haykhhh (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

SERGEY IS A GENIUS!!!

haykhhh (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

SERGEY IS A GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!

inchvorban (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@ragtimepianisten This is now turning into a real talk on phonetics:-) 1) In Armenian, we have the sound 'u' (read it like the 'ue' in English 'true') and a letter 'u' (graphically it looks like 'ու'). And the surname 'Khachatryan' actually derives from 'KhachatUr (or maybe, Khachatour+ 'yan/ian' (As I wrote in my previous post, 'ian' is the same indo-European suffix in English denoting belonging (Slovenian= belonging to the Sloven people; Khachatrian= belonging to the family of Khachatur)).

inchvorban (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@ragtimepianisten When adding the 'ian' to the 'Khachatur,' this 'u' is omitted for some reason.... Omission of vowels is quite common in Armenian (Armenian is a language of inflections), but I cannot refer to a particular rule as to why this 'u' is omitted in this particular case..... (omissions are probably case-specific, though there may be some common principles)....

inchvorban (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@ragtimepianisten Now, omission does not mean full abandonment of the sound because as you omit a vowel, you form a so-called 'secret syllable' which is pronounced but not written. The 'secret syllable' is normally pronounced in all cases like an 'ը' (read it like the first 'a' in English 'applaud' or 'along'). So, if you want to sound Armenian when pronouncing the surname 'Khachatrian,' you should read it like 'Khachat-ը-rian' (the 'ը' is a very soft one, and without any stress whatsoever).

inchvorban (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@ragtimepianisten 2. As for the stress in Armenian, it is called static variable (my own translation) In almost all Armenian words (there are few exceptions), the stress falls on the final syllable of the word (that's why static), but it moves onto the final syllable if you add up a suffix or an ending to the word (that's why variable) So the stress falls on the 'u' in 'Khachatur,' but when you add up the ian/yan suffix, it falls on the final 'a' of the 'ian.' Same for the 'PetrossiAn.'

inchvorban (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@ragtimepianisten When using those proper names in other languages, you adapt them to the principles in those languages (agree that stressing the 'a' in Petrossian in an English sentence would disturb the sentence's intonational structure.) The stressing of the penultimate in the words with -ian is rather a feature of English (HungArian, AraAbian) and your friend must have adequated his pronunciation of Petrossian to that of English.

ragtimepianisten (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@inchvorban Many thanks! I hope other folks excuse the concluding question (language is my main interest ;-) :A friend of mine (of Armenian descent...) stressed the penultimate syllable in Chatjaturian, i.e. the 'u'. Now, if this is a Russian influence, I take it that there is no real 'u' i Armenian, so, what sound should be stressed in the family name of these three persons...? The second 'a'? (Is it BTW commonly penultimate stress in -ian family names, such as chess champion PetrOsian?)

mina7versace (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@SugarTomAppleRoger he's on haiatus (sp?) after a shoulder injury. And of course i discover him right after he announces his leave =[. Last I heard he was teaching at a school in Israel.

SugarTomAppleRoger (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Lusine is Sergey's old sister (by two years). I saw them at the Zuerich Tonhalle. They are electrifying.