FIRST LOVE AND PÚNIN AND BABÚRIN. BY IVÁN S. TURGÉNEV, D.C.L. TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN, BY PERMISSION OF WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION. BY SIDNEY JERROLD. LONDON: W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE. PALL MALL. S.W. 1884. (All rights reserved.) NOTE. THE transliteration of Russian words into our alphabet is not a difficult task when once a uniform method is adopted. At present, however, Russian names and words come to us in different guises, I might say disguises, according to the medium of transmission. Telegrams from Paris speak of Tourguenef, while those from Germany speak of Turgenjew. Mr. Henry James, in his charming essay in the North American Review, talks of Inssarow, Schubin, Turgéniew, Ewlampia Charlow, Lawretzky, &c. He has adopted more or less exactly the German spelling, which thoroughly misleads the English reader who is unacquainted with the German language, or does not guess that German pronunciation is intended. Ewlampia Charlow, pronounced by a German, is correct enough; but an Englishman ought to pronounce the words so written Yulampia Tsharlo, which is absurd. I should write the words in English, Evlampya Kharlov. It is best to represent each Russian letter by the English equivalent of its normal value. It is inadvisable to attempt to reproduce in English every nuance of pronunciation. That must be left for the reader, if he can. If he cannot he is no worse off than an Englishman who thinks that Gownod, or Dawdet, is the correct pronunciation of Gounod or Daudet. No one would think of writing Goono or Doday for such a person. People often exclaim at the "number of consonants" in Russian words, not knowing that it is due to transliteration. I have seen Shchedrin written (in the German fashion) Schtschedrin ! No wonder that Russian is considered by many to be a "fearful" language. The consonants b, v, g, d, z, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, ƒ (or ph), ts, sh, ch, shch (made up by joining the two preceding consonants), require no notice. Ch is, of course, pronounced as in Church, and shch as the sh in English Church. G is in some cases pronounced v, in others h; I always write it g. The Russian letter which is pronounced like the French j, I write zh; the letter pronounced very nearly like the German ch, I write kh. The letter yer (tvërdi znak), which gives a hard sound to the preceding consonant, I do not render, because the hard sound is usually given by Englishmen, where that letter would enforce it. The soft yer (miágki znak), I render in the middle of words by y, at the end not at all, because it is, I fancy, unrenderable without confusion. The vowel a I always render by a (as in father), though it is sometimes otherwise pronounced. I render by o as in vote; e by e as in led, or by ë when it is to be pronounced o or yo (the double-dotted e is often used in Russian in the same 8 manner); the Russian u I render by u as in glue or rude; the vowel yerui I render, but only approximately, by ui (u in bull, and i in wit). Ya and yu (u as in bull), require no remarks. I, by which I render both i and izhe, is to be pronounced as in Kincardine, to give rather a far-fetched illustration. The mute i (izhe s krátkoi), I render by i, except where it follows an i, in which case it is unrenderable. The letter yat, I render by ye. The accent placed on each word is the tonic accent, which is very strongly emphasized in Russian. When the tonic accent falls on e I indicate it by means of placed upon that letter; it is then pronounced o or yo when so accentuated. In conclusion I may state that I have followed almost exactly the system of transliteration in use in the British Museum Catalogue. b |