Foreword
The Dictionary of Spoken Russian differs somewhat from the average dictionary, for it is a dictionary of words only secondarily. The basic unit of communication is the phrase or sentence. These phrases and sentences, the fundamentals of language activity, are indexed by word entries. Some words are not illustrated by sentences; the word April, for instance, equating with апре́ль, needs no special illustration for anyone familiar with the basic patterns of the languages involved. On the other hand, words like do, make, or чем, быть require extensive illustration for any but native speakers.
The vast majority of the illustrative sentences in the Dictionary of Spoken Russian are on the standard colloquial level; but some slang is involved, and some purely formal or "literary" expressions, if they are common in daily life, as in newspapers, documents, signs, and correspondence. Proverbs are included when they form part of everyday speech habits. Rare, archaic, precious, or provincial expressions are left out simply because there is no room for them in a dictionary of this scope. The Russian is the colloquial speech of Moscow or Leningrad, with D. M. Ushakov's Толковый Словарь Русского Языка, Moscow, 1935-1940, as the basic authority. The English is general American colloquial. Usage in English and Russian was determined by a consensus of a large number of native speakers in both languages. A conscious attempt has been made not to be arbitrary in usage, and to be descriptive, not prescriptive. A dictionary of a spoken language must always catalog what is said, not what certain individuals think people should say.
This dictionary has an English-Russian side consisting of four thousand common word entries, together with subentries (phrases and idioms) and illustrative sentences. The Russian- English side consists of 7,700 word entries, with subentries and illustrative sentences. In addition, the dictionary contains a grammatical summary of Russian to which irregularly inflected Russian words are coded, and appendixes dealing with weights and measures, signs, proper names, foods, holidays, and so forth.
A schema of the arrangement of material within a word entry follows with examples. By "word translations" is meant fairly close word-for-word correspondences, as April: апрéль. "Subentries" covers special uses of an entry word or locutions, involving an entry word; accounts and on account of are subentries under account. "Sentence translations" refers to a group where no word-for-word correspondence exists; "I'm ahead in my work" equates with Russian: "Моя́ рабо́та идёт скоре́е, чем я предполага́л" (literally: "My work is going faster than I expected"). This might be called a "situational"translation. The plan for the English-Russian side is:
word entry
- word translations
- subentries
- sentence translations
Example
ahead перед. Look ahead of you. Смотри́те пря́мо перед собо́й. • впереди́. Are there any detours up ahead? Есть впереди́ каки́е-нибудь объе́зды?
□ go ahead продолжа́йте. Go ahead and write your letter; I'll wait. Продолжа́йте писа́ть ва́ше письмо́, я подожду́. — Go ahead and tell him if you want to. Пожа́луйста, скажи́те ему́ э́то, е́сли хоти́те.
□ Who's ahead? Кто выи́грывает? • I'm ahead in my work. Моя́ рабо́та идёт скоре́е, чем я предполага́л.
A bullet (•) separates different glosses within the first two sections, and pairs of sentences within the third; an open square (□) separates the sections themselves. An asterisk (*) before a Russian sentence indicates a rigid idiomatic expression.
For the Russian-English side, the plan is:
word entry
1. word translations
2. subentries
3. sentence translations
4. reflexives (in the case of verbs)
A. word translations
B. subentries
C. sentence translations
Example
держа́ть (держу́; де́ржит) to hold. Она́ всю доро́гу держа́ла ребёнка рука́х. She held the baby in her arms the whole trip. • to keep. Держи́те э́то лека́рство в холо́дном ме́сте. Keep this medicine in a cold place. • to stop. Иди́те, вас никто́ не де́ржит. You're free to go. Nobody's stopping you. • to carry. Галантере́и в э́той ла́вке не де́ржат. This store doesn't carry haberdashery.
□ держа́ть корректу́ру to proofread. Он сам де́ржит корректу́ру свое́й ре́чи. He's proofreading his speech himself.
держа́ть пари́ to bet. держу́ пари́! I'll bet you!
□ * С ним на́до держа́ть у́хо востро́. You've got to watch your step with that guy.
-ся to hold on. Держи́тесь за пери́ла. Hold on to the banister. • to hold out. Кре́пость держа́лась два ме́сяца. The fortress held out for two months. • to wear. Э́ти ста́рые башмаки́ ещё хорошо́ де́ржатся. These old shoes are still wearing well.
□ держа́ться на нога́х to stand on one's feet. Он так слаб, что едва́ на нога́х де́ржиться. He's so weak that he can hardly stand on his feet.
□ Рабо́тать вас там заста́вят — то́лько держи́сь. They'll make you work your head off over there.
In Russian verb entries where either (no pct) or (no dur) immediately precedes a sentence, the verb in that meaning is used only in the aspect indicated.
The correspondence between punctual and durative verbs is not always reciprocal; when it is not, the following indications
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