Distinguishing Features
The dictionary contains a number of features that distinguish it from other dictionaries of Russian idioms, including those published after the original edition of this dictionary came out.
Range of Entries
It includes not only traditional idioms, but also several other types of fixed expressions not found in traditional monolingual or bilingual dictionaries of Russian idioms (see Types of Idioms under Idiomaticity, below).
Grammatical Descriptions
It includes a grammatical description for each entry, a feature generally not found in bilingual dictionaries or, with some recent exceptions, in any existing comprehensive monolingual dictionary of Russian idioms. The grammatical description provides users with the information they need to learn to use the idioms productively.
Definitions
Definitions—another feature rarely found in bilingual dictionaries—are provided for each entry in order to:
1) describe minute semantic nuances that may not be conveyed by the English equivalents alone;
2) help the user determine which sense of a polysemous equivalent is intended in the given instance;
3) provide adequate information to create a context-specific translation, should the user deem this necessary or preferable.
usage Notes
When applicable, a usage note is provided in conjunction with (or, rarely, in place of) the definition. It describes the contexts
in which the given idiom may be used and various other aspects of its usage—information that is for the most part absent in monolingual Russian dictionaries. Usage notes, like definitions, are given in English.
Russian Idioms and Their Equivalents
Sources of Russian idioms include approximately 285 works of Russian literature; numerous contexts provided by the National Russian Corpus; all available monolingual general dictionaries; monolingual phraseological dictionaries; surveys of Russian speakers spanning several generations; and linguistic works on Russian phraseology. In addition to the books used for the original edition, this edition has benefited from the more recent works of B. Akunin, A. Chudakov, R.D.G. Gallego, A. Lvov, V. Pelevin, V. Sorokin, T. Tolstaya, L. Ulits-kaya, and A. Eppel.
The equivalents—the English phrases that suitably render the Russian idiom—are intended to cover all possible contexts in which the given idiom can occur and to offer the translator a complete picture of the semantic range of the idiom. The contextual adequacy of the equivalents was evaluated in numerous contexts: citations provided by the National Russian Corpus (including examples from colloquial speech), selected Internet texts, and illustrations in Russian monolingual dictionaries. A number of recent translations of Russian literature, including first-time translations into English and new translations of books quoted in the original edition of this dictionary, have been used for illustration (see Bibliography).
Variables and Patterns
The equivalents for verbal idioms are presented in patterns that employ the variables X, Y, and Z to indicate the subject, ob-ject(s), and, occasionally, location. This notation, which is widely accepted by linguists and is used in Mel’cuk and Zholk-ovsky’s trailblazing “explanatory-combinatorial” dictionary of Russian1 (and Mel’cuk’s et al. dictionary of French2), has several advantages:
1) It allows for the presentation of a wide variety of equivalents that might otherwise not be presented for fear of confusion as to who is doing what, especially equivalents that reverse the Russian subject and object. For example, in Г-89 ПОПАДАТЬСЯ/ПОПАСТЬСЯ НА ГЛАЗА кому..., the use of variables allows for the inclusion of equivalents that have both X and Y as the subject:
X попался на глаза Y-y = X caught Y’s eye; Y caught sight of X; Y’s eyes lighted (lit) on X…
2) In Russian the full names of the variables employed can be declined in both the singular and the plural (X-a = икса, X-y = иксу, X-ов = иксов, Y-a = игрека, Y-y = игреку, Y-ов = игреков, Z-a = зета, Z-y = зету, Z-ов = зетов, etc.). Therefore, when used in patterns, the variables clearly show both the case and number of the corresponding Russian noun or pronoun. When used in the English equivalents, variables can show the possessive (X’s, Y’s, etc.).
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3) It allows the explicit indication of those instances in which a noun (usually one used as a direct, indirect, or prepositional object) will be plural; for example, in Г-63 ГЛАЗА РАЗБЕГАЮТСЯ (у кого) the following pattern is presented:
у Х-а глаза разбегаются (от Y- ов) — .. .X is dizzied by the multitude of Ys; it’s more (there are more Ys) than the eyes can take in.
4) It makes possible the illustration of special constructions in which a given idiom is often used, along with the English equivalents that best translate those special constructions. That is, in addition to the basic affirmative pattern (which is presented for practically all verbal idioms), the following patterns are presented as applicable: negative, imperative, negative imperative, and verb used with a particular adverbial or adverbials. For example:
П-469 • ОСТАТЬСЯ. БЕЗ ПОСЛЕДСТВИЙ. Х
остался без последствий — no action was taken on Х...; || Neg X не остался без последствий — .X had its consequences (consequence); X took its toll (on s.o. (sth.)); that was not the end of it. Д-282 • ЗАБЫВАТЬ/ЗАБЫТЬ ДОРОГУ. Х забыл дорогу к Y-y — X stopped going (coming) to Y’s place.; || Imper забудь дорогу в наш дом — don’t bother coming back here; don’t come here (ever) again.
Г-250 • ВЕШАТЬ/ПОВЕСИТЬ. ГОЛОВУ. X
повесил голову — X lost heart.; || Neg Imper не вешай голову — keep your chin up!; cheer up! H-168 • УНОСИТЬ/УНЕСТИ НОГИ. Х унёс ноги — X cleared out.; || X еле (едва, насилу) ноги унёс — X escaped (got away) by the skin of his teeth.
While the English equivalents provided for these special patterns tend to be best used in the specified construction, all or most of the equivalents for the basic affirmative pattern can usually be used in the negative, the imperative, the negative imperative, and with many adverbials.
The variables X, Y, and Z cover both genders for human nouns. In those few instances when an idiom can be used only with a female (or male) subject or object, gender specifications are included in the grammatical description; for example:
B-260 • ДАВАТЬ/ДАТЬ ВОЛЮ РУКАМ. 2. [subj: usu. male]. X даёт волю рукам — X lets his hands wander. C-166 • НОСИТЬ ПОД СЕРДЦЕМ кого. [VP; subj: human, female]. X носила Y-a (ребёнка) под сердцем — .X was with child.
The words “person” and “thing” are used with variables X, Y, and Z to indicate animacy/inanimacy restrictions (the word “thing” is used for all types of inanimate nouns). For example, the last equivalent in sense 2 of Г-86 is presented thus:
Г-86 • ОТКРЫВАТЬ/ОТКРЫТЬ. ГЛАЗА кому (на кого-что) [subj: human or abstr]. X открыл Y-у глаза на Z-а — .thing X was an eye opener (eye-opener).
The notation “thing X” shows that the subject for this equivalent must be inanimate, while the grammatical brackets indicate that any inanimate subject must be abstract.
The compiler’s lexicographic conservatism initially militated against the introduction of variables and patterns. In the end, however, it became obvious that the use of variables is significantly more user-friendly than the traditional one and that it tremendously expands a lexicographer’s possibilities for presenting a greater number of faithful translations in a clear and understandable fashion. Feedback from users suggests they concur.