translation question
Olga Meerson
meersono at GEORGETOWN.EDU
Mon Jul 21 12:32:45 UTC 2008
Perhaps the Prussian Military Marching step? May be too clumsy. Robert Chandler would have condemned my attempt here for paraphrasing rather than translating. Whatever I suggest now is measured against his possible criticisms :)
o.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: Vadim Besprozvany <vbesproz at UMICH.EDU>
Date: Monday, July 21, 2008 0:23 am
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] translation question
> 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."
> The first question is a much more knotty problem. There are at
> least
> two answers: 1) based on a recent common sense that understands
> ??nemetskii shag? in P'etsukh is a sort of firm ceremonial step
> that
> one can observe in German military units; 2) based on Yurii
> Gryzhanich
> (?POLITICS,? Part 4): he explains ??nemetskii shag? as a ?crane
> step?
> [zhuravlinyi shag].
>
> Having a right for translator's commentaries, I would explain my
> understanding (most likely, for the first problem) ? it is always
> better than any amotivational decision, especially in the absence
> of
> unanimity.
>
> Good luck,
>
> Vadim Besprozvany
>
>
> > Dear SEELANGERS,
> >
> > I'm working on a translation of Viacheslav P'etsukh's novella
> Novaia
> > moskovskaia filosofiia due to be published early next year, and
> am
> > having trouble with a few things even at this late date. My
> > submission today has to do with 2 different military terms.
> > The first is a reference to what is likely the Soviet defensive
> on
> > Sept. 30, 1941 against the German offensive against Leningrad.
> The
> > context is this: a pedantic but humorous narrator suggests
> Russians
> > take their literature for truth. After citing a paragraph from
> Crime
> > and Punishment he insists that "even if there had been [a young
> man
> > such as Raskol'nikov] he never walked out of the yard toward
> evening
> > in the direction of K- bridge, and even if he had, then it wasn't
>
> > 'as though in a state of indecision' but, on the contrary,
> ????????
> > ????? [nemetskim shagom] ... out of quarters in the Izmailovskii
> > Regiment, early in the morning of September 30."
> > I thought it was "goose-step," which I've seen since is ???????
> ???
> > [gusinyi shag], and have tentatively settled for "in a military
> > step." Any other suggestions?
> >
> > Also, would "Artillery Warrant Officer" be the proper translation
>
> > for ????????? [praporshchik ] in the Russian Imperial Army?
> >
> > Thanks so much in advance and warmest regards,
> > Krystyna
> > steiger at can.rogers.com
> >
> >
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