городов областного значения

English translation: cities at regional level

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Russian term or phrase:городов областного значения
English translation: cities at regional level
Entered by: Turdimurod Rakhmanov

14:19 Oct 15, 2020
Russian to English translations [PRO]
Other
Russian term or phrase: городов областного значения
What would be the most "elegant" way to translate городов областного значения, города республиканского значения, and районов into English?

I am considering "districts" for районов, and have considered "major cities" for города республиканского значения, or even "city republics" or a more literal "cities of republican significance" but they don't flow very well.

I'm also not sure what would be the best translation for городов областного значения-
I have considered regional towns,regional cities, or regional centers -but do those terms clearly indicate what they truly are?

Thank you
marijaflora
Australia
Local time: 02:38
cities at regional level
Explanation:
city at regional level город областного значения
city at metropolitan level города республиканского значения то есть большие города, республиканские и столицы
Дословно перевели в вики так:
Cities of regional and republican significance


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Note added at 14 mins (2020-10-15 14:34:17 GMT)
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районы districts

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Note added at 1 day 22 hrs (2020-10-17 13:16:54 GMT)
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Variant:
province-administered city город областного значения
republic (state)-administered city город республиканского значения
Selected response from:

Turdimurod Rakhmanov
Kyrgyzstan
Local time: 21:38
Grading comment
So many great answers and education. Thank you very much to all answerers.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4regionally governed cities, republic governed cities, districts
Pavel Altukhov
4regionally prominent cities
TechLawDC
4Cities of regional significance
Tigranuhi Khachatryan
4provincial cities
YESHWANT UMRALKAR
4cities at regional level
Turdimurod Rakhmanov
3cities/towns of regional significance
Michael Sarni


Discussion entries: 19





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
cities/towns of regional significance


Explanation:
В документе: https://rm.coe.int/local-and-regional-democracy-in-the-russi...
используются как "significance", так и "importance". Возможно потребуется прим. перев..
Дело тут в областном/районном и т.д. подчинении. На каждом из уровней это админ. центр территориального образования, а также крупные города (cм обсуждение).

Michael Sarni
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:38
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
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The asker has declined this answer

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
regionally governed cities, republic governed cities, districts


Explanation:
It's a question of administrative subordination. Federal cities, e.g., are governed directly from Moscow.

Pavel Altukhov
Local time: 18:38
Native speaker of: Russian
PRO pts in category: 56
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The asker has declined this answer

9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
regionally prominent cities


Explanation:
I am a professional writer and this is the term of art that I would use in English. I absolutely do not think that my audience (not to mention my Client) in the English-speaking world would appreciate my Russianizing a simple term in English recognizable to anyone.
Examples of translations they would consider wrong:
1. Cities at regional level. (Logically flawed, and unheard-of in English.)
2. Regionally governed cities. (Not the author's meaning or intent. I only edit the author when I have a strong defense for it.)
3. Cities of regional significance. (Okay, satisfactory. However, "significance" is unidiomatic as a descriptor of a city. Perhaps it is idiomatically applicable to a person, or a concept, or a work of literature.)

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Note added at 10 hrs (2020-10-16 00:48:20 GMT)
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I didn't notice the 3 different phrases that were presented for translation.
Here they are:
города областного значения = regionally prominent cities (prominent within a given Russian oblast').
города республиканского значения = prominent cities in a given Russian "Republic" [(one of 22 such "Republics", analogous to provinces or states)].
города районного значения = prominent cities in a given Russian "raion" [(district or region, usually comprising a governmental unit, e.g. within a republic or an oblast'; one of ca. 1731 such "raions")].


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Note added at 10 hrs (2020-10-16 01:01:01 GMT)
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It is not helpful to run a Google search for "significant cities" or "cities of significance" compared to "prominent cities", because there are too many different shades of meaning.
However, here are the results: "significant cities" 552 k hits, "cities of significance" 442 k hits, "prominent cities" 451 k hits.

TechLawDC
United States
Local time: 11:38
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Boris Shapiro: I readily admit that your own logic here is flawless. And yet, the long, descriptive translations you suggest can hardly satisfy the Asker, who is searching for an 'elegant' way to put it into English.
7 hrs
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The asker has declined this answer

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Cities of regional significance


Explanation:

City of regional significance (Ukrainian: Місто обласного значення, Misto oblasnoho znachennya) was a city municipality that was designated as a separate district within its region (i.e. oblast, Crimea). In Crimea, these cities were referred to as cities of republican significance, while in regular oblasts those municipalities were referred to as cities of oblast significance. The designation of regional significance was created with the introduction of oblasts in 1932 and abolished in 2020.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_regional_significanc...

Ivano-Frankivsk is a historic city located in Western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. Administratively, it is designated as a city of regional significance within the oblast, and together with a number of rural localities, is incorporated as Ivano-Frankivsk Municipality. Population: 230,929 (2016 est.).
https://energy-cities.eu/members/city-of-ivano-frankivsk/



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Note added at 18 hrs (2020-10-16 08:45:33 GMT)
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The example below shows that of regional significance is also used in US government website, so in this case the literal translation matches :)
PROJECTS OF NATIONAL AND REGIONAL SIGNIFICANCE EVALUATION AND RATING

https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CFR-2011-title23-vol1/CF...

Tigranuhi Khachatryan
Armenia
Local time: 19:38
Native speaker of: Native in ArmenianArmenian
PRO pts in category: 8
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19 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
provincial cities


Explanation:
A lot has already been said.
To add my bit, I find the term 'provincial cities' quite apt to describe a prominent city in the область in the East European context.
I cite an example of a city in Ireland that answers the description of a city of provincial importance.

Example sentence(s):
  • For much of its history, Dublin was a provincial city which contained within it the shadow of a capital, rather like a phantom twin. The Times Literary Supplement (2014)
YESHWANT UMRALKAR
India
Local time: 21:08
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Boris Shapiro: The dictionary definition of the word 'provincial' as 'limited in scope or unsophisticated' is, by definition, very much relevant to the present context (which, by definition, merely defines which of the meanings apply, not creates entirely new ones).
19 hrs
  -> Totally disagree with this comment the contents of which are irrelevant to the present context. What should matter to the translator is that областый in the East Europen context can be best translated as provincial in English.

agree  Turdimurod Rakhmanov: Agreed. I'm for "short, natural and elegant" approach than literal. But only one thing-Provincial's connected with the parts of a country away from the capital city. But it is not always so. And there is республиканского значения tht can't be "republican"
1 day 2 hrs
  -> Thank you, Turdimurod!
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13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
cities at regional level


Explanation:
city at regional level город областного значения
city at metropolitan level города республиканского значения то есть большие города, республиканские и столицы
Дословно перевели в вики так:
Cities of regional and republican significance


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 14 mins (2020-10-15 14:34:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

районы districts

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 22 hrs (2020-10-17 13:16:54 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Variant:
province-administered city город областного значения
republic (state)-administered city город республиканского значения


Turdimurod Rakhmanov
Kyrgyzstan
Local time: 21:38
Native speaker of: Native in UzbekUzbek, Native in KirghizKirghiz
PRO pts in category: 48
Grading comment
So many great answers and education. Thank you very much to all answerers.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  TechLawDC: This answer has no cognizable meaning in English.
4 days
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