From: Philipp Reichmuth (reichmuth@web.de)
Date: Sun Jul 04 2004 - 04:44:07 CDT
Doug Ewell schrieb:
>>>Transcription does not require roundtrip. It is intended in this case
>>>for the English speaker to be able to deliver an approximate
>>>pronunciation adapted to his native vocal capabilities.
>>
>>Except when it doesn't. We write Tchaikovsky, not Chykoffskee.
But then, English spelling isn't really logical anyway, and the average
English speaker will be able to produce something from Tchaikovsky that
would be more or less recognizable by a Russian.
> If we were starting from scratch today, we'd probably do better. (I
> hope we would retain the "v" sound in "Чайковский" instead of converting
> it to "f".)
Except there is no "v sound", only an "f sound" in the Russian
pronunciation of Чайковский due to regressive assimilation.
"Chykoffskee" is pretty accurate, actually. I'd say Tchaikovsky is just
a spelling taken over from French at a time when French was pretty much
the international common language at least in diplomacy and art.
Philipp
-- "Nur Miele" schwärmt die Kuh Roswitha und gibt so manchen Extra-Liter. - Miele-Melkmaschinenwerbung, 70er
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