Lost in transmission

by Sara Buzadzhi at 21/11/2011 19:56

In the last column, I looked at several “false friends” of translators between Russian and English, like the one we’re all familiar with – magazine vs. магазин.

The former, of course, being the one you read, and the latter the place where you purchase goods. Knowing this does not stop me from occasionally saying things like: “Hey, have you seen that store I was reading?”

Despite slips of the tongue, however, the difference in meaning between these two words is clearcut. Other cognates are trickier, overlapping enough to lead to widespread confusion. A number of adjectives fall into this category.

One famous example is интелли- гентный. At first glance we English speakers take this as a synonym of “intelligent”, i.e. a description of mental acumen: “Scientists continue to search for intelligent life in outer space.”

But the Russian adjective has more to do with cultural acumen. Yes, it’s connected with the word интеллигенция (intelligentsia), the elite group of sophisticated intellectuals, but it’s often impossible to translate the adjective as “intellectual.”

Take the following sentence: Он был очень симпатичный интеллигентный молодой профессор. The speaker doesn’t mean he is smart, althought that is implied, but that he is cultured, well-educated, and in general knows how to behave in society. I suppose “cultured” is the best available translation, although it is somewhat narrower in meaning.

It’s easy to make mistakes going from English to Russian as well – one phrase from an American film was translated as: “Кажется, мы имеем дело с очень интеллигентным преступником.” A thief who appreciated lyric poetry and knew how to converse with society ladies, maybe?

You would expect someone with good social skills to be “деликатный” in Russian. Soft? Easily damaged at high heat in the washing machine? Actually, describing a person, деликатный refers to his/ her polite nature.

Here’s a man discussing a lover’s quarrel gone public: Я деликатный человек и не стал бы об этом писать, если бы не она сама первая начала. (I’m a considerate/ thoughtful person, and I wouldn’t have written about it if she hadn’t done so first.)

In colloquial Russian, деликат- ный can also indicate any request or situation that might be embarrassing and/or sensitive. In a discussion about the murdered husband of Catherine the Great: Деликатный вопрос о личной судьбе Петра III разрешился быстро. (The sensitive question of the personal fate of Peter III was settled quickly.)

In cases like this, “delicate question” would also be appropriate, but “деликатная ткань” never will be, unless your fabric is very thoughtful.

Assassination is definitely a serious undertaking, one requiring the plotters to be very careful; ак- куратный in Russian. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard a Russian speaker say something along the lines of, “we need to be very accurate when we talk to her,” when they mean careful or thorough, and are not specifically worried about being precise or correct with their facts, which is the definition of the English word.

This meaning of being careful also extends to neatness: “У него на столе все бумаги были аккуратно разложены по стопочкам.” (All the papers on his desk were neatly stacked into little piles.)

You also hear the adverbial form frequently as a physical warning; if you start to trip, someone might grab your arm and say, “Аккуратно!”, synonymous to our “Careful!”

There are several nouns in English ending in “-tion” that I always want to translate with the Russian ending “-ция” because this common pattern often works (e.g. revolution = революция).

One of them might have you talking about finance when you’re trying to talk about duty; the word облигация in Russian refers to a financial instrument, a bond, and can definitely not be used to translate the following sentence: He felt an obligation to help her. (Он считал себя обязанным помочь ей.)

But the shared past of these words makes perfect sense – if you buy a bond, the government or corporation issuing it has an obligation to make future payments.

With another, you’re confusing an abstract notion with a concrete action. In English, “repetition” refers to doing something, anything, over and over. But the Russian репетиция has a much narrower definition, meaning only the rehearsal of a theatrical production. Therefore, we can’t translate “repetition helps you learn new vocabulary” as “репетиция помогает выучить новые слова,” unless you’re advocating a very specific learning technique that involves preparing to put on a play.

Last but not least, there is the topic of all this discussion, “translation” itself. In Russian, трансляция refers not to bilingual communication, but to the broadcasting of a television or radio show: “Из-за трансляций матчей даже перено- сились парламентские заседания.” (Sessions of parliament were even rescheduled because games were on TV.) That was probably a pretty sensitive issue when it was made public.

© 2009 The Moscow News

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