Crimea’s ‘return home’ shows love for motherland, says Putin

[Igel]

6. There are two words.

The first is "rodina." It means "motherland" or "homeland." It's where you are homesick for. You don't return to your "country" (strana), you return to your "rodina".

That's true for everybody. Americans and Germans, in returning to their home countries, return to their rodiny. (A final -y or -i means plural.) "Home country" is how I usually put it, but in sufficiently maudlin contexts it "feels" like the English word "motherland." It's what you love and miss, not what you feel proud of. And duty to your rodina is a pull on the emotions not on duty.

Rodina is clearly has the root "rod-". Rod, by itself, means "clan." Rodskoy means "native" but often has a warm and fuzzy feeling. Rodit' is "to give birth", roditel' is "parent" (with roditeli 'parents). Blagorodnyi is "well-born" or "noble." Rodnoy means little more than "your own"--it's like the family house, but can refer to more than a "house". Your rodina is, in some sense, your rodnoy house. It's where your safe. And it's at least as much connected being with being among those rodnoy to you--both related and dear, because you can only really trust your family and, after your family, your clan or tribe. (In fact, rodina meant something like your clan's or tribe's territory, where you get support and where you show support for those like you as opposed to those nasty other people.)

The word for "mother" is mat' or mama. And what's odd is that "the Rodina loves you" is something that sounds strange to me, meaning I've never or seldom heard it. Love is owed and natural for rodina. It's less common the other way round--it's more assumed, and that love provides both loyalty and obedience to the group, to the collective.

Russian for "father" is otets. And just as Latin pater 'father' yielded both Spanish padre 'father' and Spanish patria 'country,' and from that same root we get "patriotic," so otets gives us Russian otechestvo "fatherland" and the adjective made from that word, otechestvennyi "patriotic". WWII was the Great Patriotic War. You should feel patriotic. Patriotism is important. The word otechestvennyi is so common that it often means just "domestic": Gross Domestic Product, "domestically manufactured goods," "domestic apples." Pretty much any place you can use the adj. "Russian" it's replaceable by "otechestvennyi"--history, culture, politics, political parties, government, currency, railroads, vodka. And there it strikes a contrast with outsiders (you really, really have to strain to find a place where a non-native can say otechestvennyi and have it mean "German" or "Venezuelan.&quot It's like a super-beefed up "buy American" or "made in America" campaign. This is more sense of duty and responsibility. You are proud of your otechestvo. It's something you you can be proud of.

You can also return to your otechestvo. It's not like it means "patriotic" and nothing more. If you return to your otechestvo, it can be forcible--you deport people to their otechestvo, unless you want to convince yourself that you're doing the kind thing by doing so, then you deport them to their rodina. When you're done trying to convince somebody to go home because they miss their rodina you appeal to senses of honor and patriotism. You fight for your rodina, but your otechestvo destroys its enemies.

Otechesvto is fatherland. Oddly, though, it's Rodina that sounds a lot more like Vaterland to me. Vaterland is what pulls on the emotional strings and rouses defense. It's home, where those nasty outsiders can't hurt you and where you're protected and kept ... like a dog on a leash. (German also has heimat, 'homeland', which is a bit mushy at times, too, but can lack a lot of the emotional baggage.)

Putin's words:
Любовь к Родине - одно из самых мощных, возвышающих чувств. Она в полной мере проявилась в братской поддержке жителей Крыма и Севастополя, когда они твердо решили вернуться в свой родной дом. Это событие навсегда останется важнейшей вехой в отечественной истории"

Love for (your) Rodina is one of the most powerful, uplifting feelings. It was fully shown in the brotherly support of those living in Crimea and Sevastopol', when they firmly decided to return to their rodnoy house. This event will forever remain one of the most important mileposts in otechestvennyi history.


Oddly, the support was shown by the Crimeans and Sevastopolites to the Russian homeland.. They love their rodina and supported her by returning to her. And their decision will remain an important milepost in otechestvennyi or "patriotic" history. The word "milepost" is a big one: It's a huge Soviet word and rings with echoes of both WWII, the Revolution, and the battles and events between the two. Spaceflight was a vekha "milepost."