???°?†???????°?»?????????‚??: ethnicity (or not)
What is ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚???
Dictionaries tell you that it's ethnicity: ???€?????°???»?µ?¶???????‚?? ?‡?µ?»?????µ???° ?? ???‚?????‡?µ???????? ???±?‰???????‚??, ???‚?»???‡?°???‰?µ?????? ???????±?µ?????????‚?????? ???·?‹???°, ?????»???‚???€?‹, ???????…???»????????, ?‚?€?°?????†????, ???±?‹?‡?°?µ??, ???±?€?°?·?° ?¶???·???? (a person's identification with an ethnic group that is distinguished by a distinctive language, culture, psychology, traditions, customs and way of life).
When one native Russian speaker asks another, ???‚?? ?‚?‹ ???? ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚??? (What's your ethnic background?), they are talking about origins. The reply might be: ???°???° — ?€????????????, ?° ???°???° — ?‚?°?‚?°?€???° (My father's Russian, while my mother's Tatar.)
So when I'm asked, ???‚?? ?‚?‹ ???? ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚???, I say: ???°???° — ?????€?°???????°, ?° ???°???° — ?»?µ?????? (My mother was Ukrainian and my father was a Lemko), often adding: ??‚?? — ?·?°???°?€???°?‚?????°?? ???°?€???????????‚?? (That's a Trans-Carpathian ethnic group).
But no one likes that reply. So they usually rephrase the question: ???? ???‚???????° ?‚?‹ ?€????????? (But where were you born?)
Another American friend reports that when he is asked about his ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚?? and says ?? ?°???µ?€?????°???µ?† (I'm an American), he gets the opposite protest: ?????????‚????. ???? ???‚?? ?‚?‹ ???? ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚??? (Right. But what's your ethnic background?) Jeez, it's so hard to make inquisitive Russians happy.
What's the problem? Is the meaning of the word ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚?? changing?
After reading hundreds of examples, I've come to the conclusion that most Russians understand ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚?? as ???‚?????‡?µ?????°?? ???±?‰???????‚?? (ethnic group). But sometimes they confuse it with citizenship. For example, one person writes: ?•???»?? ?????????†?‹ ???€???µ?·?¶?°???‚ ???? ?¤?€?°???†???? ?? ?‚?°?? ?€???¶???°?µ?‚???? ???‹?? — ???? ?„?€?°???†???·, ?‡?‚?? ?»??? (If a Japanese couple moves to France and have a son, what is he — a Frenchman?)
Perhaps the issue is that many Russians are used to nations of one ethnic group. ???? ?„?€?°???†???· (He's French) means that he's ethnically French and, if not otherwise noted, a French citizen.But they'll also say ???? ?±?µ?»???????µ?† (He's Belgian), regardless of whether he's ethnically French, Flemish or German.
But for some reason, ?°???µ?€?????°???µ?† (American) is not considered ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚?? the way ?±?µ?»???????µ?† is. In fact, the Russian Internet is filled with clarifications — from comical to crude — on what exactly "?°???µ?€?????°???µ?†" is: ?????µ?€?????°???µ?† — ???µ ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚??. ?????µ?€?????°???µ?† — ???‚?? ?‚???‚, ?? ???????? ?°???µ?€?????°?????????? ???°???????€?‚. ("American" isn't a nationality. An American is someone with an American passport). ?????µ?€?????°???µ?† — ???‚?? ???µ ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚??, ???‚?? ?????°???????· ("American" isn't a nationality, it's a diagnosis.) ?????µ?€?????°???µ?† — ???‚?? ???µ ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚??, ???‚?? ?„???»???????„???? ("American" isn't a nationality. It's a philosophy.) ?????µ?€?????°???µ?† — ???‚?? ?????µ?†???°?»?????????‚?? ("American" is a profession). ?????µ?€?????°???µ?† — ???‚?? ?€?µ?»???????? ("American" is a religion).
Sometimes an explanation of why "American" isn't a nationality uses terms that make it, on the contrary, a dictionary-perfect definition of ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚??: ?????µ?€?????°???µ?† — ???‚?? ???µ ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚??, ?° ?‡???????‚???? ???€?????°???»?µ?¶???????‚?? ?? ?°???µ?€?????°?????????? ?†???????»???·?°?†????, ?? ?°???µ?€?????°?????????? ?·?µ???»?µ ("American" isn't a nationality, but rather a feeling of belonging to American civilization and attachment to American land).
But wait! That sense of belonging to a civilization and land is pretty much how Vladimir Putin described ???°?????????µ???‚???‡???????‚?? ?€?????????????? ???°?€?????° (the self-identity of the Russian people) in his essay about ???°?†???????°?»?????‹?? ???????€???? (the national problem).
So I give up. When someone asks me, ???‚?? ?‚?‹ ???? ???°?†???????°?»?????????‚??? I'm going to say: ?§?‚?? ?‚?‹ ?????µ?µ???? ?? ????????? (What do you mean?)
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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