There is no Tatar board here, so I will ask this question here: What is the correct pronunciation of "Nail" (as in Yakupov)? The North American broadcasters pronounce it as though it were the Anglo-Celtic name "Neil" (e.g. Neil Armstrong or Neil Diamond). Is that pretty close? Or is it more like 2 distinct syllables like "NAH-yeel" or "nah-YEEL"? Or more like the English word "Nail" (as in 'hammer')? Or something else?
Can't do better than hearing the man himself say it. Very surprised to hear that "Yakupov" is closer to "ya-KUPF" (to my anglo ears, anyway)
It's funny that you should mention that. My background is Russian but I was born and raised in Canada so I'm used to making that mistake when pronouncing some Russian last names.
People in NA tend to make mistakes with the last names ending in "ov". They tend to put the empahsis on the "ov" when the emphasis is usually on the first or second syllabul.
I.E. People say varlamOV, zubOV, makarOV, morozOV. But they're really pronounced var-LAH-mv, ZUbv, ma-KAH-rv, Mo-RO-zv.
It's kinda weird to explain but typically you don't extend the ov, you usally roll over it. Some exceptions I can think of are Kozlov and Fedorov. But Kozlov is more Khaz-lov not Kohz-lov. And Fedorov is more Fyod-rv. It's quite tricky if you don't speak the language.
But either way, if you speak English it's easier to sound out the name and extend the ov. Plus, it rolls better in English dialect.
It would be weird to hear NA commentators actually pronounce foreign names perfectly lol. They'd be saying things like Alex Syomen instead of Semin and that would suck cause there aren't any good puns that go with Syomen lol.
Last edited by DanTHEMan71: 02-26-2012 at 03:26 AM.
It's funny that you should mention that. My background is Russian but I was born and raised in Canada so I'm used to making that mistake when pronouncing some Russian last names.
People in NA tend to make mistakes with the last names ending in "ov". They tend to put the empahsis on the "ov" when the emphasis is usually on the first or second syllabul.
I.E. People say varlamOV, zubOV, makarOV, morozOV. But they're really pronounced var-LAH-mv, ZUbv, ma-KAH-rv, Mo-RO-zv.
It's kinda weird to explain but typically you don't extend the ov, you usally roll over it. Some exceptions I can think of are Kozlov and Fedorov. But Kozlov is more Khaz-lov not Kohz-lov. And Fedorov is more Fyod-rv. It's quite tricky if you don't speak the language.
But either way, if you speak English it's easier to sound out the name and extend the ov. Plus, it rolls better in English dialect.
It would be weird to hear NA commentators actually pronounce foreign names perfectly lol. They'd be saying things like Alex Syomen instead of Semin and that would suck cause there aren't any good puns that go with Syomen lol.
Funny thread. One notice that drove me crazy when I look at the NHL games is the way how Americans pronounce the last name of Kovalchuk. Seriously, there is K - O - V - A - L(League - close the way how you pronounce the first "L" in that word) - ch (like a (CH)ance) - U (like a tr(UE)) - K.
And there is close to N - A (like (U)nder) - I ((i)nch) - L ((L)eague).
Try to hear that in League. Very close to originally Russian sound.
Heh, though you cant to realize what I am talking about. And of course, sorry for my terrible English. Good luck ^_^
It's funny that you should mention that. My background is Russian but I was born and raised in Canada so I'm used to making that mistake when pronouncing some Russian last names.
People in NA tend to make mistakes with the last names ending in "ov". They tend to put the empahsis on the "ov" when the emphasis is usually on the first or second syllabul.
I.E. People say varlamOV, zubOV, makarOV, morozOV. But they're really pronounced var-LAH-mv, ZUbv, ma-KAH-rv, Mo-RO-zv.
It's kinda weird to explain but typically you don't extend the ov, you usally roll over it. Some exceptions I can think of are Kozlov and Fedorov. But Kozlov is more Khaz-lov not Kohz-lov. And Fedorov is more Fyod-rv. It's quite tricky if you don't speak the language.
But either way, if you speak English it's easier to sound out the name and extend the ov. Plus, it rolls better in English dialect.
It would be weird to hear NA commentators actually pronounce foreign names perfectly lol. They'd be saying things like Alex Syomen instead of Semin and that would suck cause there aren't any good puns that go with Syomen lol.
I think North Americans actually stress the first syllable, though it's often incorrect. I've never heard anybody emphasize the last syllable of a Russian surname. When the surname ends in the -ov suffix, the first syllable is usually the one stressed.
i.e. KO-vol-chuk, DAT-sook, FED-or-ov, YAK-uh-pov.
Before commentators were corrected about which syllable to stress, they could call Shirokov "SHEER-o-kov," and Varlamov "VAR-la-mov."
With some names, especially the longer names, North Americans will stress the second-last syllable. They'll also stress the second-last syllable when the suffix is -in.
i.e. Ah-fan-ah-SENK-ov, Ah-fin-o-GEN-ov, Grig-or-ENK-o, Sah-PRYK-in, o-VECH-kin.
These probably aren't the correct ways to pronounce these names, but that's how North Americans pronounce them.
I think North Americans actually stress the first syllable, though it's often incorrect.
That's not even 100% accurate either.
The stress should be on the first syllable with Slovak (and Czech) names.
English commentators get those terribly wrong too. c is a 'ts' sound, and 'ch' is as in the German 'ach' or the Scottish 'loch.' It really grates on my when they try to put a hard j in.
Židlický (ZHEED-leets-key) and Chára (KHAAh-rah) are two that are really badly butchered all the time. The Olympiques have two NHL bound players right now, one a Slovak and the other a Czech) that are going to get their names butchered - Jánošík (YANN-o-sheek) and Hyka (HEE-kah). Hyka has already had his name mispronounced on SportsCentre, after that pre-season game with the Flyers.
