translation question

[Ralph Cleminson]

>From 1884, so in the period in question, a прапорщик запаса was an officer of the thirteenth class in the army, and apparently only mobilised in time of war (which means he would have been at this point); an officer of the same rank in the Guards was лейб-гвардии прапорщик.  Prior to that date прапорщик had been an officer of the fourteenth class.  Therefore, depending on which branch of the service he was in, your man would seem to be either an Ensign of the Reserve or an Ensign of the Guards.  Although Ensign and Cornet were equivalent to Second Lieutenant in British Army usage (and still are in some regiments, which explains why HRH Prince Harry was known as "Cornet Wales" until his recent promotion), this is probably not to be recommended, as подпоручик was an infantry rank of the twelfth class in the Imperial Russian Army (confusingly, the cavalry equivalent by this time was корнет, which before 1844 had been the equivalent of прапорщик, as one would expect).  "Warrant officer" is absolutely incorrect, as an ensign held a commission.

>>> Krystyna and Nory Steiger <steiger at CAN.ROGERS.COM> 22/07/08 12:40 AM >>>
Dear Vadim and all of you who responded to my queries today,
thanks so much for your help.
The praporshchik in my novella commits suicide right after the revolution. 
This afternoon I came across a site I'd somehow missed, called the 
"Alexander Palace Time Machine", a "Romanov, Russian History and Royalty 
Discussion Forum," where I found a rank table that was in effect at the 
start of WWI, giving British Army equivalents at that time.  Praporshchik is 
listed as Ensign, Reserve only.  Another list in the same forum also 
designates Praporshchik as Ensign, but as lowest ranking comissioned officer 
in the Infantry (if I understand it correctly) and no year is given;   So 
perhaps something like Reservist Ensign,  or  Warrant  Officer.
Thanks again to all, and have a great week,
Krystyna Steiger
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Vadim Besprozvany" <vbesproz at UMICH.EDU>
To: <SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 6:22 PM
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] translation question


> According to American modern dictionaries the rank of "praporschik" is 
> below lieutenant junior grade but in the Navy; whereas in Russian it 
> would be ?michman? rather than "praporschik". Besides that the problem  is 
> complicated since we talk about the same word with significant 
> differences in meaning, in this case - with a historic notion (in  Russian 
> the old and modern words are common only by their signifier).  Also the 
> system of ranks in various armies  has specifics supported by  cultural 
> tradition, so I very much doubt that this realia  simply  exists in AE. 
> That is why any comment is better than a definite but  defective choice. 
> Of course, if it?s just a matter of choice, a final  approximate choice ? 
> ?warrant officer?, ?military commissioner,? even  ??junior lieutenant? or 
> simply ?lieutenant? will fit.
>
> Best,
>
> VB
>
>
>
>> Vadim Besprozvany wrote:
>>
>>> The answer of the second question is much obvious: "praporshchik" 
>>> (Engl. ensign) is a junior officer in an infantry regiment; from 
>>> "prapor" - "flag, banner" *(cf. with English "ensign"). "Warrant 
>>> Officer" usually means in Russian "unter-oficer."  ...
>>
>> I don't claim to know British usage, but in American English,  "ensign" 
>> is specifically a naval rank, roughly like "lieutenant" in  the other 
>> services. It would sound very peculiar for us to hear an  army officer 
>> called "ensign."
>>
>> -- 
>> 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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