Thursday, November 12, 2015
More fun with Soviet maps
Following on yesterday's fun. By a nice happenstance, local TV KREM featured a dumb song produced by some Idaho radio station, designed to teach the insider pronunciation of Idaho cities.
So let's check those Russian maps against these correct pronunciations.
The Mapstor set for Idaho is more complete and more close-up than the Kan and Okla sets. It includes a couple of notations that look intriguingly military, like this circle around Steens Mountain in Oregon:
= = = = =
Now the cities:
I've numbered them here and on the maps.
1. Boise: Should be Бойси. Outsiders say Бойзи. Map has Бойзе, which is just dumb.
2. Kuna: Should be Кьюна, map is correct.
1a. Compare with Boise City in Okla, Бойзе Сити on the map. Okies pronounce it Бойзи, not Бойси. Nobody pronounces it Бойзе.
= = = = =
3. Buhl: Should be Бьюл, map is right. (Not sure why this was in the song; it's not hard.)
4. Filer: Again not a hard name. Should be Файлер by the usual trans conv, map is right.
= = = = =
5. Shoshone: Should be Шошон, map has Шошони, the outsider version. (Sidenote: It's interesting that Americans have a 'standard' way of dealing with names that look Injun to us. We automatically pronounce the final e in such names, even though regular English spelling would leave it silent. In this case the final e follows regular English, but we don't like it.)
3a. This map also includes Buhl, which is wrong on this map! Бул. Maybe it is hard after all.
= = = = =
6. Moscow: Correct is Москоу. Map gets it exactly right. Maybe Russian dictionaries pay special attention to this name for some mysterious reason. Incidentally, Idahoans pronounce the Moscow in Russia as Москaу to distinguish it from the local Москоу.
= = = = =
7. Coeur d'Alene: Outsiders get both the pron and spelling wrong, and the mapmaker outdid the outsiders. Should be Кор-д'алэйн, map has Кер-д'ален. Probably using Rus trans for French, not Rus trans for English.
= = = = =
8. Kamiah: Should be Камиай or maybe Кемиай. Map has Камиа, outsider version.
9. Weippe: Should be Уиайп, strong stress on first syllable. Map has Уэйпп, more or less phonetic.
= = = = =
Now the cities:
I've numbered them here and on the maps.
1. Boise: Should be Бойси. Outsiders say Бойзи. Map has Бойзе, which is just dumb.
2. Kuna: Should be Кьюна, map is correct.
1a. Compare with Boise City in Okla, Бойзе Сити on the map. Okies pronounce it Бойзи, not Бойси. Nobody pronounces it Бойзе.
= = = = =
3. Buhl: Should be Бьюл, map is right. (Not sure why this was in the song; it's not hard.)
4. Filer: Again not a hard name. Should be Файлер by the usual trans conv, map is right.
= = = = =
5. Shoshone: Should be Шошон, map has Шошони, the outsider version. (Sidenote: It's interesting that Americans have a 'standard' way of dealing with names that look Injun to us. We automatically pronounce the final e in such names, even though regular English spelling would leave it silent. In this case the final e follows regular English, but we don't like it.)
3a. This map also includes Buhl, which is wrong on this map! Бул. Maybe it is hard after all.
= = = = =
6. Moscow: Correct is Москоу. Map gets it exactly right. Maybe Russian dictionaries pay special attention to this name for some mysterious reason. Incidentally, Idahoans pronounce the Moscow in Russia as Москaу to distinguish it from the local Москоу.
= = = = =
7. Coeur d'Alene: Outsiders get both the pron and spelling wrong, and the mapmaker outdid the outsiders. Should be Кор-д'алэйн, map has Кер-д'ален. Probably using Rus trans for French, not Rus trans for English.
= = = = =
8. Kamiah: Should be Камиай or maybe Кемиай. Map has Камиа, outsider version.
9. Weippe: Should be Уиайп, strong stress on first syllable. Map has Уэйпп, more or less phonetic.
Labels: new toy
¶ 3:58 AM
