Debate over Putin quote on the Soviet collapse

Subject: Debate over Putin quote on the Soviet collapse
Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 17:29:30 -0400
From: Steve Shabad <steve.shabad@verizon.net>

As a Russian-English translator for my entire adult life (almost half a century), I feel compelled to weigh in on the debate between Anders Aslund and Patrick Armstrong over the famous Putin quote on the fall of the Soviet Union. While this issue is a question of nuance, with all due respect to Mr. Aslund, it is Mr. Armstrong and his authoritative source who catch that nuance precisely.

As Mr. Armstrong points out, the nub of the translation problem is that there is no exact English equivalent for the suffix “-eishii.” And I must admit that when I translate an adjective containing it, I pause and translate according to context. Most often, it should be translated by applying ane adverb like “highly” in front of the English adjective. In the case of “krupneishii,” I would choose the word “major.” Sometimes it is possible to use the English form “one of the [superlative].”

But if Putin actually meant to use the superlative form in this case, i.e. “greatest,” he would have used the Russian word “samii.” Occasionally, the context may even make clear that the superlative form is meant in Russian and can be used in English. Given the fact that World War II also occurred in the 20th century, as Mr. Armstrong rightly notes, this is not one of those cases.