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Usenet Posted 21 years ago
Usage
"Kyiv" in English
Apologies if this subject has come up before, but I decided to look up the pronunciation of the Ukrainian capital in English by the Ukrainian-preferred spelling.
What I got (at m-w.com) was something more akin to the pronunciation of the letter "Q" with a (schwa?) at the end. If I see "Kyiv", I'd be tempted to pronounce it "key-yeev", or "key-yiv".
If the new spelling in English is meant to be pronounced closer to Ukrainian in English, why not spell it "Qew", "Kew", "Qua", "Kewa", or similar?
Larry
What I got (at m-w.com) was something more akin to the pronunciation of the letter "Q" with a (schwa?) at the end. If I see "Kyiv", I'd be tempted to pronounce it "key-yeev", or "key-yiv".
If the new spelling in English is meant to be pronounced closer to Ukrainian in English, why not spell it "Qew", "Kew", "Qua", "Kewa", or similar?
Larry
Top answer
[nq:1]Apologies if this subject has come up before, but I decided to look up the pronunciation of the Ukrainian capital ... [/nq] The exercise may be futile unless English speakers think there is something wrong in saying Rome (one syllable) where Italians say Roma. g.
- [nq:1]Apologies if this subject has come up before, but I decided to look up the pronunciation of the Ukrainian capital ...
- [/nq] The exercise may be futile unless English speakers think there is something wrong in saying Rome (one syllable) where Italians say Roma.
- g.
- Bombay for Mumbai, and they are mostly great cities, so an English pronunciation of Kiev may be considered a compliment to the city.
- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)
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2 Answers
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[nq:1]Apologies if this subject has come up before, but I decided to look up the pronunciation of the Ukrainian capital ... English is meant to be pronounced closer toUkrainian in English, why not spell it "Qew", "Kew", "Qua", "Kewa", or similar?[/nq]
The exercise may be futile unless English speakers think there is something wrong in saying Rome (one syllable) where Italians say Roma. Not man
The exercise may be futile unless English speakers think there is something wrong in saying Rome (one syllable) where Italians say Roma. Not man
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[nq:1]Apologies if this subject has come up before, but I decided to look up the pronunciation of the Ukrainian capital ... English is meant to be pronounced closer toUkrainian in English, why not spell it "Qew", "Kew", "Qua", "Kewa", or similar?[/nq]
The pronunciation which the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary gives for the Ukrainian version of Kiev (that version being spelled Kyiv and Kyyiv
The pronunciation which the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary gives for the Ukrainian version of Kiev (that version being spelled Kyiv and Kyyiv
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