- Feb 27, 2016
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This whole Russo-Ukrainian war has brought into focus something that I find needlessly silly. All this fighting about what foreigners call each other and their places.
We are told that we must drop the article now, saying Ukraine instead of the Ukraine, and transliterate Kiev as Kyiv. For you see, Kiev is based on the Russian name for the place and Kyiv on the Ukrainian. But neither of these when spoken in English correlates well with the placename, and it has always been Kiev in English - as in Chicken Kiev or the Kievan Rus in history writing. Similarly, we write the Ukraine because it is a plural construction, like the Netherlands or the United States. Ukrainian doesn't have an article, so to them it is just Ukraine, but back in the day some traveller with an understanding of the meaning of the name established it grammatically correctly in English with an article. Now though, Ukrainians think it means that it isn't a proper noun in English, but a geographic designation because of the article, so think saying the Ukraine is surreptitiously pro-Russian. It is all very silly.
Other examples is how the Hindu Nationalists changed the spelling of Calcutta to Kolkata, or how some years ago the Shah asked that Persia rather be called Iran.
Different languages have different names for objects, verbs, or what have you. Why the insistence that placenames or endonyms of peoples must be sacrosant? I mean, the Germans call themselves Deutsch and are called Germans, Allemagne, Nemets in return by various people. China and India are both exonyms from Europe applied to those areas too. Placenames often are different from language to language, such as Munich and Munchen, Paris and Parys, Venice and Venezia, etc. Istanbul is still often called Constantinople or Stamboul.
As each language names their things, let them name places and peoples too. They are going to do it anyway, I feel. This just sows confusion and makes mountains out of molehills. Whatever you grew up calling a place will anyway be ingrained, and you almost instinctively reach for that designation. I still often hear old-fashioned names for places and countries in Africa where I am from.
I understand these are political goals, but these usually aren't my politics and now I have to see all this geographical Newspeak. My choice of wording is my own, and that does not necessarily imply my politics. Use whatever you want, but don't expect me to as well.
We are told that we must drop the article now, saying Ukraine instead of the Ukraine, and transliterate Kiev as Kyiv. For you see, Kiev is based on the Russian name for the place and Kyiv on the Ukrainian. But neither of these when spoken in English correlates well with the placename, and it has always been Kiev in English - as in Chicken Kiev or the Kievan Rus in history writing. Similarly, we write the Ukraine because it is a plural construction, like the Netherlands or the United States. Ukrainian doesn't have an article, so to them it is just Ukraine, but back in the day some traveller with an understanding of the meaning of the name established it grammatically correctly in English with an article. Now though, Ukrainians think it means that it isn't a proper noun in English, but a geographic designation because of the article, so think saying the Ukraine is surreptitiously pro-Russian. It is all very silly.
Other examples is how the Hindu Nationalists changed the spelling of Calcutta to Kolkata, or how some years ago the Shah asked that Persia rather be called Iran.
Different languages have different names for objects, verbs, or what have you. Why the insistence that placenames or endonyms of peoples must be sacrosant? I mean, the Germans call themselves Deutsch and are called Germans, Allemagne, Nemets in return by various people. China and India are both exonyms from Europe applied to those areas too. Placenames often are different from language to language, such as Munich and Munchen, Paris and Parys, Venice and Venezia, etc. Istanbul is still often called Constantinople or Stamboul.
As each language names their things, let them name places and peoples too. They are going to do it anyway, I feel. This just sows confusion and makes mountains out of molehills. Whatever you grew up calling a place will anyway be ingrained, and you almost instinctively reach for that designation. I still often hear old-fashioned names for places and countries in Africa where I am from.
I understand these are political goals, but these usually aren't my politics and now I have to see all this geographical Newspeak. My choice of wording is my own, and that does not necessarily imply my politics. Use whatever you want, but don't expect me to as well.
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