Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0007787, Tue, 22 Apr 2003 13:59:49 -0700

Subject
Fw: Fu'tbol or futbo'l, pi'knik or pikni'k,
revo'l'ver or revol've'r
Date
Body
EDNOTE.....and on a more benign topic..........
----- Original Message -----
From: Grigori Utgof

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Dear Mr. Nabokov,

I wish to ask your kind assistance in the following matter.

I write about Nabokov's early fiction from the viewpoint of prose rhythm and style, and I need to reconstruct the manner Nabokov pronounced some "zaimstvovaniia" [loan words]. Am I right supposing that your father said "fu'tbol", "fu'tbol'nyi" instead of "futbo'l", "futbo'l'nyi"; "pi'knik" instead of "pikni'k" and "revo'l'ver" instead of "revol've'r"?

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Grigorii Utgof
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Gregori Utgof,

I'm sorry, but you have struck out. Your suppositions were wrong on every count. Besides being a soccer goalie, I guess my father was a pretty good pitcher of curve balls. Glad to be of help.

Cordially,

Dmitri Nabokov
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