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Re: Cinderella grays and an apish mistake (pronouncing "Pnin")
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[In Strong Opinions (p. 52), VN gives these tips on pronouncing "Pnin":
"The 'p' is sounded, that's all. But since the 'p' is mute in English
words starting with 'pn,' one is prone to insert a supporting 'uh'
sound--'Puh-nin'--which is wrong. To get the 'pn' right, try the
combination 'Up North', or still better 'Up, Nina!', leaving out the
initial 'u.' Pnorth, Pnina, Pnin." -- SES]
A possibly daft question: do Russian speakers usually pronounce the 'P'
in
Pnin? My Oxford Russian dictionary gives only 2 words starting with 'Pn'
--
'pneumonia' [pnevmoni'ya] and 'pneumatic' [pnevmati'cheskii] both
borrowed,
one assumes, from the Greek. In the French equivalents, the initial 'p'
is
sounded although 'pn' is not a native phoneme. You also hear 'p' in the
German 'pneu' (slang for a ty[i]re via 'pneumatisch') which serves to
distinguish it from 'neu' (== 'new,' as in, say, 'neumodisch!')
Anglophonia borrowed the Greek 'pn' and 'ps' for spelling but say
'new-moania' and 'sigh-cosis.' A Scouse quip: "Is the pee silent in
empty
tin bucket?"
To rephrase the original question: did VN pronounce the 'P' in Pnin, and
did
he expect others to do so? And, Jansy: are there any 'hidden' clues in
Pnin's name?
Stan Kelly-Bootle
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"The 'p' is sounded, that's all. But since the 'p' is mute in English
words starting with 'pn,' one is prone to insert a supporting 'uh'
sound--'Puh-nin'--which is wrong. To get the 'pn' right, try the
combination 'Up North', or still better 'Up, Nina!', leaving out the
initial 'u.' Pnorth, Pnina, Pnin." -- SES]
A possibly daft question: do Russian speakers usually pronounce the 'P'
in
Pnin? My Oxford Russian dictionary gives only 2 words starting with 'Pn'
--
'pneumonia' [pnevmoni'ya] and 'pneumatic' [pnevmati'cheskii] both
borrowed,
one assumes, from the Greek. In the French equivalents, the initial 'p'
is
sounded although 'pn' is not a native phoneme. You also hear 'p' in the
German 'pneu' (slang for a ty[i]re via 'pneumatisch') which serves to
distinguish it from 'neu' (== 'new,' as in, say, 'neumodisch!')
Anglophonia borrowed the Greek 'pn' and 'ps' for spelling but say
'new-moania' and 'sigh-cosis.' A Scouse quip: "Is the pee silent in
empty
tin bucket?"
To rephrase the original question: did VN pronounce the 'P' in Pnin, and
did
he expect others to do so? And, Jansy: are there any 'hidden' clues in
Pnin's name?
Stan Kelly-Bootle
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu,chtodel@cox.net
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm