'Soviet translators, who knew the patterns for country names in English, deliberately translated the name of this area with the article 'the' because it then sounds to English-speakers like a part of a country rather than the name of an individual, independent country.'
Like 'the Andalucia', 'the Aragon', 'the Provence', 'the Prussia', 'the Newfoundland', 'the Queensland'.
'The 'the' for Ukrainians has echoes of imperial and soviet dependence."'
ReplyDeleteI guess people in the Gambia, the Lebanon and the Netherlands are also offended.
How can it have echoes of soviet dependence when Russian doesn't use 'the'?
'Soviet translators, who knew the patterns for country names in English, deliberately translated the name of this area with the article 'the' because it then sounds to English-speakers like a part of a country rather than the name of an individual, independent country.'
ReplyDeleteLike 'the Andalucia', 'the Aragon', 'the Provence', 'the Prussia', 'the Newfoundland', 'the Queensland'.
This is all nonsense, surely?
My university thinks it a mechanism of pride to say "The Ohio State University." You know, implies it's priority. But to each his own, I guess.
ReplyDeleteGambia, Lebanon and Netherlands were not nation-states when they were first call 'the.'
ReplyDeleteDon't the French say 'The Low Countries', implying that these areas of land are countries?
ReplyDelete"Pays" in"Pays-Bas" does not mean "country" but something like "place" or "area".
ReplyDelete