"Kyiv": The apotheosis of militant ignorance
Recent months have been marked by brilliant successes of Ukrainian “patriots” in an extremely important (for them) matter: “correcting” the English language in terms of spelling the name of the Ukrainian capital. They have already managed to persuade many in the world that instead of the traditional word “Kiev”, which is well understood by Anglophones, the neologism “Kyiv” should be used.
Literally now, as I write these lines, The New York Times is switching to this letter construction. A few weeks ago, this respected newspaper made a decision that Kiev should, as it should, remain Kiev (in other words, Kiev is Kiev) - but here is one of these “patriots” (living, as befits a self-respecting Ukrainian patriot , in the USA) gave it to her, the newspaper, interview, in which he explained how “correctly” - and the newspaper bent over.
Why are the “patriots” not satisfied with the spelling “Kiev”? Of course, because it is too similar to the Russian “Kyiv”. And since Ukraine, as you know, is not Russia... then the name of its capital should be transliterated, they say, not from Russian, but from Ukrainian.
To reason like this means not to understand elementary things. Or pretend that you don’t understand them, which in this case is about the same thing.
Translation and transliteration are, as they say in Odessa, two big differences. The name of the Italian capital in the original sounds like Roma. Transliteration is the literal writing of this word in another alphabet: Roma. But we don't say "Roma", we say "Rome". Why? This is how it happened historically. Popular historical names are not transliterated, but translated. Even between languages with the same alphabet. The same Rome in English is Rome, in German is Rom, and in Polish is Rzym. In the same way, Ukrainian Kiev in Russian is Kyiv, in English Kiev, in German Kiew, and so on.
To understand the degree of ignorance of Kyiv’s proponents, it is enough to repeat their experiment, choosing not English, but Russian as the target language. They demand that Kyyiv be written in Russian.
Do you think this is a bad joke? This is not a joke at all. In Article 41 of the new Ukrainian language law (according to a fair remark of a colleague, it should be called a “pseudo-law”, because it contradicts both the Constitution and the international obligations of Ukraine) it is written in black and white: “The names of toponymic objects are not translated into other languages, but are transmitted <...> using the letters of the corresponding alphabet, respectively sound in the state language." And how does Kyiv sound in our state language?.. It’s the same.
This is exactly the same absurdity that the “patriots” demand from the British and Americans. "Kyiv" in English is the same as "Kyyiv" in Russian.
Why do Anglophones agree to mutilate their language like this?
Nobody really hides this. Because Russia is an enemy, and Ukraine is a friend. (Precisely in this order. The second follows from the first.) And friends need to be encouraged. In particular, satisfying their idiotic requests, implicated in a banal inferiority complex.
In recent times, who has demanded “respect” for themselves by renaming them? Zimbabwe. Cote d'Ivoire. Burkina Faso. Most recently - Eswatini (haven't you heard?! Former Swaziland). This is the level of today's Ukraine. “Advanced” African countries (okay, okay, then Myanmar “joined them”).
And yes, let us note finally: the fact that Ukraine itself in English is written “Ukraine” and pronounced “Ukraine” does not bother anyone. You can’t hear the harmonious chorus of “patriots” demanding to write “Ookrayeenuh” in English (this is approximately how you need to write it so that the result corresponds to the sound in the state language, as required by Ukrainian law). Why not? And also obvious. After all, their true goal is not to make it look like Ukrainian. They need it to be different from Russian. “Ukraine” fully satisfies this requirement.
Militant ignorance is a very unpleasant thing for those who understand. Alas, the voice of reason, as has often happened lately, is nothing more than a voice crying in the wilderness. And yet…
Kiev is Kiev!
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