???????‚?€???»?????°?? ???€???????»???°: test stroll
As the protest movement continues in Moscow, I really feel sympathy for the one part of the population that has been suffering the most — translators.
The words protesters are using to describe their activities are "simple" words known to any speaker of Russian. But these words each have two or three meanings and carry a cartful of historical and linguistic connotations.
Take the ???????‚?€???»?????°?? ???€???????»???° (literally "test walk") organized by a group of writers last weekend. In general, any peregrination of protesters from point A to point B is a "march" in English. But that word won't work. First of all, as a translator I'd want to use march for ???°?€?? ?????»?»?????????? (March of Millions), the organized protest march that turned violent on May 6.
Russian writers used the hum-drum, everyday word ???€???????»???° to describe their attempt to exercise their civil right to walk around the city wearing white ribbons. Out comes the thesaurus: walk, walkabout, stroll, promenade, constitutional. I'd probably go with "test stroll" or "test promenade," although you could also call it a "test walkabout" to describe the sauntering writers signing autographs and shaking the hands of fans.
But if I were in charge of English-language PR for the promenading writers, I'd call it a constitutional constitutional.
But what are translators to do with ???°?€?????????µ ?????»???????µ (people's/popular/civil/national/public/folk festivities/promenade/romp/revelry/carnival)?
Let's start with ???°?€???????‹??, which can be translated variously depending on the context. Sometimes the emphasis is on "belonging to the entire nation," as in ???°?€?????????µ ?…???·???????‚???? (national economy) or ???°?€?????????µ ???±?€?°?·?????°?????µ (public education). Sometimes it refers to the ethnographic qualities, as in ???°?€?????????µ ???€?µ?????‚???? (folk cure) or ???°?€???????‹?µ ?€?µ???µ???»?° (folk crafts). In other cases, it stresses the democratic nature of an institution, as in ???°?€?????????µ ???€?µ?????‚?°?????‚?µ?»?????‚???? (popular representation) or ???°?€?????????µ ?????±?€?°?????µ (national assembly). In still other cases, it stresses the people, not the state, as in ???°?€?????????µ ???????¶?µ?????µ (grassroots movement) or ???°?€???????°?? ???????»?????°?‚???? (people's diplomacy).
In the case of today's ???°?€?????????µ ?????»???????µ, the emphasis is more on "people's" — as opposed to state — overlaid with the sense of popular, democratic and open to the public.
?“???»???????µ comes from the verb ?????»???‚??, which can mean to stroll, as in ?????»???‚?? ???? ?????€?????? (walk around the city). Or it can mean to spend time outside, as in ???µ?‚?? ???????»?? ?????»???‚?? (the kids went out to play). Or it can mean to party, as in ???‹ ?????»???»?? ???? ???‚?€?° (we partied until dawn). Or it can even mean marital infidelity, as in ?????¶ ?????»???» ???°?»?µ???? (her husband cheated on her).
???°?€?????????µ ?????»???????µ usually means a street party, open-air festivities, a carnival or an outdoor celebration. Today the phrase also plays on the notion of moving around the city and having a good time. It doesn't include marital infidelity, but does include sleeping with strangers.
More important, when anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny called for ?±?µ?????€???‡?????µ, ???€?????»???????‚???‡?????µ ???°?€?????????µ ?????»???????µ (a nonstop, around-the-clock street party), he was choosing his words carefully. A ?????‚?????? (rally) or ???µ?????????‚?€?°?†???? (demonstration) requires official permission. ???°?€?????????µ ?????»???????µ (open-air celebration) does not.
In the end, I guess I'd call today's ???°?€?????????µ ?????»???????µ a people's street party. But judging by the sleeping bags, Porta Potties, food and soda, if I were in charge of the protesters' English-language PR, I'd call it the people's moveable feast.
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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