-------- Original Message --------
Carolyn - thanks for glass bell compliments but let me chime in: in the
archived string, I only answered your specific question: no, "nikto b"
is not an idiomatic reply to "Who is Botkin?" question.
At the same time, since now we see "nikto b" as an intertextual (?)
element found in imporatnt points of Pushkin, I agree with others that
a palindrome does exist -- and is even more easily readable in Russian
(and Zemblan) since the terminal "e" does not apply - Russ. Kinbot, not
Kinbote; see PF Ch 10: "Doctor Kinbot?" he asked, uncertain. I smiled.
"Kinbote," good sir, the o is long, like das Boot in German..."
By the way, this line might also point at Jens Boot, the main hero of a
rather forgotten Ilya Ehrenburg's 1923 futuristic novel "Trust D.E.
(Destruction of Europe)". In the novel, Jens Boot, a bastard son of the
Prince of Monaco, loved Europe but destroyed it using American support.
Victor Fet
________________________________
From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum [NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU] on behalf of
Carolyn Kunin [chaiselongue@ATT.NET]
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2012 9:44 PM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: [NABOKV-L] more from the archives re nikto b'
Found this - have tried to straighten out message from CHW - he was
always an interesting contributor - Charles ... can't recall further,
but his knowledge of things Scandanavian was impressive. V Fet, as
always, is clear as glass, or a bell, or a glass bell, or a bell curve,
or ... stop me before I write a poem or something.
Carolyn
>>>>>CHW also mentioned "nikto b", which the Russian
speakers
>>>>>have ruled out. I think. But I'd like to clarify
this
>>>>>last detail: if someone asks "Who is Botkin?", is
"Nikto
>>>>> b" an absolutely unidiomatic answer?
Yes, it is absolutely unidiomatic combination and has to be ruled out.
If to "Who is Botkin?" one wants to say "nobody", the answer is "Nikto";
full answer is "Botkin is nobody", or "Botkin - nikto" [the verb is
omitted].
Russian "b" is just an abbreviated particle "by" (like in "Nikto b[y] ne
podumal", "nobody would have thought") but "nikto b" does not have any
independent meaning.
I brought it up but only as a possible palindrome with first name
"Nikto" = "Nikto Botkin" or "Nikto B." (B also being, naturally,
Cyrillic "V" for Vseslav or Vladimir).
There is also a traditional K/Ch interplay between down-to-earth pair
"Nikto" (nobody)/"Nichto" (nothing), versus more elevated poetic "Nekto"
(someone)/"Nechto" (something).
Victor Fet