Записки з українського мовознавства (Jun 2017)
THE UKRAINIAN RENDERING OF THE MACEDONIAN LETTER Ѓ ON THE MATERIAL OF MACEDONIAN ANTHROPONOMY: MODERN APPROACHES
Abstract
The purpose of research is an attempt to analyze all possible ways of rendering the Macedonian letter ѓ in Macedonian anthroponyms in Ukrainian and suggest the best one. The object of research is the Macedonian anthroponyms with the letter ѓ, the subject is Macedonian anthroponyms with the letter ѓ that were rendered in Ukrainian. Some scholars insist that the letter ѓ appeared in the Macedonian alphabet rather late in the result of the Serbian influence. According to the prescribed norm it is dorso-palatal stop, but its pronunciation varies considerably depending on the manner of speaker’s articulation. There are many scientific approaches of rendering the letter ѓ in other languages. For example, the letter g or combinations of gj are used instead it in the Latin graphic. Different approaches are advised for languages that use the Cyrillic alphabet: 1) дж; 2) д; 3) г; 4) ґ. All these variants are represented in the materials of the Ukrainian media: Ѓорѓи – Георги, Ґіорґій, Георг, Дьорді; Ѓорге – Ґеорґе, Георгій, Гергея, Джорджі, Джордже, Джорґе. Using the results of the analysis of different scientific approaches, taking into account the origin of the Macedonian names Ѓорѓи and Ѓорге from the Greek personal name Γεωργός, and maintaining the idea that names belong to the common list of Slavs’ names, we suggest that Macedonian ѓ should be rendered with palatal consonant ґ. But we can keep its palatalization in Ukrainian only partially, because sound ґ can be palatalized only in the position before the following vowel і. In this situation we support the assertion about the importance of the balance between the desire to render the sound in Ukrainian as precisely as possible and some risks to breach the well-established rules of the Ukrainian language. That’s why we suggest to render Macedonian ѓ without palatalization before vowels o, e, y: Ѓорге – Ґорґе, Ѓорѓи – Ґорґі, Ѓошо – Ґошо; Ѓорѓева – Ґорґева, Анѓушева – Анґушева, Ѓузел – Ґузел, Ѓорчев – Ґорчев.
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