Table Of ContentRUSSIAN
ENGLISH
DICTIONARY
OF VERBAL
COLLOCATIONS
I MORTON BENSON I
EVELYN BENSON I
THE RUSSIAN-ENGLISH DICTIONARY
OF VERBAL COLLOCATIONS
RUSSIAN-ENGLISH
DICTIONARY
OF VERBAL
COLLOCATIONS
(REDVC)
MORTON BENSON
EVELYN BENSON
JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY
AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA
1993
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Benson, Morton.
The Russian-English dictionary of verbal collocations (RED VC) / compiled by Morton
and Evelyn Benson,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Russian language-Verb phrase. 2. Russian language-Dictionaries-English. I.
Benson, Evelyn. II. Title. III. Title: REDVC.
PG2271.B46 1993
491.73’21—dc20 92-34482
ISBN 90 272 2127 8 (Eur.) / 1-55619-483-8 (US) (Hb; alk. paper) CIP
ISBN 90 272 2128 6 (Eur.) / 1-55619-484-6 (US) (Pb; alk. paper)
® Copyright 1993 - Shared by Morton Benson, Evelyn Benson and John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or
any other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. • P.O. Box 75577 • 1070 AN Amsterdam • The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America • 821 Bethlehem Pike • Philadelphia, PA 19118 • USA
Contents
Preface vii
Introduction xi
Purpose of the RED VC xi
Verbal Collocations xi
A. Grammatical Collocations xi
B. Special Notes on Grammatical Collocations xiii
C. Lexical Collocations xiv
D. Miscellaneous Verbal Phrases xv
Style Guide xv
E. Aspect xv
F. Verbs of Motion xv
G. Presentation of Collocations; Structure of Entries xvi
H. Miscellaneous Notes on the Structure of Entries xvii
Abbreviations and Symbols xix
Selected Bibliography xxi
Dictionary 1
Preface
All languages are characterized by the regular co-occurrence of certain words. We say
in English, for example, tall building, but high mountain. These recurrent combina
tions or collocations are, of course, peculiar to each individual language and cannot be
predicted by a learner of that language. Clearly, the knowledge of one’s own language
and its collocations does not facilitate a learner’s ability to form collocations in a
second language — there are striking collocational differences between any two
languages.
To demonstrate the arbitrary nature of collocations and collocational differences
between languages, let us examine four typical Russian verbal collocations and their
English equivalents:
A. вылечивать/вылечить кого от чего
B. извещать/известить кого о чём
C. лишать/лишитъ кого чего
D. обвинять/обвинить кого в чём
Note that the Russian collocations have varying structures: collocations A, B, and D
each have a different preposition; collocation С has the genitive case without any
preposition.
Let us now list the corresponding English collocations:
A. to cure smb. ofsmt.
B. to inform smb. ofsmt.
C. to deprive smb. ofsmt.
D. to accuse smb. ofsmt.
Note that all of the collocations have identical structures: verb + direct object +
prepositional phrase, consisting of the preposition of and an object.
There are thousands of such striking collocational differences between any two
languages such as English and Russian. These differences are of vital importance to
language learners and translators. A learner cannot speak or write a foreign language
correctly without knowing how to form its collocations; translators cannot do their
work without paying careful attention to collocations. The Russian-English Dictionary
viii PREFACE
of Verbal Collocations (REDVC) has been compiled to help English-speaking learners
master Russian, to help Russian-speaking learners master English, and to help
translators of both languages. It is assumed that language learners who use the REDVC
have already mastered the elements of the language that they are studying — English
or Russian. The REDVC is intended for use by language learners at the intermediate
and advanced levels.
The REDVC lists Russian verbal collocations and translates them into English.
Whenever possible, corresponding English collocations are used in the translations.
Most of the collocations listed in the REDVC are grammatical, that is, they consist of
a verb + preposition; or, of a verb + specific case or cases; or, of a verb + infinitive; or,
of a verb + subordinate clause. In addition, frequently used lexical collocations are
given; these consist of a verb + adverb: to argue heatedly = спорить горячо. Lastly,
various types of miscellaneous verbal phrases are provided, including some important
idioms and figurative expressions. Readers who would like more information about
grammatical and lexical collocations should consult the BBI Combinatory Dictionary
of English and the Lexicographic Description of English, listed in the Bibliography.
The Bibliography also lists other dictionararies that were used during the compilation
of the REDVC.
The REDVC makes every effort to describe contemporary Russian. Thus, a large
number of illustrative examples given in the REDVC were taken from the current
Russian press. See, for example, the entry for ИМЕНОВАТЬСЯ (referring to the
renaming of Leningrad), the entry for ПЕРЕХОДИТЬ Gl (referring to the shift to
a market economy), the entry for ПОСЫЛАТЬ 4 (referring to the faxing of a
document), the entry for СКАТЫВАТЬСЯ В2 (referring to the Dow-Jones index),
etc. On the other hand, the REDVC, in order to provide an adequate description of the
Russian used during the Soviet era, includes some obsolete political expressions. See,
for example, the entries for ВСТУПАТЬ С, СКАТЫВАТЬСЯ С, etc.
Many persons assisted in the compilation of the REDVC. Two native speakers of
Russian who are experts on that language read the entire manuscript and made
corrections and suggestions. They are Katya Zubritskaja, graduate student in
Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, and Galina Sergouchenkova, Instructor
at the Pushkin Institute of Russian in Moscow.
Major contributions were also made by Professor S. I. Timina, Dean of the
Department of Slavic Languages of the Hertzen Russian State Pedagogical University
in St. Petersburg; Professor Fred Patton of West Chester State University; Larisa
Ratnikoff, Instructor in Russian at the University of Pennsylvania. Each of these
consultants examined and commented on various sections of the REDVC.
Other native speakers of Russian at the University of Pennsylvania answered
questions about the grammaticality of selected Russian expressions. We are deeply
grateful to all of them. Special thanks are due to Professor Wolf Moskovich of Hebrew
PREFACE ix
University, who was temporarily at the University of Pennsylvania.
The authors would appreciate receiving comments from users of the RED VC.
M.B..E.B.
Williams Hall
Department of Slavic Languages
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104
