[tz] Kyiv

Brian Inglis Brian.Inglis at SystematicSw.ab.ca
Mon Dec 18 07:27:21 UTC 2017


On 2017-12-17 11:34, Paul Eggert wrote:
> Random832 wrote:
>> And anyway, the transliteration of Киев is Kiyev.
> 
> Oh! That's something else where there can be disagreement! Other Romanizations
> of the Russian Киев include Kijev, Kiyef, Kieff, Kijeff, Kiyeff. The
> Encyclopædia Britannica had "Kieff, Kiyeff, or Kiev" in its scholarly-but-dated
> 1902 edition, whereas the popular and freshly-updated 1911 edition had "Kiev,
> Kieff, or Kiyeff".
> 
> There is similar disagreement for the Ukrainian Київ. "Kyiv" is the Ukrainian
> government's transliteration, codified in 1996. However, in non-governmental
> sources the и can be transliterated to y or ȳ or i, and the ї (U+0457 CYRILLIC
> SMALL LETTER YI) can be transliterated to ji, yi, or ï (U+00EF LATIN SMALL
> LETTER I WITH DIAERESIS), and I've probably missed some options.
> 
> To top it off, none of these Romanizations in English are at all close to the
> common pronunciation in Ukrainian, namely [ˈkɪjiu̯] (IPA), as there is nothing
> like an English "v" (or "f") in Ukrainian pronunciation. Instead, the
> pronunciation trails off with a demure "oo" sound in English, and "Kuiyu" is a
> much more-accurate Anglicization than any of the above. Here's the Wikipedia
> sound file, for those who would like to do as the Kuiyuvians do:
> 
> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Uk-Київ.ogg

Interesting notes on the name(s) in Ukrainian and English below, from a
Canadian-Ukrainian organization and author, with only minor anti-Russian bias.
TL;DR:
The author uses and prefers Kyiv when referring to the city (as below) in
technical academic or scholarly contexts, but prefers Kiev for general English
usage and comprehension.
The Latin spelling Kiev was derived from the Old Ukrainian Cyrillic and Church
Slavonic spelling used for about 1000 years.
Kiev has been used in English and other Latin languages including old maps for
over 400 years.
Russian pronounciation ends with -f, so Latin spellings of the Russian end with
-f, not -v.
Kyiv has been used in modern Ukrainian Cyrillic for about 100 years.

Kyiv in Old and Modern Ukrainian	http://www.infoukes.com/faq/kyiv-1/

Kiev or Kyiv?				http://www.infoukes.com/faq/kyiv-2/

There is some argument on linguistic lists/groups that the name may have Iranian
or Turkic origins, as the founding stories seem legendary or mythical.

-- 
Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis, Calgary, Alberta, Canada


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