?‘?»?°?????????‚?€??́?????‚????: improvements
Russia and Russians have a reputation for doing things big: big land, big hearts, big feats — the biggest, tallest, largest, longest whatever, from aquariums to hotels. Appropriately they have a few words that are huge, too. I mean words that encompass an enormous range of meaning, like this one: ?±?»?°?????????‚?€???????‚????. It's a whopper of a word.
It is also one of those compound words that you can figure out: ?±?»?°???? (benefit, advantage) and ?????‚?€???????‚???? (organization, installation, set-up). So ?±?»?°?????????‚?€???????‚???? is organizing or setting something up in a way that is beneficial. That's pretty much it, just bigger: ?±?»?°?????????‚?€???????‚???? is any kind of work to improve a territory, like building roads, putting in telephone and electricity lines, water, and a sewer system; cleaning up and landscaping; decorating, etc. If you are acting to make something look better, you're conducting ?±?»?°?????????‚?€???????‚????.
This is a lovely word to have in your Russian language pocket, since you can pull it out to cover a multitude of circumstances. But the trick is with translation. English doesn't have one word to describe it all — except "improvements," which is awfully vague.
Let's start small: ?–???»?? ???? ???????µ?????‚???? ?????° ???°???‚?µ?€?° ???? ?????????µ?????µ ???‚???€ ?? ???€???‡?µ???? ?±?»?°?????????‚?€???????‚???° (Two handymen who were good at hanging curtains and doing other home improvements lived in our neighborhood.) It might just mean cleaning up a mess: ?’ ?????‚?????†?? ???‹ ?·?°???????°?»?????? ?±?»?°?????????‚?€???????‚?????? ?†?µ???‚?€?° ?????€?????° ???????»?µ ?·?????‹ (On Friday we did the spring clean-up of the city center.) Or fixing the potholes: ???????????????»?µ?????‹?µ ???µ???????? ???????????‚ ???° ?±?»?°?????????‚?€???????‚???? ?????€???? ???????»?µ ?‚???¶?‘?»???? ?·?????‹ (The leftover funds will be used for road repair after the harsh winter.)
Here's a case where it's hard to know exactly what is meant: ? ?µ???????µ?????????°???? ?·?°?????‚?????? ???°???µ???µ?????µ?? ?????€???????° ?? ?±?»?°?????????‚?€???????‚?????? ???????‚?€?µ?????µ?? ?‡?°???‚?? ???µ?€?µ?…?????° (The recommendation was to clean up and improve the appearance of the pedestrian underpass.) It could mean anything from washing the walls to painting them or putting up posters.
Often it means general improvement of an outdoor space. ???°?? ?·?°?????? ???????‰?µ???‚?????» ???€???????‹?? ???€???µ???‚ ???? ?±?»?°?????????‚?€???????‚???? ?†?µ???‚?€?° ???µ?»?° — ?????€???µ???‚???€?????°?»?? ?? ???????‚?€?????»?? ???°?€?? ???° ???»?°???????? ???»???‰?°???? (Our factory carried out a major project to beautify the village center: we designed and built a park on the main square.)
Or it can mean repair and reconstruction, especially of housing or equipment that is described in Russian as ?????€?°?»?????? ?????‚?°?€?µ?????µ?µ (literally, morally obsolete). I am particularly fond of that phrase, since I often wonder if I am already ?????€?°?»?????? ?????‚?°?€?µ?????°??. All of this is almost harder to translate than to do: ???»?µ?????µ?‚ ?????µ?»?°?‚?? ?°???†?µ???‚ ???° ???????‹???µ?????? ???°?‡?µ???‚???° ?????€???????????? ???€?µ???‹ ?????‚?µ?? ?€?µ?????????‚?€?????†????, ???????µ?€?????·?°?†???? ?? ?±?»?°?????????‚?€???????‚???° ???µ?‚?…???? ?? ?????€?°?»?????? ?????‚?°?€?µ?????µ?? ?¶???»???? ?·?°???‚?€????????, ???°?????‚?°?»?????????? ?€?µ???????‚?° ???????????????°?€?‚???€???‹?… ?????????? (We've got to emphasize improving the quality of the urban environment by reconstructing, modernizing and updating of housing that is dilapidated and has out-of-date utilities, and by completely updating and reconstructing large apartment houses.)
The only problem with ?±?»?°?????????‚?€???????‚???? is that the process is so hellish, it's more like what Russian wits call ?·?»???????‚?€???????‚???? (harm creation). Want to know what that looks like? Walk down Tverskaya Ulitsa this week. It's a 3-D version of ?·?»???????‚?€???????‚????.
Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.