Fortochka

[julia arnold]

 Interestingly, there's also фортка in colloquial Russian that I heard in Moscow 
and that's prettymuch gone.

ФОРТКА, форточка ж.немецк. дверка в окне, оконница, которая отворяется по себе. 
|| Южн. калитка в заборе или в воротах.Форточные, фортковыекрючки. (Даль)
ФО́РТКА и ФОРТОЧКА, фортки, ·жен. (от ·нем. Pfortchen - воротца, дверки).
1. Стеклянная дверца в окне для впуска свежего воздуха, для вентиляции. Открыть, 
закрыть фортку.
2. Калитка в воротах (·обл. ).
3. Передний разрез в брюках (·прост. ·фам. ·шутл. ). (Ушаков) - this one is 
especially helpful.

JA







________________________________
From: Francoise Rosset <frosset at WHEATONMA.EDU>
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Sent: Thu, February 3, 2011 12:38:00 AM
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Fortochka

On Wed, 2 Feb 2011 12:43:00 +0000
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.

Agreed on transom.
As for the issue of frequency, the difficulty in finding a proper translation 
may reflect the fact that while fortochki are common in Russia, they are not so 
in Western Europe or in the U.S. So why would English have a word for it? 
especially a common one ...

Our classes have large windows with smaller middle bottom panes that open out. 
Nobody knows what to call them. I'll see whether _Fine Homebuilding_ has a term 
handy

Ventilation window has worked for me, AFTER I explain to the students what it 
is.

-FR

Francoise Rosset, Associate Professor
Chair, Russian and Russian Studies
Coordinator, German and Russian
Wheaton College
Norton, Massachusetts 02766
Office: (508) 285-3696
FAX:   (508) 286-3640

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                  http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------



      

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------