Last post of the night, I promise.
May. 19th, 2009 11:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brighteyedjillFirst of all, run don't walk to check out Zachary Quinto's GQ photo shoot. Man on a motorcycle. Looking sexy. Not kidding.
Second. It occurred to me upon a second viewing (and I can only be excused from missing it the first time because I was deafened by the awesomeness of the movie) that Chekov's accent bothers me a little. Only a little, because I understand it's a convention borrowed from the original series, but listen here.
*puts on professor glasses and prepares to be pretentious* I speak Russian. I used to live in Russia. I have heard many Russian accents. I've served as a Russian dialect coach for actors. And although it is true that Russians tend to confused "w" and "v," there is no reason on God's green earth (or space) that Chekov would be unable to say "Victor." There is a V in the Russian alphabet, but no W. Russians have trouble pronouncing W, not V. Let me quote my own guide to Russian accents for actors:
W and V. There is no “W” sound in Russian, so foreign words with “w” in them are rendered with a “v” sound, as in “Vashington” or “vaffel.” In rendering Russian words or any proper noun into English, there is no way for a Russian speaker to determine if a “v” sound should be changed to a “w” sound or remain a “v” sound except to memorize each individual instance. Hence, native Russian speakers are likely to either fail to replace “w” with “v” (saying the name “Villiam” instead of William), or erroneously replace a “v” sound with a “w” sound (saying “wadka” instead of vodka). When a “w” sound begins a word, such as in “one,” Russian speakers add a “v” sound to aid in pronunciation, as in “vorld” for world “voman” for woman.
So I'll Victor Victor you, writers! But I'm just being nit-picky, because otherwise Star Trek is <3, and so is Whiz Kid Chekov.
ETA: Many have now kindly pointed out that Anton Yelchin has addressed this issue in interviews to my satisfaction. So I forgive him. But just be aware that real Russians do not talk that vay.
Second. It occurred to me upon a second viewing (and I can only be excused from missing it the first time because I was deafened by the awesomeness of the movie) that Chekov's accent bothers me a little. Only a little, because I understand it's a convention borrowed from the original series, but listen here.
*puts on professor glasses and prepares to be pretentious* I speak Russian. I used to live in Russia. I have heard many Russian accents. I've served as a Russian dialect coach for actors. And although it is true that Russians tend to confused "w" and "v," there is no reason on God's green earth (or space) that Chekov would be unable to say "Victor." There is a V in the Russian alphabet, but no W. Russians have trouble pronouncing W, not V. Let me quote my own guide to Russian accents for actors:
W and V. There is no “W” sound in Russian, so foreign words with “w” in them are rendered with a “v” sound, as in “Vashington” or “vaffel.” In rendering Russian words or any proper noun into English, there is no way for a Russian speaker to determine if a “v” sound should be changed to a “w” sound or remain a “v” sound except to memorize each individual instance. Hence, native Russian speakers are likely to either fail to replace “w” with “v” (saying the name “Villiam” instead of William), or erroneously replace a “v” sound with a “w” sound (saying “wadka” instead of vodka). When a “w” sound begins a word, such as in “one,” Russian speakers add a “v” sound to aid in pronunciation, as in “vorld” for world “voman” for woman.
So I'll Victor Victor you, writers! But I'm just being nit-picky, because otherwise Star Trek is <3, and so is Whiz Kid Chekov.
ETA: Many have now kindly pointed out that Anton Yelchin has addressed this issue in interviews to my satisfaction. So I forgive him. But just be aware that real Russians do not talk that vay.
