Björk

[ugly-boy.livejournal.com]

How would you write the Icelandic singer Björk's name in Russian? In English it's pronounced /bi:jork/ but I know that's not the correct Icelandic pronunciation. So for Russian I'm thinking that any of these could be correct: Биёрк, Бёрк, Бйорк, or Бйырк. What do you think? Does anyone know the official transliteration of hername into Russian?

Comments

Бьёрк

[moon-aka-sun.livejournal.com]

She's Бьёрк in Russian (But I don't even try to remember/spell her second name :)). It sounds like [b'jork] (soft b).

Re: Бьёрк

[ugly-boy.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[kasak.livejournal.com]

In any Germanic language, when you put an umlaut (the two dots) over the letter o, it makes the same sound as the French œ or the Danish ø, which sounds like if you tried saying an o while your lips were positioned for an e.

I've never heard her name pronounced /bi:jork/, always /bjork/, but then again, I watch way too much TV and such. :)

[ugly-boy.livejournal.com]

Most people [where I live] pronounce an [i] sound, even though it's obviously not correct :) The description of /ö/ that you gave sounds like the IPA symbol [y]... So I'm a little confused.

[kasak.livejournal.com]

IPA /y/ is a completely different sound from IPA /ø/.

/y/ is when the lips are formed in preperation for an /u/ sound, while pronouncing a /i/ sound.

/ø/ is, as I have said, when the lips are poised to form an /o/ sound, but /e/ comes through instead.

Both are highly Germanic vowels, although /y/ is found in many other languages (French, Mandarin, etc.) I belive /ø/ is rarely found outside the Germanic language group in Europe with the inclusion of French, due to the Frankish ancestry of the tongue (which is why the French and Germans also share the same /r/ sound). Turkish languages also has the /ø/ sound, written mostly as /ö/ or if in Mongolian khalkha script (which I don't have on my computer because, come on, who speaks Mongolian?), it is a cyrrilic /o/ with a horizontal line slicing it in the middle.

So yeah, both vowels are quite different, and have their own variant pronunciations. So watch out for that!

[ugly-boy.livejournal.com]

Aaah, thank you. Yes, the sound /ø/ seems very common in Germanic languages, and it's so hard to find a good description of it in learning materials. That was my problem with Swedish: I figured I could've pronounced it with some degree of correctness but the descriptions were so bad! You've been very helpful.

Бьорк

[moon-aka-sun.livejournal.com]

Oops! I lay! This one is more often and kinda official - Бьорк.

Re: Бьорк

[ugly-boy.livejournal.com]

Really? That seems odd... That doesn't reflect the pronunciation of English or Icelandic...

Re: Бьорк

[moon-aka-sun.livejournal.com]

No, I guess it's very close to both Icelandic prononciation and writing. The best way (regarding the original name) would be to write Бйорк, but in Russian in such cases, between a consonant and a vovel, ь is usually written - бьёт, пьём, вьюга etc. Here, in Бьорк, о is used instead of ё for the closeness to her original name, I think. (And please don't hesitate to correct me if you find my English awkward. Thanks)

Re: Бьорк

[ugly-boy.livejournal.com]

Your English sounded good! Thanks for the info.

Re: Бьорк

[irkin.livejournal.com]

It is written "Бьорк" but sounds Бьёрк.

There are such few words in Russian that have ьон ending that is pronounced as ьён. Such as бульон (bouillon), почтальон (postman), медальон (medallion), etc. Even Russian school students sometimes write them incorrectly and have to memorize:)

Re: Бьорк

[ugly-boy.livejournal.com]

Interesting, thank you.

[ataltane.livejournal.com]

Strange that you say it's pronounced /bi:jork/ in English. I've never heard that, only /bjork/ (though I try to say it with the ö :)

[ugly-boy.livejournal.com]

Some people say /bjork/ some say /bijork/. I find it odd that the /i/ sound is there at all, but people pronounce it that way.

[ataltane.livejournal.com]

Nowt as queer as folk.

[dhr-eigen.livejournal.com]

the official spelling is Бьорк (http://www.google.com/search?q=%c1%fc%ee%f0%ea&hl=ru)

[ugly-boy.livejournal.com]

That's so weird, that's not at all like the actual pronunciation (or even the English pronunciation).

[dhr-eigen.livejournal.com]

not at all, fjord is also spelled as фьорд (http://www.krugosvet.ru/articles/03/1000371/1000371a1.htm)

[ugly-boy.livejournal.com]

That's very strange.