Subject
Re: Zhuchka & VN (fwd)
Date
Body
From: serge_inx@geocities.com
Trubitsyn Sergey
Novosibirsk State University
student
_______________________________________________________
akiyoshi miyake aki-myk@bcomp.metro-u.ac.jp wrote:
>Notes tell me "zhuchka" is a Russian word for a "small dog", "Zhuzhu" and
>"Bizhu" respectively for Joujou and Bijou. The above sentence appears in
>the context of "VN's _Eugene Onegin_ in Soviet Russia". So, I inferred
>the "master" above is Onegin, and looked into the Index, but I could not
>find "Zhuzhu"nor "Bizhu" there. Did I overlook them? Is the "master"
>above Onegin? Or, is my reading utterly wrong and is the source in
>another place? I will be grateful if you answer my questions, privetely
>or on the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I could tell you quite a story about the Russian word "Zhuchka". The
word itself is not very old. It was probably made up somewhere within
the last two centuries (XVIII and XIX). Actually it is a name that used to
be given to dogs whose pedegree was under a big question mark.
Although some people used it to refer to any dog. "Zhuchka" must
be a small dog in any case. The suffix "-chk-" means small. The
etymology of the word is simple: "Zhuk" means "a bug" (insect).
A she-bug would be "Zhuchka". The funny thing is that there
is no such a word reffering to a she-bug. If you hear "Zhuchka" you
are certain to think of a dog. A specific characteristic of that dog
would be not only a small size but being livly and probably funny in
some way. And of course, it should be a she (postfix "-a").
Nowadays this name is not so popular but you have a good chance
to meet some Zhuchkas in country regions of Russia.
I hope knowing something about the inner form of the word will help
you to catch more from the "web of sense". Sorry for slightly whimsical
intonations but that's what the word sounds like :)
thank you,
Sergey Trubitsyn
serge_inx@geocities.com
Trubitsyn Sergey
Novosibirsk State University
student
_______________________________________________________
akiyoshi miyake aki-myk@bcomp.metro-u.ac.jp wrote:
>Notes tell me "zhuchka" is a Russian word for a "small dog", "Zhuzhu" and
>"Bizhu" respectively for Joujou and Bijou. The above sentence appears in
>the context of "VN's _Eugene Onegin_ in Soviet Russia". So, I inferred
>the "master" above is Onegin, and looked into the Index, but I could not
>find "Zhuzhu"nor "Bizhu" there. Did I overlook them? Is the "master"
>above Onegin? Or, is my reading utterly wrong and is the source in
>another place? I will be grateful if you answer my questions, privetely
>or on the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I could tell you quite a story about the Russian word "Zhuchka". The
word itself is not very old. It was probably made up somewhere within
the last two centuries (XVIII and XIX). Actually it is a name that used to
be given to dogs whose pedegree was under a big question mark.
Although some people used it to refer to any dog. "Zhuchka" must
be a small dog in any case. The suffix "-chk-" means small. The
etymology of the word is simple: "Zhuk" means "a bug" (insect).
A she-bug would be "Zhuchka". The funny thing is that there
is no such a word reffering to a she-bug. If you hear "Zhuchka" you
are certain to think of a dog. A specific characteristic of that dog
would be not only a small size but being livly and probably funny in
some way. And of course, it should be a she (postfix "-a").
Nowadays this name is not so popular but you have a good chance
to meet some Zhuchkas in country regions of Russia.
I hope knowing something about the inner form of the word will help
you to catch more from the "web of sense". Sorry for slightly whimsical
intonations but that's what the word sounds like :)
thank you,
Sergey Trubitsyn
serge_inx@geocities.com