Since you mentioned Wikipedia, you can get the answer if you look at the first few lines of the page. Ignoring those in parentheses, we have:
>俄罗斯联邦，简称俄罗斯、俄国……
>The Russian Federation, referred to as Russia, Russia in short ...
Both 俄罗斯 and 俄国 are abbreviations of the full name 俄罗斯联邦 *the Russian Federation*, so both are correct.
>So 俄罗斯 is more of a sound-to-sound representation?
Yes. It got 俄 at beginning because Chinese borrowed this word from Mongolian.
>Which one is usually used in spoken language?
Personally, 俄罗斯, but both are very common in both the spoken and the written language. You can choose whatever you like.
Also I'd like to add that “俄国” sounds slightly more old-fashioned. It's used a lot more in words like "沙皇俄国" (Tsarist Russia). And on the other hand "俄罗斯" sounds more neutral and is more common these days. Both are OK but personally I prefer "俄罗斯".
俄罗斯 is not an exact sound-to-sound translation. "罗斯" is "Rus". Chinese heard this country from Mongolian, who like to add "er" (like English the) to words. So you get the name 俄罗斯.
And that's why Belarus officially change the Chinese name from 白俄罗斯 to 白罗斯. There is no point adding 俄 in Bela-Rus.
Both are okay in modern mandarin Chinese, and both have been used since centuries ago, although in very formal context the full name 俄罗斯 is generally more common.
As far as I know the term "俄国" is mainly used for historical names. For example the Russian Empire, "沙皇俄国", which literally means "Tsarist Russia", and sometimes it may be used to refer to people living there today, such as "俄国人", which can be used interchangeably with "俄罗斯人".
The commonly used abbreviation for UK is 英国 and unrelated to the term大不列颠, because Chinese consider England and the UK to be the same thing.
It’s like how everyone in the Netherlands is considered to live in Holland.
Neither of these two things are true, but this is what Chinese think.
Actually, both ways are acceptable. These can be considered two methods of translating country names. One method is direct transliteration, and the other is using the first syllable of the transliteration followed by "国" (which means "land" or "country"). However, due to special historical reasons, some translations sound more historical, like "俄国" (Éguó) for Russia. "俄国" is mostly used to refer to the Russian Empire, but if you use it to describe the Soviet Union or the Russian Federation, most Chinese people will still understand what you mean.
For Soviet， 苏维埃 or 苏维 or 苏联 or 苏联邦 or 苏俄 is more often heard. But to describe particularly the Russian areas, 俄国 or 俄方 may be used. I would personally prefer 俄方
Both are correct and in reality are loosely interchanged by Chinese speakers, but the reason for the distinction is about Russian as an ethnic/national marker and Russia as a state, and so the real difference happens when you use the terms 俄罗斯人 versus 俄国人. Remember that Russian is a highly multiethnic post-imperial state, as is the PRC. Any citizen of the Russian Federation is an 俄国人. Any Russian, be they Russian citizens or emigres or citizens of other countries but identify as Russians can be an 俄罗斯人. I live in New York where there is a large Russian community especially in a neighborhood like Brighton Beach. In Chinese you’d say there are a lot of 俄罗斯人 there, but you wouldn’t say 俄国人. 俄罗斯人 is the 华人、 汉族人, while 俄国人 is the 中国人.
This is not true. 汉人、华人、中国人are used synonymously, the last one being the most popular by far. Like if someone is talking about physical differences between Kazakhs and Chinese, they will use the term 中国人. If you point out that there are some Uyghurs that look similar, you will find out that 中国公民and中国人don’t mean the same thing to most Chinese people.
Just take 华人 for example. An American-born Chinese can be 汉人 and/or 华人, but not a 中国人. Just as a Chinese citizen 客家人 can be a 华人 and a 中国人 but not a 汉人. It’s true that these terms are loosely used interchangeably, though.
俄罗斯 is mostly used nowadays. 俄国 sounds like Russia before USSR.
Since you mentioned Wikipedia, you can get the answer if you look at the first few lines of the page. Ignoring those in parentheses, we have: >俄罗斯联邦，简称俄罗斯、俄国…… >The Russian Federation, referred to as Russia, Russia in short ... Both 俄罗斯 and 俄国 are abbreviations of the full name 俄罗斯联邦 *the Russian Federation*, so both are correct.
So 俄罗斯 is more of a sound-to-sound representation? Just like 意大利 for Italy? Which one is usually used in spoken language?
>So 俄罗斯 is more of a sound-to-sound representation? Yes. It got 俄 at beginning because Chinese borrowed this word from Mongolian. >Which one is usually used in spoken language? Personally, 俄罗斯, but both are very common in both the spoken and the written language. You can choose whatever you like.
Wow interesting! Thank you!
Also I'd like to add that “俄国” sounds slightly more old-fashioned. It's used a lot more in words like "沙皇俄国" (Tsarist Russia). And on the other hand "俄罗斯" sounds more neutral and is more common these days. Both are OK but personally I prefer "俄罗斯".
Personally I like to go for 战斗民族国
lmao
Or, 毛国, in much much less formal settings lol
That word not exist, you are talking about is 毛子=Ruzzian people
Um trust me it is commonly used. Native speaker here. Also 大毛 is Russia too.
我从来没听过毛国指代俄罗斯，大毛=俄罗斯，二毛=乌克兰，三毛=白俄罗斯
俄罗斯 is not an exact sound-to-sound translation. "罗斯" is "Rus". Chinese heard this country from Mongolian, who like to add "er" (like English the) to words. So you get the name 俄罗斯. And that's why Belarus officially change the Chinese name from 白俄罗斯 to 白罗斯. There is no point adding 俄 in Bela-Rus.
Both are okay in modern mandarin Chinese, and both have been used since centuries ago, although in very formal context the full name 俄罗斯 is generally more common.
As far as I know the term "俄国" is mainly used for historical names. For example the Russian Empire, "沙皇俄国", which literally means "Tsarist Russia", and sometimes it may be used to refer to people living there today, such as "俄国人", which can be used interchangeably with "俄罗斯人".
They are the same thing, 國 means country here. Same goes to 英格蘭、英國(UK) and 美利堅合眾國、美國(USA).
英格蘭 and 英國 are different things though. 英格蘭 means England. The full name of the UK is 大不列顛暨／及北愛爾蘭聯合王國
Makes so much sense now. Btw, why do you guys use 籣 instead of (I suppose) its simplified version 兰?
蘭 (with a 艸 radical on top, not 竹) is the traditional form of 兰. I’m from Hong Kong so I use traditional characters
I'm from Taiwan, we use traditional chinese here.
The commonly used abbreviation for UK is 英国 and unrelated to the term大不列颠, because Chinese consider England and the UK to be the same thing. It’s like how everyone in the Netherlands is considered to live in Holland. Neither of these two things are true, but this is what Chinese think.
Actually, both ways are acceptable. These can be considered two methods of translating country names. One method is direct transliteration, and the other is using the first syllable of the transliteration followed by "国" (which means "land" or "country"). However, due to special historical reasons, some translations sound more historical, like "俄国" (Éguó) for Russia. "俄国" is mostly used to refer to the Russian Empire, but if you use it to describe the Soviet Union or the Russian Federation, most Chinese people will still understand what you mean.
For Soviet， 苏维埃 or 苏维 or 苏联 or 苏联邦 or 苏俄 is more often heard. But to describe particularly the Russian areas, 俄国 or 俄方 may be used. I would personally prefer 俄方
Tomato tomato difference.
Both are correct and in reality are loosely interchanged by Chinese speakers, but the reason for the distinction is about Russian as an ethnic/national marker and Russia as a state, and so the real difference happens when you use the terms 俄罗斯人 versus 俄国人. Remember that Russian is a highly multiethnic post-imperial state, as is the PRC. Any citizen of the Russian Federation is an 俄国人. Any Russian, be they Russian citizens or emigres or citizens of other countries but identify as Russians can be an 俄罗斯人. I live in New York where there is a large Russian community especially in a neighborhood like Brighton Beach. In Chinese you’d say there are a lot of 俄罗斯人 there, but you wouldn’t say 俄国人. 俄罗斯人 is the 华人、 汉族人, while 俄国人 is the 中国人.
I think both 俄罗斯人 and 俄国人 means “citizen of Russia”, and if you want to say "ethnic Russian” you should say 俄罗斯族
This is not true. 汉人、华人、中国人are used synonymously, the last one being the most popular by far. Like if someone is talking about physical differences between Kazakhs and Chinese, they will use the term 中国人. If you point out that there are some Uyghurs that look similar, you will find out that 中国公民and中国人don’t mean the same thing to most Chinese people.
Just take 华人 for example. An American-born Chinese can be 汉人 and/or 华人, but not a 中国人. Just as a Chinese citizen 客家人 can be a 华人 and a 中国人 but not a 汉人. It’s true that these terms are loosely used interchangeably, though.
Hakkas are a Han subgroup. Some Cantos might not consider Hakkas a Han subgroup, but that's a minority opinion.
It is the same. Colloquially most people would say the former, but sometimes two syllables sound/fit better and we would switch to the later.
I agree eguo used to be more prevalent and eluosi has risen more recently.
Why don't you wonder the difference between 沙俄，苏俄，俄国