132 replies to this topic

[djb]

Alexandra, do you you have that link handy?

[Marianna]

DJB - you are simply brilliant!! Second grande reverence comes to you     YOU'VE GOT THAT RAZOR SHARP LINGUIST'S SET OF MIND!


And most likely Alexandra IS right and there are some Balerinovs and Balerinovas living in Russia!! But there are definitely no Balerinovs in my family tree :shrug:

Another good example of moving a stress in a lastname to make it sound DISTINGUISHED - "divina ballerina" of Mariinsky young Diana VishnYOva's last name is/would be USUALLY pronounced with a stress falling on that "YO" vowel ("e" with two dots above it) - however, I keep hearing now and then - when the last name is mentioned in the ballet circles - the stress has moved to the very first syllable making the common last name sound distinguished - as VEE-shneva. Those distinguished noble people !!  

I'll try to answer your question about "BARYSHNIK" (yes- yes, definitely, one is sitting on a family tree of that famous Mikhail   ). "BARYSH" is actually a word of TURKIC origin which was "borrowed" by Russian language from Turkish during the extensive cultural/trade/war exchange between Russians and Turks back then (i would think, back in XVII-XVIII cc.). I do not know what this word means in Turkish but in Russian it means "PROFIT/INTEREST FROM A DEAL" (and I wouldn't even try to guess what it could mean in Turkish as - this is really amusing! - the Turkish word BARDAK means only a GLASS (a glass of water), but it is A BAD MESS in Russian; Turkic DURAK is only A STOP (like a BUS STOP) - but it means FOOL in Russian; there is a nice Turkish male name BARAN - it actually means MALE SHEEP in Russian and is often associated with really dumb people. Cool, eh? (my four summer vacations spent in Turkey scuba-diving didn't go wasted)

So, "HORSE DEALER" may be applicable in case when we're talking about someone making a profit - BARYSHNIK, that fits the description, no?

I will burst like a big bubble if I won't tell you this now (and shoot me if you have already known this!) - NUR-eyev comes from another Turkic word meaning - NUR<=>DIAMOND or LIGHT (and something divine on the top of it all). Isn't that something?

Au revoir for now (and I was planning this one to be a really 'short and sweet' one    :sleeping:

PS A propos, I could also tell you later where meanings of the last names of Ulanova, Vasilyev, Lopatkina come from - if you really care to know  

[djb]

Thanks, Marianna -- I'm definitely interested in hearing all.  I'll have to hurry and get up to 30 posts, or whatever it is.

[Alexandra]

Love the Nureyev story -- I've read that there are hordes of Nureyevs in Ufa, but I still like the derivation.  I'm sure people would be interested in others!

djb, I do have the link handy

Here's a master page about Italian names: (I have no Italian blood, just curious about 19th century ballet history!)

http://www.angelfire...italynames.html

For a direct link to finding where people live, try this one:

http://elenco.libero...rcaOmonimie.jsp

It is, I think, a phone directory (!!!) Put in a name and you'll get a map with little circles on it (indicating all the people named Blasi, say, if that's what you're searching for).   Click on each region and you'll get the names, addresses and phone numbers, by province, city, suburb, whatever, of all the present day Blasis!

If you're interested in the derivation of names, try this.  (It's in Italian, but I was surprised how much I could read of it, and you can always copy something into one of the translation sites)

http://www.melegnano...i/cognomi00.htm

That site must have taken so much work!!!!

[djb]

Grazie!

[canbelto]

Ok, how do you pronounce Altynai Asylmuratova?
Is it "Asylmu-RA-tova" or "Asylmurato-VA" or "Asylmura-TO-va"? I know she's from Kazhakstan so the pronunciation might be different.
Also, is it Sylvie GUIL-lem or Sylvie Gui-LEM?

[vrsfanatic]

The way I heard it said in St. Petersburg, Russia, by Russians and in the US by Russians is "Asylmu-RA-tova". Now whether or not that is how it is said in other parts of the world, I do not know.

As for Guillem (Guilem), I would only report how I say it!

[Mel Johnson]

Just make it one syllable, with a hard initial "g":  GYEM.

[soubrette_fan]

Sofiane Sylve - is it "So-fee-ann" or "Suh-fy-anee"?  

Also, for her last name, is it "Seeve" or more like "Silve"?

Wendy Whelan - "Way-lan", or "Well-lan"?

Ashley Bouder - "Boo-der" or "Bow -der"?

Maria Kowroski?  Is it "Kuh-rawski" or "Kuh-roh-ski" or "Kuh-ROW-ski"?

Nikolaj Hubbe?

Suzanne Farrell-  "Farr-ell" or "Fair-elle"?

Zenaida Yanowsky?

[Marga]

soubrette_fan, on Feb 4 2005, 02:00 PM, said:

Wendy Whelan - "Way-lan", or "Well-lan"?

Suzanne Farrell-  "Farr-ell" or "Fair-elle"?

I'll give you the ones I know for sure:

Wendy Whelan = whale-in
Suzanne Farrell = rhymes with "barrel"

[carbro]

soubrette_fan, on Feb 4 2005, 02:00 PM, said:

Sofiane Sylve - is it "So-fee-ann" or "Suh-fy-anee"? 
Also, for her last name, is it "Seeve" or more like "Silve"?
.     .     .
Ashley Bouder - "Boo-der" or "Bow -der"?
Maria Kowroski? Is it "Kuh-rawski" or "Kuh-roh-ski" or "Kuh-ROW-ski"?
Nikolaj Hubbe?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

so-fee-AHN  SEEL-v' (not quite a second syllable)
Ashley BOW-der (rhymes with Louder)
Maria Ko-ROSS-ki
NI-ko-lye HOO-buh

[Ceeszi]

How do you pronounce Diaghilev?

Is it Dee-a'-gi-lev or Dee-a'zhi-lev?

[jorgen]

I would say Nikolaj Hübbe is:

Ni-ko-LYE HY-beh

[carbro]

Point well taken, Jorgen.  As with many immigrants (although I realize that technically, NH is still a Danish citizen, not an immigrant), the pronunciation gets mangled by those of us on the west side of the Atlantic -- or east side of the Pacific.  I posted the pronunciation New Yorkers have (mis)applied.

[Marga]

Ceeszi, on Mar 4 2005, 02:42 PM, said:

How do you pronounce Diaghilev?

Is it Dee-a'-gi-lev or Dee-a'zhi-lev?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The first one: Dee-a'-gi'lev