Translation Question - CORRECTION!

[Edward M Dumanis]

"Piataja grapha" is just a euphemism for ethnicity while "pjataja kolonna"
is a metaphor which refers to general Franco's statement during  the
Spanish Civil War that he was leading four columns of troops against
Madrid while the fifth column was ready to fight on his side and was
waiting for him within the city.

Edward Dumanis <dumanis at buffalo.edu>

On Sat, 13 Nov 2004, J.W. wrote:

> Ottawa (Canada), Saturday 13/11/04 9h30 EST
>
> CORRECTION!  I wrote too soon.
>
> While a reply from one Russian native speaker indeed saw no difference
> between the terms "pjataja kolonna" and "pjata grafa" (indicating that
> "pjataja grafa" may be used that way by some Russians), another
> respondent reminded me of the very important distinction between the
> two, which completely slipped by mind earlier (even though I have known
> about this in the past).
>
> "Pjataja grafa" is used to refer to the indication of one's
> "nationality" or ethnic background in the Soviet internal passport.  Its
> English equivalent would depend upon the context.  In some contexts
> something like "ethnic designation" might fit.  Or it might be worth
> adding an explanatory footnote.
>
> My humble apologies for my earlier 'conclusion', which may or may not
> have validity.
>
> John Woodsworth, Research Associate
> Slavic Research Group at the University of Ottawa
>
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