How do I write a name of a person when it is called from far away

Question

I know it sounds a stupid question but in English comics, if someone is calling a woman named "Laura" from afar, you write "Lauraaaaaaa", with the last letter repeated. How do I do the same with "Катя" in Russian? If I write "Катяяяяяяя" it seems like I am saying "Katyayayayaya" instead of "Katyaaaaaaa". How do you do that?

Подружка ей с улицы кричит: — Ка-тя-а-а!!! Катя ей с дивана отвечает: — Че-го-о-о? — V.V., Feb 23 '17 at 17:44
"in english comics, if someone is calling a woman named "Laura" from afar, you write "Lauraaaaaaa", with the last letter repeated" Not necessarily. There are a few ways to do it, and sometimes it depends on the name. — Lightness Races in Orbit, Feb 23 '17 at 20:11
Of course "not necessarily"... mine was just an example to make my question clearer. — Johannes Wentu, Feb 24 '17 at 10:10

score 13 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 23 '17 at 13:34

That depends on whether you want the literary norm or something informal you could use, say, on the internet.

The literary norm would be Ка-а-атя-а-а. Note the hyphen before each vowel repetition. I'm surprised no-one else brought it up. To answer your specific question, the modifying letters do revert to their non-modifier counterparts in repetitions (hence Я-а-ана and Ю-у-ур!). Keep the number of repetitions down to one or two. Three or four would mean it's really drawn-out. More than that means it's a children's story or the writer's got an amateurish fondness for typographic mannerisms.

In informal writing, Кааатяяяя is perfectly fine and you can hold down the key much more liberally.

Abakan · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-23T13:24:34.470

9

If you write in Russian, you can write "Катяяяяя". No one would read it as "Катя-йа-йа-йа". "Катяаааа" looks unusual but can be used in situation when the last sound is transformed in a shout like "Катяяяааааааа".

If you write in English it's better to write "Katyaaaa".

Note that in Russian often the stressed vowel is shouted long too, not only the last one - so you can also write "Каааатяяяя" or "Владииииимиииир".

edited Feb 23 '17 at 13:24

answered Feb 23 '17 at 11:13

Abakan

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We say "It's better to... write". "you better" translates more to "тебе полагается, тебе положено" "ты должен" not "тебе лучше". Русские часто делают эту ошибку.)) – VCH250 Feb 23 '17 at 13:23
@VCH250 Oh, sorry and thank you :) Good to know! – Abakan Feb 23 '17 at 13:24
Nobody writes, sorry, should write the name like you do. There are certain requirements for written speech. I wrote an example above.Congrats! – V.V. Feb 23 '17 at 18:07
@VCH250 Thank you, I didn't know that "you better" is imperative! – Eugene Feb 26 '17 at 01:51

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 23 '17 at 12:51

Well, actually I'm surprised with the answers given. As a native speaker I'd rather will stretch the stressed vowel, something like "Ау, Каааааааатя! Ты где?"

The same rule will apply to any name. So now let's consider what happen if я is stressed, then actually indeed something like "Ну Яяяяяяян, ну чего ты копаешься". So я (or ю - Юююююр) does not usually turned into "йааааа" (ой "йуyyy") - it's just that it's pronounced that way.

'Ё' is slightly different story, it's quit often ommited but still you'd rather see "ёёёёёёжик" or just "ееееежик" but never "йоооожик".

Funnily enough, that's what I'd do in English, too. – Lightness Races in Orbit Feb 23 '17 at 20:12 — Lightness Races in Orbit, Feb 23 '17 at 20:12

score -2 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 23 '17 at 11:13

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"Катяяяяя" looks OK. You repeat a letter not a sound. я is a letter.

also I find "Катяяааааааа" OK.

answered Feb 23 '17 at 11:13

Konstantin Gerasimov

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score -2 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 26 '17 at 18:39

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Katya-a-a-a and Katy-ia-ia-ia are the same

answered Feb 26 '17 at 18:39

sweetgirl16

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How do I write a name of a person when it is called from far away

5 Answers5