# Ukrainian: інтернат



## sova47

How would you translate the word "IHTEPHAT" into English - boarding school, boarding institution, orphanage, orphan boarding school??????

I know what it means and what it is, but I just can't imagine an English equivalent! Thanks for your suggestions!


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## Xopxe

You are a native speaker, you should tell this 

_O__rphan boarding school_ - лучше всего описыват понятие "интернат".


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## Natabka

Xopxe said:


> You are a native speaker, you should tell this



That's right .
I wanted to support Хорхе's suggestion, but then decided to look up the definition of "інернат" and have a look what "Великий тлумачний словник української мови" gives us:

*ІНТЕРНАТ*, -у, _ч_. 1. Гуртожиток для учнів і студентів навчального закладу. 2. Закритий шкільний заклад, у якому учні навчаються та живуть. 

Not a word about orphans! That's strange... The first meaning - hostel for pupils or students of a given educational establishment, the second - broading school. 
I was convinced that "інтернат" meant a boarding school for orphans or disabled children!


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## sova47

First, my dear xopxe, you are absolutely right !! I am a native English speaker, but I'm having trouble with the "IHTEPHAT" concept in English, so I thought maybe someone out there could help.

An IHTEPHAT houses orphans, "semi-orphans" and children whose parents have been legally deprived of all parental rights. Specialized "IHTEPHATU"  house disabled children, but I'm not talking about these. So, if I don't get any more suggestions, I'll just use one of my own.

Дякую за Ваші пропозиції!! З Новим Роком!


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## sokol

Strangely this distinction exists in German: there is "Heim" which seems to be roughly equivalent to Ukrainian "інтернат", and then there is German "Internat" which however is roughly equivalent to English "boarding school" (that is, not at all boarding orphans or children who have been taken away from their parents but ordinary children and students going to school or university).

Now if you go to German Wiki page "Heimerziehung" and translate to English "Orphanage" is the result: I guess this still isn't quite the same thing as Ukrainian "інтернат", but probably it is the closest you get.


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## sova47

OK, I'll make do with what I have... Thanks to all!

Sokol, that was a very interesting comparison between the particularities of German and Ukrainian!

Happy New Year, once again!


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## Natabka

sova47 said:


> An IHTEPHAT houses orphans, "semi-orphans" and children whose parents have been legally deprived of all parental rights. Specialized "IHTEPHATU"  house disabled children, but I'm not talking about these.



So, you are not talking about "інтернат" as "orphanage", right? Or is it orphanage but not a school for disabled children in your context?

What I wanted to say in the previous post is that according to the dictionary definition "інтернат" is a boarding school (school, where children study and live - during the week, for example, and go home for weekends). I have also asked around and everyone says that "інтернат" is a boarding school, though of different kinds and some of them are meant for orphans, for example. What is "інтернат" in your context, Sova47?

P.S. Sokol, we usually use the word "*гуртожиток*" (hostel) for "_Heim_". It was interesting to learn that Deutsch also has the word "_Internat_"! My dictionary defines it exactly as the explanatory dictionary of Ukrainian defines "*інтернат*"! And there's one more word - _Kinderheim_, right? In Ukrainian it is quite the same - "*дитячий будинок*" ("children's house").


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## sova47

Thanks for all your research, Natabka. I know what *ІНТЕРНАТИ*
 are in Ukraine because I have visited a few. I belive I mentioned this before... they house orphans, sem-orphans and children whose parents have no more legal rights. The kids DO NOT go home on weekends as they don't have a home to go to. These institutions are both schools and boarding houses. It seems there is no equivalent concept in English.... and it's a relic from the Soviet era. 

So, I don't think I can really translate this as an orphanage. I think I'll go for boarding scholl

The French language, like German also makes a distinction between the 2 words. *INTERNAT* in French is an institution attached to schools and universities that houses pupils and students, similar to the Ukrainian *ГУРТОЖИТОК, *whereas *LA MAISON DE L'ENFANT* can be several things: an orphanage, a play school for young children or a day-care center.

Interesting to see how one word can mean different things in different languages (except in English!!!!)


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## Natabka

sova47 said:


> So, I don't think I can really translate this as an orphanage. I think I'll go for boarding school



Thanks for an interesting topic, Sova47!

Well, but English "boarding school" wouldn't point out that it is meant for orphans, would it? 
I vote for the variant of Хорхе.


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## sova47

You're quite right, Natabka. But, as I pointed out above, not ALL the children in the INTERNAT are REAL orphans!!

As the text deals with *ІНТЕРНАТИ* as opposed to *ШКОЛИ*, I suppose I can let the translation stand as "boarding school" for special children. The reader should be able to make the difference between  the two.

Thanks for an interesting discussion. Just goes to show how misleading an incorrect translation might be.


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## Natabka

sova47 said:


> As the text deals with *ІНТЕРНАТИ* as opposed to *ШКОЛИ*, I suppose I can let the translation stand as "boarding school" for special children.



Oh, that's what I couldn't figure out from the previous posts - the context, I mean. In this case I completely agree with you!


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## sokol

Natabka said:


> P.S. Sokol, we usually use the word "*гуртожиток*" (hostel) for "_Heim_". It was interesting to learn that Deutsch also has the word "_Internat_"! My dictionary defines it exactly as the explanatory dictionary of Ukrainian defines "*інтернат*"! And there's one more word - _Kinderheim_, right? In Ukrainian it is quite the same - "*дитячий будинок*" ("children's house").


Right, there's also the "Kinderheim", and now that you mention it - "Heim" in German may be used both for an orphanage or a simple boarding institution, depending on context.

But back to the topic - "*інтернат*" it seems, from the discussion above, in Ukraine may or may not be similar to an orphanage and thus may or may not translate to German "Internat", French "internat" or English "boarding school", simply because those terms in German/French/English are not used in the meaning (semi)-orphanage (or at least, not usually).

In this case I think there may be no way around explaining the word in the English translation in a footnote; else the orginal Ukrainian meaning would be lost.


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## sova47

SOKOL, I agree with you, so that's why I've decided to use "boarding school" after all. See above posts....

Just a remark re your last post. Please do not say or use *THE* Ukraine... old habits die hard. We do not say The France, The Austria and so on. *The* is used in the English language for countries when there is a FEDERATION or some sort of UNION of states, republics or whatever, eq: the United States, the USSR, the Phillipines (islands), the United Kingdom (several independent states), the EU... but the Czech Rebublic (because of the noun Republic).

THANKS!


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## sokol

Yep, that clearly was German interference, sova47.


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