Translation of Ukrainian Sourzhyk into English and Italian

Translation of Ukrainian Sourzhyk Into English and Italian

SEPTEMBER 25, 2008

The widely used in Eastern Ukrainian Regions variation OF THE LANGUAGE ADOPTED THE NAME OF 'SOURZHYK', very similar to the word 'surrogate', a mixture of Ukrainian and Russian, recently researched by the Italian scholar, my friend, Dr. Salvatore Del Gaudio is a specific and difficult case. 

The most essential features of the jargon/ or Pigin Ukrainian, or Ukrorussian are: 

1. on the phonological level- 

- approximation, adaptation and accomodation; 

2. on the grammatical level- 

- grammatical concordance and specific government 

3. on the lexical level- 

- the nearly equal usage of both, the Ukrainian and the Russian wordstocks 

- usage of the realia not easily rendered into Ukrainian 

- erroneous/ false translation 'friends' lexemes that make it sound funny or even out-of-place for a Ukrainian hearing 

4. on the stylistic level- 

- insertion of set-phrases, metaphors, aphorisms, quotations 

- usage of marked lexical units making the speech more expressive and more colorful (acc. to the users perception) 

- exotic and expressive patterns usage 

- colloquial, pragmatic usage of the language resources (considered often as a pattern of low educated speech). 

Rendering the 'sourzhyk' into English and Italian is not easy at all: 

a/ only those who know both Ukrainian and Russian, the two cultures, literatures and social realia could really evaluate and appreciate/discern the specifics of the 'Ukrorussian'; 

b/ the translation of the speech is very much possible if one implements the resources of other languages, e.g., as it happens in Spanglish or Franglais; the specifics of English would prompt a certain possibility of employing German or Dutch insertions, to render the 'sourzhyk's' 'coloryt'; 

c/ when translating into Italian, there could be used the language resources of Spanish/and French to make the language fact more vivid and expressive. 

Below, are provided the possible variants of the Ukro-Russian transcribed words and phrases in the Ukrainian alphabetical order, taken from a Book of a well-known Ukrainian writer. 

A 

1. a razvye zapadentsi nye khotyat? = Engl. and how about *westerniks, they don't need it? = It. riguardante gli *ovestini, non nelo vogliono? 

2. ana takaya zhe maya, kak i tvaya, prosta! = she is as much meine as yours, got it? = lei e' cosi' la mia como la tuia, loco! 

3. abaldyeyesh tut= one can loose one's Kopf= uno si puo' diventar un minchione; si puo' perder la cabeza!; 

B 

1. buly nazvani imyenami tryokh katov= were by the names of the three Ka'tzen genommen= eran state nominate dai nomi di tre's gattos 

V 

1. vam komnatu chi otdyel'nu?= do you need a dwelling or ein Separatwohnung?= lei vuole una camera o una isolada? 

2. vy zh v kursye...= you know it, nicht wahr?= lo sapete, verdad? 

3. vyeshat= to loegen, = mentire 

4. variant chiki-chiki = a magic bullet, just the ticket;= una variante bien fatta 

5. vsyo durne= alles McFly; =todo e' sciocco 

E 

1. eto mene ne volnuye= I don't care about dat,= non mi inetessa nemmeno 

2. eta samaye= that's het, how do you call dat?= un coso, come si fa? 

Z 

1. zakhodi= hereein! = advanti! 

YE 

1. ye plyashka 'soukharika'= I have a flask of smash,= ho un vetro del frantumo 

K 

1.kushaty ne khachu= non voglio manger;=I don't want to eten 

2. korispondyent= Korrespondent;= correspondant 

M 

1. moloty yerundu= nonsense zu sagen;= dire sciocchezze/stupidagine//dir dei pezzi pazzi 

2. marynarsha= a party woman;= la damma di compagnia 

3. maladoy chyelovyek= hey, my man!= giovanotto, gonzello! bello! 

4. meni nada zavdatok= Ich brauche a deposit;= dovete faire un deposit affitto 

5. meni nada Klavu= Klava is the one ich bin looking foer;= la Klava, la cerco/je suis qua per Clava 

6. madam= Meine Frau; Mevrauw, Mesdame, ma belle 

N 

1. na vulytsi etava vasheva= on the how-do-you-call-him street,= sulla strada di Come-lo-chiamate 

2. naydyotye myenya zdyes'= you'll find me hierr;= mi troverete aqui/ici 

3. nu, paka!= OK, au revoir!= bene, por hora! 

4. nikakoho oholoshennya ya nye daval!= I submit keine ad nicht!= non ho pubblicato ninguna pubblicidad! 

5. nu, eto vsyo ravno!= dat is all die solche!= e' lo mismo! 

6. nichyevo!= gut enough!= bastante bene! 

nu, da!= well, ja!= mais, si'! 

P 

1.pro tse dazhe vyechorka pisala= even the Nachtrichtungen wrote about dat= anche nel Periodico della Noche cene scriveva 

2. pampushechka=*plumpy,=*paffuttita 

3. poynyav?= capisc'?= hai entendido? 

R 

1. razvye vy nye slyshali?= didn't U hear 'bout dat?= no ne l'avete sentita? 

2. razryeshitye pryedstavittsa= permitez-moi to be introduced= alstsublieft, che io mi entroduire 

S 

1. slukhay, ty, parakhod i chyelovyek!= hey, you, de steamer and de Mann*;= senta tu, "piroscafo e l'uomo!"* 

2. staraya portupyeya!= my old Weib!= mia veija donna! 

T 

1. teper, vsyo klyovo= jetzt, all's cool;= mo', tutto es bello 

2. tvoya holova teper skhozha na ryepku= you head resembles now un navet(turnip);= mo', la tua teste asomiglia un navet 

3. ty teper, yak krokodil'chik= you now look like ein Krokodil;= adesso, assomigli a un cocodrillo 

U 

1. u mene tut yes't' odyn adresok= I have a nice Adresse in here;= ho un bel indirizzo aqui 

KH 

1. khroushchovka= a Khrushchov-era flat; = un appartamento all Kruscev

2. khotya, postoy!= aber, hold on!= pero', espera! 

3. khmyr'= yack; schmo; tizio, vikingo (dipende dal contesto/situazione) 

CH 

1. chyevo stoish, sadis'= warum do ye stand, take a Platz= ?porque' stai a piedi?-sentati! 

SHCH 

1. shche kofe?= un po' ma's del caffe'?= some more Kafe'? 

2. . shtob vy znali...= so dat you kennenkoenen;= che vosotros sappiate 

Ivan Petryshyn Chicago, IL Ukraine- USA 09/20/08 6:49 pm