Padonkaffsky jargon (Russian:язык падонкафф,romanized: yazyk padonkaff), also known asOlbanian (олбанский,olbansky), is aslang developed by aRunet subculture calledpadonki (падонки). It started as anInternet slang language originally used in the RussianInternet community. It is comparable to theEnglish-basedLeet. Padonkaffsky jargon became so popular thatDmitry Medvedev jokingly suggested that Olbanian be taught in schools.[1][2]
The termOlbanian is an alteration ofAlbanian, although Albanian is not used to create Olbanian slang.
Learn Olbanian! (Russian: Учи олбанский!) is a popular phrase that was coined in a 2004 incident inLiveJournal when anEnglish language user found a post written in Russian, which he didn't understand and was unable to translate. He asked what language was being used. He was jokingly told that the post was in Albanian. He questioned why people were posting messages in Albanian by saying:
Because? It's LIVEJOURNAL. An American website. Not an albanian; (#*!@()! site.Plus, being an American means that the rest of the world should have to cater to me. But that's just mypointofview.
In reaction to this comment, anInternet meme started, urging the English language user toLearn Albanian! and flooding him with email messages, text messages, and calls to his personal cell phone. Eventually, the English language user wrote an apology in Russian, explaining that he had mastered the Albanian language.
Since then, the request to "Learn Olbanian!" became a friendly response to anyone using incorrect grammar or when saying something that doesn't make sense.
An invitation to "Learn Olbanian!" was directed atMadonna in 2006, when in her blog she used an electronic translator to address her Russian fans and called them "Russian ventilators" by mistake[3] (i.e. by confusing "fan (person)" and "fan (machine)", while the latter isventilyator in Russian).
The language was first developed in 1997 byintellectuals[4] withInternet access who were developing and usingopen-source softwareLiveJournal and RussianFidoNet. They werejournalists,system administrators and professionals withacademic degrees.
The language is based onsensational (mostlyphonetic, but also counterphonetic) spelling of theRussian andUkrainian languages often usingprofanity. It combines complexorthography with creative use ofidioms and literary expression. It is often used to express disagreement,[5] amusement, or to createpolitical satire. It was popularized by the padonki subculture on websites like Udaff.com and Fuck.ru (currently defunct) created by entrepreneurEgor Lavrov andKonstantin Rykov, now a deputy of theDuma.
Padonkaffskyjargon is difficult to translate with a traditionaldictionary because many of the misspellings also involvepuns and cultural slang. Padonkaffsky language has gone mainstream and is common in Russianvernacular andpopular culture. As a result, the websites on which Padonkaffsky language originally appeared are now dominated by another kind of high-shock-value material, adult content.[6]
The unstressed letter⟨о⟩ is replaced by⟨а⟩, and sometimes the other way around; for example,албанский may become олбанский. The unstressed letters⟨е⟩,⟨и⟩, and⟨я⟩ are also interchangeable. The consonant⟨в⟩ may become⟨ф⟩ or⟨фф⟩, the suffix⟨-ик⟩ becomes⟨-ег⟩,⟨жи⟩ becomes⟨жы⟩,⟨я⟩ becomes⟨йа⟩, etc.[citation needed] Examples: превед (PREVED, from приветprivet 'hi!'), аффтарafftar (from авторavtor 'author'), йад (from ядyad 'poison'), etc.
Maksim Krongauz,A Self-study Guide to Olbansky Language [ru]. — М.: АСТ, 2013. — 416 с. — 5000 экз. — ISBN 978-5-17-077807-2.
