Translation of Flora/Fauna: kovyrun

[Jerome Katsell]

Philippe,

The "nochnaya ptitsa kovyrun" suggests to me the verb stem "kovyr" (kovyriat', kovyrnut', kovyrivat'), which is found in Dal'. There are a couple of main meanings: 1) to root about, dig, scratch, 2) to do something
sluggishly, to do a thing without the requisite energy. Kovyrun, the "un" designates one of a type that does whatever the root directs, thus "boltun" suggests (from "boltat'", to chatter) a chattering, gossiping busy-body.
You've got a de-verbal noun with a "un" suffix suggesting a night bird who roots around on the ground perhaps in a sluggish, "vialo" manner. Maybe that
definition will spark its name for someone out there in the ethers of cyberspace.

Jerry Katsell 

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of FRISON Philippe
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 11:58 PM
To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Translation of Flora/Fauna: kovyrun

 The names seem approximative indeed.

A quick search in "Mir zhivotnykh" vol. 5, does not give any clue as to "Kovyrun", nor in Dal'.

But "Kovyrun" seems to mean some monster so as regards "notchnaya ptista kovyrun", could not the translation just be something like "a monstrous night bird" (sorry for any English mistake, I am a French-speaker).

Regards

Philippe Frison
(Strasbourg, France)



-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Paul B. Gallagher
Sent: lundi 17 septembre 2007 23:02
To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Translation of Flora/Fauna

nataliek at UALBERTA.CA wrote:

> Cumbersome, but effective - I used this method when writing an article  
> on folk medicine and trying to find the equivalent of Russian and  
> Ukrainian medicinal plants.
> 
> Take the Russian word.  Look up the Latin equivalent.  From the Latin  
> equivalent, go to the English word.

Good practice, but doesn't always work when you're dealing with folk 
names and slang.

In this case...

>> Two types of birds:
>>
>> nochnaya ptitsa-kovyrun
>> ptitsa-chernukhi

No listings, or even near misses, for either term or any of their key 
components, in my best source:

Словарь названий животных: Птицы / Dictionary of Animal Names in Five 
Languages: Birds, by R. L. Bëme and V. Ye. Flint; ed. by V. Ye. Sokolov. 
Moscow: Russky yazyk, 1994. 11,060 names in Latin, Russian, English, 
German & French.

>> One plant:
>>
>> solyonenkaya travka

No listing, or even a near miss, for this term or for "trava 
solënenkaya" in my best source:

Russian-English Botanical Dictionary, by Paul Macura. Columbus, OH: 
Slavica, 1981. About 40,000 entries.

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 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/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 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/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 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/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------