This paper is only a basic first search for similarities between Russian and English lexical items. In its limited goal of looking for words which have a "recognizability factor" this paper is an attempt to make some order out of the "irritating irregularity" of vocabulary (Carter & McCarthy 1988, p. 41).

Fortunately, Russian and English share some very important word-formation patterns, examples of which are shown in four tables:

A. Affixation:

1. Prefixes

2. Suffixes

B. Orthographic Substitutions

C. Indeclineable Words

D. Double Consonants

A. AFFIXATION

These tables offer a systematic introduction to affixes and other "combining forms" (Ilson 1985, p. 164) which Russian and English have in common. These lists show historical sources where available, but as this is a beginning outline, the information is limited; more research over time should fill it out. In organizing the tables, every effort was made to remember Norbury's (1967, p. 2) admonition that without a "systematic" approach, it probably takes a learner nearly as long to acquire the patterns of affixation as it does a native speaker.

Fortunately Russian-speakers are at an advantage when it comes to applying affixation patterns in English because, in Russian, affixation is the most common process of word-formation (Ward

1965, p. 119) and one which they are taught in school. Of the affixes in the tables, enough originate in Greek or Latin (and were in existence before the 14th century, Norbury 1967, p. 68),

that there there is a built-in foundation for learning; the tables include, in addition, a few affixes that come from Russian or Church Slavonic, and happen to be recognizable.

1. Prefixes

Foreign prefixes, which began to enter Russian during the time of Peter the Great, are now nearly as numerous as those of native origin, and are productive in forming nouns and adjectives (Norbury 1967, p. 28).

The prefixes and word-initial elements, (or "agglyutinativnye elementy" Panov 1968, p. 155), in this table are widely used in English, and because prefixes carry more meaning than suffixes,

they are particularly useful in increasing "the recognizability factor."

a-		forms an adjective from another adjective.
	alogichny	non-logical
	amoral'ny	amoral
	anormal'ny	abnormal
al-		is an Arabic element (Ward 1965, p. 125), originating in the article "the."
	algebra	algebra
	alkhimik	alchemist
	alkogol'	alcohol
	alkhimik	alchemist
	alkhimiya	alchemy
anti-		is added to adjectives and nouns, nearly all of foreign origin (Norbury 1967, p. 75).
	antiamerikanski	anti-American
	antibiotiki	antibiotics
	antifashist	anti-fascist
	antipatiya	antipathy
	antitoksin	antitoxin
avto-		is a Greek prefix added to nouns and adjectives, nearly all of foreign origin: (Norbury 1967, p.75).
	avtobiografiya	autobiography
	avtokratiya	autocracy
	avtograf	autograph
	avtomatizatsiya	automation
	avtomobil	automobile
	avtoportret	self-portrait
arkhi-	arkhipisko	archbishop
	arkhiskeptik	a confirmed sceptic
de(z)-		precedes only nouns of foreign origin. It is written de- preceding a vowel, dez- preceding a consonant, with a few exceptions. (Norbury 1967, p. 76).
	a) demobilizatsiya deflyatsiya destabilizatsiya	demobilization deflation destabilization
	b) deemul'sator deeskalatsiya	de-emulsifier de-escalation
	c) dezinfektsiya	disinfection
dis-	disgarmoniya	disharmony
	diskomfort	discomfort
	diskontyor	discount house
	diskreditirovat'	to discredit
	diskvalifitsirovat'	to disqualify
eks-		This element appears at the beginning of a few dozen words, but has been mostly a direct borrowing along with the element following it. (Ward 1965, p. 122)
	eks-chempion	ex-champion
	eks-ministr	ex-minister
	eks-rekordsmen	ex-recordholder
ekstra-	ekstraditsiya	extradition
inter-		This prefix has become steadily more productive. In 1881, a well-known dictionary listed three words with this prefix; by 1956 a similiar dictionary had 36 citations of nouns and adjectives with inter- (Norbury 1967, p. 28).
	interventsiya	intervention
	interval	interval
	intervokal'nyj	inter-vocalic
kontr(a)-	kontra	counter revolutionary
	kontrataka	counter attack
	kontrabas	contrabass
	kontrapunkt	counterpunkt
kvasi-	kvazispetsialist	a self-styled specialist
makro-	makroekonomika	macroeconomics
	makrokosm	macrocosm
	makroskopicheski	macroscopic
maksi-	maksimal'ny	maximal
	maksimum	maximum
mikro-	mikroavtobus	minibus
	mikrobiologiya	microbiology
	mikrofon	microphone
	mikrokosm	microcosm
	mikroorganizm	microorganism
	mikroskop	mikroskop
mini-	miniatyura	miniature
	minimal'ny	minimum (adj)
ne-	neappetitny	unappetizing
	negativ	negative
	negramotnost'	illiteracy, "grammar"
	nekulturny	vulgar
	nepopulyarny	unpopular
neo-		goes before nouns and adjectives of foreign origin.
	neoromantizm	neo-romanticism
	neonatsist	neo-Nazi
	neorealist	neorealist
pan-	panteizm	pantheism
	panslavizm	pan-Slavism
pred-	predystori	prehistory
pro-	proamerikanskij	pro-American
psevdo-	psevdonim	pseudonym
so-		is not an internationalism, but rather a Church Slavonic prefix (Townsend 1975, p. 59) which combines with Russian elements (Shanski 1971,p. 127). The element is recognizable to English-speakers and has the same meaning as in English.
	soavtor	co-author
sub-	substratosfera	the substratosphere
	subkontinent	subcontinent
	subnormal'	subnormal
	subtropiki	subtropics
	subsidiya	subsidy
super-	superfosfat	super-phosphate
trans-	transsibirskaya	Trans-Siberian Railway
ul'tra-		comes through French from Latin; appears to have been borrowed together with its following element in all instances.
	ul'tranationalizm	ultra-nationalism

2. Suffixes

This table includes both suffixes and other combining forms. Linguists don't always agree in which category a form belongs; for this paper the distinction is not material.

Knowing the meaning of suffixes is important in Russian because suffixation is a highly productive process in that language; a great many more Russian nouns are derived by suffixation than by prefixation (Townsend (1975, p. 151). One adjective suffix in five is imported (Norbury 1967, p. 29).

-ant		builds nouns for names of people, from verbs of foreign origin ending in -irovat'; many words in -ant are direct borrowings.
	diletant	dilettante
	kursant	student
	emigrant	emigrant
	spekulyant	speculator
	ekspatriant	expatriate
	ekskursant	sightseer ("excursion")
-ator		correlates with French -ateur, English -ator; usually borrowed together with the elements which precede them (Ward 1965, p. 25).
	administrator	administrator
	populyarizator	popularizer
-azh		is a French suffix which became prominent in the late 18th century (Vlasto 1988, p. 295); it follows stems of nouns and verbs of foreign origin (Norbury 1967, p. 75); of limited use.
	bagazh	baggage, luggage
	tonnazh	tonnage
	pilotazh	piloting
	reportazh	reporting
	voyazh	voyage, journey
	massazh	massage
	trikotazh	knit fabrics
	sabotazh	sabotage
-ent		usually borrowed together with the elements which precede it
	prezident	president
	dissident	dissident
	rezident	resident
	korrespondent	correspondent
-fil	rusofil	russophile
	bibliofil	bibliophile
	anglofil	anglophile
	slavyanofil	slavophile
-fob	anglofob	anglophobe
	rusofob	russophobe
-graf graf-		Nouns with this element started entering Russian from French [<Greek] in the 18th century (Comrie & Stone 1978, p.69).
	a) avtograf monograf paragraf telegraf	autograph monograf paragraph telegraph
	b) etnograf geograf kalligraf fotograf tipograf khoreograf	ethnographer geographer calligrapher photographer printer choreographer
	c) biografiya geografiya khoreografiya	geografiya geography choreography
	d) grafit	graphite
-ik		is related to -nik, -shchik, -chik.
	bol'shevik	Bolshevik
	dogmatik	dogmatist
	kritik	critic
	alkogolik	alkogolik
	politik	politician
	skeptik	skeptic
-ist		is an international suffix which became prominent in the late 18th century (Vlasto 1988, p. 295); it builds nouns from mostly foreign noun stems (Townsend p. 175); designates individuals belonging to a certain group, movement, etc. May have correlated words in -izm (Eng. -ism), though not always
	al'truist	altruist
	imperialist	imperialist
	gitarist	guitarist
	materialist	materialist
	kommunist	communist
	zhurnalis	journalist
	mashinist	machinist
	spetsialist	specialist
	metallist	metalworker
	okulist	oculist
	pragmatist	pragmatist
	futbolist	soccer player
	sotsialist	socialist
	turist	tourist
-it		is a suffix of foreign origin restricted to medical and scientifical terms (Ward 1965, p. 130).
	poliomelit	poliomelit
	dinamit	dynamite
	laringit	laryngitis
	fosforit	phosphorite
	bronkit	bronchitis
-iya		There is disagreement as to how to divide this suffix (see: Shanski 1971, p. 118; Townsend 1975, pp. 165, 216; Ward 1965, p. 129. As a result, these categories were organized so as to be most useful to learners.
a) -iya	biologiya	biology
	meterologiya	meterology
	kategoriya	kategoriya
	kategoriya	party
	armiya	army
	garmoniya	garmoniya
	khimiya	chemisty
	melodiya	melody
	geometriya	geometry
	melodiya	melody
	baletomaniya	balletomania
	imperiya	empire
	observatoriya	observatory
	shizofreniya	schizophrenia
b) -tsiya	infektsiya	infection
	emotsiya	emotsiya
	revolyutsiya	revolution
c) -atsiya	agitatsiya	propaganda
	federatsiya	federation
	organizatsiya	organization
	kollektivizatsiya	collectivization
	industralizatsiya	industrialization
d) -yatsiya after "l"	assimilyatsiya distillyatsiya	assimilation distillation
e) -fikatsiya, -ifikatsiya		comes from French in late 19th c. (Shanski 1971, p. 118)
	eletrifikatsiya	electrification
	kodifikatsiya	codification
	fortifikatsiya	fortification
	spetsifikatsiya	specification
	klassifikatsiya	classification
-izm		an international suffix which becomes prominent in the late 18th century (Vlasto 1988, p. 295; is used primarily with words of foreign origin, although it can be added to a Russian stem ("leninizm"); almost always corresponds to English -ism.
	al'truizm	altruism
	kapitalizm	capitalism
	kommunizm	communism
	impressionizm	impressionism
	pragmatizm	pragmatism
	turizm	tourism
	sotsializm	socialism
	krititsizm	critical attitude
-log		started to enter Russian from French in the 18th c. (Comrie & Stone 1978, p. 69)
	a) has corresponding noun (see -iya)
	biolog	biologist
	filolog	philologist
	meterolog	meterologist
	fiziolog	physiologist
	generalog	genealogist
	mineralog	minerologist
	b) dialog	dialogue
	monolog	monologue
	katalog	catalogue
	nekrolog	obituary
-man	baletoman	balletomane
	galloman	gallomane
-men		This element appears in a few words borrowed from English. The Russian suffix -ka turns these words into feminine.
	biznesmen	businessman
	yakhtsmen	yachtsman
	sportsmen sportsmenka	sportsman sportswoman
	rekordmen	record holder* *Linguists disagree as to source 1. Ward (1965, p. 126) claims it is an example of Russian using two foreign elements to create its own word, which looks as though it was borrowed as a whole; 2. Krysin (1968, p. 115) gives it as a borrowing from English, first cited in 1933.
-metr		Nouns with this suffix started entering Russian from French in the 18th century (Comrie & Stone 1978, p. 69)
	kilometer	kilometer
	termometer	thermometer
	millimeter	millimeter
-r (-ar', -er, -or, -yor)	a) pediatr	pediatrician
	b) sekretar'	secretary
	c) inzhener	engineer
	trener	trainer
	ofitser	officer
	fermer	farmer
	d) direktor	director
	lektor	lecturer
	inspektor	inspector
	professor	professor
	e) shofyor	chauffeur
	agressor	aggressor
	aktyor	actor
	literator	literator
	boksyo	boxer
	kompositor	composer
	importyor	importer
	kioskyor	kiosk minder
-skop	goroskop	horoscope
	giroskop	gyroscope
	mikroskop	microscope
	termoskop	thermoscope
	spektroskop	spectroscope
	periskop	periscope
	teleskop	telescope
-ura	This element has two functions:	a) for borrowings from Western European languages
	literatura	literature
		b) added to foreign stems, usually -ant or -ent, to make collective nouns (Townsend 1975, p. 195).
	aspirantura	graduate school, graduate students ("aspirant" is a graduate student)
	advokatura	the bar-"advokat" is a lawyer