[tz] Kyiv

Clive D.W. Feather clive at davros.org
Fri Dec 15 10:56:42 UTC 2017


Philip Paeps said:
> Kiev is not a transliteration.  It is the English name of the city 
> according to the authoritative references we are able to find.

Agreed.

> Do you have authoritative references to international usage of "Kyiv" as 
> the recognised English name?
[...]
> All of these are Ukrainian websites and I would expect them to use the 
> Ukrainian name for the city.  As far as I know, they are not authorities 
> on the English language.

The Oxford English Dictionary, which is about as close to an authority on
the English language as you'll find, has 31 uses of the name Kiev and none
of Kyiv. Several are for "chicken Kiev" or other similar dishes.

There's one variant as a headword (rather than in a citation): the word
"Kievan" (also "Kievian"), defined as:

    Of or pertaining to the city of Kiev, esp. with reference to the
    historical period (c900-1150) when it dominated European Russia.

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Clive D.W. Feather          | If you lie to the compiler,
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