?’?‹???‚?????°?‚??: to come out, literally and figuratively.
?’?‹???‚?????°?‚??/???‹???‚???????‚?? is a verb pair that translators like to kvetch about. The basic meaning is to come out in some way, either literally or figuratively. All in all, these are not the hardest words to translate. The only problem is that sometimes your brain seizes up, and you find yourself writing the worst sort of translationese imaginable.
First of all, ???‹???‚?????°?‚?? can be used to describe something that juts out, like body parts. ?? ???µ???? ???µ???€?°???????? ???‹???‚?????°?µ?‚ ?¶???????‚ (My belly is sticking out unattractively). ?? ???‹???° ???µ?€?…?????? ?‡?µ?»?????‚?? ???°?????????? ???‹???‚?????°?µ?‚ ???°?? ?????¶???µ?? (My son has a pronounced overbite, literally, "his upper jaw juts out far over his lower jaw").
?’?‹???‚?????°?‚?? is also used to describe liquids, human and nonhuman, that come out from wherever they usually hide. ?????‚ ???‹???‚???????» ???° ?»?±?? (Sweat stood out on his forehead). ???»?‘?·?‹ ???‹???‚???????»?? ?? ???µ???? ???° ???»?°?·?°?… (My eyes filled with tears). ?’?????° ???‹???‚?????°?µ?‚ ???· ?±?µ?€?µ?????? ???·?µ?€?° (Water is overflowing the banks of the lake).
And it is also used to describe things that appear, break out or become visible. ???· ?‚?????°???° ?????€???? ???‹???‚???????» ???€?????°?????‹?? ?????€?°?±?»?? (An enormous ship emerged out of the fog). ?’?‹???‚???????»?° ???»?µ???µ???? ???° ?????‚???»???µ (Mold has grown on my ceiling). ???‹???? ???‹???‚???????»?° ???° ?€?????µ (A rash has broken out on my hand).
But when you combine ???‹???‚?????°?‚?? with people, things get interesting. Sometimes ???‹???‚?????°?‚?? means that people go out together: ?’?????????° ???‹???‚???????»?? ?€?°?????? ???‚?€???? (The troops marched out early in the morning). Or that one person breaks away from the crowd: ???? ???‹???‚???????» ?????µ?€?‘?? ?? ?????°?·?°?»: ?? ??????????. (He stepped forward and said, "I'll go").
Or ???‹???‚?????°?‚?? can mean a performance of some kind: ???° ?„?µ???‚?????°?»?µ ?µ???? ???€???????° ???‹???‚???????»?° ???????»?µ?????µ?? (His group performed last at the festival). The performance might be academic or professional instead of creative: ???? ???‹???‚???????» ???° ???????„?µ?€?µ???†???? (He spoke at the conference). ???µ???????‚?€?? ???° ?????·?€?°???‚, ???? ???€???????»?¶?°?» ???‹???‚?????°?‚?? ?? ???µ?‡?°?‚?? (Despite his age, he continued to be published).
Sometimes it means "to make one's views known," place and manner undefined: ?’ ???????»?µ?????µ?µ ???€?µ???? ?????° ???‡?µ???? ?°???‚???????? ???‹???‚?????°?»?° ?? ???????·?? ?? ???€?‹?????? (Recently she has made a lot of statements about Crimea).
Sometimes ???‹???‚?????°?‚?? is a fancy way of talking about behaving or acting in a certain way. ?“?????????°?€???‚???? ???‚?€?µ?????‚???? ???‹???‚?????°?‚?? ?? ???°?‡?µ???‚???µ ???€???°?????·?°?‚???€?° ???€?°?????» ?????€?‹ (The state tries to act as the organizer of rules of the game.) Or just being: ???????»?µ???????°?‚?µ?»?? ?? ???€?°???‚???? ?‡?°???‚?? ???‹???‚?????°???‚ ?? ?????????? ?»???†?µ (Often the researcher and the practitioner are one and the same person).
Often ???‹???‚?????°?‚?? is used with ?·?° (for) and ???€???‚???? (against) to describe a point of view. This is where you can fall asleep at the keyboard and start copying the Russian syntax to produce "we came out for/against" — not wrong, but not very colloquial English. ???‹ ???‹???‚?????°?»?? ?·?° ?€?°???????€?µ?????µ ???€?°?? (We supported the expansion of rights). ?????? ???‹???‚???????»?? ???€???‚???? ???°???µ???? ???€?µ???»???¶?µ?????? (They were against our proposal).
You can also ???‹???‚?????°?‚?? (come out) c ???€?µ???»???¶?µ?????µ?? (with a proposal), ?? ???????†???°?‚???????? (with an initiative) or ???? ???»???????? (with a speech). To avoid Russglish, cut to the chase and use active verbs: to propose, to initiate or to speak. ???€?µ?????‚?°?????‚?µ?»?? ???? ???€?°???°?? ?‡?µ?»?????µ???° ???‹???‚???????» ?? ?‚?€?µ?±?????°?????µ?? ?€?°?????»?µ???????°?‚?? ???±???‚?????‚?µ?»?????‚???° ?????±?µ?»?? ?????€?€?µ???????????µ???‚?° (The human rights representative demanded an investigation into the circumstances of the correspondent's death).
Or just cut: ???‹ ???‹???‚?????°?µ?? ?·?°! (We're for it!)
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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