Fortochka

[Alina Israeli]

"above the front door" gave me the idea to looked up vasistas in  
French. What's interesting if you look on Wikipedia http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasistas 
  you get a picture, then you can switch the language and get a  
different picture.


Feb 2, 2011, в 8:27 AM, HARRINGTON A.K. написал(а):

> My parents always referred to them as 'fanlight windows', and when  
> we recently had our windows replaced I noticed that the builder did  
> too.  However, when I just did a quick google to check, it seems  
> that 'fanlight' is normally used to describe the fan-shaped window  
> above a front door...
>
> Dr Alexandra Harrington
> Senior Lecturer in Russian
> Head of Russian Department
> School of Modern Languages & Cultures
> Durham University
> Elvet Riverside
> Durham DH1 3JT
>
> Tel. +44 (0)191 334 3452
> Fax. +44 (0)191 334 3421
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures  
> list [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Rafael Shusterovich
> Sent: 02 February 2011 13:16
> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Fortochka
>
> Technically, it may be described as a "hinged ventilation pane".
>
> On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 2:43 PM, William Ryan <wfr at sas.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>> A transom window, which may or may not open, is normally above a door
>> transom, and full width, so not the same thing at all. Also,  
>> "fortochka" is
>> a word used very frequently in Russian while "transom" is not much  
>> used in
>> English.
>>
>> I remember agonizing over this when editing Marcus Wheeler's original
>> Oxford Russian Dictionary - in the end we left it as fortochka with  
>> a short
>> explanation in English. This is retained in the current Oxford  
>> Russian
>> Dictionary. However, although this helps to understand a Russian  
>> text it
>> does nothing for a translator. In the Penguin Russian Dictionary we  
>> decided
>> on "ventilation pane" which may be just about usable in a  
>> translation since
>> it explains the function, but it still does not really describe the  
>> object,
>> or correspond to anything specific in English domestic experience  
>> (not sure
>> about other parts of the English-speaking world).
>>
>> There is in fact nothing exact that you can use if the phrase you are
>> translating is the commonly heard "Zakroi fortochku ... [expletive of
>> choice] - kholodno na ulitse!", apart from "shut the ... window -  
>> it's cold
>> outside!". Translation is often compromise and context is crucial.
>>
>> Will
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 02/02/2011 11:15, Seth Graham wrote:
>>
>>> A word used sparingly in English: transom.  In palaces it is  
>>> referred to
>>> as a 'king's transom'.  :  ]
>>>
>>> Best wishes,
>>>
>>> Seth
>>>
>>>
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Alina Israeli
Associate Professor of Russian
LFS, American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave.
Washington DC 20016
(202) 885-2387 	fax (202) 885-1076
aisrael at american.edu

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