(no subject)

[kittydesade]

Russian! Today, something a little different, not from the textbook. Translating the dialogue as much by myself as I can manage, for great justice understanding and hopefully better ease of completing the next exercise.

Thinking about it, this may be slower than taking classes. On the other hand, it's something I can do on my own schedule and hopefully it'll stick with me, too.



1. С приездом!

-- С приездом, Джим! Ну, как ты? Где твой чемодан?
Hello, Jim! How are you? Where is your luggage?
(Textbook gives С приездом as a greeting for someone who arrives from far away. Second sentence literally translates as ... crap, I can't remember the linguistic term for that now. A sound that people make to transition between phrases, like 'er' or 'um' or 'hey.' "How you?" "Where your luggage?" Giving me flashbacks to every Russian stereotype/parody ever.)
Kiki says: OK. So I'd go for "Welcome!" for "С приездом".
Also. In English, 'How you' sounds grammatically sloppy and wrong. However, in Russian the sentence structure determines uniquely the conjugation of the verb (e.g., in English 'are' can be used for various situations; in Russian, each form is unique), so omitting the conjugation of 'to be' is legitimate and grammatically correct, rather than erroneous, use. Translating it literally, or, word-for-word leaves the wrong impression about the sentence.


-- Вот он.
Over there.
(I have no idea how this literally translates.)
Kiki says: There ('is' omitted correctly) he. (In Russian, 'it' does NOT denote inanimate objects/neutral items, as it does in English. The third gender is usually referred to as 'middle' and often refers to children and, um, select items which are ungendered. Such as 'sky'. Gendered items are referred to as 'he' or 'she', as appropriate.)

-- Какой большой! Что у тебя в чемодане? Техника?
How [big/grand/great?] What do you have in your luggage? Equipment/machines?
(Possibly more semantic: Jesus Christ, man! What do you have in there, tech toys? The Hubble Space Telescope? [okay, maybe too semantic])
(Literally: What big! What by you in luggage? Technology/equipment? [not sure which])
Kiki says: I'd say... What at you in luggage? or in you? Something like that. The prepositions do not map well between languages at all.
Also, 'What big' is misleading. In English, 'what' is, by default, used for objects/nouns, and the form of the word is for quality/adjectives. And, I think you've got a clear enough interpretation of the last questions.

-- Да. Компьютер, фотоаппарат, книги, подарки.
Yes. Computer, camera, books, gifts.
(There's really no way to complicate or simplify this.)

-- Подарки! Какие?
Gifts! What? (Sem: What sort?/What gifts?)

-- Это сюрприз.
Is surprise.
(Again with the stereotypes.)
Kiki says: Actually, 'This ('is' correctly omitted) surprise.'

-- А у меня тоже сюрприз.
?? by me also surprise.
Kiki says: And (at) me also surprise / And I have a surprise too.

-- Какой?
What?

-- Новая машина.
New car.



2.

-- Линда! С приездом! Как ты?
Linda! Hello! How are you? (Lit: How you?) (Random: Lately I've heard English speakers abbreviate 'how are?')
Kiki says: Again, I'd go with 'welcome!' And again, the conjugation of 'to be' is omitted. I think that's the only verb that does get omitted, but it's a regular/regulated/correct omission.

-- Хорошо, спасибо. Здравствуй, Катя!
Well, thanks. Hello, Katya! (I'm not sure what another possible semantic translation of Здравствуй would be.)
Kiki says: *nods* However, there are two forms of it in Russian: Здравствуй and Здравствуйте - the latter being the more formal/respectful form.

-- Это твой чемодан? Синий? Ой, какой большой!
Is this your luggage? The blue one? Oh, how heavy! (That's my new best guess for how to translate this, since at least Americans that I've heard don't usually comment on size so much as weight or, alternatively, "you must have a lot of stuff." so... amount?)
(Is your luggage? Blue? [interjection], what big! [? Not sure about this.])
Kiki says: большой is 'big', not heavy. Тежёлый is heavy. It's... if you try to substitute here, you may get them mixed up. Besides. There really are some huge suitcases! And one wouldn't comment on the weight until they try to pick it up.
And 'ой' is like, Oy!

-- И этот - тоже мой. Тут у меня только одежда - платья, майки, а там техника - фотоаппарат, мобильный телефон, подарки.
?? ??? - also mine. This one is my clothes - dress, t-shirts, there's a [?!? What's a good English word for 'gadgets', which is how this translates, that's in common use right now?] - camera, cell phone, gifts.
(??? - also mine. Here by me only clothing - dress, t-shirts, ? there gadgets - camera, mobile phone, gifts.)
Kiki says: The ?? ??? = "And this [one]". and I think 'gadgets' works well enough. The sentence generally means, 'in this one I only have clothes, in that one there are the gadgets' - roughly.

-- Подарки? Интересно, какие?
Gifts? Dare I ask, what kind? (alt: Interesting; I wonder... is the book definition. 'I wonder..' might be more semantically appropriate.)
(Gifts? Interesting, what?)
Kiki says: Mmmm... Interesting is the correct mapping. Or, I'm interested, what?

-- Новые компютерные игры. Последние версии.
New computer games. Latest edition.
(New computer games. Last version.)
Kiki says: Yeah, or latest version. Something like that.

-- Ну, Линда, ты молодец!
Wow, Linda, that's awesome! (Evidently this is Russian!Dean?)
([interjection], Linda, you well done? [Book translates молодец as 'Well done!'])
Kiki says: 'Well, Linda, well done, you!' Although молодец is a praise that's... personal. Like calling somebody 'you're a success'? There's no one-to-one mapping for this one. Bravo to you? Something. If that makes any sense?
Points to remember:

* Russian has male, female, and neuter/child/indeterminate. Given that you're also learning German, better get used to three-gender languages. Also, Russian-neuter is different from German-neuter.

* The verb 'to be' is often omitted. Russians are not prone to talking like wossname from Muppets Take Manhatten.

* Mind your plurals.