Amusing debate over language in Ukraine -- and a question

[John Dunn]

The discussion on that web-site will certainly extend students' vocabulary, though in what direction is perhaps a question for another day.

 I have occasionally tried to alert students to the problems that can arise from the long-standing practice of transliterating personal and place names in the (former) Soviet space from the Russian version.  One might expect a large multi-lingual organisation, such as the BBC, to be able to work out a consistent policy, but most mass media cannot be expected to understand the linguistic niceties and have to depend on their sources, which might be various and themselves inconsistent.  There is, if one likes that sort of thing, a certain amount of mild amusement to be gained from considering the different transliterations that occur whenever a British football team plays a team from Ukraine or Belarus.  In the instance under discussion, however, it matters, since the decision whether to use Yanukovich (Russian) or Yanukovych (Ukrainian) is, regardless of one's intentions, a political statement.    

Hm.  Perhaps this is the time to give our profession a boost by promoting the idea that every media outlet in the anglophone world should employ at least one Slavonic linguist.

John Dunn.

-----Original Message-----
From: "Paul B. Gallagher" <paulbg at PBG-TRANSLATIONS.COM>
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 17:22:39 -0500
Subject: [SEELANGS] Amusing debate over language in Ukraine -- and a question

<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"). ... 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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John Dunn
SMLC (Slavonic Studies)
University of Glasgow
Hetheringon Building
Bute Gardens
Glasgow G12 8RS
U.K.

Tel.: +44 (0)141 330 5591
Fax: +44 (0)141 330 2297
e-mail: J.Dunn at slavonic.arts.gla.ac.uk

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