?’???????€?µ???°́?‚??: to resurrect
If you hopped on a plane, bus, or train last weekend to travel to a country with few Orthodox Christians, you might have forgotten the Easter rituals. But if you stayed in Russia, you were probably overwhelmed by colored eggs, ?????»???‡ (Easter sweet bread), ???°???…?° (a spread that tastes a bit like cheesecake), and of course the cheerful greeting ???€?????‚???? ?????????€?µ???µ! (Christ is risen!) to which people reply: ?’???????‚?????? ?????????€?µ???µ! (Verily He is risen.)
Wait a sec — ?????????€?µ???µ? That doesn't sound like Russian. Good catch! It isn't. It's Church Slavonic. You can also say in Russian: ???€?????‚???? ?????????€?µ??! ?’???????‚?????? ?????????€?µ??! ?€” although that's a bit down to earth.
In any case, the verb being used is ?????????€?µ??-, that is, ?????????€?µ??-, no ?€” hold on I'll get it …
Ah. Here's the tricky bit. There are two verb pairs that are almost but not quite synonyms: ?????????€?µ???°?‚??/?????????€?µ?????‚?? and ?????????€?µ???°?‚??/?????????€?µ???????‚??. Blink and you mix them up. But the meaning and way you use them differs.
?’???????€?µ???°?‚?? means to resurrect someone or something. It's a transitive verb, which means in everyday language that you carry out the act of resurrecting on a person or object. Usually you come across this in a religious context: ???€?????‚???? ?????????€?µ???°?µ?‚ ???°??, ???°?? ?????????€?µ?????» ?????????°-?‚?? ?›?°?·?°?€?? (Christ resurrects us the way he once resurrected Lazarus.)
But we humans can also resurrect things, like memories: ???°?? ?»?µ?????? ?????????€?µ???°?‚?? ?? ???°???µ?? ???°?????‚?? ?€?°???????‚???‹?µ ???????µ???‚?‹ ???€?????»?????? (It's easy for us to resurrect the joyful moments of our past in our memories.) Or we can give concepts a second life: ??‚?? ???°?????‹??-???°?????? ?????µ?€?????µ ?????????‚???? ???°???µ???? ???€?????»???‚?????? ???€?????»??????, ?? ?? ???µ ??????????, ???‚?? ?? ?·?°?‡?µ?? ???… ?????????€?µ???°?µ?‚ (Those are concepts of our cursed past that died out long ago, and I can't understand who is resurrecting them and why.) Or we can bring someone back to life, albeit in a human way, like this prison camp inmate described by Varlam Shalamov: ?”?°?¶?µ ?????‚???????‚ ???€?°???????? ?€?¶?°???????? ?…?»?µ?±?°, ?‚?€?? ?»???¶???? ???°???? ?? ?????????° ?¶???????????? ???????° ?? ???µ???? ???????»?? ?????????€?µ???°?‚?? ?‡?µ?»?????µ???° (Even 50 grams of rye bread, three spoonfuls of porridge and a bowl of watery soup a day could bring a man back to life.)
The other pair, ?????????€?µ???°?‚??/?????????€?µ???????‚??, also means to resurrect, but the verb pair is intransitive ?€” someone or something resurrects itself. This is verb you're using at Easter with the greeting ???€?????‚???? ?????????€?µ??. And even though this is a very religious word, you can find it used figuratively ?€” or at least secularly: ?’???????€?µ?????µ?‚ ?‚???‘?€???‹?? ?·???°??, ???µ?€?????‚???? ???‚?? (The hard sign will be resurrected and the letter yat will return, too.) Of course, most of the time it's rather lofty: ?? ???‘?» ?‚?°??, ???»???????? ?????µ ???µ???‚???°???†?°?‚?? ?»?µ?‚, ?????‘ ?°???€?µ?»?????????µ ?????»???µ?????µ ?? ?????????µ???????µ ???‚?€?°?…?? ?????????€?µ???»?? ???? ?????µ (I walked along just like I was 16 years old, and all the excitement of April and fears of youth came to life in me again.)
Now you might not have cause to talk about resurrection much, but you do bring things back to life, like your garden in the spring. With these secular verb pairs, it's the same story: ???¶?????»???‚??/???¶???????‚?? (to bring someone or something to life) and ???¶?????°?‚??/???¶???‚?? (to come to life). You even have the same problem telling the verbs apart. ???‹ ???¶?????»???µ?? ???°?·?µ?‚?? (We're bring the newspaper back to life.) And in fact: ?“?°?·?µ?‚?° ???¶???»?°! (The newspaper has bounced back!)
Hey, it's the season of miracles.
Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.