ребёнок
Russian
Alternative forms
- ребёнокъ (rebjónok) – Pre-reform orthography (1918)
Etymology
Inherited from Old East Slavic робѧ (robę), diminutive of робъ (robŭ, “slave”) from Proto-Slavic *orbę. Compare with па́робок (párobok, “lad”) (dialectal). The relationship with "slave" could arise from the meaning "orphan" because orphans carried out the hard work in the household.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [rʲɪˈbʲɵnək]
Audio (file)
Noun
ребёнок • (rebjónok) m anim (genitive ребёнка, nominative plural де́ти or ребя́та*, genitive plural дете́й or ребя́т*, related adjective де́тский or ребя́ческий or ребя́чий, diminutive ребёночек)
- (plural де́ти, less commonly ребя́та) child, kid, baby: children, kids, babies
- Synonym: дитя́ (ditjá)
- (plural only) (plural ребя́та) guys, fellows, friends, comrades
Usage notes
- The singular form can only refer to "child"/"baby" sense.
- The plural form ребя́та (rebjáta) can mean "guys", "friends", etc.
- For the plural form "children" де́ти (déti) is the preferred word but ребя́та (rebjáta) is also used.
- The suppletive plural form де́ти (déti) is originally a plural form of дитя́ (ditjá).
Declension
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | ребёнок rebjónok | де́ти△, ребя́та* déti△, rebjáta* |
| genitive | ребёнка rebjónka | дете́й△, ребя́т* detéj△, rebját* |
| dative | ребёнку rebjónku | де́тям△, ребя́там* détjam△, rebjátam* |
| accusative | ребёнка rebjónka | дете́й△, ребя́т* detéj△, rebját* |
| instrumental | ребёнком rebjónkom | детьми́△, ребя́тами* detʹmí△, rebjátami* |
| prepositional | ребёнке rebjónke | де́тях△, ребя́тах* détjax△, rebjátax* |
△ Irregular.
* Use the second plural with the meaning "friends!", "fellows!", "guys!", "comrades!".
Descendants
- → Belarusian: рабёнак (rabjónak)
References
Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “ребенок”, in Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), transl. and suppl. by Oleg Trubachyov, Moscow: Progress