"assault rifle" for "avtomat"?

[Kevin Windle]

If the context of the phrase quoted 'avtomatnaia ochered' ' was WWII,
and the weapon in question a PPSh (Shpagin), Thompson, Sten or similar,
'submachine gun' would be fully appropriate, these being neither rifles
nor machine guns. 

For later weapons such as the AK47, the term 'assault rifle' seems to be
standard.

Kevin Windle



-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of Chris B. Clough
Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2006 4:04 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] "assault rifle" for "avtomat"?

A Kalashnikov is not, to my understanding, a submachine gun. Assault
rifle is better, I think.
A submachine gun is usually smaller (hence 'sub'), like the UZI or the
H&K MP5. And while machine gun sounds slightly "Rambo" to my ear, it
may be the best descriptive for something larger like the M60.

Chris Clough

On 6/17/06, Peter Scotto <pscotto at mtholyoke.edu> wrote:
> What about "assault rifle" for "avtomat." I'm no expert on this, but
isn't that
> how the Kalashnikov is usually classified?
>
-------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------