Thread: Translation and Transliteration

Hi all,

I have 2 quick queries:

1) Is there an easy way of writing in the cyrillic alphabeth on a computer with a western keyboard? At the moment I'm writing in MS word using short cut keys to insert the symbols Is there a better way?

2) Is my translation & transliteration of the below correct or is my word order wrong?

I watched my new dvd today.
Я наблюдал мой новый dvd сегодня
Ya nabludal moi novui dvd segodnya.

Spasibo

Originally Posted by Debbie

I watched my new dvd today.
Я посмотрел мой новый DVD-диск сегодня

Мой doesn't sound fine in this sentence. Свой either...
This variant is more or less ok:
Я посмотрел сегодня DVD-фильм, который недавно купил.
Ya posmotrel segodnya dvd-film, kotoryi nedavno kupil.

There is no any 'the only correct' way of transliterating Cyrillic words into Latin letters, by the way.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Debbie

1) Is there an easy way of writing in the cyrillic alphabeth on a computer with a western keyboard? At the moment I'm writing in MS word using short cut keys to insert the symbols Is there a better way?

Yes, there is. If you are using Windows just go to the Control Panel and find an option that allows you to add different languages (I can't tell you the name, because mine is not in English).

Then google for an image of a Russian keyboard, and if possible start to learn how to type in Russian without looking to the keyboard. It took me just 2 weeks, and I didn't use any programmes. You start writing simple words "папа" "мама" "молоко" again and again, and in a few days your brain knows where all the keys are.

Originally Posted by Оля

There is no any 'the only correct' way of transliterating Cyrillic words into Latin letters, by the way.

But there is a wrong way....

Я наблюдал мой новый dvd сегодня
Ya nablyudal moi novyi dvd segodnya.

"Nabludal" is acceptable. It's ok. I think I can write it like that.
And yes, "novui" is wrong...

Originally Posted by Оля

"Nabludal" is acceptable. It's ok. I think I can write it like that.
And yes, "novui" is wrong...

Yes Nabludal is acceptable sort of. But how would you differentiate between hard and soft L? If L =ль then how do you represent a hard L. You could use the Polish hard L (Ł).

Originally Posted by TATY

But how would you differentiate between hard and soft L?

There is no need for that in this case. There's no word 'наблудал' in Russian, so it can't be any vagueness or any questions here. And it's shorter. And then again, nablyudal may look quite awkward to many Russians because it's pronounced actually набльюдал which is not good either...

If L =ль then how do you represent a hard L. You could use the Polish hard L (Ł).

We also don't need two different letters to distinguish the hard л in лапа from the soft in лето.

Nabl'udal is possible too.

[b]nabl

You know, transliteration is kinda bad manners in Russian Internet community.
Really, it's much easier to switch between Russian and Eglish keyboard layouts just pressing CTRL+SHIFT or whatever, and to write Russian words the way they are supposed to be written, than to invent these ugly looking hybrids.

ANYWAY, A FEW USEFUL TIPS:

1) An online transliteration coverter: http://translit.cc/
You can type there in Latin letters (correct transliteration table is to your right), than press "КИРИЛЛИЦА" button, and covert your text into Cyrillic.

For example, the phrase "Ja ljublju nabljudat' za pticami" turns into "Я люблю наблюдать за птицами". Very convinient and fast.

2) Activate Russian keyboard layout on your computer (it's a matter of seconds).
This page explains how to do it in (it's in the middle of the page, you can skip all the other details):
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepage ... /kbd_e.htm

Good luck.

СПАСИБО!

Мой компьютер полетел и я не мог стеклить (?) эту фонетическую клавиатуру!

Originally Posted by ZelyeUrsuli

СПАСИБО!
Мой компьютер полетел и я не мог стеклить (?) эту фонетическую клавиатуру!

You're welcome!
I'm not sure what "стеклить" means. Did you want to say "установить клавиатуру"?

It was supposed to say My computer crashed and I coudn't download this phonetic keyboard.

I had that word in my back pocket from a Russian computer vocab list. But, yes, установить is what I meant. Thanks (again).

I had that word in my back pocket from a Russian computer vocab list.

Wow. "Стеклить" means to pane windows (real ones), it's not a computer term.

download (from the site) - загрузить, скачать (c сайта)
install - установить, инсталлировать
run / start a program - запустить программу
mimimize/maximize the window - свернуть/развернуть окно

Thanks again!

I think it was in reference to "to install Windows."

Is полетел crashed or is is better to use завис?

Originally Posted by ZelyeUrsuli

Is полетел crashed or is is better to use завис?

"Компьютер завис" - a computer doesn't respond to any commands or a mouse, usually you have to restart it.
"Программа зависла" - the same with a particular program/application. Usually you have to terminate it through the 'Task manager' ('End Task' or 'End Now').
"Программа висит" - the same (only in present continious ).

"Полететь" mostly refers to a serious problem: "У меня компьютер полетел" - about a hardware ("mechanical") breakdown, or sometimes about global OS problems (a computer doesn't boot, for example).

There are a few other very common expressions, albeit a little slangish, which also use the verb "to fly" (in, out, from, etc.). I don't know why, maybe because of "widows"/"birds" association.

"Программа/Винда слетела" - something is wrong with a program/Windows, it doesn't function anymore, reinstallation is required.

"Программа вылетает" (also "вылетать из программы") - a program crashes for some reason. You suddenly get an error message and your program get closed.

"Запустить/открыть программу" - to run a program.
"Закрыть программу" - to close a program.

You can google these expressions to find more examples.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

I had that word in my back pocket from a Russian computer vocab list.

Wow. "Стеклить" means to pane windows (real ones), it's not a computer term.

download (from the site) - загрузить, скачать (c сайта)
install - установить, инсталлировать
run / start a program - запустить программу
mimimize/maximize the window - свернуть/развернуть окно

Стеклить refers to installing "Windows" on a computer.

Originally Posted by Rtyom

Стеклить refers to installing "Windows" on a computer.

Heh, thanks. Now it seems obvious.
But I've never ever heard of it, and I'm into computers since 1997. Must be not that common after all.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

But I've never ever heard of it.

Me too. And I'm quite cool into computers.

I'm not a computer geek, but this term is somehow known to me.

I can guess that it's more of a joke. No wonder you, digital ladies, express such surprise at that.