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Thread: What about the letter H?

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    Почтенный гражданин dtrq's Avatar
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    Ussualy it casted to Х.
    Helen - Хелен, e.g. Миррен, Хелен — Википедия

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    Увлечённый спикер GreenLarry's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dtrq View Post
    Ussualy it casted to Х.
    Helen - Хелен, e.g. Миррен, Хелен — Википедия
    Spacibo tovariche!
    Now how is the Х pronounced?
    Я плохо говорю по-русски.

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    Moderator Lampada's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GreenLarry View Post
    Spacibo tovariche!
    Now how is the Х pronounced?


    Буква Х - 3:22
    Throbert McGee likes this.
    "...Важно, чтобы форум оставался местом, объединяющим людей, для которых интересны русский язык и культура. ..." - MasterАdmin (из переписки)



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    Завсегдатай Throbert McGee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lampada View Post


    Буква Х - 3:22
    OMG, the Russian lady said a totally bad word at 4:00!

    Seriously, thanks for linking that -- it's really cute, and perfect for beginners.

    Although I did think it was a bit repetitive (and confusing to foreigners) to use удав (a "snake" of the boa/python/anaconda type) as an example for У, after already using змея (a "snake" in general) for the letter З. I mean, there are lots of other simple, concrete nouns that start with У in Russian -- coal, smiles, oysters, ears, mustaches...

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    Завсегдатай Throbert McGee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GreenLarry View Post
    Spacibo tovariche!
    Now how is the Х pronounced?
    It's pronounced like Darth Vader breathing, more or less. Or, if you prefer, like the Spanish "j" in jalapeño.

    In other words, it's a very "back-of-the-throat" H-sound. But don't make the mistake -- as many English speakers do when learning Russian -- of pronouncing it too "wet and rough," like you're trying to bring up phlegm. It's a "dry and smooth" sound.

    By the way, in Russian translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the character we call Helen of Troy became Елена (pronounced "Yelena"), yet for some reason Helen's daughter Hermione became Гермиона -- which is also the spelling used in the Harry Potter translations. (Yet in the original Greek, both Helen and Hermione start with the same sound.)
    Говорит Бегемот: "Dear citizens of MR -- please correct my Russian mistakes!"

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    Почтенный гражданин Suobig's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Throbert McGee View Post
    By the way, in Russian translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the character we call Helen of Troy became Елена (pronounced "Yelena"), yet for some reason Helen's daughter Hermione became Гермиона -- which is also the spelling used in the Harry Potter translations. (Yet in the original Greek, both Helen and Hermione start with the same sound.)
    In russian translations Hudson river would be "река Гудзон", but Mr. Holmes' houseowner Mrs. Hudson would be "миссис Хадсон". As it's said in one russian joke - "понять нельзя, надо запомнить".

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    Quote Originally Posted by Suobig View Post
    In russian translations Hudson river would be "река Гудзон", but Mr. Holmes' houseowner Mrs. Hudson would be "миссис Хадсон". As it's said in one russian joke - "понять нельзя, надо запомнить".
    Интересно, что река Гудзон названа в честь английского мореплавателя по фамилии Hudson (в Википедии пишут Хадсон - в скобках Гудзон), т.е. человека с той же фамилией, что и у героини, "игравшей мебель" в известном фильме.

    Путаница с этой транслитерацией (Вильям-Уильям, Харри-Гарри, Гумбольдт - Хумбольдт) возникла в результате изменений её правил (в разное время использовались разные правила - поэтому ОДНО и ТО ЖЕ имя в разное время и в разных источниках может иметь различную транслитерацию - как Гудзон/Хадсон передает ОДНО и то ЖЕ имя Hudson).

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    Quote Originally Posted by Throbert McGee View Post
    By the way, in Russian translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the character we call Helen of Troy became Елена (pronounced "Yelena"), yet for some reason Helen's daughter Hermione became Гермиона -- which is also the spelling used in the Harry Potter translations. (Yet in the original Greek, both Helen and Hermione start with the same sound.)
    Ἑλένη and Ἑρμιόνη. As far as I know this 'inverted comma letter' in the beginning is always H in LATIN(IZED) tradition. In Russian it can be either "Г" (old Greek transliteration system used to sound as in Ancient Greek for classical names as Геракл, Гераклит, Геродот и т.п., LATIN tradition also uses it) or 'no sound at all' (new system, close to new Greek tradition, and used in Russian for contemporary names).

    So in Russian, as Елена is a contemporary name (and a popular one), it falls into the second category ('no sound at all').

    Other classic examples would be: Hellenistic vs Эллинистический, Helio- vs Гелио- (all things related to sun). You always have H in English, but in Russian 2 cases are possible.

    The historic development of Greek and changes in Greek pronunciation resulted in such intricacies.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by GreenLarry View Post
    Spacibo tovariche!
    Now how is the Х pronounced?
    as Throbert said close to 'j' in Spanish. Example: Spanish San Jose = Сан Хосе (but softer than Spanish). Or as in German 'Bach, achtung, etc.' but softer.

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