This is the final part of my story about the installations in the form of large three-dimensional letters of the Cyrillic alphabet that settled on the streets and squares of St. Petersburg last summer and autumn. All of these art objects were built by the participants of the "Thirty-Three Characters" festival.
When I wrote the previous notes, I translated Cyrillic letters into characters of the Latin alphabet, for example, I wrote that the letter "Ф" is a Latin "F" and the letter "Ц" is a Latin "C". The letter "Ы" I can't translate. The sound that the letter "Ы" conveys is similar to the "I" sound, but it is deeper, lower, and coarser. Sound "Ы" is sometimes used as an interjection, though there is no such word in the official dictionary of Russian language.
This is what the author of the installation, artist and architect Andrey Punin, writes about the letter: "It turns out that the pronunciation of the "Ы" sound causes difficulties for almost all foreigners. It is surprising, but for all the originality and expressiveness of this letter, in Russian there are no words beginning with "Ы". And if so, we rarely see it in logos, icons and generally in graphic form. This is how the idea of a sound object, a kind of interactive monument, was born, not only to this Russian letter, but also to a unique sound, undeservedly lacking in fame and attention. Listen to how much vast expanse there is in the sound of ЫЫЫЫ! How much feeling! One wants to not just pronounce the "Ы" sound, but to sing it, chest full of air, thoughtfully and passionately!"
It was very hard to photograph the letter "Ы". The mirror-like surface of the letter reflected the sun's rays and glared into the lens, so I had to choose difficult angles and take the picture not from the front but from an angle.
For a few weeks I wandered around the city and occasionally encountered and photographed letters of the Cyrillic alphabet. My luck was not always good. I could not find all of them, some of the art objects I did not see. Nevertheless it was a very unusual and interesting experience.
Previous letters:
| ○ | ○ |
|---|---|
| Smartphone | Xiaomi Redmi 3 |
| Location | Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Date | August - October 2020 |
Thank you!
Personally, I transliterate "И" as "I" and "Ы" as "Y" (I don't know how common this practise is, it's definitely not universal). It gets a bit messy with words that end in "Й," unfortunately... I used to transliterate "ИЙ" as "IJ" and "ЫЙ" as "YJ," as that is how it is done in Czech, but that, I found, is extremely confusing to anyone unfamiliar with Eastern European spelling practises (those same people constantly vex me with their stubborn inability to pronounce my surname, unless they are aficionados of classical music), so I started leaving the "J" out.
Speaking of which, if you think foreigners have trouble with "Ы," try explaining the difference between "Ш" and "Щ." Or better yet, the very idea of "Ь" and "Ъ."
"Ш" and "Щ" - I won't even try to explain:)
Thank you!
I've always explained it as "Ш is a gentle whisper, Щ is a bit harsher yet still a softer sound than Ч, as though the first is a breeze blowing in your ear, the second is rustling leaves, and the third is a twig snapping underneath your foot." I think the subtlety is lost on most people, sadly...