Anji or Anzhi?

I don't want to say SI have made a mistake because they might know something I don't. But it's usually Anzhi Makhachkala, isn't it? Why is it "Anji" on the game?

I don't want to say SI have made a mistake because they might know something I don't. But it's usually Anzhi Makhachkala, isn't it? Why is it "Anji" on the game?

I think it's because Anji is much closer to the correct pronunciation of Anzhi.

FC Anji

Well it's called Anji on the team website....

Well, Anzhi is the official name of the club and I think it should be called like that.

Everybody calls Shevchenko's team Dinamo Kiev, but in game it's called Dinamo Kyiv, because that's the name of the team.

FC Anji

Well it's called Anji on the team website....

This is a fair point. Club website does say "Anji".

Everything else you see seems to say "Anzhi", though.

This is a fair point. Club website does say "Anji".

Everything else you see seems to say "Anzhi", though.

In the English-speaking world.

The Cyrillic alphabet has no universal romanization scheme, so both are equally "wrong" - there isn't a "correct" representation.

In Russia, it's closer to "Anji".

It's Анжи Махачкала. Anything else is a transliteration for which there are multiple different standards. As long as the game is consistent it's probably fine.

In the English-speaking world.

The Cyrillic alphabet has no universal romanization scheme, so both are equally "wrong" - there isn't a "correct" representation.

In Russia, it's closer to "Anji".

I knew there is no correct way of representing it. But in countries where the Roman alphabet is used, I'd never seen it as "Anji" until FM12 and, now, their website.

So why was it called Anzhi on FM11 :S

I prefer Anzhi, sounds much more Russian and a lot less weird.

Its also Zhirkov ingame, rather than Zjirkov.

I prefer Anzhi, sounds much more Russian and a lot less weird.

I personally prefer Anzhi and will change that when the game comes out.

I prefer it as anzhi as I tend to think of ж as zh, but maybe thats because serbian cyrillic has got a j so ж must be different

It needs to be consistent throughout the game. Either you have the names the clubs call themselves in their native languages - albeit translated - or it needs to be as UEFA (and others) lists them for competition.

In this instance it would be FC Anzhi Makhachkala by UEFA.

Seems odd that they've randomly changed it. It's true that if you go with Anji, you'd have to have Yuri Jirkov, for example.

It needs to be consistent throughout the game. Either you have the names the clubs call themselves in their native languages - albeit translated - or it needs to be as UEFA (and others) lists them for competition.

In this instance it would be FC Anzhi Makhachkala by UEFA.

I don't think it needs to be consistent - it just needs to be kept sensible. Some Russian clubs are not in UEFA competitions so might sensibly keep typical romanized Russian names, whilst some Russian teams in UEFA competitions might have the name commonly taken by the English-speaking world. Then there's players like Arshavin who want a specific romanization, for example.

Even the English don't keep things consistent - Xabi Alonso was regularly referred to as "Alonso" in English matches, but in Spain, he's referred to as "Xabi Alonso" in full as it is a hypocoristic. "Alonso" isn't "wrong" from an English point of view, but it is "wrong" in Spain.

Personally, since a user who uses that club is more likely to come across local clubs in their league, I think it should be kept as a more "local" name, but liberal exceptions should be made where sensible. UEFA's naming convention is just another way of looking at things.

What I mean is: Either you have Dinamo Kiev or Dynamo Kyiv, Anji or Anzhi, Moscow or Moskva, but it needs to be the same for all the teams. You choose one convention to follow and not mix and match - the fact they aren't in competition is irrelevant, it was more a style guide to follow.

In previous games the editor allowed a different name depending on the language of the game which would circumvent the problems on team name. Not really possible for player naming, maybe that should be based on what they use on the back of their shirt.

Its also Zhirkov ingame, rather than Zjirkov.

The guy has a point. If there is no universal translation, then whoever/team is doing the Russian data need to decide on a format and stick to it.

Personally I'll be changing it to Anzhi with the editor, as that is what I know of them as, thanks to the English speaking media.

What I mean is: Either you have Dinamo Kiev or Dynamo Kyiv, Anji or Anzhi, Moscow or Moskva, but it needs to be the same for all the teams. You choose one convention to follow and not mix and match - the fact they aren't in competition is irrelevant, it was more a style guide to follow.

If a very small Russian team (nowhere near UEFA competition) had "Moscow" in its name somewhere, I'd argue it should be romanized as Moskva, which would be much more familiar with those who want to play with that club (i.e. Russian users), then it should remain as Moskva, even though Профессиональный футбольный клуб – ЦСКА is romanized as "CSKA Moscow" (common usage + UEFA), say. You cannot have a one-size-fits-all policy - it has to have some degree of common-sense and allow exceptions to the rule. It should really be treated on a case-by-case basis.

It is like the English Wikipedia's policy on which style of English should be used - it has no one-size-fits-all standard - it tries to be as international as possible while localising certain articles. For example, articles closely related to the UK use British English, whilst articles close to the US use American English, and so on. It's done largely on a case-by-case basis depending on the target audience likely looking at said article.

Whilst I agree it is odd to see "Anji", rather than "Anzhi", it should be considered that the team is from Dagestan- and the word from which we get either Anzhi or Anji isn't Russian at all, as was alluded to previously, but arabic. So, it isn't a matter for the Russian data people to determine it, but to see how arabic is transliterated instead. Whilst it is usual to see Anzhi after transliterating from Russian, it may be different when doing so from the Caucasian language.

Plus, it is probably a political statement for the club's hierarchy to not use standardised Russian transliteration.

In trying to clear the waters I've only muddied them further.

The problem with the romanisation of Russian names is that different results probably also derive from the background of the translator.

Being German I realized that someone with an English speaking background will very often have a different view on how the names should be spelled in our alphabet, because some of the sounds do have different letters. No German for instance would ever use an 'H' in most of the names where the English would, espially in an sh or zh combination (as they don't exist in German).

Another difference is caused by differences in spelling and pronunciation in Russian itself. E.g. the Belarussian plyaer Anton Putsila, now playing for Freiburg, was earlier spelled Putsilo, with the latter being closest to the Cyrillic spelling, the former however representing how it's actually pronounced.

While I see that all efforts to find an international standard of transcription which leans towards the Anglo-American spellings, I guess we'll have to continue living with everything just being approximate here.

Анжи Махачкала in english letter is Anzhi.

In no official transliteration tables ж transliterates to j, it's an obvious error.

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Russian#Transliteration_table

Also, Kiev/Kyiv it's not matter of different transliteration, but different languages. Kiev is for Russian Киев and Kyiv is for Ukrainian Київ. It's quite obvious that the second one should be used.

How do you play with Anzi on the new demo? I can't see the option of Russia

it must be a licencing issue

How do you play with Anzi on the new demo? I can't see the option of Russia

You can't. The Russian leagues aren't in the demo.

it must be a licencing issue

Their recently sacked manager has also changed from Gadzhi Gadzhiev to Gadji Gadjiev. Something must have caused them to change. Maybe it is licencing?

Their recently sacked manager has also changed from Gadzhi Gadzhiev to Gadji Gadjiev. Something must have caused them to change. Maybe it is licencing?

I think it's much more likely that the Russian researcher has just gone by the spelling the club themselves use.

In no official transliteration tables ж transliterates to j, it's an obvious error.

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Russian#Transliteration_table

Also, Kiev/Kyiv it's not matter of different transliteration, but different languages. Kiev is for Russian Киев and Kyiv is for Ukrainian Київ. It's quite obvious that the second one should be used.

Here was a suggestion why:

Whilst I agree it is odd to see "Anji", rather than "Anzhi", it should be considered that the team is from Dagestan- and the word from which we get either Anzhi or Anji isn't Russian at all, as was alluded to previously, but arabic. So, it isn't a matter for the Russian data people to determine it, but to see how arabic is transliterated instead. Whilst it is usual to see Anzhi after transliterating from Russian, it may be different when doing so from the Caucasian language.

Plus, it is probably a political statement for the club's hierarchy to not use standardised Russian transliteration.

In trying to clear the waters I've only muddied them further.