Very few read my stuff the first time so why not give everyone a second chance. Here's one I've copied from seven years ago. You know, every entry is still on the internet and available to anyone who wants to search. Just drop a word in the search box in the upper left hand of the page. I put in "ski". Here's the first thing that came up. Today, I added the Russian language roadmap at the bottom for clarity.
2/19/2014
OLYMPICS
Have you been watching the Olympics? I've watched very little. How did the X-games get into the Winter Olympics, anyway? ...and who gave the ski jumpers those tracks to ski in down the ramp?
I never even got to see Bob Costas cry one time...poor man. Conjunctivitis brought you Matt Lauer ... what a treat.
In any case, that's not what I'm thinking about today. It's that Russian word I see everywhere. I'm sure you've seen it. Maybe its obvious to you or maybe they explained it on television. The word has four Russian letters: (C) (O) (number four) (backwards N). I'd type it for you but I don't have a Russian keyboard.
I had to delve into the Russian alphabet to see what that is all about. They have 33 letters ... right now. They did away with four letters in 1918. Way back in 1750 they had eliminated eight others. That means they had 45 letters at one time. (Somehow, we get by with 27 and a few of them are seldom used.)
Anyway, that C is pronounced as we say S. The O is pronounced the same as in English. The letter that I think looks like a number four or maybe a written y is pronounced CH. You guessed it, the backwards N is pronounced like I at the end of a word or Y - the sound would be long E.
That is how we translate Russian words spoken from the Russian alphabet into English and give them English letters to match the sounds. So, the Russian word CO4N (open four and backwards N) is translated into the English alphabet as SOCHI. The city of the Winter Olympiad 2014.
Ta-da!
I never even got to see Bob Costas cry one time...poor man. Conjunctivitis brought you Matt Lauer ... what a treat.
In any case, that's not what I'm thinking about today. It's that Russian word I see everywhere. I'm sure you've seen it. Maybe its obvious to you or maybe they explained it on television. The word has four Russian letters: (C) (O) (number four) (backwards N). I'd type it for you but I don't have a Russian keyboard.
I had to delve into the Russian alphabet to see what that is all about. They have 33 letters ... right now. They did away with four letters in 1918. Way back in 1750 they had eliminated eight others. That means they had 45 letters at one time. (Somehow, we get by with 27 and a few of them are seldom used.)
Anyway, that C is pronounced as we say S. The O is pronounced the same as in English. The letter that I think looks like a number four or maybe a written y is pronounced CH. You guessed it, the backwards N is pronounced like I at the end of a word or Y - the sound would be long E.
That is how we translate Russian words spoken from the Russian alphabet into English and give them English letters to match the sounds. So, the Russian word CO4N (open four and backwards N) is translated into the English alphabet as SOCHI. The city of the Winter Olympiad 2014.
Ta-da!
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