Hi, Alexander!  Awhile ago you wrote in a message to All:   
      
   ak>  =========Beginning of the citation==============   
   ak>  English language 'originated in Turkey'   
      
   ak>  Their findings differ from conventional theory that these   
   ak>  languages originated 5,000 years ago in south-west Russia.   
   ak>  =========The end of the citation================   
      
   ak>  Is it OK with English here?   
      
      
           Good question.  In North American English the hyphen is usually   
   omitted except with compass bearings like "south-southwest", but that may or   
   may be the case in British or Australian English nowadays.  Similarly,   
   although I would be more likely to use one of the constructions you mentioned,   
   the BBC's usage here is IMHO within currently acceptable limits.  If native   
   speakers of English tend to drop inflections... as they've already been doing   
   for a thousand years or so   
   ... I can relate to a certain extent.  I balk at "drive safe", however....  ;-)   
      
      
      
   ak>  IMHO it must be:   
      
   ak>  Their findings differ from conventional theory that these   
   ak>  languages originated 5,000 years ago in the south-west of   
   ak>  Russia.   
   ak>  or   
   ak>  Their findings differ from conventional theory that these   
   ak>  languages originated 5,000 years ago in south-western Russia.   
      
      
           In Southwestern BC, where Dallas & I live, a large number of   
   immigrants come from Southeast Asia.  Why the distinction?  I don't know.    
   That's just the way people talk around these parts.  Asia is a continent, but   
   Canada & Russia & the US occupy a lot of real estate too.  I'd say some of our   
   modem buddies here live in the Southeastern US... while they might say they   
   live in the Southeast. And around these parts, if you want to know who comes   
   from Back East (i.e. from some considerable distance east of the Rockies), all   
   you have to do is wait for them to say "Out East"... particularly if they've   
   grown up in Ontario & they're under forty years of age.  Out east, out west.    
   It is consistent.  But in order to understand folks from around these parts   
   one must understand that many of us are here because our parents and/or   
   grandparents arrived on this continent Back East & kept moving Out West until   
   they encountered the Pacific Ocean... [grin].   
      
                                      ###   
      
           My apologies for taking such a long time to answer... I had to let   
   this idea percolate until I'd consciously recognized another example which   
   seemed to be clamouring for attention but which I couldn't quite put into   
   words.  We have a street in Vancouver called Marine Drive... as do many other   
   places on the Wet Coast.  It runs from UBC (i.e. technically outside the city   
   limits) to the edge of Burnaby (i.e. the suburb next door) & beyond.  IOW,   
   it's quite a long street by our standards although you could probably get from   
   London to Wales in the UK & vice versa by following Chepstow Road.  Because it   
   crosses a boundary between east & west WRT the naming of various other   
   streets, however, this one is known either as Southeast or Southwest Marine   
   Drive.  It's small potatoes compared to any number of other things but large   
   in comparison to its immediate neighbours.   
      
                                      ###   
      
           To make a long story short... while I may be able to carry off the   
   same sort of stunt Henry Higgins did at times, I have no precedent in my   
   memory bank for references to Russia.  I think a lot may depend on where one   
   lives....  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)