Chemical Russian, Self-taught II.
The Vocabulary Problem J A M E S W . PERRY
Ballistic Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland*
Acquiring the wombulary needed to read chemical Russian imposes a considerable burden on the memory. This burden can be eased by noting theoriginand derivation of many of the words encountered when reading Russian chemical papers. INTRODUCTION
WO rather distinct types of words are encountered T f r e q n e n t l y when reading chemical Russian. The first type consists of technical terms of foreign origin, many of which can he easily recognized by their similarity to corresponding English terms. The second type consists of typically Russian words derived from simple Russian roots. This discussion of the origin and derivation of Russian scientific terminology provides background,for understanding Russian chemical nomenclature, which will be reviewed in later papers. This paper is not concerned with the complexities of Russian grammar. However, in discussing the derivation of words, a distinction is made between (1) suffixes which are used to form the stems of derived words and (2) endings of a purely grammatical nature (such as the case endings of nouns), which are affixed to the stems of words. Russian nouns and adjectives are cited in the nominative, singular, and the nominative, masculine, singular case, respectively. Verbs are cited as infinitives. A distinction is made between durative and perfective infinitives as follows: Durative Perfective
m
T
h
nony~a~s
alphabet using the Chemicul Abstracts' system of letter (given a~ansram am= ac+anm &TOM
aneTaT ~OKCET
w
ras rpam X Y P = ~ ~ E ~ O T O ~ K~TEOH
KOJIJIOEH
KoMnnexc KOHCT~ATB MwIamT MeTam HOARK DM
nmam npo6ne~a npoXyKT ITPOTOH
npoqecc
ceKyAxa cneKTpocKon CTPYKTYPa cym+a~ +enon
to be thinking
~ O P M ~
to think
+o~wna tioc!ba~ xnapo+opx geMenT sne~~pon SJrenaeaT
RUSSIAN ADAPTATION O F FOREIGN TECHNICAL TERMS
arnal'gama amm asfsl't atom atsetat boksit gramm zburnal ieotop kation kalloid kompleks konstanta malakhit metall nonan om potash problema produkt proton protsess sekunda spektroskop strukture. wl'fat fen01 forma formula fosfat khloroform tsement elektron element
am+gam smne asphalt atom acetate bauxite gas gram journal isotope cation colloid complex (noun) constant (noun) malachite metal nonane ohm potash problem product proton process second spectroscope structure sulfate phenol form (noun) formula phosphate ehlorofarm cement electron element
Russian scientific writers are surprisingly willing to use technical terms of foreign origin. At times, a foreign term may be used in preference to an already RUSSIAN-ENGLIBH L E T ~ E REQUIVALENTS existmg Russian word. Furthermore, the process of a 6 a adopting foreign technical terms into Russian goes on a h d eh a i i k 1 m n o p r s t continually. For these reasons, learning to read chem- y r p x ' q s m m . . b b l b B H ) R ical Russian is facilitated greatly by acquiring skill in kh ts eh sh shch , yu ya recognizing well-known technical terms in Russian An important group of R u s s i a n i d technical terms disguise. Such recognition is facilitated by the fact that, as a genewl rule, the Russi+ns are guided by of foreign origh consists of nouns whose nominative phonetic principles when they use the Russian alpha- singular ends in -En (case ending -d. Note that the bet to spell out foreign technical terms. This important Russian -Ha frequently oonesponds to English -ion. point is illustrated by the following examples of Rusaberration a6eppaqun sianized technical terms of foreign origin. In order to a~auem academy ~CCEIMUJI~R assimilation emphasize the close phonetic similarity of these Ruseo~~oras geology sianized terms with their English counterparts, the .rU~TOHWTER detonation Russianized terms have been transcribed into our own condensation dissociation
.,
* Present
, ,,
.
~ ~ c c o q ~ a m KoHxeAcaqux ~oppasm ~p~e~anmsaqm
address: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
22
corrosion crystalliarttion
m6opa~opnn onepaw ~e&~pmaaaqnn nom~epusa~ perenepa~eopnn @a~arpa@nn @YHK~E~ XNMXH
sxyjr~c~~~ amponan
laboratory operation neutralization polymeriastion regeneration theory photography function chemistry emulsion entropy
Nouns closely related to such verbs end in -me (case ending -e) and denote various processes. aqe~nmposamie umerpnposanae nuTDoBame cynb@uposa~ae ~a~posa~ae @anmposame xjropupoaalnre
acetylation integration nitration sulfonation titration filtration chlorination
These nouns must not be confused with the passive The Russians have a well-developed system of suf- past participles of closely related verbs. ( I n Russian, fixes which they use extensively to modify the sig- verb participles are declined like adjectives. The case nificance of Russian root words. Such suffixes are also ending in the following examples is -I&. used with roots of foreign origin. For example, the activated Russians use the suffix, - H O C T ~ (nominative, singular case ending -b), in much the same way as the suffix, "-ity," is used in English to form abstract nouns. hltered ~KTBBHOCT~
a~@o~ep~oc~b B~.~~HTHOPT~
activity amphoteric character valenov
Use of typically Russian suffixes to convert words of foreign origin, particularly nouns, into adjectives should be noted with particular care. The Russians are very careful to avoid using one noun to modify another as is done in such English expressions as "salt solution," "hydrocarbon solvent," "glass rod," etc. In the following examples the case ending is either -&or -oil: aToMA6lii sqe~mab~& aqe~nnbd ~omouuan~~d ~ a ~ n n e i c ~ d
atomic acetate (adj.) acetyl (adj.) colloidal complex (adj.)
c a ~ ~ e m p o s a ~ ~ m t 4 eynthcsized Ta~puposannxZt titrated
Occasionally, for one reason or another, the phonetic similarity between corresponding Russian and English terms may be imperfect. For example, if an English word is spelled with "th," the Russian cognate is usually spelled with "T," rarely with English "h," when not part of a consonantal diphthong, such as "ch" or "sh," is rendered in Russian cognates usually as "r" or, rarely, as "x." Russian ","K B " ~ B " and " e ~ "usually correspondtoEnglish"qu," L'au,"and"eu,"respectively. The Russians may use "KC" for English "x," even when the latter is pronounced l i e "z." The situation with regard to such deviations from phonetic similarity is illustrated by the following examples:
"+."
aleohal anhydride arithmetic aurate helium hydrate hydroxyl hv~othesia
i;ertaining to coke methyl (idj.) sodium (adj.) pertaining to alcohol ac~pa~amsec~& 6nojrornsec~ntt
astronomical biological
xaanasecxatt ane~~pnsecxntt
chemicar(adj.) electrical
Another important class of Russianized technical terms is illustrated by the following verbs whose i n h i tivesend in -0saTb. The frequent occurrence of infinitives ending in -qoBaTb suggests relationship to corresponding German infinitives ending in "-ieren." In the following examples, the grammatical infinitive endine is -m:
-
AKCTUnJlBpOBaTb +EJI~TPOB~T~
Ilpo@GTb~poBa~b
lnrTpOBsTb canTeauposaTb
to distill to be distilline t o be filtering to filter to he publishing to publish to be nltratlng
1
zito synthesize ?$kiSizing
KeeHoA Kcmlon MeT8.H HehpOE ncesxo~eope~a Teopns ~epanes~ssec~nii xenna XXHHA
xmonm SBTeKTnK sxeaeanenlad S@~P
hormone quantum (adj.) auartz (noun)
