Prospekt (street)
Encyclopedia
A prospekt is a broad, multi-lane and usually straight street
Street
A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...
in urban area
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
s. The term originated in Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, where in the first years of construction of St Petersburg (beginning of the 18th century) the broadest avenues were called "" (literally, visual
Perspective (visual)
Perspective, in context of vision and visual perception, is the way in which objects appear to the eye based on their spatial attributes; or their dimensions and the position of the eye relative to the objects...
or graphical perspective
Perspective (graphical)
Perspective in the graphic arts, such as drawing, is an approximate representation, on a flat surface , of an image as it is seen by the eye...
). One of the world-known prospekts of Petersburg is Nevsky Prospekt
Nevsky Prospekt
Nevsky Avenue |Prospekt]]) is the main street in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia. Planned by Peter the Great as beginning of the road to Novgorod and Moscow, the avenue runs from the Admiralty to the Moscow Railway Station and, after making a turn at Vosstaniya Square, to the Alexander...
.
The name "prospekt" was widely used in USSR where, following tradition it was applied to the main avenues in the newly constructed cities and cities’ blocks. Later on the word came into the local languages of the Soviet Republics, which turned to become independent states
Post-Soviet states
The post-Soviet states, also commonly known as the Former Soviet Union or former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent states that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its dissolution in December 1991...
in 1991.
In the 18th-19th century the emigrants from Russian Empire apparently brought this word to the USA. There the word "prospekt" mixed with its English counterpart "avenue" resulting in Prospect Avenue, a tautological
Tautology
Tautology may refer to:*Tautology , using different words to say the same thing even if the repetition does not provide clarity. Tautology also means a series of self-reinforcing statements that cannot be disproved because the statements depend on the assumption that they are already...
combination from the Russian point of view.
- Prospect AvenueProspect Avenue (Kansas City, Missouri)Prospect Avenue or Prospect is a major north/south main street that runs in Kansas City, Missouri from Lexington Avenue to 85th Street. It travels close to U.S. Route 71 from Swope Parkway to 75th Street.-Trivia:...
is a major north/south main street in Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. - Prospect Avenue in the BronxProspect Avenue (IRT White Plains Road Line)Prospect Avenue is a local station on the IRT White Plains Road Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Prospect and Westchester Avenues in the Bronx, it is served by the 2 train at all times, and by the 5 train at all times except late nights and rush hours in peak...
is one of avenues in The BronxThe BronxThe Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
and is also the name of one NYCS subway stations there. - Meanwhile, in BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
in addition to the local Prospect Avenue and the subway station of the same nameProspect Avenue (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)Prospect Avenue is a local station on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line in Brooklyn of the New York City Subway. Located at Prospect Avenue and Fourth Avenue near the border of Sunset Park and Park Slope, it is served by the R train at all times except late nights, when the D and N assume local service...
there is also a Prospect ParkProspect ParkProspect Park may refer to:* Prospect Park , a park in Brooklyn, New York, United States* Prospect Park , a park in Troy, New York, United States...
— a toponym also known in DavenportProspect Park Historic District (Davenport, Iowa)The Prospect Park Historic District in Davenport, Iowa, United States is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. In its area, it included 23 contributing buildings in 1984...
and Des Moines in Iowa, in MassachusettsProspect Park (Holyoke, Massachusetts)Prospect Park is a historic park at Maple St., Arbor Way, Connecticut River in Holyoke, Massachusetts.It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004....
, Minnesota and some other states where its origin needs separate explanation.
Etymology
Russian lexicographer Vladimir DalVladimir Dal
Vladimir Ivanovich Dal was one of the greatest Russian language lexicographers. He was a founding member of the Russian Geographical Society. He knew at least six languages including Turkic and is considered to be one of the early Turkologists...
in his "Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian language" marked prospekt as a loanword
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
from French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. As it was mentioned, French and other European languages (English, German, Dutch) use perspe[c/k]tive, so from which of these languages was Russian "pershpektiva" borrowed in 1700s, it remains an open question.
Prospekt is cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
with the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
term prospect, both derive from Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
prospectus "view, outlook". In the 18th century Russia, prospekt was used specifically for very long straight streets, especially in St Petersburg, because they afforded a spectacular view from one end to the other when looking down them.
See also
- Russian street names
- Nevsky ProspektNevsky ProspektNevsky Avenue |Prospekt]]) is the main street in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia. Planned by Peter the Great as beginning of the road to Novgorod and Moscow, the avenue runs from the Admiralty to the Moscow Railway Station and, after making a turn at Vosstaniya Square, to the Alexander...
- Moskovsky ProspektMoskovsky ProspektMoskovsky Prospekt is a 10 km-long prospekt in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It runs from Sennaya Square and Sadovaya Street, to the Victory Square, where it splits into Pulkovo Highway and Moscow Highway. It crosses Fontanka River, Zagorodny Prospekt, Obvodny Canal, and Ligovsky Prospekt...
- Kutuzovsky ProspektKutuzovsky ProspektKutuzovsky Prospekt is a major radial avenue in Moscow, Russia, named after Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, leader of Russian field army during the French invasion of Russia...
- Leningradsky ProspektLeningradsky ProspektLeningradsky Prospekt , or Leningrad Avenue, is a major arterial avenue in Moscow, Russia. It continues the path of Tverskaya Street and 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street north-west from Belorussky Rail Terminal, and changes the name once again to Leningrad Highway past the Sokol metro station...
- AvenueAvenue (landscape)__notoc__In landscaping, an avenue or allée is traditionally a straight route with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each, which is used, as its French source venir indicates, to emphasize the "coming to," or arrival at a landscape or architectural feature...
- Link roadLink roadA link road is a transport infrastructure road that links two conurbations or other major road transport facilities, often added because of increasing road traffic. They can be controversial, especially if they threaten to destroy natural habitat and greenfield land.The term is used in the United...
- BoulevardBoulevardA Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...
- AlleyAlleyAn alley or alleyway is a narrow lane found in urban areas, often for pedestrians only, which usually runs between or behind buildings. In older cities and towns in Europe, alleys are often what is left of a medieval street network, or a right of way or ancient footpath in an urban setting...
- LaneLaneA lane is a part of the roadway within a road marked out for use by a single line of vehicles in such a way as to control and guide drivers for the purpose of reducing traffic conflicts. Most public roads have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each direction, separated by Lane markings...