???€?????‚??́?€: expanse, abundance
In the world of linguistics, the notion that perception is shaped by language and language is shaped by environment is not entirely well-regarded. It turns out that Eskimos don't have 589 words for snow and Arabs do have a word for it, even if they've never seen it. And it turns out that humans can understand an alien concept so well that they steal it, like English speakers did with schadenfreude.
But … in Russia there are bigger, emptier, vaster spaces than almost anywhere else in the world, and in Russian there are words to describe those vast spaces that are packed with emotional and cultural meaning. No connection? Phooey.
My favorite word of vastness is ???€?????‚???€, which combines both the meaning of abundance and space. When used in the sense of a broad open expanse, the word is often in the plural: ?•???µ?? ???? ???€?????‚???€?°?? ???°???µ?? ???µ???±?????‚?????? ?€?????????‹, ???????‚?€???? ?? ???????? (We drive through the vast expanse of our boundless homeland, looking out the window.) These vast spaces are often watery: ?’ ?…???»???????‹?? ?°???€?µ?»?????????? ???µ?‡?µ?€ ???€?????‚???€?‹ ???‚?»?°???‚?????? ?±???€???·?????‚ ?????€???????‹?? ???°?????°?¶???€???????? ?»?°?????µ?€ (On a cold April evening an enormous passenger liner plows through the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.)
Most of the time, the adjective ???€?????‚???€???‹?? (spacious) refers to this kind of physical vastness. ???‹ ?????????»?? ???€?????‚???€?????? ?????°?€?‚???€?? (We bought a spacious apartment.)
???€?????‚???€ can also be a kind of metaphorical space: ???‹ ?????»?¶???‹ ???????€?°?‚?? ???»?? ?‚??????, ?‡?‚???±?‹ ???€???????? ?‡?µ?»?????µ?? ?????? ???‹???°?‚?? ???????±????????, ???°???‚?? ???€?????‚???€ ?? ???????µ?? ?¶???·???? (We must die so that another human being can breathe freely and find some space in his own life.) In fact, it can be very metaphorical: ?•?‘ ?????»???? ???????±???????? ?????»???» ???? ???€?????‚???€?°?? ?????€???????… ???°???µ?????? ?€???????????… ???µ???µ?? (Her voice freely danced along the vast range of the sweeping refrains in Russian songs.)
The adjective ???€?????‚???€???‹?? can also be stretched: ?’???‚-?????‚ ???°?‡???‘?‚???? ???????°??, ???€?????‚???€???°?? ?? ???‡?°???‚?»?????°?? ?¶???·???? (A new bountiful and happy life was about to begin).
In the figurative sense, ???€?????‚???€ is connected to freedom, unencumbered thought or movement. ?”?????° ???° ???€?????‚???€ ???€???????‚????! (The soul yearns for space!) ???µ?‚ ?µ???? ???€?????‚???€?°, ?° ???? ?±?‹ ?€?°?·???µ?€?????»???? (He feels penned in, but if he weren't, he could show what he is capable of.)
You need ???€?????‚???€ to fulfill your creative potential: ??‚?? ???µ???????»?????? ?????µ??, ?????·?????¶????, ???‚???€?????‚ ???µ?€?µ?? ???°???? ?????€???????µ ???€?????‚???€?‹ ???»?? ?‚?????€?‡?µ???‚???° (Perhaps those few ideas will give free rein to your creativity.) But this kind of freedom means that sometimes there's room for a different creativity: ?¤???€???‹ ?€?°???????»?°???°???‚ ?????€???????? ???€?????‚???€???? ???»?? ?·?»?????????‚?€?µ?±?»?µ?????? ???? ???‚???€?????‹ ?»???†, ???€???‡?°???‚???‹?… ?? ???????‚?°???»?µ?????? ?„?????°???????????? ???‚?‡?‘?‚???????‚?? (Companies have more room for abuse by the people doing their financial statements.)
It might be freedom to excel: ?‘?»???·?????‚?? ?? ???»?°???‚???? ???°?‘?‚ ?????€???????? ???€?????‚???€ ???»?? ???°?€???µ?€???????? ?€?????‚?° (There's lots of room for career advancement close to the people in power.)
In some cases you might need boundaries: ???€?????‚???€ ?? ?€?µ?±???‚ ?±?°?»???µ?‚, ?° ???°?€???? ???° ???€?µ?… ???°?????????‚ (Giving young men too much room spoils them and it leads folks into sin.)
But you need the wide open spaces for your heart: ???€?????‚???€?‹ ?·?µ???»?? ???‚?·?‹???°?»?????? ?? ?»???????… — ???????±???????»???±???µ??, ???????µ?????‹?? ?€?°?·???°?…????, ???µ?·?°???????????????‚???? (Those wide open spaces resonate in people as a love of freedom, wide-open hearts, and independence.)
Don't fence us in.
Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.
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