The authorities always know best

[John Dunn]

Those who have been following events in Слов'янськ/Славянск, and especially those who have had occasion to travel on the main-line railway that passes throughout the town, may have paused to wonder where the stress lies.  An authoritative answer of sorts has now been posted on the gramota.ru web-site:
http://gramota.ru/lenta/news/8_2922
This is the sort of authoritative answer that raises more questions than it resolves.  The gist is that the inhabitants put the stress on the first syllable (which is what I remember hearing), but back in 1960 the head of the broadcasting pronunciation in Kiev decreed that the stress should be on the second syllable and this has remained the recommended version.

Curiously I can think of a similar case in England.  The inhabitants of Shrewsbury (or many of them at least) pronounce the first syllable as [Shrooze], while the BBC generally insists on [Shroze].  In the days when I used to change trains there, British Rail made a point of using both pronunciations.

John Dunn.

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