Amusing debate over language in Ukraine -- and a question

[Paul B. Gallagher]

<http://eye.moof.ru/note/6767.html>

Might be an interesting starting point for a guided discussion in the
classroom. Obviously, there are some misconceptions you'd want to
correct, but part of college education is learning to sort the wheat
from the chaff and do critical thinking, right?

I was originally looking for information on Yanukovych's background, to
learn whether he was Ukrainian (Ukr. Янукович pron. "Януковыч" in Ukr.
but spelled "Янукович" in Ru. and hence mispronounced as if "Януковіч")
or whether he was Russian (Ru. Янукович => Ukr. Януковіч, or perhaps
retaining the Ru. spelling in Ukr. and hence mispronounced as if
"Януковыч"). The vast majority of Ukrainian sites use "Янукович," so I
assume the Ukrainians pronounce [y], and CNN seems to agree with its
transliteration "Yanukovych," but today's NY Times has "Yanukovich" side
by side with "Hryhoriy M. Nemyria"
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/02/international/europe/02ukraine.html>,
which could mean they don't know what the heck they're doing, or could
mean he's a Russian... Can someone straighten me out?

P.S. The /Times/ also has "Yelena Grimnitskaya" for "Олена Громницька" =
"Елена Громницкая" (Kuchma's spokeswoman). The first "i" is obviously a
typo.

--
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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