Talking heads and "Keev"

February 25, 2022, 08:37 PM

One of these:

And one of these:

Just shut the hell up. It's not "Keev", it's "KeeYev". You know it, I know it, and everyone else knows it. It is pronounced "KeeYev". It always has been and will continue to be.

I don't care if you're trying to sound cool, woke, or culturally appropriate. You sound like a doosh.

I don't care if they've changed the spelling of the city from the old Russian spelling. Until they change the spelling to Putingrad, it'll still be pronounced "KeeYev".

I have a dear friend, Svetlana, from Kiev. Want to know how she pronounces it? Hint: It's not "Keev".

Just stop it!

We don't pronounce Munich "Munchen", we don't pronounce Paris "Pahree", and we don't pronounce Kiev "Keev".

It reminds me of tinkerbell Shepard Smith pronouncing Qatar "Gutter". My, wasn't he cool and culturally sensitive.

Speak American!

And another thing: It's Ukraine, not "the" Ukraine.

Thank you.

February 25, 2022, 08:49 PM

recoatlift

I thought I was the only person that had been pronouncing Kiev wrong going back to my 1st geography class in 1956.

Is this a new woke way to say it? If so, it’s not for me.

This is the second time I’ve scratched my head over pronouncing Gehngis Khan…ala John Kerry, it’s Gheengis Khaan.

February 25, 2022, 08:55 PM

ffips

Depends, Ukrainian or Russian? Russian Kiev = key ev as you are used to. Ukrainian Kyiv = keve. I had the same dislike and looked it up.

The geography I grew up with has changed and so have city names. Istanbul was Constantinople and all....

February 25, 2022, 08:59 PM

LS1 GTO

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

"If dogs don't go to Heaven, I want to go where they go" Will Rogers

The definition of the words we used, carry a meaning of their own...

February 25, 2022, 09:02 PM

recoatlift

quote:
Originally posted by recoatlift:
Thanks ffips

February 25, 2022, 09:23 PM

bald1

quote:
Originally posted by recoatlift:
quote:
Originally posted by recoatlift:
Thanks ffips

I second that.

I had just watched Ward Carroll's very short YouTube tribute to ""The Ghost of Kyiv" - The Legend of the Ukrainian Ace in a Day" where he pronounced the city as "Keev."

Now I understand the differences.

February 25, 2022, 10:43 PM

Rey HRH

I saw the spelling on the map and thought it was a different place than the Kiev that I know from the board game Risk.

Yeah, I prefer to call it Kiev.

People who like to use the "native" pronounciation for locations, I then correct them that Vallejo, California should be pronounced as "Vayeho, California."

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.

February 25, 2022, 10:52 PM

Ripley

I think it's a complicated syllable, a usage not common to most. "kyi.." is not "ki..". As we easily say "kw", "ky" not so much but just as distinct. Throwing that "y" in there almost makes a single syllable sound like two but no, just one.
Kyiv is kind of fun to say but it takes a conscious effort. The "i" can sound short or as "ee", the "y" just doesn't flow naturally into what follows.

February 25, 2022, 10:53 PM

ensigmatic

quote:
Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I saw the spelling on the map and thought it was a different place than the Kiev that I know from the board game Risk.

Yeah, I prefer to call it Kiev.

Do you still refer to Beijing as Peking?

quote:
Originally posted by Rey HRH:
People who like to use the "native" pronounciation for locations, I then correct them that Vallejo, California should be pronounced as "Vayeho, California."

That's the way I'd pronounce it. How else would one pronounce it?

quote:
Originally posted by Ripley:
I think it's a complicated syllable, a usage not common to most. "kyi.." is not "ki..".

So it's really k-yeev?

"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher

February 25, 2022, 11:32 PM

Rey HRH

quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
quote:
Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I saw the spelling on the map and thought it was a different place than the Kiev that I know from the board game Risk.

Yeah, I prefer to call it Kiev.
Do you still refer to Beijing as Peking?

quote:
Originally posted by Rey HRH:
People who like to use the "native" pronunciation for locations, I then correct them that Vallejo, California should be pronounced as "Vayeho, California."
That's the way I'd pronounce it. How else would one pronounce it?

I also still refer to Bombay as Bombay; what about it? Kiev vs Kyiv. Beijing vs Peking. Bombay vs Mumbai. One of these pairings is not like the other two. Which one do you think it is and what's the difference?

How else would one pronounce Vallejo other than "Vayeho?" As "Valley Joe," of course. The common ignorant folk says "Valle-ho."

February 26, 2022, 12:14 AM

Ripley

quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
So it's really k-yeev?

I'll split a hair and say ky-eev or ky-iv with the ky as a single sound like kw.

February 26, 2022, 02:30 PM

Expert308

quote:
Originally posted by Ripley:
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
So it's really k-yeev?

I'll split a hair and say ky-eev or ky-iv with the ky as a single sound like kw.

Kweeve? Kwiv?

February 26, 2022, 02:41 PM

ensigmatic

quote:
Originally posted by Expert308:
quote:
Originally posted by Ripley:
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
So it's really k-yeev?
I'll split a hair and say ky-eev or ky-iv with the ky as a single sound like kw.
Kweeve? Kwiv?

Near as I can tell:

Say "yee"
Add a "v" at the end: "yeev"
Add a "k" in front: "kyeev"

Difficult for Americans to get their mouths and tongues around.

February 26, 2022, 02:48 PM

Lefty Sig

It's a matter of tones and inflection.

It is not "Key. Ev." As in two separate distinct syllables.

It Kee-eev, with a downward tone on the second syllable, but slurred like it's all one syllable. It is not "Keeve" like Keeve Richards.

This is similar to Louisville - It is not "Lou. Iss. Ville". It is "Loua-ville".

February 26, 2022, 03:00 PM

PASig

Yes! Thank you

This has been driving me crazy all week hearing all these people say “KEEV“

And then when you say some thing they say “well that’s how it is done in Ukrainian”

Well with that reasoning I guess we should all be saying Muenchen and not Munich or Moskva and not Moscow, right?

February 26, 2022, 06:17 PM

Ripley

quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:

Say "yee"
Add a "v" at the end: "yeev"
Add a "k" in front: "kyeev"

Difficult for Americans to get their mouths and tongues around.

Yep, the short i or the long e kinda become lost or become either.

February 27, 2022, 04:52 AM

henryaz

Watching the news leads to hypertension.

February 27, 2022, 09:09 AM

.38supersig

So if they drive to Keev in a Hyundai, they will have to remember the y isn't silent.

Hy-un-dai.

Like that.

Next we will try alyoominium

February 27, 2022, 09:17 AM

Graniteguy

All I know is that the Mayor of that city probably still packs one hell of a punch.

February 27, 2022, 09:33 AM

Gustofer

quote:
Originally posted by Graniteguy:
All I know is that the Mayor of that city probably still packs one hell of a punch.

I'll bet he does. I've heard that both of them have picked up rifles and joined the fight.