Did you know that a 17th century British business lady has influenced a creation of an entire lexical paradigm in the Russian language?
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| Train Station in Pavlovsk, a musical evening. |
Serving as a bit of an inspiration to all entrepreneurs to be, the story of "vokzal", the Russian word for a train station, can amuse many. It was loaned from the original English "Vauxhall" - a 17th century park and entertainment establishment owned by Jane Vaux in London suburb. In Russian the word became a common noun after the first train station in Pavlovsk (near St Petersburg) was built in 1838. It served as a passenger's hall and a concert hall simultaneously (impacting up to 2,000 people and known to have hosted Johann Strauss II and Shalyapin - unfortunately the station was completely ruined during 1941-1944 occupation in WWII).*
The first railway station as we know it now was built in 1822-25 in England to connect Stockton-Darlington lines. In the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century train stations became one of the most influential attributes of large cities. Initially the architecture of train stations was dictated by regular social constructions, whereas since the end of the 19th century architects in both Russia and Europe started to search for more functional solutions.
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| Train Station in Pavlovks, a musical evening. |
If you know of any other loan words that came to English from Russian or vice versa, we will be happy to hear from you on our Facebook page.
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* Interestingly enough, there's also another theory to explain "vokzal" etymology. It is said that a Russian delegation visiting Vauxhall area in the 1840's mistook the name for the generic name of a train station and took this back to Pavlovsk with them. Which one of the two versions sounds more probable to you? Let us know on Facebook!
Pictures are courtesy of pavlovsk-spb.ru
