Image credit: Esther Lin, MMA Fighting

You’re Pronouncing Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Name Wrong

Here’s why it matters.

I don’t usually preface my articles, but this one needs to be prefaced. I’m a linguist. I speak 5 languages. I don’t have a native-like accent in every language that I speak. And I would never, ever judge someone else’s accent in ANY language — ever. It’s not okay to do that. Your accent is beautiful, no matter what it sounds like. This is not about accents. This is not about languages. It’s about mispronouncing names.

Kuh-BEEB.

Huh-BEEB.

Kgghha-BEEB.

Nur-mah-guh-MED-awv.

Nur-ma-GOM-ed-ov.

Ka-beeb Nur-jhdgkjdhg-ov.

None of them are right, and it matters.

Let’s start with the spelling of Khabib’s name and why it’s the primary source of various mispronunciations.

Khabib Nurmagomedov is a transliteration of ХIабиб НурмухӀамадов (Avar). It’s a Dagestani name with…