On 1/29/22 07:01, David Brown wrote:
....
> What I have learned from all this, is that "мир" ("mir") means "world"
> as well as "peace". I find that an interesting linguistic titbit.

Which means that if a Russian leader says "Я хочу мир.", it's ambiguous
whether he's saying he wants peace, or he wants the world.

On 1/29/2022 9:19 AM, James Kuyper wrote:
> On 1/29/22 07:01, David Brown wrote:
> ...
>> What I have learned from all this, is that "мир" ("mir") means "world"
>> as well as "peace". I find that an interesting linguistic titbit.
>
> Which means that if a Russian leader says "Я хочу мир.", it's ambiguous
> whether he's saying he wants peace, or he wants the world.

Not really.

The subject for "хотеть" can be placed in Accusative or Genitive case,
depending on the nature of the subject. This is the case for many words
that can used to refer to a specific object or to a some sort of
non-quantifiable concept or resource ("peace", "water", "fish" etc.).

"I want peace" would normally require "мир" in Genitive case, which is
"мира": "Я хочу мира".

If you attempt to use "Я хочу мир" in this meaning, people would
normally understand you properly (given enough context), but you'll
still be perceived as an "untrained" speaker (e.g. child, uneducated,
non-native, etc.)

"I want [the] world" would take "мир" in Accusative case, which is still
"мир": "Я хочу мир".

And this later version still doesn't sound right, since literary norms
usually require an extra verb specifying/qualifying the desire. Not "Я
хочу мир", but "Я хочу владеть миром" ("I want to own the world") или "Я
хочу править миром" ("I want to rule the world") etc.

I think that "I want [the] world" has the same feel in English as well.
It doesn't sound quite right without extra specification.

--
Best regards,
Andrey Tarasevich

James Kuyper:

> Which means that if a Russian leader says "Я хочу мир.",
> it's ambiguous whether he's saying he wants peace, or he
> wants the world.

Not at all:

Я хочу мира -- I want piece.
Я хочу мир -- I want the world.

But the sounds somewhat unnatural.

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Andrey Tarasevich:

> "I want peace" would normally require "мир" in Genitive
> case, which is "мира": "Я хочу мира".

This combined aspect is called the waiting (ожидательный)
aspect, because it is most characteristically required of
the object of "to wait":

Я жду тебя I await you ( = accusative )
Я жду письма I await a letter ( = genitive )

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On 31/01/2022 07:38, Anton Shepelev wrote:
> Not at all:
>
> Я хочу мира -- I want piece.
> Я хочу мир -- I want the world.
>
> But the sounds somewhat unnatural.

I suspect you want peace, not piece.

English is a really stupid language in a lot of ways.

Andy

Vir Campestris to Anton Shepelev:

> > Not at all:
> >
> > Я хочу мира -- I want piece.
> > Я хочу мир -- I want the world.
> >
> > But the sounds somewhat unnatural.
>
> I suspect you want peace, not piece.

Say I want a piece of the world :-)

> English is a really stupid language in a lot of ways.

This is like blaming C for typos and blunders of the
programmer.

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On 2/2/22 17:04, Vir Campestris wrote:
> On 31/01/2022 07:38, Anton Shepelev wrote:
>> Not at all:
>>
>> Я хочу мира -- I want piece.
>> Я хочу мир -- I want the world.
>>
>> But the sounds somewhat unnatural.
>
> I suspect you want peace, not piece.
>
> English is a really stupid language in a lot of ways.

As a native speaker, I have to agree. I've been teaching my
six-year-olds English, and periodically I just have to say to them -
"that's another stupid thing about English" - particularly with regard
to English spelling.