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Day: February 14, 2017
Which transliterated version of a surname sounds better, Potyomkin or Potemkin?
Yes, English routinely transliterates Cyrillic Ё as E. For that matter, Russian routinely writes Ё as Е. Our transliterations (and your default orthography) aren’t up to date with the last couple of centuries of sound change in Russian. Potemkin is the most familiar version to English-speakers, since “Potemkin village” is a well known expression (and […]
What forms the basis of the suffix used when describing which country someone comes from?
There are no rules, but there are trends. -ish is used for country names that the English would have been familiar with in the Middle Ages. -ese is used for country names that the English learned of via the Italians or Spanish. That includes East Asia. -(i)an is used as a default for new-fangled country […]
What does your accent sound like in Esperanto?
http://vocaroo.com/ I have recorded a couple of passages I have read out in Esperanto, but why not a new one. Klingono, from Neciklopedio, the Esperanto version of Uncyclopedia. Vocaroo | Voice message Well, that was fun! My Esperanto has a mercilessly Greek accent, with no variation in vowel length or quality. In theory, that is […]
Could someone who speaks Cypriot Greek tell what “λεγνά” is/are?
https://youtu.be/FhLRDY78B5U A2A, and I don’t speak Cypriot. Well, this is quite the puzzle. The lyric goes: Τ’ άι Φιλίππου δκιάβηκε, τζι ήρτεν τ’ άι Μηνά,τζι οι κορασιές παντρεύκουνται τζι αλλάσσουν τα λεγνά St Philip’s day is gone, St Menna’s day is here,and girls get married, and the slender ones change/and change the slender ones. I’ve […]