MiG - Whats in a name?

[engarde]

:cool:Ive been doing a bit of russian study lately, trying to build up a working knowledge of the language.

interesting thing i seem to have come across in the well known name MiG.

we all know its for mikoyan and gurevich.

what i didnt realise, is that its just that.... M for mikoyan, and G for gurevich, with the i in the middle denoting the concept of "and".

so its literally m and g, reading as MiG.

i hope ive got that right, perhaps a native speaker might correct me if im wrong?

still, there you go, now you know.

[BP_Tailspin]

Wow

Thanks for posting, I love stuff like this.

[Romanator21]

Then why not "LiGiG"?

I could be wrong, but I think it's nothing more than a coincidence.

EDIT:

MiG in Russian sounds like "meeg"

"M and G" would sound like "em ee geh"

[engarde]

Then why not "LiGiG"?

I could be wrong, but I think it's nothing more than a coincidence.

EDIT:

MiG in Russian sounds like "meeg"

"M and G" would sound like "em ee geh"

Indeed you could well be right.

Although a bit of digging comes up with La as Lavochkin Association, though that could be a later development.

Plays on words could well be the answer, not to mention how different companies choose how to name their products.

Sukhoi for instance, Cy-25, Su-25.

Its entirely possible the Mi in MiG could be Mikoyan based.

Микоян и Гуревич - Mikoyan and Gurevich - МиГ - MiG

Russian has a case system, very significant coincidence in my mind, perhaps too significant: и is pronounced like the i in itch or big, M is the same as the english M, Г is a g sound like goal or gutter.

Food for thought.


(em ee geh? do you say buh em wuh for BMW? there are different more suitable ways to pronounce anything)

[StalkerKHV88]

You're completely right. All our aircraft are named after their constructor.

Сухой - Су - Sukhoi - Su

Туполев - Ту - Tupolev - Tu

Ильюшин - Ил - Ilyushin - IL

Лавочкин - Ла - Lavochkin - La

Микоян и Гуревич - МиГ - Mikoyan and Gurevich - MiG

Антонов - Ан - Antonov - An

Яковлев - Як - Yakovlev - Yak

Likewise for helicopters.

Also word mig in Russian means instant.

[SaQSoN]

Also word mig in Russian means instant.

Russian word миг means very short fraction of time and comes from the word мигать, which means "blink with an eye". The most common use of this word in Russian language are phrases like "сделать что-то мигом", which means "do smth. in a blink of an eye", i.e. very fast. Therefore, the abbreviation МиГ, apart from it's obvious meaning "Mikoyan and Gurevich" also suggests, that the object, bearing this name is something very fast. So, this name was definitely selected having more, then just abbreviation on their mind. :)

[Romanator21]

(em ee geh? do you say buh em wuh for BMW? there are different more suitable ways to pronounce anything)

In America, people pronounce it as "bee em double-yoo" but I've heard it pronounced as "beh em veh" elsewhere.

(I don't know where you're from, so excuse me) but Russian letters aren't pronounced like English ones. So, "M and G" would not be "em i djee" but closer to what I wrote earlier (em ee geh). However, it's simply MiG, "meeg".

Russian has a case system, very significant coincidence in my mind, perhaps too significant: и is pronounced like the i in itch or big

Maybe it depends on dialect, but I've always known "и" as in "fleet", not as in "big" (long i sound).

Saqson, you're Russian, help us decide! :-P

Russian word миг means very short fraction of time and comes from the word мигать, which means "blink with an eye". The most common use of this word in Russian language are phrases like "сделать что-то мигом", which means "do smth. in a blink of an eye", i.e. very fast. Therefore, the abbreviation МиГ, apart from it's obvious meaning "Mikoyan and Gurevich" also suggests, that the object, bearing this name is something very fast. So, this name was definitely selected having more, then just abbreviation on their mind.

Woe be unto the guys who came up with "LaGG" :D

[TinyTim]

"M and G" would sound like "em ee geh"

But MiG, even if an abbreviation where i stands for "and" is easily pronounced (in russian) as a single word. BMW isn't. How do you spell "PIRATE" when discussing Eurofighter Typhoon's IRST? It's an abbreviation standing for "Passive Infra-Red Airborne Track Equipment". Pee-Eye-Uhr-Ey-Tee-Ee? :D

Whenever an abbreviation is easily spelled, it will stick as a word, and consequently many'd even be composed that way in the first place - backronyms.

[major_setback]

Russian word миг means very short fraction of time and comes from the word мигать, which means "blink with an eye". The most common use of this word in Russian language are phrases like "сделать что-то мигом", which means "do smth. in a blink of an eye", i.e. very fast. Therefore, the abbreviation МиГ, apart from it's obvious meaning "Mikoyan and Gurevich" also suggests, that the object, bearing this name is something very fast. So, this name was definitely selected having more, then just abbreviation on their mind. :)

Thanks for the explanation!

[engarde]

excellent, thanks to all for the clarification.

[SaQSoN]

Maybe it depends on dialect, but I've always known "и" as in "fleet", not as in "big" (long i sound).
Saqson, you're Russian, help us decide! :-P


I am not a philologist, though. As far, as it seems to me, that depends on the particular word and dialect. Basically, in Russian and other Slavic languages there is no special rule about vowels pronunciation (like this one short, that one long, etc.).