8 place names that raise questions

1. "Alma-Ata" or "Almaty"?

Kazakh toponym - Almaty. Many people insist that this is exactly what should be used. However, in Russian, this city is called Alma-Ata - this option is recommended to be used in Russian-language texts. It is also indicated in the order of the administration of the President of the Russian Federation "On the spelling of the names of states - the former republics of the USSR and their capitals."

2. "In Ukraine" or "in Ukraine"?

There is even more controversy over this. However, in Russian the norm is “in Ukraine” and “from Ukraine”.

The compatibility of the prepositions "on / in" and "from / from" with nouns has developed historically: "at school", but "at the factory", "in the pharmacy", but "in the warehouse" and so on. We say “in Crimea”, although this is a peninsula and it would be more logical to use the preposition “on”. Likewise, Ukraine has become the only non-island state in relation to which the prepositions "on" and "s" are used. In the modern language "in Ukraine" it has no political connotations, it is only a linguistic tradition.

3. "From Suzdal" or "from Suzdal"?

"Kazan", "Astrakhan", "Perm", "Kerch", "Tver" are feminine and when declined have the ending "-i": "from Kazan", "to Astrakhan", "about Perm", "in Kerch", "From Tver". And "Suzdal" is a masculine word, therefore it is correct like this: "from Suzdal", "to Suzdal", "in Suzdal".

By the way, "Anadyr" is also masculine.

4. Washington or Washington?

Stress in the name of President George Washington M. Studiner. Dictionary of the Difficulties of the Russian Language for Media Workers. - M., 2016, as well as in the name of the capital and state it is put on the last syllable - Washington.

By the way, there are more than 4 thousand kilometers between Olympia, the capital of Washington state, and the city of the same name. Not to be confused, Americans often call the capital of their state "Washington DC" - from District of Columbia (District of Columbia).

5. "Reykjavik" or "Reykjavik"?

The name of the Icelandic capital is pronounced with an emphasis on "I" - "Reykjavik". At the same time, "r" here is solid: we pronounce [re], not [re]. Please note: "b" is written here, not "b".

The name of the inhabitants of this city is Reykjavik.

6. "Dubai" or "Dubai"?

Many believe that the name of this city (and emirate) is pronounced "Dubai". But no: this word ends in "y". And it declines in the same way as the word "shed": "Dubai", "Dubai", "Dubai", "in Dubai".

7. "Thailand" or "Thailand"?

And in this word "y" is not needed - it is written through "and".

It is worth noting that this is a multinational country and its inhabitants are called Thais. And Thais are the indigenous population, the largest ethnic community of this state. The concepts of “Thais” and “Thais” are related in the same way as “Russians” and “Russians”.

8. "Goa" or "Goa"?

This is an Indian state, not an island or Ukraine, so it is correct to say not “Goa”, but “Goa”. They often make mistakes with stress: dictionaries say that “Goa” is correct. The name of the inhabitants of Goa is Goans.