Postcard from Bishkek

I remember that when I was learning Russian, I had to ask my teacher for help … in answer to a question that she had posed, I was trying to say that “the weather is warmer today than yesterday” when I realized that although I knew the basic vocabulary, (weather = pagoda, warm=tyeplo, today=sevodnya and yesterday=vechera), but I didn’t know how to say “warmer”.

To make matters worse, I wasn’t sure how to explain my problem to my teacher, who didn’t speak English.  (Although she had trained as a linguist and was now a teacher Russian language and literature, she had studied other languages and only had a very cursory knowledge of English …  as it happens, I think that most of the time that was an advantage – because it forced us to do everything everything in Russian and I couldn’t take the easy, lazy way out – but at times like this it was a real bugbear.

To be honest, I think she actually understood a lot more than she let on … and on this occasion she got the point of what I was trying to say quite quickly.  As I tried to explain that in English we have comparatives – adjectives and adverbs which express a relationship, for example: warm, warmer and warmest.   Yesterday was warm, today it is warmer than yesterday, and is the warmest it has been all week.  Warmer is a comparative … comparing two entities and warmest is a superlative, comparing three of more.  Normally, in English, an adjective or adverb ending in er is a comparative and one ending in est is a superlative.

Unfortunately, there are a whole host of exceptions, strange spelling rules

simple, simpler, simplest
early, earlier, earliest
thin, thinner, thinnest
far, further, furthest

and then there are irregular adjectives and adverbs … consider:

good, better, best … and the opposite … bad, worse, worst
beautiful, more beautiful and most beautiful …
famous, more famous, most famous – not to mention less famous and least famous

She was delighted with the question and explained how in Russian it was very similar; for a comparative you simply change the ending of the adjective or adverb to ee-ye (ai-ya if it is describing something feminine), and for a  Superlatives you simply add in front samie (or samaya) in front of the the adjective or adverb – like “most” as in “today is the most warm day we’ve had this week”, (which is the equivalent of “today is the warmest day this week”).  

Fortunately, there don’t seem to be any exceptions, irregular adjectives 0r adverbs … Brilliant. Simple!

They do, however, have other words that can be substituted – for example: “better” can be either horoshiye or looche … but that’s a different story.

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There are some other linguistic problems associated with superlatives, which it is worth noting …

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I was reminded of this particular incident when I came across a link to a post from a UK based tour company that offers packages to destinations all over the world … and which was promoting some of their Central Asian itineraries under the slogan “Best for …“: 

• Best for … Adrenalin Junkies;
• Best for … Breathtaking Scenery;
• Best for … Culture Vultures; 
• Best for … Escape Artists; 
• Best for … Epic Journeys;
• Best for … Horse Riders;
• Best for … Sports Fans and even
• Best for … Revolving Gold Statues

In each case they chose to highlight one of their Central Asian tour itineraries drawn from their impressive catalogue …

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For the record: The company responsible for the “Best for …”  promotion was not one of our partners, (they work with another company here in Kyrgyzstan), but …

… to give “credit where credit is due” I thought it was a particularly good approach because usually such “superlative campaigns” are based presenting a list of the “Best of …” features of a destination … rather than “Best for …”, (such as “The Best of … Kyrgyzstan”); giving a list of recommendations or highlights that could be considered as “Must see … Must do” activities and experiences. It implies that Best should be understood as  ”better than all others in quality or value“, (“you can’t get better than best”).

This approach, on the other hand,  basically said that whilst there is a lot to see and do in Central Asia … there is something for everyone and it is possible for everybody to find which of the tours they offer is best suited for them.  It’s a “client centered” approach.  The word “Best” in this context should be understood as, the “most appropriate“.     

In fact, both are necessary … after all … a tour brings together several “elements”,

the clients, the service providers (guide, driver … and so forth), to undertake a selection of activities at a particular time and place (or  …

… and a successful tour is one where these are balanced to achieve an optimum result, avoiding mismatches.

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I was happy to see that three of their selections included Kyrgyzstan, and I could see the logic behind the descriptions:

• Best for … Adrenalin Junkies : Kyrgyzstan – describing an tour which combined a variety of activities such as horse riding, cycling and rafting … as well as a spectacular helicopter flight;
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  There is no doubt about it … Kyrgyzstan IS an excellent destination for Adrenalin Junkies … offering a wide scope of activities for those who seek out adventure.
  
• Best for … Escape Artists : Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan – offering an itinerary for those who want to “get away from it all”;
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  There is no doubt about it … Kyrgyzstan DOES offer a host of opportunities for escaping from the hustle and bustle of the modern world and offering a chance to get “off the beaten track” and experience a different culture and way of life – one that has remained unchanged over the centuries.
• Best for … Breathtaking Scenery : Kyrgyzstan – concentrating on the variety of spectacular landscapes in “one of the most beautiful countries on earth”;
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  There is no doubt about it … Kyrgyzstan HAS a tremendous range of landscapes, with mountains and plains, forests and lakes … and, as one blogger put it, “around almost every corner there’s a photo opportunity”.

 

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