How the hell do you say "Elena Rybakina"

T

TropicalFruit

Rookie
This might seem like a stupid thing, but I swear every single broadcaster and chair umpire says it differently.

I'm almost certain it's "Ry-BAH-ki-na" or "Ry-ba-KEE-na", but the emphasis changes every broadcast. Anyone know? Any native speakers? When I reference her talking with my students, I want to say it properly.
 
Bartelby

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
TropicalFruit said:
This might seem like a stupid thing, but I swear every single broadcaster and chair umpire says it differently.

I'm almost certain it's "Ry-BAH-ki-na" or "Ry-ba-KEE-na", but the emphasis changes every broadcast. Anyone know? Any native speakers? When I reference her talking with my students, I want to say it properly.
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It's the first judging from the audio: Ry - BAH - ki - na seems right with the "y" a long vowel and the "i" a short vowel, to my ears.
 
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T

tex123

Hall of Fame
TropicalFruit said:
This might seem like a stupid thing, but I swear every single broadcaster and chair umpire says it differently.

I'm almost certain it's "Ry-BAH-ki-na" or "Ry-ba-KEE-na", but the emphasis changes every broadcast. Anyone know? Any native speakers? When I reference her talking with my students, I want to say it properly.
Click to expand...
How do you pronounce 'paella' and 'gyros'? It's been "bastardised" and accepted.

If I say 'pa-yay-ya' and 'yee-ros', no one would understand here. When in Rome, do as Romans do.


Take the example of Djokovic. Some esp. Americans say D-yo-ko-vich. Some say Jo-ko-vich. Some just call him Novak. Whatever helps the audience.
 
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Clay lover

Clay lover

Legend
MeatTornado said:
The ATP & WTA websites both have a button to listen to players pronouncing their own names. It's next to the name of most of the top players.

www.wtatennis.com

Elena Rybakina | Player Stats & More – WTA Official

Get the latest Player Stats on Elena Rybakina including her videos, highlights, and more at the official Women's Tennis Association website.
www.wtatennis.com www.wtatennis.com
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Sounds more like rybaKIna than ryBAkina to my untrained ear but sooo many commentators opt for the latter. At the very least the BA is not nearly as stressed.
 
Dominic & Andrey

Dominic & Andrey

Legend
Even the way she emphasizes the second "i" is very subtle, while the commentators emphasizing on the "Ba" make it sound like an insult lmao.
 
Clay lover

Clay lover

Legend
Dominic & Andrey said:
Even the way she emphasizes the second "i" is very subtle, while the commentators emphasizing on the "Ba" make it sound like an insult lmao.
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I think some languages like French or her language for example just have a complete differently stress system where not one word stands out over the others...she did all her syllables quite softly but if I had to pick it sounded most like a very gentle RybaKEEna
 
Rafa.the.Magnificent

Rafa.the.Magnificent

G.O.A.T.
kayapit

kayapit

Semi-Pro
tex123 said:
How do you pronounce 'paella' and 'gyros'? It's been "bastardised" and accepted.

If I say 'pa-yay-ya' and 'yee-ros', no one would understand here. When in Rome, do as Romans do.


Take the example of Djokovic. Some esp. Americans say D-yo-ko-vich. Some say Jo-ko-vich. Some just call him Novak. Whatever helps the audience.
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I still roll with "yee ros." And Jok-o-vich. Screw people who don't know how to say things correctly.
 
Dominic & Andrey

Dominic & Andrey

Legend
Clay lover said:
I think some languages like French or her language for example just have a complete differently stress system where not one word stands out over the others...she did all her syllables quite softly but if I had to pick it sounded most like a very gentle RybaKEEna
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I am French and I would kind of agree about this, typically French people will stress syllables at the beginning or at the end of a sentence depending on the emotion they want to depict, but for "neutral" stuff like names the emphasis can be really hard to hear even though for most names with at least two vowels, the last vowel will be stressed more often than not. As for Russian however I really have no idea how they tend to pronounce words.
 
T

tex123

Hall of Fame
kayapit said:
I still roll with "yee ros." And Jok-o-vich. Screw people who don't know how to say things correctly.
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I was ordering Gyros Pizza (a speciality) last week and the guy on the phone just could not understand it when I said yee-ros. I gave up and said just give me a jye-ros pizza. :sneaky:
 
Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
tex123 said:
I was ordering Gyros Pizza (a speciality) last week and the guy on the phone just could not understand it when I said yee-ros. I gave up and said just give me a jye-ros pizza. :sneaky:
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Send him to Dearborn, Michigan. Learn quickly or starve
 
heavyD

heavyD

Semi-Pro
I have to admit I've heard her name pronounced at least three different ways on broadcasts so I just pronounce it the way I read it.
 
Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
heavyD said:
I have to admit I've heard her name pronounced at least three different ways on broadcasts so I just pronounce it the way I read it.
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There was this wrestler in WWE................................................
RAW_1066_Photo_180.jpg
 
coolcamden

coolcamden

Hall of Fame
You all should just go to the WTA and ATP sites and listen to them saying their own names. Not hard.
As an aside, Cirstea has an extremely high girlish voice.
 
TimHenmanATG

TimHenmanATG

Hall of Fame
MeatTornado said:
The ATP & WTA websites both have a button to listen to players pronouncing their own names. It's next to the name of most of the top players.

www.wtatennis.com

Elena Rybakina | Player Stats & More – WTA Official

Get the latest Player Stats on Elena Rybakina including her videos, highlights, and more at the official Women's Tennis Association website.
www.wtatennis.com www.wtatennis.com
Click to expand...

The problem here is that a player won't always pronounce their own name in the ''correct''/standard way for their language. Every country has numerous regional and social dialects and/or accents.

For all we know Rybakina may be enunciating her name with the equivalent of a Glaswegian accent.
 
TimHenmanATG

TimHenmanATG

Hall of Fame
MeatTornado said:
wtf are you talking about
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I don't think that my comment was particularly esoteric.

The way that someone personally pronounces their own name isn't necessarily the ''correct'' way it should be pronounced internationally.

Even for native English speakers, if one were to try and replicate the way that, say, an Irish or Jamaican person pronounced their own name, then it would sound like an extreme case of taking the pee.
 
Ann

Ann

Hall of Fame
TimHenmanATG said:
I don't think that my comment was particularly esoteric.

The way that someone personally pronounces their own name isn't necessarily the ''correct'' way it should be pronounced internationally.

Even for native English speakers, if one were to try and replicate the way that, say, an Irish or Jamaican person pronounced their own name, then it would sound like an extreme case of taking the pee.
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I have a 3 letter name, couldn't be simpler. Some people say it as Ann, some say it so it sounds like Ahhnnn and some it sounds like Ian.

I understood what you were saying completely.
 
Purestriker

Purestriker

Legend
TimHenmanATG said:
I don't think that my comment was particularly esoteric.

The way that someone personally pronounces their own name isn't necessarily the ''correct'' way it should be pronounced internationally.

Even for native English speakers, if one were to try and replicate the way that, say, an Irish or Jamaican person pronounced their own name, then it would sound like an extreme case of taking the pee.
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Seriously? Don't tell someone the way the pronounce their name is not correct. It is literally THIER NAME.
 
MeatTornado

MeatTornado

Talk Tennis Guru
TimHenmanATG said:
I don't think that my comment was particularly esoteric.

The way that someone personally pronounces their own name isn't necessarily the ''correct'' way it should be pronounced internationally.

Even for native English speakers, if one were to try and replicate the way that, say, an Irish or Jamaican person pronounced their own name, then it would sound like an extreme case of taking the pee.
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That's a completely different point from how her country could have different dialects and pronunciations based on region.
 
TimHenmanATG

TimHenmanATG

Hall of Fame
Bartelby said:
This should be the first duty of a commentator - to get the name right - because they are educators at this level and should take their responsibility seriously.
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Virtually all international sporting commentators (at least in the UK) make the attempt to pronounce names with respect to the language of origin.

But there gets to a point where the pronunciation can become somewhat affected.

I still say ''Alcarath'', but when most other people are saying ''Alcaraz'', then it can be a little difficult to persist with the pronunciation, without feeling like I'm being a bit of a bell.

99% of TTW posters probably aren't stressing the correct syllable in names like ''Sharapova'' and ''Kournikova'', so it's a positive thing that people in 2023 are asking these questions.
 
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AnOctorokForDinner

AnOctorokForDinner

Talk Tennis Guru
Rybakina speaks standard Russian, major dialects are going extinct here anyway. Sometimes players alter their name pronunciation for English though, like Sharapova didn't mind being Pova although the native stress falls on the second syllable as well. Shifting the stress is common for English speakers since your accent patterns are different.
 
RaulRamirez

RaulRamirez

Legend
While not quite analogous, I used to pronounce Caribbean like "Car-i-BE-in", but now, I go with "Ca-RI-be-in."

Even more so, as it's her own name, she clearly (to me) pronounces it Ry-BA-kin-a.

We should try to get people's names pronounced as they do (and not only because they're beautiful and can play tennis that superbly).
 
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