Talk:Khoroshyovo-Mnyovniki District

Name and pronunciation

To the extent that this district and its constituent parts (Khoroshevo and Mnevniki) are discussed in English at all, it is almost invariably under those spellings, as a quick Google Books check will verify (n.b.: a couple of "books" that use the -yo- spellings are actually the previous Wikipedia article gussied up as a fake book). There is no question that the first part of the name is Хорошёво in Russian, i.e., it is pronounced Khorosh(y)ovo. The second part is traditionally pronounced with plain -e- (Мневники), as can be seen from any older reference book like Moskva Entsiklopediya. It is now, apparently, sometimes/frequently pronounced with -yo- (Мнёвники), presumably from contamination with Хорошёво, and that fact should of course be reflected in the article, but the reference given for that pronunciation in Russian Wikipedia is the district's website, which quotes as its sole authority "краеведу нашего округа Галине Рувимовне Бялой," i.e., Galina Byala, a kraeved, or someone knowledgeable about the locality. That is not an official position with professional qualifications, and her word about "correct" pronunciation should not be given as much authority as an official printed source like Moskva Entsiklopediya. Languagehat (talk) 14:38, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

I was initially going to oppose this move, but upon further investigation I have to concur. While I wasn't ready to discard Byalaya's opinion so easily (a krayeved, or "local historian", is not necessarily an amateur or a person merely knowledgeable about a locality; there are professional krayeveds as well), her main argument seems to be an opinion of another krayeved in the "Здесь начиналась Москва" book published in 1997 to commemorate the 850th anniversary of Moscow (which, I dare say, qualifies it as a source as reliable as the Moscow Encyclopedia—although, of course, not necessarily more correct). However, from what I can see, this book does not discuss the issue of using ye/yo in this district's name anywhere in the text. To top it off, Ms. Byalaya was actually one of the members of the editorial board for that book, which sort of taints her judgement. It'd be interesting to find other sources discussing the issue of spelling/pronunciation in more detail, but until then using "e" instead of "yo" seems to be a good solution. Thanks for digging this up!—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); January 29, 2013; 15:32 (UTC)

My pleasure, and I'm glad you agree with me, since I value you opinion highly! Of course I'm aware that a krayeved is not necessarily an amateur, but they often are, and I wasn't willing to take her word without further backup. Thanks for doing the further research (and fixing the Bor link)! Languagehat (talk) 16:35, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

Any time! (And the feelings are mutual :))—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); January 29, 2013; 17:15 (UTC)