сталкер

Russian

Alternative forms

• сто́кер (stóker) — neologism

Etymology

The word was coined by the Strugatsky brothers for their novel "Roadside Picnic" (1972), as an allusion to Rudyard Kipling's character Stalky from the "Stalky & Co." stories and the English stalker. Ста́лки (Stálki) was well remembered by the Strugatskys from their childhood, when they read the stories in Russian translation. In the "Roadside Picnic", сталкер was a common nickname for men engaged in the illegal trade of prospecting for and smuggling of alien artifacts from the mysterious and dangerous "Zone".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈstaɫkʲɪr]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

ста́лкер • (stálker) m anim (genitive ста́лкера, nominative plural ста́лкеры, genitive plural ста́лкеров, feminine ста́лкерша)

1. (rare) stalker (a person who stalks game) (see usage notes)
2. any person, whose occupation or activity is dangerously similar to those of characters from "Roadside Picnic".

   черно́быльский ста́лкер ― černóbylʹskij stálker ― a Chernobyl stalker, a guide to the Zone of alienation near Chernobyl

   • 1972, Братья Стругацкие [Arkady and Boris Strugatsky], chapter 1, in Пикник на обочине, Ленинград: Аврора; English translation from Olena Bormashenko, transl., Roadside Picnic, Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2012:

     Никако́й ста́лкер, е́сли он совсе́м не свихну́лся, на пу́шечный вы́стрел к Зо́не не подойдёт, когда́ зна́ет, что за ним следя́т.

     Nikakój stálker, jésli on sovsém ne svixnúlsja, na púšečnyj výstrel k Zóne ne podojdjót, kogdá znájet, što za nim sledját.

     No stalker, unless he’s completely nuts, will go anywhere near the Zone when he knows he’s being watched.

Usage notes

• It's a traditional translation, although not very accurate in meaning and connotations and it's seldom used in the sense of "stalker".
• The term was popularised by 1979 Andrey Tarkovsky's (Андре́й Тарковсќий) movie with the same name - Stalker (Russian: Ста́лкер).
• The English term "stalker" (a person who secretly follows someone, sometimes with unlawful intentions) is usually described as упо́рный пресле́дователь (upórnyj preslédovatelʹ, “persistent follower”) or челове́к, кото́рый идёт по пята́м (čelovék, kotóryj idjót po pjatám, “person who comes on the heels”). For someone who just "stalks" in general, such as with animals, the terms for this person are следопы́т (sledopýt) or охо́тник (oxótnik).

Declension

Declension of ста́лкер (anim masc-form hard-stem accent-a) 

	singular	plural
nominative	ста́лкер stálker	ста́лкеры stálkery
genitive	ста́лкера stálkera	ста́лкеров stálkerov
dative	ста́лкеру stálkeru	ста́лкерам stálkeram
accusative	ста́лкера stálkera	ста́лкеров stálkerov
instrumental	ста́лкером stálkerom	ста́лкерами stálkerami
prepositional	ста́лкере stálkere	ста́лкерах stálkerax

Related terms

• ста́лкерский (stálkerskij)
• ста́лкерство (stálkerstvo)

See also

• ликвида́тор (likvidátor)