Collins Russian Gem Dictionary [antikvár]

PREFACE It is, I think, a fact that an ever-increasing number of English people of all ages are now learning the Russian language. Apart from its usefulness, Russian is a fascinating subject. In the U.S.S.R. many men, women and school-children are eager to learn English, a language which has been and still is very popular there. If my efforts in presenting this dictionary prove instrumental in helping the user to delve a little deeper into the Russian language and later to explore the universally recognized Russian classics, my work will not have been in vain. The grammatical notes given in the introductory pages are provided for quick reference only, as there are available in this country several complete Grammars and Readers by reputable authors. NOTE TO THE REVISED EDITION It has been possible to add several new entries, and a number of corrections have also been made. As in the Russian-English section, mentioned on page 7, so also in the English-Russian part, omissions have had to be affected. In order, however, to accommodate a maximum number of entries in the small format of a pocket dictionary, it became imperative for me to resort to an identical procedure. Many words with such negative prefixes as 'anti'in'im', 'un', or suffixes such as 'less', or repetitive particles 're' and 're-', also the reflexive pronoun 'self, had to be omitted. It is hoped that users of this dictionary, realizing our difficulties, will spend a few extra seconds in looking up the affirmative or other forms of the required word and add the appropriate particles themselves. For their benefit, here are the Russian equivalents: anti = aHTH or npoTHBo; in, im = He; less = Sea or 6ec (6ec with an 'c' is used when the word begins with any of the following consonants: k, n, c, t, x, u;, m, and 6e3 with a '3' for all vowels and remaining consonants); re- and re = nepe-, npn (these should be employed cautiously); self=caMo; un = 6e3. He, pas, pac. I wish to express my thanks to Mr. A. N. Wilkinson for his help and advice when the work was first envisaged. I would like to extend to the publishers in Moscow my appreciation of their dictionaries which I used as a reference guide. Thorpe Bay, 1963. w. schapiro