Russian Translation(s) & Details for 'declassify'

English Word: declassify

Key Russian Translations:

• Разсекречивать [/rəzˈsɛkrʲɪtɕɪtʲ/] - [Formal, Used in official or governmental contexts]
• Снять гриф секретности [/ˈsnatʲ ˈɡrʲif sʲɪˈkrʲetnəstʲi/] - [Formal, Phrase used in administrative or legal settings]

Frequency: Low (This term is specialized and appears primarily in contexts like government, espionage, or historical discussions.)

Difficulty: B2 (Intermediate to Advanced; requires understanding of Russian verb conjugations and formal vocabulary; the second translation may be easier for beginners due to its phrasal nature.)

Pronunciation (Russian):

Разсекречивать: /rəzˈsɛkrʲɪtɕɪtʲ/ (Note on Разсекречивать: This verb has a soft 'ч' sound, which can be challenging for English speakers; stress falls on the second syllable. Variations may occur in fast speech.)

Снять гриф секретности: /ˈsnatʲ ˈɡrʲif sʲɪˈkrʲetnəstʲi/ (Note on Снять гриф секретности: The phrase includes a soft 'т' in "снять" and a rolled 'р' in "гриф"; practice with native audio for natural flow.)

Audio: []

Meanings and Usage:

Primary Meaning: To remove the classified or secret status from information or documents.

Translation(s) & Context:

• Разсекречивать - Used in formal contexts like government archives or intelligence reports, emphasizing the action of making something public.
• Снять гриф секретности - Applied in bureaucratic settings, such as declassifying official documents, with a focus on lifting restrictions.

Usage Examples:

• Правительство решило разсекречивать архивные документы о Второй мировой войне.

  The government decided to declassify archival documents about World War II.

• Агентство должно разсекречивать информацию, если она больше не представляет угрозы национальной безопасности.

  The agency must declassify information if it no longer poses a threat to national security.

• Чтобы провести расследование, журналисты потребовали снять гриф секретности с этих файлов.

  To conduct the investigation, journalists demanded to lift the classified status from these files.

• В некоторых случаях разсекречивать материалы помогает в исторических исследованиях.

  In some cases, declassifying materials aids historical research.

• Суд приказал снять гриф секретности с переписки, чтобы обеспечить прозрачность.

  The court ordered to remove the secret classification from the correspondence to ensure transparency.

Secondary Meaning: To make something previously restricted available for general use (e.g., in metaphorical or extended contexts).

Translation(s) & Context:

• Разсекречивать - Less common, used metaphorically in discussions about personal or corporate secrets.

Usage Examples:

• Писатель решил разсекречивать свои старые дневники в новой книге.

  The writer decided to declassify his old diaries in his new book.

• Компания разсекречивает технологию, чтобы привлечь инвесторов.

  The company is declassifying the technology to attract investors.

Russian Forms/Inflections:

"Разсекречивать" is a verb of the first conjugation in Russian, which follows regular patterns but includes irregularities in stem changes. It is imperfective and can be paired with its perfective counterpart "разсекретировать". Below is a table outlining key inflections:

For "Снять гриф секретности", this is a phrase where "снять" is a verb (perfective) and inflects regularly, but the phrase as a whole does not change; it remains invariant in most contexts.

Russian Synonyms/Antonyms:

• Synonyms:
  • Обнародовать (obnarodovat') - More general, meaning to make public; often used interchangeably but less formal.
  • Раскрывать (raskryvat') - Implies revealing secrets; subtle difference in connotation, as it can be less official.
• Antonyms:
  • Классифицировать (klassifitsirovat') - To classify or make secret.
  • Засекречивать (zasekrechivat') - To classify or hide information.

Related Phrases:

• Снять с секретности - To remove from secrecy; used in legal contexts to mean declassifying documents.
• Разсекреченные материалы - Declassified materials; refers to publicly available files, often in historical or investigative scenarios.
• Гриф "секретно" - Marked as "secret"; a common phrase explaining classification status.

Usage Notes:

• Russian equivalents like "разсекречивать" directly correspond to "declassify" in formal English, but they are more commonly used in governmental or military contexts. Always consider the audience: use formal phrasing in official writing.
• Grammar note: Verbs like "разсекречивать" require appropriate aspect (imperfective for ongoing actions), so pair it with perfective forms for completed actions.
• When choosing between translations, opt for "разсекречивать" for verb-focused sentences and "снять гриф секретности" for phrasal expressions in bureaucratic language.
• Restrictions: This vocabulary is rare in everyday conversation and is limited to professional or academic settings.

Common Errors:

• Error: Using "секретировать" (secrete, as in biology) instead of "засекречивать" or "разсекречивать". Correct: "Разсекречивать документы" means "to declassify documents", not "секретировать" which is unrelated.
• Error: Incorrect verb conjugation, e.g., saying "разсекречит" instead of "разсекречивает" for third person singular. Correct: Use full forms like "он разсекречивает" and explain that stem changes are common in Russian verbs.
• Error: Translating literally without context, e.g., using "деклассфицировать" (a direct borrowing) which is not standard Russian. Correct: Stick to native terms like "разсекречивать" for authenticity.

Cultural Notes:

In Russian culture, terms like "разсекречивать" are heavily tied to the history of the Soviet era, where information control was stringent. Declassification often reveals state secrets from the KGB or Cold War periods, symbolizing transparency and historical reckoning in modern Russia.

Related Concepts:

• Конфиденциальность (konfidentsialnost') - Confidentiality
• Шпионство (shpionstvo) - Espionage
• Архивы (arkhivy) - Archives