GRAPHICAL VERSION (for computers that can't handle Cyrillic)
READING CYRILLIC (Russian) text on your computer
TEXT VERSION
Russian: Transliteration -- English
2-й -- 2-j -- second
август: avgust -- August
а именно: a imenno -- namely
а также: a takzhe -- and also
алфабить: alfabit -- alphabetical list
амбар: ambar -- barn
аперль: aperl -- April
будуть: budut -- will be
бумоги: bumogi -- documents
велселей: velselej -- promissory notes
взыскать: vziskat -- recover
внесенные: vnesennie -- submission, deposit
возведенных: vozvedennikh -- raising (accusations)
возрасть: vozrast -- increase
воинской новинности: voinskoj novinnosti -- conscription
волость: volost -- county
вручения: vrucheniya -- delivering
вследствiе: vsledstvie -- because of
въ: v -- in
вызовь: vizov -- call
выполненiю: vipolneniyu -- in fulfillment
вышеозначеннымъ: visheoznachennim -- aforesaid
где: gde -- where
гилъдiй: gildij -- guild
граф: graf -- count, earl
год, годах: god, godakh -- year, years
город, городской: gorod, gorodskoj -- city, city's
губерния: gubernya -- large region, state
дана: dana -- tribute, debt
дворянин: dvoryani -- nobleman
двухь: dvukh -- two
действiя: dejstviya -- activity, effect
деревяаннiе: derevyaannie -- wooden
декабрь: dekabr -- December
для: dlya -- for
долговь: dolgov -- debt
долженъ: dolzhen -- obligation
дома: doma -- home
думе: dume -- council
еврей: evrej -- Jew
еврейский: evrejskij -- Jewish
желающiя: zhelayushchiya -- those who wish
желающiя: zhelayushchiya -- those who wish
жительлство: zhitellstvo -- residence
заведенияхъ: zavedeniyakh -- institution
зачицленiю: zachitsleniyu -- enlistment
зданiя: zdaniya -- building
земле: zemle -- land captain
земский: zemskij -- land captain
и: i -- and
имена: imena -- given name
именнои списокъ: imennoi spisok -- list of names
имущество: imushchestvo -- property
исклячснiемъ: isklyachsniem -- expulsion, elimination
исповеданiй-: ispovedanij- -- confession
исполненiю: ispolneniyu -- fulfillment
июль: iyul -- July
июнь: iyun -- June
канцелярий: kantselyarij -- chancellory
капиталы: kapitali -- capital
квад.: kvad. -- square
квад. саж.: kvad. sazh. -- square sazhen
количестве: kolichestve -- quantity
комнатахь: komnatakh -- rooms
коробочник: korobochnik -- tax farmer, municipal investment banker
которы можно: kotori mozhno -- who wish may
которыхъ: kotorikh -- of which, of whom
крестьянин: krestyanin -- peasant
купец, купцу: kuptsu -- merchant
лавочке: lavochke -- shop
лиць: lits -- persons
лошадь: loshad -- horse
льгот: lgot -- privilege
людей: lyudej -- men
май: maj -- May
марть: mart -- March
мелнице: melnitse -- miller
места их жителства: mesta ikh zhitelstva -- place of residence
местечке: mestechke -- small town
мещанин: meshchanin -- burgher
молодыьхъ: molodikh -- young
мотуть: motut -- can, may
надобности: nadobnosti -- necessity, need
назначен-: naznachen- -- set
наружому: naruzhomu -- external, public?
настоящем-: nastoyashchem- -- ?
находящагося: nakhodyashchagosya -- situated in
находящихся: nakhodyashchikhsya -- situated at, resting at
нахожденiя: nakhozhdeniya -- finding
не яавившимся: ne yaavivshimsya -- failed to show up
невзятiе нижеозначенные: nevzyatie nizheoznachennie -- described
below
недвижинаго имущества: nedvizhinago imushchestva -- real estate
недомки: nedomki -- arrears
неизвестной: neizvestnoj -- unknown, unexplained
неплатежь: neplatezh -- non-payment
неродатне: nerodatne -- not in service to
неустойкою: neustojkoyu -- penalties, fines
неявившимся: neyavivshimsya -- failing to appear, absent
ниж следующiя: nizh sleduyushchiya -- that follow below
нижепоименованныхъ: nizhepoimenovannikh -- listed by name below
но: no -- but
ноябрь: noyabr -- November
нужаго: nuzhago -- necessary, required
нумерамь жеребья: numeram zherebya -- lottery number (for draft)
обучающихся: obuchayushchikhsya -- instruction
общестжо: obshchestzho -- company, community
объавленiя: obavleniya -- announcement
объявляеть: obyavlyaet – to announce
один, одна, одно: odin, odna, odno -- one
означенное: oznachennoe -- aforesaid
окончанiя: okonchaniya -- end, conclusion, termination
октяабрь: oktyabr -- October
опись: opis -- inventory
определенъ: opredelen -- set
осмотры: osmotri -- from inspection
основанi-: osnovani- -- grounds, foundation
открыть: otkrit -- to open
отлучке: otluchke -- absence
относящiяся: otnosyashchiyasya -- concerning
отсрочку: otsrochku -- delay, deferment
отчества: otchestva -- patronymic
отыскижаеть: otiskizhaet -- to look for
оцененныхь, оценить: otsenennikh, otsenit -- appraised at
паспортъ: pasport -- passport
перваго разряад: pervago razryaad -- first rank
переторжка: peretorzhka -- "re-auction" ( home equity auctions used to pay big fines in installments)
податнаго: podatnago -- service
подведомстженным: podvedomstzhennim -- under the jurisdiction of
подлежащимъ, подлежащихь: podlezhashchim -- subject to
пожарн: pozharn -- fire
полицеиское: politseiskoe -- police
половин: polovin -- half
получившие: poluchivshie -- get
пользующихся: polzuyushchikhsya -- use, benefit
помещику: pomeshchiku -- landowner
после: posle -- post-, after
постановленЬе: postanovlene -- decree
постоянныя: postoyanniya -- regular (army)??
потомственн-: potomstvenn- -- hereditary
почему: pochemu -- so
почетный: pochetnij -- honorable
православныхъ: pravoslavnikh -- Russian Orthodox
предстоящаго: predstoyashchago -- coming
приглашаются: priglashayutsya -- invited
призывъ, призыву: prizivu -- call-up
принадленажаго: prinadlenazhago -- belonging to
приписавшимся: pripisavshimsya -- registered
присутствiе: prisutstvie -- office
приходь: prikhod -- parish
производиться: proizvoditsya -- will be held
псаломщиковъ: psalomshchikov -- sexton
разматривать: razmatrivat -- inspect
родившимся: rodivshimsya -- who were born
родившихся: rodivshikhsya -- born
розыскиваеть: roziskivaet -- look for
ряадов: ryaadov -- commoner (?)
с: s -- with, for
сажень: sazhen -- 2.13 meters, 2.5 yards
сарае: sarae -- sheds
свидетльств-: svidetlstv- -- testimony, certificate
своему: svoemu -- his own
священныхъ: svyashchennikh -- priest
сентяабрь: sentyabr -- September
сего: sego -- this
следует: sleduet -- yet
службу: sluzhbu -- service
содержанiе: soderzhanie -- upkeep, maintenance
соласно: solasno -- in accord with
сословiя: sosloviya -- estate, corporation
состоявшему: sostoyavshemu -- issued
состоявщаго: sostoyavshchago -- located
список: spisok -- list
сроки: sroki -- dates
ссудной: ssudnoj -- bans
судь: sud -- court
сыновъямь: sinovyam -- sons
текущем: tekushchem -- current, instant, ordinary
техъ: tekh -- this
тоже: tozhe -- the same
том: tom -- this, volume
торги: torgi -- auction
торгов флот: torgov flot -- merchant marine, commercial fleet
у: u -- at, from, belonging to
у става: u stava -- rules, charter
уезда, уездное: uezdnoe -- district
узаконенно: uzakonenno -- legal, statutory
улице: ulitse -- street
умерщ: umershch -- deceased
управленiе: upravlenie -- board
участвовать: uchastvovat -- participate
участкомъ: uchastkom -- district
учебныьхъ: uchebnikh -- educational
фамилiя: familiya -- surname
февраль: fevral -- February
флигеле: fligele -- additions
церковь: cherkov -- church
что: chto -- that
январь: yanvar -- January
The graphical version was created for computers that can't handle Cyrillic text. You can read it on a browser screen or print it, but you can't search these files, select words or copy words without special software.
READING CYRILLIC (Russian) on your computer
You have to configure your computer to handle Cyrillic to see the Cyrillic here. That's a pain in a neck, but then you'll be able to read other Cyrillic on the Web, and chances are I'll update and expand this version a lot more often than the graphical version.
The basic steps to Russifying your Internet browser are: a) download Cyrillic fonts; b) tweak your operating system to that your computer can handle Cyrillic fonts; and, c) choose the browser options that enable the browser to display Cyrillic. This will involve much cursing, so you should remove children and breakables from the room before you start.
Anyhow, here are a couple of detailed Russification guidesr:
Vladimir Veytsel's
Windows Russification Guide
Paul Gorodyansky's Netscape Russification Guide
WHAT IS THIS? This is a simple, terribly flawed translating glossary for English
speakers who want to read the draft notices and other legal notices
in the Minsk Vedomosti -- the official government newspaper that was published
from 1838 to 1917 for the gubernya, or state, of Minsk.
The official notices resemble the legal notices published in many
American cities today. The lawyers for bankruptcy creditors, mortgage holders
and Russian government agencies used a fair amount of legal terminology,
and they tended to stick with similar phrasing time after time.
WHY IS THIS HERE? The main strength of this glossary is that, as far as I can tell,
it's the only one on the Web or readily available in the United States
in any form that even tries to help you with the Vedomosti. The typical Russian-English
translating dictionary seems to be aimed at tourists who want to pick up members
of the preferred sex in bars in Moscow, not genealogists trying to read nineteenth
century legal notices. I've seen at least one good translating glossary in
"Following the Paper Trail: A Multilingual Translation Guide," by Jonathan D. Shea
and William F. Hoffman but it's aimed more at helping you decipher vital records
than notices suggesting that your great-great-great-grandfather was a bankrupt draft evader.
For more information about the Shea/Hoffman book, try this Web site:
http://www.avotaynu.com/books3/htm
WHY IS THIS GLOSSARY FLAWED: a) I drew heavily
on draft evader notices from the 1870s. b) I don't actually know any Russian.
I wrestled with a bunch of Russian-English dictionaries and meditated a
lot, and that's how I came up with these translations. c) I'm learning
Russian spelling as I go along. I have very, very little ability to tell
a Russian hard sign character from a soft sign character, and probably
mix them up throughout this glossary.
EMERGENCY RUSSIAN GRAMMAR: In most cases, I present Russian words here in
the form in which they appear in the Vedomosti. I often left out the various
complicated grammatical endings on the theory that paying attention to endings
won't help you much if you're totally new to Russian. In general: a word that ends with -a, -yu
or -x is probably a noun or an adjective; -no, an adverb; -at or -yut, a verb; and -sya, a
gerund or some other form of a verb that would end in -ing in English (e.g., "living" or
"breathing") . Also: i means "and"; ili means "or"; "a" means "and" or "but"; and "no" means but.
TWO WEIRD LETTERS a) In the old days,
before the Communists took over in 1917, the Russians
often used a letter that looked like the Roman alphabet i, as in igloo. I included
the i's, because I could persuade my computer to type them. b) The Russians
also used a vowel that looked like the bastard child of the Roman letters b and t --
a lower-case b with a horizontal line crossing the stem.
I haven't figured out how to type this letter, so, in most cases, I typed an
e instead.
CAN I COPY THIS? This glossary is copy-left. If you know some Russian, it would be
great if you would use this as starting point for developing better Vedomosti
translating guides of your own.
WILL YOU EXPAND THIS AND CORRECT YOUR MANY HEINOUS ERRORS?
It's possible that I could update this glossary myself, but it's possible that I could lose interest, or lose
access to computers capable of handling Cyrillic. Corrections and additions
are welcome, but I can't swear that I'll use them.
I'M WITH JEWISHGEN. WILL YOU BE ANGRY WITH ME IF I LINK THIS SITE TO WWW.JEWISHGEN.ORG?
I'm sort of mad at the moderators of the BELARUS SIG mailing list, and really mad at the
moderators of soc.genealogy.jewish, because I think they are way too aggressive about enforcing
procedural rules, such as a requirement that participants include both their full, real name and their home city,
and far too slow to weed actual flames. If you are with JewishGen, you may
link to this site or store a mirror site anywhere you like, as long as you a) address my concerns;
b) put my concerns about the moderation rules up to a vote; or c) leave this paragraph in.
A.L. Bell
* * *
Minsk Vedomosti Translation Center
Norman Ross Publishing - Vedomosti microfilms
A.L. Bell's Genealogy Resource Center -- includes Belarus links
A.L. Bell's lovely but
underpopulated Yahoo! club, Jewish Genealogy 2000
Kansas City
March 17, 2000
