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Bumming Around

The other day I read an article about a draft law on homeless people being floated by the Moscow city government. What caught my eye in particular was the phrase "?°???‚???€?‹ [?·?°???????°] ???€?µ???»?°???°???‚ ?·?°???????????°?‚?µ?»?????? ?·?°???€?µ?????‚?? ?????????‚???? '?±?€???????¶?????‡?µ???‚????' ?? '?±?µ?·?????????‹?? ???€?°?¶???°??????'" (the drafters propose to legislatively establish definitions of 'vagrancy' and 'a homeless citizen').

This is, of course, no big deal. Bureaucrats, lawmakers and lawyers all over the world define words in a particular way in specific documents. But it got me thinking about the linguistic differences are between vagrants and homeless people in Russian and ways to describe a rootless life.

Some of it is easy for English speakers to understand: ?±?€???????¶?????‡?µ???‚???? is the same as vagrancy, and ?±?µ?·?????????‹?? is the equivalent of homeless. In fact, ?±?€???????¶?????‡?µ???‚???? comes from ?±?€???????‚?? (to wander), and vagrancy comes originally from the Latin vagari (to wander).

In both Russian and English, ?±?€?????????° (vagrant) is someone who wanders from place to place, usually in poverty and without a home or regular employment. ?‘?µ?·?????????‹?? (homeless person) doesn't have a permanent living place — and in Russia, registration.

As I understand it, ?±?€?????????°/vagrant is almost always ?±?µ?·?????????‹??/homeless, but ?±?µ?·?????????‹??/homeless is not always ?±?€?????????°/vagrant.

In colloquial Russian today, a homeless person is ?±?????¶, from the Soviet abbreviation ?±?µ?· ?????€?µ???µ?»?‘?????????? ???µ???‚?° ?¶???‚?µ?»?????‚???° ([a person] without a definite place of residence). This abbreviation, invented to describe homeless people who ideologically couldn't exist in the U.S.S.R., has turned into a masculine noun with the plural ?±?????¶?? (stress on last syllable) and feminine form — ?±?????¶???…?°.

And then there are words that are old fashioned but more expressive, like ?±???????? (tramp, from ?±???????? — barefoot); ???±???€???°???µ?† (bum, someone dressed in tatters, from ?€???°?‚?? — to tear); ???????‚?°?»?µ?† (wanderer, from ???????‚?°?‚?????? — to go from place to place); or even ???‚?€?°???????? (wayfarer, wanderer or pilgrim).

Another wonderful word is ???°?‚???? (wanderer, bum). This comes from ???°?‚?°?‚??????, which most commonly means to shake or be unsteady, like a loose tooth. But it also has the sense of going from place to place, and ???°?‚?°?‚?????? ???? ?????€?? is to knock around the world. Today you are more likely to hear ???°?‚???? used metaphorically about people: ???? ?±?‹?» ?????»???‚???‡?µ???????? ???°?‚???????? (He was a political pendulum.) Or terrifyingly, about bears: ???µ?????µ????-???°?‚???? is a bear that doesn't hibernate. ???µ?????µ???? ???‚?°?» ???°?‚????????, ?±?€???????» ???? ?»?µ????, ???‹?…???????» ???° ?????€??????, ???°???°???°?» ???° ?»?????°???µ?? ?? ?»?????µ?? (The bear left his den, wandered around the woods, went out on the roads, and attacked horses and people.)

Reminds me of a boyfriend I once had — he was a real bear if he didn't get enough sleep.

During the Soviet era, being a vagrant or homeless was simply against the law. In fact, not working was against the law. This was called ?‚?????µ???????‚???? (parasitism), a word that I used to have such trouble remembering I used the mnemonic device of "tuna fish" — lying around like a fish. Being fish-like could land you in the camps for a couple of years.

Thankfully, Moscow officials aren't going to put you in jail for not working. If you are ?±?µ?·?????????‹??, they'll register you and give you access to medical aid. But they have special centers for anyone into ?±?€???????¶?????‡?µ???‚????, which they define as a homeless, unemployed way of life, "?????????€?±?»?????‰???? ?‡?µ?»?????µ?‡?µ???????µ ???????‚?????????‚???? ?? ???€???‚???????€?µ?‡?°?‰???? ?‚?€?µ?±?????°???????? ?»???‡?????? ?????????µ???‹" (insulting human dignity and inconsistent with the needs of personal hygiene).

Essentially, if you stink, you're going to be in big trouble.

Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.

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