[tz] WSJ follows AP to Kyiv

[Matt Johnson-Pint]

I'd like to add two data points to the discussion:

1) CLDR 35 added Kyiv as a formal alternative name.  This is the first time that has been done in CLDR.  The English (en.xml) file now has the following:

<zone type="Europe/Kiev">
  <exemplarCity>Kiev</exemplarCity>
  <exemplarCity alt="formal">Kyiv</exemplarCity>
</zone>

See:
https://unicode-org.atlassian.net/browse/CLDR-11416
https://github.com/unicode-org/cldr/commit/7d19b8ab566f42882da9cccddc145b4b979eb6d7

2) The English display name given by Windows for this zone is: "(UTC+02:00) Helsinki, Kyiv, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Vilnius".  It's a different data set, and is influenced by Microsoft's decision-makers, but is indeed a label that has been applied to a time zone with the Kyiv spelling.

Given these as precedent, I would not be in favor of renaming the Zone but I would be in favor of a Link entry added for Europe/Kyiv (with Europe/Kiev remaining the Zone entry for now).  I get this is backwards from the usual approach, but seems to be a reasonable compromise.

Also, I notice that theory.html doesn't discuss Link entries at all.  Perhaps that should be rectified?

-Matt


________________________________
From: tz <tz-bounces at iana.org> on behalf of Guy Harris <guy at alum.mit.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2019 2:01 PM
To: Bryan J Smith <b.j.smith at ieee.org>
Cc: Time Zone Mailing List <tz at iana.org>; John Hawkinson <jhawk at alum.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: [tz] WSJ follows AP to Kyiv

On Nov 19, 2019, at 1:03 PM, Bryan J Smith <b.j.smith at ieee.org> wrote:

> 1)  What are the thresholds to change the official Zoneinfo Path, not just an alias or other name, but the Path, of a Zone?

theory.html doesn't appear to address this.

On 2008-03-18, some name changes were made:

        Calcutta -> Kolkata
        Saigon -> Ho_Chi_Minh

Both reflect changes made well before 2008; for example, the respelling of Kolkata occurred in 2001:

        https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/09/02/492447039/tk

The first of those changes is the one closest to Kiev vs. Kyiv - the latter isn't just a respelling, it's a renaming, and apparently also corresponded to the incorporation of some other districts outside what was Saigon into the city.

> 2)  How to handle any alias to the old name(s), when the official Path is to be changed (per #1)?

Presumably, the same way that those other changes were made; a Link line is added to the "backward" file, so the old name remains for backwards compatibility, as a link to the new name (at least if you're using a file system that supports links).

> 3)  What historical precedents are there on this matter (I've been trying to look through the change logs), to further validate justification (of #1)?

Perhaps Calcutta -> Kolkata, although that one may not have been as politically sensitive as this one.
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