How do you pronounce Dostoeyesky?

[steffee]

I am always embarrassing myself by not pronouncing author's names correctly... like Chuck Pahluh--

Is it Dost-eye(I)-ski, or Dost-owe-ski, and is there anywhere I could find more pronunciations... e.g. Alice Sebold, is it See-bold, See-bld, what?

And Azar Nafisi...?

Jeffrey Eugenides.... etc.

 

[Stewart]

I see them as:

Das-tai-yev-skee

A-zar Naf-eez-y

You-jen-yd-eez

See-bold

Pah-loo-nee-ak

 

[steffee]

I see them as:

Das-tai-yev-skee

A-zar Naf-eez-y

You-jen-yd-eez

See-bold

Pah-loo-nee-ak

Thanks, I was miles out then. I had no idea the 'v' was pronouncable and even missed it out of the entire post to prove it lol...

Das-tai-yev-ski Das-tai-yev-ski

Right, got it.

Ta

 

[Shade]

Just goes to show how these things are open to interpretation. My fully anglicised pronunciation of Dostoevsky is

Dos-toy-ef-ski.

And I am sure I read somewhere that Chuck Palha..thingy is pronounced

Paula-nik.

But I could be wrong.

 

[Stewart]

The reason I say Das... rather than Dos... is because when the o is stressed in Russian it sounds more like 'ah'.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Is it Dost-eye(I)-ski, or Dost-owe-ski, and is there anywhere I could find more pronunciations...

You probably have no idea just how complicated a question that is!

To get a definative answer I'd PM Sergo, who is one of our Muscovite members.

For what it's worth I was taught that Достое́вский is pronounced da-sta-yef-skee. O is indeed pronouced as A when not stressed; although they remain an O if you say the word slowly enough, or speak Russian with a Volga accent. Also, without going into what voiced and unvoiced Russian consonants are, a B followed by a C is pronounced as F rather than V.

Is that clear? This simple lesson in Russian grammer should give you an idea why they drink so much over there.

Like I said, it's best you ask Sergo, I could have been taught a load of #~[#*...

Regards,

K-S

 

[Peder]

Kenny,
I'll jump off the edge of the cliff with you on that one.
But can I toss in a shwa, just to make it exciting, for an unstressed a or o?
We all turn toward Sergo
Peder

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Kenny

Peder

I'll jump off the edge of the cliff with you on that one.

This is probably the finest description of Russian grammer I've yet encountered.

But can I toss in a shwa, just to make it exciting, for an unstressed a or o?

Toss whatever you wish, whereever you wish; just don't scare the horses.

We all turn toward Sergo

Indeed, he picks today to nip off to St Petersburg, and we find ourselves sitting here waiting for the white smoke to appear over the Vatican (in this case vodka fumes over the Kremlin).

Come on Sergo, put us out of our misery......

Peder

Kenny

 

[Peder]

ROTFL laughing
er -oh -tay - eff - ell.

 

[abecedarian]

Since I know nothing about Russian grammar, I can't be of any help here, but I'm finding this whole thread hysterical just the same. Who but a bunch of bibliophiles would worry about this issue in the first place Maybe books DO make us lonely and strange Now ya'll excuse me, I have this great book and it's calling my name.... You guys are the best!

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Who but a bunch of bibliophiles would worry about this issue in the first place

Well that's put 150+ million Russian speakers in their place.

Madam, how would you like it if Sergo said his favourite book was 'Bleak Horse' by Charles Dickends?

*awaits white smoke*

 

[abecedarian]

Well that's put 150+ million Russian speakers in their place.

Madam, how would you like it if Sergo said his favourite book was 'Bleak Horse' by Charles Dickends?

*awaits white smoke*

LOL You mean that's not that book's real title? And that's not how you pronounce that Chuck guy's name Maybe I'd better join the vigil for that white smoke! ( I really AM wondering how to pronounce that Russian name myself)

 

[abecedarian]

Well that's put 150+ million Russian speakers in their place.

Madam, how would you like it if Sergo said his favourite book was 'Bleak Horse' by Charles Dickends?

*awaits white smoke*

Hey, I'm sorry my thoughtless attempt at humor fell so flat. It was not my intention to upset anyone.

 

[Kenny Shovel]

Hey, I'm sorry my thoughtless attempt at humor fell so flat. It was not my intention to upset anyone.

??? It didn't fall flat...you need to stop thinking about things, none one else on here does that...

Now back to waiting for Sergo’s pronouncement on pronunciation….when he eventually gives his verdict I imagine the scene to look something like this…







Not quite sure why I imagine Sergo to look like a Lego version of Obi Wan Kenobi, but there you go...

 

[Kookamoor]

you need to stop thinking about things, none one else on here does that...

I dunno Kenny... I reckon you thought long and hard about posting that Lego picture. It smacks of intellect to me . Please just tell me that you didn't actually take the picture...

 

[Peder]

How do I pronounce Dostoyevsky?!

How do you pronounce endless?

 

[StillILearn]

Um. Whut Shade sed. That's whut I wuz told.

 

[Occlith]

While we're waiting..

 

[Kookamoor]

How do I pronounce Dostoyevsky?!

How do you pronounce endless?

He pops on and that's all we get?? WTF! I want a refund.

 

[StillILearn]

dastaYEfskee works for me.

Dos-toy-ef-ski

Just say it fast!

That's the trick.