Anonymous wrote:I have eaten an exceptionally large number of Chicken Kiev breaded patties from the freezer section and I believe that gives me expertise. It's Key-ev. Like what-ev, but with a key.

The expert has spoken! Btw- that’s how I say it too.

Bill Taylor says it almost perfectly. Well done, sir!

I am going to level up the difficulty here by explaining part of the reason why people are hearing a soft uh at the end. As someone who speaks Russian and Ukrainian in a professional context every day, I am struggling to think of a time when I would say the name of the city without a case ending.

Perhaps if someone asked me what is the name of the capital of Ukraine, I might answer simply Kyiv. But in any casual or professional conversation, there would be a preposition and then a specific ending depending on the case.

So, yes, there is a difference and how do you pronounce the city's name depending on whether you are using the Russian or Ukrainian pronunciation, but there is also a difference depending on whether you are saying that something is happening in the city, to the city, around the city, or with the city, for example.

Anonymous wrote:It’s Kyiv, not Kiev.

How to pronounce:
(https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/us/politics/kiev-pronunciation.amp.html)

+1

I'm so confused. I refuse to leave my home.

I have eaten an exceptionally large number of Chicken Kiev breaded patties from the freezer section and I believe that gives me expertise. It's Key-ev. Like what-ev, but with a key.

Wrong. It is pronounced "Kih-EYE-Vee." The word "ivy" with a "k" sound at the beginning. Please do not disrespect Donald J Trump. It's a Witchhunt!

#kyivnotkiev

Kay-yeev

Anonymous wrote:I've always heard Kiev pronounced "Key-Yev." Suddenly everyone is pronouncing it as if it rhymes with "heave." Anyone know if that's really the way to pronounce it?

Same.

Anonymous wrote:Wait, How Do You Pronounce Kiev?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/us/politics/kiev-pronunciation.html

Yuri Shevchuk, a lecturer in Ukrainian at Columbia University, said that native Ukrainians stress the first vowel, and pronounce it like the “i” in the word “kid” or “lid.” The second vowel is pronounced as a separate syllable, and sounds like the “ee” sound in “keel.” The v is also pronounced a bit differently, like the end of the word “low.” It’s a bit hard to describe.

But spoken in Russian, Kiev, Ukraine’s capital and home to about three million people, sounds more like “Key-EV.” Americans tend to be more accustomed to hearing it the Russian way. (The official language in Ukraine is Ukrainian.)

I am Ukrainian and yes, that's correct.

what?

Imagine you’re telling someone to be quite: shhhhh. Now replace the “dh” sound with “k”: that’s the sound of the “y” in Kyiv. So, it’s ky (like shhhhh)-yeav (like year).