Is it "Mosin" or "Moisin"

[CapnMac]

And why do we call it Germany when they call it Deutschland?

Same reason we call the Netherlands (die Niederlande) "Holland" and the language spoken there "Dutch"--it's a convention mostly based around ease of pronunciation. Same way that Nihon/Nippon is Japan, and Nihongo is Japanese. Or how Köln and München are Cologne and Munich (or how almost all city names in Czech have an English, a German, and a Czech pronunciation).

And, specifically, German is from Latin Germania, which was, in Roman times as specifically define as "Gaul" which was the area inhabited by the Gaelic people from the Mediterranean to Britannia.

Chinese is easy in comparison

As long as we remember that there is mandarin, Cantonese, and Han Chinese out there. And that "m" + "a" is rendered as "may" "meh" "mah?" "mey" and "mai!" each with a different meaning. Korean Hangul can be easier for westerners to learn to read--but Gugeo can be hard to learn to speak and hear. Japanese has an advantage in that learning to speak and hear it is not bed; but learning to read it, in four± written forms is a bear.

 

[Spec ops Grunt]

I speak Russian, French, German, Gaelic and some other languages. The Russian spelling "Mosin" in Cyrillic is correct. But you have to remember that the "s" there is like the "s" in "sin", not the "s" in "reason", which is a "z" sound. So the most helpful transliteration out of the Cyrillic would be "mow-ssin" with the accent about equal on both syllables.

The full stress on all 4 syllables is on the "-gant". But you can't easily relate that sound to "aunt" in English because there are at least two different pronunciations. "a" like the "a" in "bar", not like the "a" in "paw". The "a" in "bar" is correct here. "Can't" in English can be pronounced at least three ways in addition to the most common, where the "a" is like the one in "bat": "cahnt", "cawnt", and "caynt".

If you think all this sounds silly, it could actually be a lot more complicated. The reason is that English is about the hardest language in the world to learn, partly because of the pronunciation. Chinese is easy in comparison.

I won't bore you any more, but I thought I'd set the record straight and clear up some mess in the previous answers. Thanks!!!

Excellent first post! Welcome to THR!


I like to call English the "Bastard language", due to its odd lineage.

 

[caribou]

The Chuk-chi/Russians Ive met all call the Mosin Nagant "Tree linny".

'Three line' in english , a term that indicating 3/10's of an inch in caliber, the mesurment Imperial Russaia at the time was using, the sights in "Arshins"(paces) when the M-91 was adopted as standard issue.

When they do call it a 'Mo-sin', but never a Mosin Nagant.....the "Nagant" often throws em off, so I'm not at all certain they even call it that.......

 

[Inebriated]

I say "Moe-Zin" for some reason. I always feel like it's wrong.

 

[Eremon]

You're right

To "IMtheNRA" - I can not disagree. Certainly "Nagant" in French does not sound the "t". Yet the word has been around so long in Russia (more than 100 years) that a lot of Russians saw the "t" and pronounced it. I've heard it that way in Russian films. Similar things happen.

"Coup de grâce" is often pronouned "grah" instead of "grahs" by Americans and British - probably thinking about "foie gras" and "mardi gras", both of which have no "s" sound in French or in correct English. So if you don't pronounce the "s" in "coup de grâce", you're saying "blow (or strike or whatever) of fat" instead of "mercy."

So you really are right twice over because some Russians say it without the "t". Thanks for pointing this out. I appreciate it.

Best Regards,
Eremon

 

[Eremon]

You're right (part 2)

To CapnMac: You got it!!! Excellent stuff, especially about Gauls really being "Gaels" more than being anything like Frenchmen. Even "French" is the name of a German tribe, as you probably know. Some of the Franks left "northern Bavaria" and crossed the Rhine, leaving their name behind in the land. Even Charlemagne was a "German" - "King of the Franks". Other Franks stayed where they were and are still in something we can call "northern Bavaria".

You're also right about the "Chinese" language. You've got all those "tones" that have to be taken into consideration. I meant that there was usually more correlation between spelling and pronunciation. But, as you say, it varies.

One reason Chinese is easier than English is because English has the largest vocabulary in the world (using both English and French and German and Latin originals). Another is that English, like modern German and French but unlike Russian and Chinese, has all these small "particles" like articles and prepositions. The other guys do it a different way.

I've been teaching this stuff at university level for more than 3 decades and I just love it. So too do the students.

I've also been restoring antique (military) rifles for 30 years or so and have become rather good at it. Even my wife thinks so, and she's a tough critic. (Joke, of course). Perhaps all of us can talk about this some time in the future.

Nice website!!!

 

[Remo223]

Is it Soviet Union? or Союз Советских Социалистических Республик?

I don't think Cryllic translates directly into the latin script.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryllic_alphabet

And why do we call it Germany when they call it Deutschland?

because the ancient romans called it germany...well, germania to be precise. France was gaul, spain was iberia, ireland was hibernia, england was albion, and the frozen north was thule.