How do you spell Alexandra in English? Rule, features

Translation of names to other languages always causes a lot of problems. The fact is that own nouns with a particularly ancient history, as a rule, in each country have analogues and short forms. In addition, in different languages the same sounds on the letter are indicated in completely different letters. Studying this topic, let's consider as an example, as in English the name of Alexander is written.

Value

First of all, it is worth to learn about the origin and meaning of this word.

It arose even in the times of Ancient Greece and initially there was only the male form of Alexandros, which in translation meant "protector".

History of appearance and distribution

Judging by the Greek written sources, originally this word was used as a kind of prefix to the name. Something like that of the Slav princes: Yaroslav the Wise, Vladimir the Great, and so on.

So in the ancient myths the words "Alexander" and "Alexandra" appear as prefixes to the names of Paris and his sister Cassandra and mean "defenders of people."

Most likely, the popularity of the legends about the Trojans (whom the Romans considered their ancestors) contributed to the spread of these terms already as proper names in the Roman Empire. However, they were worn, as a rule, slaves of Greek origin, while the noble Romans themselves preferred to use other names peculiar to their language.

With the advent of Christianity, which at first was perceived as a religion of slaves, the name Alexander and Alexander became quite popular, but again wealthy and noble citizens of Rome did not use them.

This noun was especially spread since the 4th century AD, when the Roman Christian soldier Alexander refused to worship the pagan gods and was executed for this. His steadfastness became an example for many brothers and sisters by faith, and the martyr himself was later even declared a saint.

After the emergence of Christianity, the only state religion of the empire increased popularity of the name Alexander and his female counterpart - Alexander (in English as written - in paragraph IV). Together with the Christian missionaries, it gradually appeared in almost all countries. That is why in most modern European languages you can find his options.

English analogues of the considered noun

Before you understand how the word "Alexandra" is written in English, it is worthwhile to learn about its variations existing in this language.

In Russian (from the point of view of grammar) the spelling for this name is one, and everything else is perceived as nicknames and abbreviations, which are inadmissible in official documents. However, in English there are a number of names, formed from the word "Alexander", which are fixed as separate own nouns.

• Alex (Alex).
• Alexa.
• Lexa (Lexa).
• Lexi, Lexie.
• Sandra (Sandra).
• Zandra, Xandra (Zandra).
• Sandy, Sandie.
• Zandy, Zandie, Xandy, Xandie (Zandy).

In this case, the full name of Alexandra is also used for all varieties.

How to write "Alexander" in English in official documents

Having considered the most common variants of this name (used in the language of the British and Americans), it is worthwhile to find out how correctly this word in Latin should look in terms of the rules adopted in Russian.

In the previous paragraph it was shown how to write "Alexandra" in English (Alexandra). However, according to GOST R 52535.1-2006 of February 3, 2010 and the recommendations of the document "Order of the Federal Migration Service and the Federal Security Service of Russia of April 15, 2014 N 331/208", the term in question should not be with the letter "x" but with " Ks »- Aleksandra.

The reasons for the existence of differences

Learning how to spell "Alexander" in English in the passport, it is worth to clarify why the Russian version is different.

The fact is that the Latin letter "x", in Russian is read as [kc]. English pronunciation is in most cases the same. But if the word in which it is found is of Greek origin, this letter can be read as [s] or as [kz]. For this reason, the noun Alexandra is read as [alezandra].

Hence one of the analogs of the name in question - Zandra, has two variants of writing: Zandra and Xandra. Paradoxically, in the modern variations of Alexander's name Alex or Alex, the letter "x" in English is already read as [kc].

From all of the above, it can be concluded that if the name under study is written in the passports of Russian citizens, as in English, Alexandra, it will not correspond to his Russian pronunciation [alexander]. Proceeding from this, it was decided to write through "ks" (Aleksandra), as the most appropriate to the real sounding of the name.

It is worth noting that such a difficult situation with the writing of Russian names in Latin letters is not uncommon. As another example, you can consider how to write in English "Alexander Selikhov." According to GOST, it should look like this: Aleksandra Selikhova.

However, it is often possible to meet the spelling of the surname without "k", only with "h": Selihova. Although both versions are pronounced in English identical, Selikhova will be correct. To understand why, it is worth considering the features of the pronunciation of American sound [h]. Those who communicate with native English speakers know that they pronounce it with a characteristic aspiration, thanks to which their accent is so tangible. This phenomenon is called "aspiration."

But the Russian "x" does not have it. Therefore, to pronounce Russian proper nouns that contain this letter correctly, it was customary to write it not as h, but as kh. The unpronounceable "k" thus, as it were, "cuts off" the aspiration, signaling to the speaker that there is no aspiration.

How else is Alexander's name written in English?

Having learned why the Russian and English spelling of the name in question is different, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the most common ways that the word "Alexandra" can be written in other countries.

You can find such options: Alecsandra, Aljecsandra and Alyecsandra, although this will be a mistake in terms of the grammar of most Anglo-and French-speaking countries. The fact is that the Latin letter "c", indeed in certain cases can be pronounced [c], [k] and even [c]. However, the variant with [k] is only before the vowels "y", "e" and "i", which is not present in these examples.

From all of the above, it is worth concluding that everyone should know for himself exactly how and why his name is written in foreign languages, and not rely on others. After all, illiteracy is an international phenomenon, and you can face it everywhere.