Every new student, when he starts to study Russian, asks me the question: “How do you say in Russian Mister, Missis, Madame or Monsieur”? It always makes me sad, because these words are missing in modern Russian. They were before. You know that Russian is a very rich and beautiful language. And we really miss these disappeared words. Let me tell you today how women and men were addressed in Russia earlier.
These appeals disappeared in the 20th century, when Soviet power began. It was important for that regime to remove from the language all polite formulas of addresses, to exclude the division into men and women, because everyone had to be equal.
Young man – were “сударь” [sudar’] or “барин” [barin]
Young woman were “сударыня” [sudarynia] or [barusniya]Now people do not call each other that. Sometimes at some event or in the theater, the public is addressed as “дамы и господа”, “леди и джентельмены”.