Sasha Semin Interview (Саша Сёмин)

Semin talks about his fantastic goal he scored off a sweet Steve Eminger pass to beat the Atlanta Thrashers in OT in January 2007. One of his better interviews IMHO, the facial expressions in this one are money.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Alexander
• Semin
• Washington
• Capitals

[cheesemonkey421]

Isn't it "Семин" and not "Сёмин?" I know the wikipedia article says it is "Сёмин," but that would make it "SYO-meen," which seems a bit too far off from the anglicized "SEH-min." Most "ee" sounds (и) get change to "ih" sounds when unstressed (like the end of Ovechkin). Most "ye" sounds (е) get turned to "eh" (Evgeni, Ovechkin, etc.). That would mean that "Семин" anglicized would be "SEH-min," which is what we have. I don't see why "yo" (ё) would be changed to "eh."

[ihatethepens]

The "ё" is sort of hated by Russians. It was introduced by German linguists as they weren't certain on when certain "e's" went to the "yo" sound. So they incorporated their umaluts above the "e" and gave the Cyrillic alphabet a new letter. When Semin came over as a Rookie 6 years ago, he wanted his last name to be "Americanized". People were told to call him "Seh-mihn" and not the actual "Syomin". The name we see is a literal and not phonetical transliteration. It's not uncommon among Russians.

[Ptiburdukoffa]

The "ё" is sort of hated by Russians. - you think so?

that letter isn't used in many words and names, so we just know where we should use it; and we can write 'e' instead of 'ё' but we'll pronounce 'ё'

Ovechkin call Semin 'СЁма', even if it's written like 'СЕма'...

[ihatethepens]

Every Russian I have ever talked to always stated how they didn't like the "ё" b.c they knew where it was used and therefore felt it pointless. Plus the German's instituted it ;)

[ihatethepens]

That's Dave Faye, he had throat and mouth cancers(past tense, HAD throat and mouth cancers, he died this past summer. Great Caps journalist for the Washington Times, he is missed in the Caps community) which impared his speech. That's why he sounds "funny".

[grgtys]

HI TEAGEN

[ihatethepens]

Rester? Jarmo? Is that you?

[jollyrancherz098]

hes adorable

[burungcamar]

he's hot

[ebtricks]

@sk8boarderfan1994 Skateboarding is a fad for twelve-year olds.

[sk8boarderfan1994]

fuck hockey soccer all day

[greendayghostgirl]

@ihatethepens ё! DON'T BE HATIN' ё!

[valbify]

at 1:25 - On a background of camera somebody said - : "Semen(varlamov ) would you like to go to Kovalchuk??"

[bags258]

very very broken english, he will generally speak Russian, but if he needs to he can speak english. He can understand english now though. Like he doesn't need a translator, sometimes he'll answer a question in Russian that was said to him in english, so he understands the language, I think he's just not comfortable enough to speak it.

[BleedingRangersBlue]

oh ok thanks.Thats like 2 of the Russian guys on the Rangers.I think there not confident in themselves cause they don't fully understand the language.But his play does all the talking lol that sounds dorky lol

[triad203]

Sasha is a very common nickname for Alex, in Russia. It's like Jim is a nickname for James, or Dick is a nickname for Richard.

[triad203]

He appears to understand English quite well and speaks it fluently. Often, off-ice you'll see him conversing in English with other players. He apparently isn't comfortable with his accent, though, so he only communicates with the media through a translator at this time.

[BleedingRangersBlue]

Can he speak english now,or does he still need a translater?