Subject
Fw: Nabokov/Nabokoff
From
Date
Body
EDRESPONSE: There are various systems for transliterating the Cyrillic
alphabet into Latin characters. The system common in the XIX and early XXth
century usually transliterated the final "ов" of Владимир Набоков as
"OFF" (NABOKOFF). More recent transliterations generally use "OV". VD
changed over when he moved to the U.S. Some Russians abroad retain the
old -OFF as an affectation suggesting they are from old (noble) families.
The two variants have exactly the same pronunication --as in COUGH. THis
last has led to the "joke" rendering og NABOKOV as NABOCOUGH.
The correct Russian .stress, by the way, is on the middle syllable
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dane Gill" <pennyparkerpark@hotmail.com>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (14
lines) ------------------
> Greetings
> This is probably answered somewhere (Boyd?, EW-VN Letters?) but when and
why
> did Nab change the transliteration spelling of his name? I know that "off"
> sounds more like it, but that "ov" is more gramatically correct(I think?).
> First I thought maybe an English publisher just spelled it wrong, but then
I
> noticed that some of VN first letters written in the US were signed
> Nabokoff.
> Dane Gill
>
>
alphabet into Latin characters. The system common in the XIX and early XXth
century usually transliterated the final "ов" of Владимир Набоков as
"OFF" (NABOKOFF). More recent transliterations generally use "OV". VD
changed over when he moved to the U.S. Some Russians abroad retain the
old -OFF as an affectation suggesting they are from old (noble) families.
The two variants have exactly the same pronunication --as in COUGH. THis
last has led to the "joke" rendering og NABOKOV as NABOCOUGH.
The correct Russian .stress, by the way, is on the middle syllable
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dane Gill" <pennyparkerpark@hotmail.com>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (14
lines) ------------------
> Greetings
> This is probably answered somewhere (Boyd?, EW-VN Letters?) but when and
why
> did Nab change the transliteration spelling of his name? I know that "off"
> sounds more like it, but that "ov" is more gramatically correct(I think?).
> First I thought maybe an English publisher just spelled it wrong, but then
I
> noticed that some of VN first letters written in the US were signed
> Nabokoff.
> Dane Gill
>
>