Re: USAGE: Translation of Russian _inorodtsy_

Seems like it comes from the roots:

 ino- + rod- + ets + y (plural)

ino "other"
rod "bear, be born"
-ets "person"
-y "plural"

so, perhaps it's somewhat equivalent to English
"alien" rather than "naturalised" citizens.

The adjectival form of the same root-combination is:
 inorodnyi "foreign"

Elliott Lash


--- Andreas Johansson <andjo@...> wrote:
> I'm reading Geoffrey Hosking's "Russia: People and
> Empire 1552-1917", which
> the author helpfully tells the reader than in late
> Czarist Russia Jews and
> Central Asians were classed as _inorodtsy_, but
> fails to translate or explain
> that beyond hinting it was similar to the status
> enjoyed(?) by locals in
> European overseas colonies. Would anyone of the
> list's Russians or russophones
> take the trouble to explain the concept in a bit
> more detail?
>
>
Andreas


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