Translation of Flora/Fauna

[Meredig, John]

Given the info provided by Emily Saunders below, and given that children's literature would most likely be dealing with the most common and familiar critters, I would have to assume that the ptitsa-chernukha is the Blackbird (Turdus merula). The standard Russian folk name is just plain drozd, but it also goes by the bookish name chërnyy drozd. Certainly this is an infinitely greater likelihood than Tufted Duck or Greater Scaup! 

John Meredig

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Emily Saunders
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 5:04 AM
To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Translation of Flora/Fauna

For what it is worth:  a Google search in Russian for nochnaya ptitsa kovyrun turned up a 1979 children's book called "Do Svidania, Ovrag", which happened to mention both nochnaya ptitsa kovyrun and ptitsa chernukha.  If this is not the work of literature being translated, perhaps the sideline information may help in choosing an appropriate English equivalent:

"По краям оврага растут кусты и деревья. На деревьях живут птицы-чернухи. Их домики похожи на корзины, ни крыш, ни дверей."

I don't think ducks nest in trees, so perhaps not the diving duck option.

"Стрекочут кузнечики, квакают лягушки, и ленивый болотный дух плывёт по оврагу от их хозяйства.
Ночная птица-ковырун завела свою трескотню и начала подпрыгивать в воздухе. Притихли чернухи в гнёздах. "

I should mention that these bits come from a story about homeless dogs living on the edge of town, so the birds in question are not out of the far away forest, but live close to people.  Or at least they do in this story.

Regards,

Emily Saunders

On Sep 18, 2007, at 9:45 AM, Meredig, John wrote:

> Oh my God, it's actually happened in my lifetime--my dissertation has 
> become RELEVANT! It was a linguistic analysis of Russian bird names, 
> with data gleaned from a number of sources, some of them quite 
> obscure--but of course it is far from being comprehensive (if such a 
> thing is even possible when dealing with folk names and such). In any 
> case, no luck, unfortunately, on nochnaya ptitsa-kovyrun. However, 
> here are some possibilities for chernukha:
>
> In general, chern' (fem.), chérnet' (fem.), chernúkha, chernúshka, and 
> chernýsh can refer to various diving ducks of the genus Aythya, such 
> as Common Pochard (Aythya ferina), Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula), 
> Greater Scaup (Aythya marila), and Ferruginous Pochard (Aythya 
> nyroca). All of these birds have a significant amount of dark plumage.
> A number of these names can also refer to the Scoters: Black Scoter 
> (Melanitta nigra) and White-winged Scoter (Melanitta fusca: this is 
> the "obyknovennyy turpan" listed by Paul below). These birds are 
> pretty much all black. Chernýsh is also attested for the male Black 
> Grouse (Lyryrus tetrix), Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus), and Black 
> Lark (Melanocorypha yeltoniensis).
>
> Cheers!
> John Meredig
> jm3 at evansville.edu
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list 
> [mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Paul B. Gallagher
> Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 9:21 PM
> To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Translation of Flora/Fauna
>
> Followup to yesterday's posting:
>
> In this case...
>
>>> Two types of birds:
>>>
>>> nochnaya ptitsa-kovyrun
>>> ptitsa-chernukhi
>
> Would this be appropriate for your context?
>
> <http://www.poimai.ru/pticy/article507.html>
> Обыкновенный турпан
>
> Называется местами также свирок, турпан, тюльпан, чернуха, черная утка 
> и головень. Это весьма крупная утка с массивным туловищем, очень 
> большими лапами и относительно короткой шеей. Клюз у турпана широкий, 
> с широким ноготком и небольшим вздутием у основания. Вес селезня 
> иногда превышает 1700 граммов, самка несколько мельче. ...
>
> --
> 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
>
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