3 ms·

grandma and butterfly are different words in Russian. Listen http://tts.imtranslator.net/A3Xz http://tts.imtranslator.net/A3Xz

• hristov 17y ago
  yes butterfly is technically babochka, but they sound the same to the english ear.
  • nzmsv 17y ago
    There's definitely a difference between CH and SH, even in English. The pronunciations are: BAH - bush - ka: grandma BAH - botch - ka: butterfly I am currently teaching Russian to my wife, and the things she says sound the same continually surprise me :)
  • gruseom 17y ago
    There's no "technically" about it. That's just what the word means. It's irrelevant how similar they sound to the English ear; you might as well argue that "the" is interchangeable with "duh". Also, contrary to the GP, there's no difference in stress, which is on the first syllable in both words. The reason they're different words is that "sh" vs. "ch" is a phonemic distinction in Russian, just as it is in English. That's why we distinguish between "sheep" and "cheep", for example, and would regard it as bizarre to conflate them.
    • Groxx 17y ago
      Maybe they can go for a near-homonym pun? A nested grandmother doll with butterfly wings?