How to pronounce and spell 'Kyiv', and why it matters

[LiberalArkie]

Snip

The Guardian newspaper/site in England has cured me of this, now very offensive, slight. When the elected President of a sovereign European country puts on a military uniform to go out and throw Molotov cocktails at an invading Russian army who’ve placed a price on his head, I feel I have an obligation to correctly pronounce the name of the place he chooses to defend with his life.

Snip

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/2/26/2082488/-How-to-pronounce-and-spell-Kyiv-and-why-it-matters

[Beastly Boy]

1. Oh, and a reminder to the pro-Russian Donbas traitors: your official language is Ukrainian.

[hlthe2b]

2. Well, given 75 years have passed since WWII and we still can't get Auschwitz pronounced correctly...

among countless other important names and locations from the time, I'm not going to worry whether or not the second exceedingly short syllable (correct for Ukrainian speakers) that is missed by most English speakers is voiced or not. I will take the time to try to mimick Ukrainian nationals and US experts on the matter, but most won't.

I cringe at a lot of US mispronunciation in the media. At least the correct spelling (non-Russian) is being adopted-- i.e., Kyiv. So there is that.


Those concerned might recall that Obama's correct pronunciation of Taliban and Pakistan were ridiculed mercilessly and the Americanized versions continued throughout the past decades.

(posted on a competing thread earlier, but bears repeating).

[Baitball Blogger]

3. Well timed post.

So, phonetically it should be two long e's syllables, like kE-Ev?

[Igel]

10. Close.

Problem is that и in Russian is very like English "ee", but и in Ukrainian is laxer, a bit back, and not "ee." Not quite like the "i" it "it," either.

The two vowels in Київ are not identical. I never nailed the vowel sound transliterated as "y" (keeping in mind that there's also a consonant y, but that Ukrainian has a sound change u / v and "и" / y that affects the word for "and" and preposition or prefix for "in" (a few other words, too).

The в also has a lot of variation in Ukrainian, from more "w" in the west to more "f" in the east (because of Russian-language influence).

[Baitball Blogger]

11. No wonder nobody can get it right.

We need to get the pronunciation sites to start changing to the Ukrainian pronunciation.

[CrackityJones75]

4. I just pronounce it "Fuck Putin"

[Pachamama]

6. +1000000

[MN2theMax]

5. Good post

This has been bothering me for days. It has been improving, but many talking heads and their guests have been mispronouncing and it feels so disrespectful.

[LiberalArkie]

7. What is really interesting.. Foxnews web site has Kyiv as the spelling not the Russian Kiev.

Last edited Sat Feb 26, 2022, 12:50 PM - Edit history (1)

[bamagal62]

8. It's been driving me nuts.

I finally heard one news anchor say Ke-ev this morning.
I had never in my life heard it pronounced Keeeev. Not sure where that came from.

[LiberalArkie]

9. The Kyiv. Keeeev is Ukraine spelling and pronunciation. The Kiev is Russian.

[Danascot]

13. Pronunciation of Kyiv (allegedly)

https://soundcloud.com/snidermike/kyiv?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

[Sneederbunk]

12. The least of Ukrainian concerns right now.

[LiberalArkie]

15. It seems that the pro Russian sites are still with the Kiev, whereas all the other media is Kyiv

and Keeev as pronounciation with kind of soft e.

[WarGamer]

14. And to practice... when you say kee-yiv

It's 2 syllables but not distinct. The second syllable is so soft, to the untrained ear it can sound like Keef.

to my ears the proper pronunciation sounds like keee-if

[bamagal62]

16. ahhh. makes sense.

[smirkymonkey]

17. The one that is really tough is "Lviv".

Nothing like you would think it is pronounced.

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+pronounce+lviv+in+ukrainian&rlz=1CAEVJI_enUS923US923&oq=How+to+pronounce+Lviv&aqs=chrome.1.0i512l2.26547j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_Y90aYqOBEKaRggfL943wAw22