Chekov's Russian Accent--Nuclear wessels?
Barbara Nash
>Something has always bugged me about Chekov's supposed Russian accent.
>I took one semester of Russian a few years ago, and if I remember
>correctly, the Russians do have a "V" sound but do NOT have a "W" sound.
>This is just backwards of the way they do it with Chekov.
>If I'm right, he should have had no problem saying the word "Vessels."
>He may mispronounce English words like "water" or "weasel", but we don't
>see that.
>
>Am I totally incorrect in my Russian recollection, or are ST writers
>doing their usual bang-up job of paying attention to details?
A possible explanation is that Walter Koenig's parents (from whom he
gleaned his affected accent) are/were (??) Czechoslovakian, not Russian.
Yeah, the *character* was Russian, but perhaps the closest accent the
actor can reproduce is Czech.
Peace,
Barb
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Barb Nash bln...@netcom.com * http://www.csc.calpoly.edu/~bnash/
Parisite #1, Duchovnik, B'Elladonna, OMMB
Editor for The Flight Log, the Official Newsletter of
RanDoM Flight - The Official Robert Duncan McNeill Fanclub
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David J Lee
I took one semester of Russian a few years ago, and if I remember
correctly, the Russians do have a "V" sound but do NOT have a "W" sound.
This is just backwards of the way they do it with Chekov.
If I'm right, he should have had no problem saying the word "Vessels."
He may mispronounce English words like "water" or "weasel", but we don't
see that.
Am I totally incorrect in my Russian recollection, or are ST writers
doing their usual bang-up job of paying attention to details?
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Nelson Lu
>Something has always bugged me about Chekov's supposed Russian accent.
>I took one semester of Russian a few years ago, and if I remember
>correctly, the Russians do have a "V" sound but do NOT have a "W" sound.
>This is just backwards of the way they do it with Chekov.
>If I'm right, he should have had no problem saying the word "Vessels."
>He may mispronounce English words like "water" or "weasel", but we don't
>see that.
>
>Am I totally incorrect in my Russian recollection, or are ST writers
>doing their usual bang-up job of paying attention to details?
I believe you are correct, but there may be a linguistic explanation in that
if Russian doesn't have a "W" sound, someone speaking English as a second
language after having learned Russian may over correct, and pronounce all the
V sounds as W. This is not an uncommon phenomenon.
AMP
>David J Lee <dlee> wrote:
>>Am I totally incorrect in my Russian recollection, or are ST writers
>>doing their usual bang-up job of paying attention to details?
>A possible explanation is that Walter Koenig's parents (from whom he
>gleaned his affected accent) are/were (??) Czechoslovakian, not Russian.
>Yeah, the *character* was Russian, but perhaps the closest accent the
>actor can reproduce is Czech.
My boss is Czech and he has no problem with Vs:
I vant that report right now! <G>
AMP
Certainly the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you; if you
don't bet, you can't win. - - - Lazarus Long
Christopher B. Stone
>I took one semester of Russian a few years ago, and if I remember
>correctly, the Russians do have a "V" sound but do NOT have a "W" sound.
Correct.
>This is just backwards of the way they do it with Chekov.
>If I'm right, he should have had no problem saying the word "Vessels."
>He may mispronounce English words like "water" or "weasel", but we don't
>see that.
However, I have known Russians who pronounce the English "v" like a "w,"
just as Chekov was doing. I'm not a linguist, so I don't know the
linguistic reasons why they do this.
--
Chris Stone * cbs...@phoenix.princeton.edu * http://www.princeton.edu/~cbstone
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." -Martin Luther King
Jon Van Hoose
: In article <4d6pau$4...@blackbird.afit.af.mil>, David J Lee <dlee> wrote:
: >I took one semester of Russian a few years ago, and if I remember
: >correctly, the Russians do have a "V" sound but do NOT have a "W" sound.
: Correct.
: >This is just backwards of the way they do it with Chekov.
: >If I'm right, he should have had no problem saying the word "Vessels."
: >He may mispronounce English words like "water" or "weasel", but we don't
: >see that.
: However, I have known Russians who pronounce the English "v" like a "w,"
: just as Chekov was doing. I'm not a linguist, so I don't know the
: linguistic reasons why they do this.
In my experience with Russian, the /v/ sound has a pretty wide range of
variability; some Russians pronounce it more toward the [v] end of the
spectrum (and as an [f] if it's at the end of a word), while others tend
to pronounce it more as a [w]. I've often heard it as a kind of hybrid
between these, which might be approximated [vw], with the lower lip not
quite touching the upper front teeth. This certainly, if heard in
English, is easily interpreted as [w].
Jon Van Hoose
je...@unm.edu
bla...@fn1.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
sound like. It may be W. Koenig's attempt at a Czech accent, or a
scriptwriter's idea of a Russian accent.
2) Russian, like most European languages, has a V sound but no W sound.
But we cannot assume that the Russian V is pronounced exactly the same
way as the English one. It may sound somewhat W-like, and Koenig as
Chekov might be purposely exaggerating it.
--
Reply by e-mail ONLY, please.
===================== ====================================
BLAINE GORDON MANYLUK email: bla...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
EDMONTON, AB
Ruediger Landmann
: In article <4d6pau$4...@blackbird.afit.af.mil>, David J Lee <dlee> wrote:
: >I took one semester of Russian a few years ago, and if I remember
: >correctly, the Russians do have a "V" sound but do NOT have a "W" sound.
: Correct.
: >This is just backwards of the way they do it with Chekov.
: >If I'm right, he should have had no problem saying the word "Vessels."
: >He may mispronounce English words like "water" or "weasel", but we don't
: >see that.
: However, I have known Russians who pronounce the English "v" like a "w,"
: just as Chekov was doing. I'm not a linguist, so I don't know the
: linguistic reasons why they do this.
The Russian V sound is produced with less audible friction than the
English V sound. This, combined with the fact that most Russian vowels
are produced further back in the mouth than English vowels turns the
sound into a semi-vowel closer to the English W than the English V.
Paul Nixon
says...
>
>The Russian V sound is produced with less audible friction than the
>English V sound. This, combined with the fact that most Russian vowels
>are produced further back in the mouth than English vowels turns the
>sound into a semi-vowel closer to the English W than the English V.
>
For fear of stirring up a commotion, is this any relation to the
(stereotypical?) portrayal that orientals seem to have trouble with
the "R" sound?
I don't know about wessles, but I'm pretty sure about wodka.
Paul Nixon
David L. Jaroslav
>
>A possible explanation is that Walter Koenig's parents (from whom he
>gleaned his affected accent) are/were (??) Czechoslovakian, not Russian.
>Yeah, the *character* was Russian, but perhaps the closest accent the
>actor can reproduce is Czech.
No problem with "v" sounds in Czech -- look at Vaclav Havel.
--
David L. Jaroslav
<dj7...@american.edu>
"Show me a sane man and I will cure him."
-C.G. Jung
"I drank WHAT?!"
-Last words of Socrates (attributed)
Richard Wener
v's and w's sometimes.
Just a suggestion,
Rachel
Mark Evans
: 1) Chekov's accent is by no means what a true Russian accent should
: sound like. It may be W. Koenig's attempt at a Czech accent, or a
: scriptwriter's idea of a Russian accent.
Or an attempt to portray a Russian accent to the future.
sarah marie kilroy
>From: s30...@student.uq.edu.au (Ruediger Landmann)
>Subject: Re: Chekov's Russian Accent--Nuclear wessels?
>Date: 16 Jan 1996 10:53:50 GMT
>Christopher B. Stone (cbs...@tucson.princeton.edu) wrote:
>: In article <4d6pau$4...@blackbird.afit.af.mil>, David J Lee <dlee> wrote:
>: >I took one semester of Russian a few years ago, and if I remember
>: >correctly, the Russians do have a "V" sound but do NOT have a "W" sound.
>: Correct.
>: >This is just backwards of the way they do it with Chekov.
>: >If I'm right, he should have had no problem saying the word "Vessels."
>: >He may mispronounce English words like "water" or "weasel", but we don't
>: >see that.
>: However, I have known Russians who pronounce the English "v" like a "w,"
>: just as Chekov was doing. I'm not a linguist, so I don't know the
>: linguistic reasons why they do this.
>The Russian V sound is produced with less audible friction than the
>English V sound. This, combined with the fact that most Russian vowels
>are produced further back in the mouth than English vowels turns the
>sound into a semi-vowel closer to the English W than the English V.
Why don't you people get a life? Leave it alone!! I'm sure I'm not the
only person who enjoys chekovs accent and who thinks the scene where him and
Uhura are looking for "Nuclear Wessels" is very cute and funny. Get a life and
leave star trek alone.
Christopher B. Stone
sarah marie kilroy <sa...@erinet.com> wrote:
> Why don't you people get a life? Leave it alone!!
Maybe some of us are interested in linguistics? Uh duh.
>I'm sure I'm not the
>only person who enjoys chekovs accent and who thinks the scene where him and
>Uhura are looking for "Nuclear Wessels" is very cute and funny.
No one said the scene wasn't cute and funny.
>Get a life and leave star trek alone.
I really like this. A Trekkie telling people to get a life. What has
the world come to? :)
bla...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
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