Russian Legal Dictionaries

Yana Agoureev

Court interpretation and translation has always been perceived even by the most experienced interpreters and translators as a challenging endeavor, especially when dealing with languages as distinctly different as English and Russian. Not only are these languages hard to compare using the usual tools available for language studies (comparative grammar, lexicology, stylistics, etc.), but they are as far apart as languages can be, when examined by their genealogy and development. Nevertheless, the common properties of all languages make interpretation and translation possible, and equivalence can be achieved, though often it takes laborious efforts on the part of the interpreter or translator. This is why, especially when dealing with such a specific field as court interpretation, the search for quality reference materials is so important, for we rely on these works to clarify a multitude of problems.

There are several useful and insightful legal dictionaries available with English as the source language and Russian as the target language. For our present purposes, I will contrast the "English-Russian Legal Dictionary" by Adrianov, Berson and Nikiforov and the "English- Russian Comprehensive Law Dictionary" by Mamulyan and Kashkin.

Court interpretation from English into Russian is mostly done for the benefit of a defendant, sometimes for witnesses and experts and rarely, with special permission, for family members and other interested parties. This target group is historically and culturally different from the source (the speakers') group. The listeners are not homogeneous and may be further divided by background, origin, and status. For example, if the person requiring interpretation is of Ukrainian heritage, he is more likely to be self-assured, aloof, and personality-oriented. At the same time a person from Moscow, St Petersburg or any other large Russian city is more likely to be language-oriented, using duality of meaning and misinterpretation, as a tool for his benefit. The interpreter has not only to stay personally impartial but also should avoid, as far as possible, any misconception on the part of the listener. The only way to succeed is by knowing your target group, understanding the source group, and having full command of both languages.

In comparing how useful the two above-mentioned dictionaries might be to a court interpreter or translator, it is helpful to examine first the source language entries. Adrianov was significantly more complete in this regard, even providing the user with cultural information. For example, in translating a plea agreement I encountered a word combination, "predicate act, " for which I sought clarification. "The English-Russian Law Dictionary" not only explained the meaning of the phrase but also provided information on how it is used in the American legal system. The word "predicate" was missing entirely from the "Comprehensive Law Dictionary." The same thing happened with the word "predelinquent": Adrianov et al provided an equivalent in Russian whereas Mamulyan and Kashkin omitted the term entirely.

In general, the "English-Russian Law Dictionary" work traces more meanings, derivatives and word combinations than the "Comprehensive Law Dictionary," which does not quite live up to its name. For example, the word "delinquent," which appears in both, is treated differently by each: Adrianov et al include a reference to "delinquent" in the term "juvenile delinquent," whereas Mamulyan and Kashkin's work has no mention of this usage.

Both works can be useful to court interpreters and translators, but the first is far superior to the second. Mamulyan and Kashkin's work can still be used as a back-up to Adrianov. However, if an interpreter is pressed for time and does not have the luxury of doing comparative research, I recommend the "English-Russian Legal Dictionary." It is by far the best choice.

References

English-Russian Law Dictionary
S.N. Adrianov, A.S. Berson, A.S. Nikiforov. 1993
ISBN 5-200-022185-5


English-Russian Comprehensive Law Dictionary
A.Mamulyan, S. Kashkin.
1993
ISBN 5-87465-001-6

The author, a translator and interpreter of Russian, is currently Chief Interpreter at Eastlink Translations. She has an MA in Linguistics from 1986 until 1993 was an Assistant Professor at Moscow Linguistic University, English Interpretation Department.