokhovski suggests the derivation from the Latin huic (lit. "for that", used on prescriptions for genital diseases) as a euphemism, because the old Russian "ud/uda" (from PIE root *ud- meaning "up, out") became taboo in the mid-18th century.[12] Currently, the first volume of the Great Dictionary of Mat by the Russian linguist and folklorist Alexei Plutser-Sarno treats only expressions with the stem хуй (khuy), numbering over 500 entries; 12 volumes are planned. Another theory is that it originates from the Greek word huios which means son. The word khuy also appears in various other Slavic languages with the same meaning and pronunciation but not always the same spelling, such as the Polish chuj.

Pizda

Pizdá (пизда́ пизда ) means cunt.[3]

Yebát'

Yebát' (еба́ть ебать ) (lat. futuere) means "to fuck", "to copulate", "to have intercourse".[13]

Blyád'

Blyád' (блядь; блядь ) means whore.[3] In the Old East Slavic the word блѧдь (блядь in modern orthography) – blyad, meaning: "deception, nonsense, insane, adulteress",[14] is preserved in the Church Slavonic in three meanings: "deception, delusion", "idle talk, trivia" and "debauchery, adultery".[15] Often combined with the term "suka" (сука, bitch) to form "suka blyád" (сука блядь) especially among Internet users and memes.

History and use

Obscenities are among the earliest recorded attestations of the Russian language (the first written mat words date to the Middle Ages[16]).

Mikhail Lermontov's 1834 "A Holiday in Peterhof" ("Петергофский праздник") is one example of the usage of mat.

And so I will not pay you:
However, if you are a simple whore
You should consider it an honor
To be acquainted with the cadet's dick![3]

Итак, тебе не заплачу я:
Но если ты простая блядь,
То знай: за честь должна считать
Знакомство юнкерского хуя!

Iták, tebé ne zaplachú ya:
 No yésli ty prostáya blyad',
To znay: za chest' dolzhná schitát'
Znakómstvo yúnkerskogo khúya!

The prologue to Luka Mudishchev, probably written at some time in the mid 19th century, was often ascribed to Ivan Barkov, an obscene poet who lived in the 18th century:[17]

Hear ye, matrons and widows fair,
Young girls with pussy still untouched!
Let me tell you up front
A few words about fucking

О вы, замужние, о вдовы,
О девки с целкой наотлёт!
Позвольте мне вам наперёд
Сказать о ебле два-три слова.

 O vy, zamuzhnie, o vdovy,
O devki s tselkoy naotlyot!
Pozvol'te mne vam naperyod
Skazat' o yeble dva-tri slova.

Mat is also used in humor or puns by juxtaposing innocent words so that the result will sound as if an obscene word was used. An example is a Cossack song cited in And Quiet Flows the Don (1928–1940) by Mikhail Sholokhov:[18]

Щуку я, щуку я, щуку я поймала.
Девица красная, уху я варила.
Уху я, уху я, уху я варила.

Here "Уху я варила" ("I cooked the fish stew") may be reinterpreted as "У хуя варила" ("Cooked near the penis") or even "Ух, хуй я варила" ("Ooh, I cooked a dick").

The contemporaneous use of mat is widespread, especially in the army, police, blue-collar workers, the criminal world, and many other all-male milieus. An article by Victor Erofeyev (translated by Andrew Bromfeld) analyzing the history, overtones, and sociology of mat appeared in the 15 September 2003 issue of The New Yorker.[19]

As of 1 July 2014, mat has been banned in Russia from all movies, theatrical productions, and concerts.[3] In modern Russia, the use of mat is censored in the media and the use of mat in public constitutes petty hooliganism, a form of disorderly conduct, punishable under article 20.1.1 of the Offences Code of Russia,[20] although there is no clear legal definition what exactly constitutes "mat".[21] Despite the public ban, mat is used by Russians of all ages and nearly all social groups, with particular fervor in the male-dominated military and the structurally similar social strata.[22]

gollark: Hmm, fair, that would at least provide sizing information.
gollark: I don't think we have good data from then.
gollark: Apparently people are taller now on average than a few hundred years ago due to better nutrition or something.
gollark: Among other things.
gollark: Humans were apparently persistence hunters and would just walk after prey for ages.

See also

Notes
  1. Yerofeyev, Victor (12 October 2003). "The Unique Power of Russia's Underground Language". russki-mat.net.
  2. Роскомнадзор запретил четыре русских слова
  3. Remnick, David (5 May 2014). "Putin's Four Dirty Words". The New Yorker. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  4. Толковый словарь. Том 4 / стб. 1244
  5. Толковый словарь. Том 3 / стб. 276
  6. Толковый словарь. Том 1 / стб. 1304
  7. Толковый словарь. Том 1 / стб. 246
  8. В. И. Даль. Биобиблиографический указатель / Рос. гос. б-ка, НИО библиографии; Сост. О.Г. Горбачева. Ред. Т.Я. Брискман. Библиогр. ред. Е.А. Акимова. — М.: Пашков Дом, 2004. — С. 9—11. — 134 с.
  9. Предисловие от редакции // Толковый словарь живого великорусского языка. В 4 т. Том 1 / В.И. Даль. — 6-е изд. стер. — М.: Дрофа, Русский язык-Медиа, 2011. — С. III—XII.
  10. "Comments". monstar.nnover.ru.
  11. Voronezh (2005). РУССКИЙ МАТ – СЛЕДСТВИЕ УНИЧТОЖЕНИЯ ТАБУ (Культурные табу и их влияние на результат коммуникации.) [Russian Mat – Consequences of Destruction of the Taboo; Cultural taboos and their influence on the result of communication]. philology.ru (in Russian). pp. 184–197. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  12. Gorokhovsky, A. Матерщина: седая древность и цветущая юность [Foul language: gray antiquity and blooming youth]. russki-mat.net (in Russian). Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  13. Max Vasmer. «Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch» («Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language»). Heidelberg, 1950–1958/ Bände I / Seite. 388
  14. Срезневский, Измаил Иванович. "Материалы для словаря древнерусского языка по письменным памятникам" ("Materialy dlya slovarya drevnerusskogo yazyka po pis'mennym pamyatnikam") – The Materials for a Dictionary of the Old Russian Language on manuscripts. Том 1 А–К (1893)/ С. 123
  15. Дьяченко, Григорий Михайлович. «Полный церковнославянский словарь» («Polniy cerkovno-slavyanskiy slovar») – «Complete Church Slavonic Dictionary» / С. 47
  16. Obscene lexics in birch bark documents
  17. "«Лука Мудищев» — история и мифология расхожие заблуждения («Luka Mudishchev» – istoriya i mifologiya raskhozhiye zabluzhdeniya)" [Luka Mudischev – The History and Mythology: Widespread Misconceptions)]. barkoviana.narod.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  18. "ЗАПРЕЩЕННЫЙ КЛАССИК"
  19. Erofeyev, Victor (15 September 2003). "Dirty Words". The New Yorker. p. 42. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  20. "Article 20.1". Offences Code of Russia. Government of Russia. 8 December 2003 – via consultant.ru. нарушение общественного порядка, выражающее явное неуважение к обществу, сопровождающееся нецензурной бранью в общественных местах ... влечет наложение административного штрафа в размере от пятисот до одной тысячи рублей или административный арест на срок до пятнадцати суток" ('disorderly conduct displaying explicit disrespect to society, accompanied by obscene language in public ... is punishable by a fine from 500 to 1000 rubles or arrest up to 15 days')
  21. Министерство связи определит понятие нецензурной речи [Department of communications will define 'obscene language']. Lenta.Ru (in Russian). 24 July 2009.
  22. Mikhailin, Vadim (29 September 2004). "Russian Army Mat as a Code System Controlling Behaviour in the Russian Army". The Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies. 1. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
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