Dogs in Russian literature

Paul B. Gallagher paulbg at PBG-TRANSLATIONS.COM
Mon May 11 05:35:29 UTC 2009


Prof Steven P Hill wrote:
> Dear colleagues:
> 
> In Boris Unbegaun's linguistics book, "Russian Surnames" 
> (Oxford Univ. Press, 1972),   the author discusses names 
> of fictional characters invented by Russian writer Saltykov-
> Shchedrin, including humorous hyphenated names of such 
> characters.
> 
> E.g., "Serpukhovskii-Dogoniai" ("Serpuxovskij-Dogonjaj"), and 
> a similar example suffixed with "...-Doezzhai."  According to 
> Unbegaun, Saltykov borrowed the elements "Dogoniai" and 
> "Doezzhai" from commands spoken to dogs.  
> 
> Does anyone out there know the English equivalents of these 
> "canine commands"?   Could they be analogous to the English 
> "Fetch!" (i.e., go chase a thrown stick/ball and bring it back)?  
> Or English "Sic 'im!" (i.e., go threaten and try to attack/bite
> an enemy)?
> 
> Or some other English equivalent of these canine commands...?

Here's a quick start, thanks to Google:
<http://fof.compus.ca/critters/russiancommands.html>

This fellow apparently imports and works with borzois. I've substituted 
real Russian for his peculiar "transliteration." Russians should review 
my cleanup. I couldn't always tell what he meant...

No -- Нет

strong "NO" -- Нельзя!

Don't do that -- Не делай!

Come here -- Иди сюда! / Приди сюда!

Come, I said! -- Иди сюда! Я сказал(а)!!

(Very) Good! -- Молодец! / (Очень) Хорошо!

go outside -- Иди на улице! (улицу? -- pbg)

go home -- Иди домой!

Go in a car -- Иди в машине

stop / stay -- Стой! / Стоп

Good night -- Спокойной ночи

Pretty girl -- Красивая девочка

little girl -- Маленкая девочка

You don't listen -- Непослушный

Smart -- Умница

fast -- Быстро!

Quiet -- Тихо!

Want to go outside? -- Хочешь на улицу?

What do you want? -- Что ты хочешь?

Let's go -- Пойдем! / Пошли!

walk -- Грясти

To invite the pack to go for a walk -- Пойдем грясти!

Do you want to go for a walk? -- Тебе хочется грясти? (very weird 
translit. -- pbg)

Let's go for a walk -- Давай гуляем!

Want to go for a walk? -- Хочешь гулять?

Let's run -- Давай бегом!

Go play -- Иди играй!

jump -- Прыгать

sit -- Садить / Сидись

eat -- Кушать / Тебе хочется кушать? and the pack heads for the kitchen 
to be fed.

Want to eat? -- Хочешь есть? (My dogs want you to know their answer to 
this is: Да!)

Drink water -- Пьет воду

Want to drink? -- Хочешь пить?

I love you -- Я люблю тебя (Form might not be correct, but dogs don't 
mind grammatical mistakes at all.)



-- 
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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