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[NABOKOV-L] Strang Opinions by Stan on Stang and Obsoleet items
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Stan Kelly-Bootle: "...whenever I hear words described as archaic, rare, arcane, or jargonic [there¹s new one, perhaps], my reaction is SEZ-WHO? ...In fact, it would be impossible for our omnipresent, never-sleeping lexicographers to know how to divide all our messy utterances into chunks called words (word being one of the hardest words to define).Do we NEED to find it in a dictionary before understanding its meaning/usage,and accepting it as a REAL word worthy of the word word? Will it survive or become branded RARE &/or ARCHAIC?"
JM: In a very interesting site (language hat ) there was a lively discussion about Nabokov's translation of EO (2008).
In connection to Stan's indignation against "archaic...jargonic" words, to which we can add "obsolete;" I selected: "we hit the mouth-filling and unexpected verb preduprezhdát', which now usually means 'warn' or 'notify'—Nabokov translates it "prevene," saying "I chose to use this obsolete verb in order to stress that the Russian word (a translation of the French prévenir or devancer) is obsolete, too"...
A more complicated reference is to be found in the VN&Wilson correspondence, when Wilson chides Nabokov by the way he transposed "obsolecences" from the Russian into English, via OED. Quotes and page numbers shall be forthcoming as soon as I find the lines I have in mind.
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JM: In a very interesting site (language hat ) there was a lively discussion about Nabokov's translation of EO (2008).
In connection to Stan's indignation against "archaic...jargonic" words, to which we can add "obsolete;" I selected: "we hit the mouth-filling and unexpected verb preduprezhdát', which now usually means 'warn' or 'notify'—Nabokov translates it "prevene," saying "I chose to use this obsolete verb in order to stress that the Russian word (a translation of the French prévenir or devancer) is obsolete, too"...
A more complicated reference is to be found in the VN&Wilson correspondence, when Wilson chides Nabokov by the way he transposed "obsolecences" from the Russian into English, via OED. Quotes and page numbers shall be forthcoming as soon as I find the lines I have in mind.
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/