область, край, район

English translation: transliterate: oblast, krai, raion

14:23 Jan 10, 2006
Russian to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Certificates, Diplomas, Licenses, CVs / Birth certificate
Russian term or phrase: область, край, район
I'm translating a birth certificate, and while I understand what these words mean, I'm not sure what the convention is: should I just transliterate them, or should I translate them? and if область is a region, and район is a district, what should I do with край? Province?

Many thanks for your ideas!
Fiona Paterson
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:21
English translation:transliterate: oblast, krai, raion
Explanation:
Otherwise you get very tangled up in "region"s!

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Note added at 7 mins (2006-01-10 14:31:06 GMT)
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Your comments illustrate just why you ought to transliterate! In fact, I'd say province is most appropriate for oblast. Krai tends to become part of the name, like Stavropolsky Krai. In fact I've used "regional" for "territorialny"

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Note added at 11 mins (2006-01-10 14:34:35 GMT)
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Then there's mikro-raion, which I think I would translate as district!
Selected response from:

David Knowles
Local time: 13:21
Grading comment
Thank you very much for all this detail, and for the speed of your response. My gut feeling was that it should be transliterated, but I'm very glad to have that borne out!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +4transliterate: oblast, krai, raion
David Knowles
4 +2oblast, kray, rayon
Mikhail Kropotov
5 +1Province, Territory, Region
Deborah Hoffman


  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
область, край, район
oblast, kray, rayon


Explanation:
These are *usually* transliterated and I believe in certificates they *must* be transliterated.

Mikhail Kropotov
Germany
Local time: 14:21
Native speaker of: Russian
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks enormously!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Larissa Dinsley
23 mins
  -> Спасибо!

agree  GaryG
1 hr
  -> Спасибо!
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3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
область, край, район
transliterate: oblast, krai, raion


Explanation:
Otherwise you get very tangled up in "region"s!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 mins (2006-01-10 14:31:06 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Your comments illustrate just why you ought to transliterate! In fact, I'd say province is most appropriate for oblast. Krai tends to become part of the name, like Stavropolsky Krai. In fact I've used "regional" for "territorialny"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 mins (2006-01-10 14:34:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Then there's mikro-raion, which I think I would translate as district!

David Knowles
Local time: 13:21
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 32
Grading comment
Thank you very much for all this detail, and for the speed of your response. My gut feeling was that it should be transliterated, but I'm very glad to have that borne out!
Notes to answerer
Asker: Fantastic! Thank you very much.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Mikhail Kropotov: Your spelling is more conventional +++ Good thought, except mikro-raion is a very small area in a city, usually a square street block. Raion itself can be both "(city) district" or "region".
1 min
  -> Yes it probably is, and avoids the rayon/nylon conflict! It's also slightly more likely to be pronounced correctly.

agree  Alexander Onishko: oblast'
2 mins
  -> I don't put apostrophes in unless it's technical, or an official Ukrainian place name.

agree  Vlad Pogosyan
3 mins
  -> thanks

agree  Larissa Dinsley
26 mins
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7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
область, край, район
Province, Territory, Region


Explanation:
These are the terms I've settled on in my translations in order to avoid repetition. Examples below...

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Note added at 9 mins (2006-01-10 14:32:54 GMT)
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A caveat however: I am translating historical narratives where I don't want the reader to get bogged down in figuring out what a "krai" is. Since the purpose of your translation has legal ramifications, the other choices offered here may be more appropriate.

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Note added at 30 mins (2006-01-10 14:53:19 GMT)
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"Aman Tuleev, the new governor of Kemerovo Province in Siberia..."
http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/1040.html

"Krasnoyarsk Territory" entry in the Columbia Encyclopedia
http://www.bartleby.com/65/kr/KrasnoyaT.html

"Terrorist Act in Yessentuki, Stavropol Region, Russia on December 5"
http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/prsrl/2003/26940.htm

Offered as a variant. But obviously the purpose of your text is most important.


Deborah Hoffman
Local time: 09:21
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you very much! I'm sticking with transliteration for the purposes of this birth certificate, but I'm glad of your advice for future reference.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Mikhail Kropotov: I agree with this for more literary translations, however, raion can also be a district within a city (not a region in that case).
7 mins
  -> good point!
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