FW: [SEELANGS] pronun. of "Medvedev" (cont.)

[Jerry Katsell]

Yes, you may have a point, Emily. Of your suggestions, I think
Med-VEH-def would be easiest to pronounce for the otherwise uninitiated.
Of course, on the morphemic level, the poor beast can no longer "know
the honey".

Regards,

Jerry Katsell



-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Emily Saunders
Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2008 10:59 AM
To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] FW: [SEELANGS] pronun. of "Medvedev" (cont.)

I must disagree.  When I read the bit below with standard US English  
pronunciation I get the awkward way radio announcers are currently  
pronouncing his name.  Our short "e" is just not the same "yeh" sound  
that you get when a stressed Russian "e" is followed by a soft  
consonant.  (Witness the difference in pronunciation between est' and  
est -- есть и ест.)

I would propose the following:

Mid-VEH-dyiff
Mid-VAY-dyiff

Or

Med-VEH-def
Med-VAY-def

How one renders the first and final syllables is pretty much a toss-up  
since they get reduced anyway.

Regards,

Emily Saunders


On Mar 2, 2008, at 10:32 AM, Jerry Katsell wrote:

> Here's another vote for "med - VED - yeff," with which I think  
> ordinary
> folks possessing no Russian could with reasonable approximation
> pronounce the name Medvedev.
>

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