Here is a simple glossary for some of the Russian and Yiddish words that pop up frequently in 19th century Kremenets birth and death records. The Russian forms are given in both the transliterated and Russian forms. The Yiddish/Hebrew words are given only in their transliterated forms, because I haven't yet figured out a good way to type in Hebrew.

Click here if the "Russian letters" look like garbage.

Russian terms for age and status, along with Russian records column headings*

• bolezn ili ot chego umer (болезнь или оть чего умеръ) - how or from what died (column heading)
• chislo i m'syatz (число и месяцъ) - date and month (column heading)
• dnej (дней) - days
• dvochka (дявочка) - girl
• evrejskij (Еврейский) - Hebrew (in date column, refers to Jewish calendar)
• evrejka (Еврейка) - woman (wife)
• gde rodilsya (где родился) - where born (column heading)
• gde umer' i pogrebin (где умеръ и погребенъ) - where died and where buried (column heading)
• khristianskij (християнски.)- Christian (in date column, refers to Russian calendar)
• kto rodilscya i kakoe emy ili ej dano imya (кто родился и какое или ей дано имя) - who born and his or her given name (column heading)
• kto sovershal obryad obrezaniya (кто совершахъ обрядъ обрезания) - who presided over the circumcision (column heading)
• kto umer' (кто умеръ) - who died (column heading)
• leta (лета) - age (literally: summers) (column heading)
• malchik (малъчикь) - boy
• mat' (матъ) - mother
• myatz. (mtz.) (мяцевъ) - months
• ned. (нед.) - weeks
• No. zhenska/muzheska (женскаго/мужескаго) - number female/male (column heading)
• otetz (отець) - father
• rodivshikhsya (родившихся) с- births (at top of page of birth records)
• soldat (солдать) - soldier
• sostoyanie otza, imena ottza i materi (состояние отця, имена отца и матери) - names of father and mother (column heading)
• starik/starukha (старикь/старуха) - elder (male)/(elder (female)
• shvat (швата) - weeks
• vdova (выдова) - widow
• umershikh (умершихъ) - deaths (at top of page of death records)
• zhena (жена) - wife

Yiddish/Hebrew words for age and personal status

• almnh widow
• ash'h - woman
• ash't r. - married to Reb (Mr.)
• bakhor - bachelor
• b'r - child of Reb (Mr.)
• betulah - virgin
• khdsh - months
• shbt - weeks
• yldh - girl
• yld - boy
• ym/ymym - day/days
• zkn/zknh - elder (male)/elder (female)

Russian names for causes of death*

• chakhotka (чахотка) - consumption
• goryachki (горячки) - fever
• khilerij, kholery (хилерий, холеры) - cholera
• kiyashil (кияшил) - cough
• koklyush (коклюш) - whooping cough
• konvulsij (конвулсий) - convulsions
• kory (коры) - measles
• naryva vy garlya (нарыва вы гарля) - abscess in throat
• naryv (нарыв) - throat
• opukhol' (опухолъ) - tumor, swelling
• ospy (оспы) - pox
• pinos (пинось) - diarrhea
• poveselya (повеселя) - hanging
• rebmatizma (ревматизма) - rheumatism or rheumatic fever
• rodov (родов) - childbirth
• skarlatina (скарлатина) - scarlet fever
• starosti (старости) - old age
• tifosnoi (тифосной) - typhus
• tifosnoj goryachki (тифосной горяачки) - typhoid fever
• tya zhe/ta oke (?) (тяа же/та оке) - ditto (the same as on the line above)
• utopilya (утопиля) - drowning
• vestyamenits legkshij (вестямениц легкшъ) - wasting of the lungs
• vospaleniya vy golovya (воспаления вы головя) - inflammation in the head
• vospalenij legkikh (воспалений легкихъ) - pneumonia or pleurisy
• vospalenie mozov' (воспаление мозовъ) - encephalitis
• vykidysh (выкидышъ) - fetus; miscarriage
• zheltukha (желътуха, йислотухи) - jaundice

Yiddish/Hebrew names for causes of death

• geshvvylyyt - swelling
• kholy-ra, khalerye - cholera
• m - from (example: "mzkyn" means "from old age")
• mazlyn - measles
• mhyl - ditto (the same as on the line above)
• nfl - fetus; miscarriage
• trenken - drowning
• zalatachy - jaundice
• zkyn - old age

* All words here appear in the form in which they appeared in the Kremenets vital records for 1870 and 1871. The person who spelled the Russian versions of the Russian words included here has a rather tenuous grasp on the difference between the "hard sign" (ь) and the "soft sign" (ъ).

The Russian here looks like @#$%ing garbage!!!!

To read Russian characters through your Web browser, you need to install Russian fonts (characters) on your computer and adjust the "Character Set" or "Encoding" option on your Web browser so that it will use the Russian characters when necessary. To install Russian fonts, roll up your sleeves or find a smart 12-year-old and visit this site:

The Jewish Records Indexing-Poland Inc. fonts instruction site

Once you've installed Russian fonts on your computer, you should be able to see the Russian forms on this page with your browser's Cyrillic Windows-1251 encoding.

To adjust your encoding in NETSCAPE, click on the View menu at the top of your screen, pick the Character Set sub-menu, then pick Cyrillic Windows-1251 from the options available through the sub-menu. This should not mess up the display of normal English text.

To adjust your encoding in INTERNET EXPLORER, click on the View menu, choose the Encoding sub-menu, then pick Cyrillic Windows-1251. This should not mess up the display of normal English text.