???µ ???µ???°?? ??????: cheer up!
If I were really paranoid instead of just moderately deranged with a slight persecution complex, I'd say that the Russian language was out to get me. How else can you explain words whose meaning changes from weigh to hang to execute depending on a few letters in a prefix? Or one word that can mean to weigh or to execute, depending on context? Or words that flip the letters ?? and e to turn the meaning on its head: ???µ?????‚?? (to weigh) and ???????µ?‚?? (to be suspended)? ???? ???°?‘????! (For cripes' sake!)
To sort this out, let's start with the basic imperfective and transitive verb ???µ???°?‚??. ?’?µ???°?‚?? means to hang — to place something in a hanging position. ?’?µ???°?‚?? ???‚???€?‹, ???°?»???‚??, ?±?µ?»???‘ (to hang curtains, a coat, laundry). ???°?€?‚?????‹ ?????‰?µ???‚???????‚ ?‚???»?????? ???»?? ?‚??????, ?‡?‚???±?‹ ???µ???°?‚?? ???… ???° ???‚?µ????. (Paintings exist only so they can be hung on the wall.) ???±???????»?µ?????? ?????¶???? ???µ???°?‚?? ?? ???°?¶?????? ?????????°?‚?µ (Notices should be posted in every room.) ?????µ?¶???? ???µ???°???‚?µ ???° ???????????? ???‚???»?°. (Hang your clothes over the back of the chair.)
Sometimes, sadly, the thing placed in a hanging position is a person. ?’?µ???°?»?? ?????‚?µ?€?‹?… ???µ???°?±?€?????‚????. (Five Decembrists were hanged.)
But then in colloquial speech, ???µ???°?‚?? can also mean to weigh, as in what the vendor at the market does with a hunk of cheese. ?’?‹ ?????µ ???‹?€ ???µ???°?µ?‚?µ? (Are you weighing that cheese for me?)
There are some handy hanging expressions. ?’?µ???°?‚?? ?????? and ???µ???°?‚?? ?????»?????? (literally to let your nose and your head hang down) means to be discouraged or dispirited. As usual, where Russian has an implied double negative — ???µ ???µ???°?? ??????! ???µ ???µ???°?? ?????»??????! — English uses a positive: Cheer up! Keep your chin up!
I also like the expression ???µ???°?‚?? ?????±?°?? (to sic the dogs on someone) — to accuse or blame someone for something or everything. ???‹ ???°?? ???????????°?‚, ?° ???° ???µ???? ???µ???°?µ???? ?????µ?… ?????±?°??! (You did it, but you're putting all the blame on me!)
Note that a person hangs on the phone — ?????????‚ — when talking for a long time, but a person hangs up the phone — ???µ???°?µ?‚ — when finished. ???µ ???µ???°?? ?‚?€???±????! ?? ?…???‡?? ?????????????€???‚??! (Don't hang up! I want to talk!)
The perfective verb is ???????µ?????‚??, which mostly applies to hanging. "? ?°?±???‡???µ ?µ?‰?‘ ???µ???°???‚ ???‚???€?‹?" "???µ?‚, ???‡?µ?€?° ?????? ???????µ?????»?? ???‚???€?‹." ("Are the workers still hanging the curtains?" "No, they hung them yesterday.") ???‹ ???????µ?????»?? ?????µ ???°?€?‚?????‹. (We hung all the paintings.)
But notice that I wrote "mostly applies." This is the nasty bit. Sometimes in colloquial speech, ???????µ?????‚?? can mean to weigh. ???????»?????? ?¶?µ ?‚?°?????? ?????€???????‹?? ???????°?? ???????µ?????‚? (How much will that huge pike perch weigh?) But not always. When I'm at the market and want to know if the lemons are sold by item (???????‚???‡????) or by weight (???? ???µ????), I have a tendency to ask: ?›?????????‹ ???????µ?????‚??? This sounds like, "Should we hang the lemons?" and makes the vendors roar with laughter.
For weighing things, it's better to use the barely pronounceable verb pair ???·???µ???????°?‚??/???·???µ?????‚?? and the really unpronounceable command: ?’?·???µ?????‚?µ ?????µ, ?????¶?°?»???????‚?°, ?????»?? ?»????????????. (Weigh out a kilo of lemons for me.) Weighing can be figurative, too: ?’?·???µ?????? ?????µ ???»?????‹ ?? ???????????‹, ?? ?€?µ?????»?° ???·???‡?°?‚?? ?€???????????? ???·?‹??. (Weighing all the pluses and minuses, I decided to study Russian.)
Well, at least I keep the vendors laughing.
Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.