Thread: Silent letters?

Watching Soviet movies, I've noticed the last name Мкртчян pop up in the credits. I'm guessing the name is Armenian, not Russian, but I still can't even fathom how to say a name with six consonants to one vowel.

Originally Posted by zxc

Watching Soviet movies, I've noticed the last name Мкртчян pop up in the credits. I'm guessing the name is Armenian, not Russian, but I still can't even fathom how to say a name with six consonants to one vowel.

Originally Posted by Lampada

Seems simple enough I guess, thanks. I get it's not a native Russian name, but why not write perhaps as Мэкэртэчян in Russian (that's how it sounds to me, at least...) instead of transliterating it directly from Armenian.

Originally Posted by zxc

Seems simple enough I guess, thanks. I get it's not a native Russian name, but why not write perhaps as Мэкэртэчян in Russian (that's how it sounds to me, at least...) instead of transliterating it directly from Armenian.

The rules of transliteration should be universal to avoid confusion. AFAIK mainly armenian words and names can be transliterated directly without such problems, so direct transliteration is the current rule for Armenian-Russian word transformation.

BTW This guy is an excellent comic. Consider his last name as a part of his emploi.

Originally Posted by zxc

Watching Soviet movies, I've noticed the last name Мкртчян pop up in the credits. I'm guessing the name is Armenian, not Russian, but I still can't even fathom how to say a name with six consonants to one vowel.

Schwas are not always spelt in Armenian. There are more vowels in this name.
In fact, many English words have many consonants in chain, like ministrels for example.