Kiev or Kyiv? Norwegian institutions grapple with the politics of a city’s spelling

The spelling of Ukraine’s capital can be spelled two ways – Kiev or Kyiv. Norwegian media and political institutions and organizations are coming to terms with the politics behind each spelling.

Norwegian Language Council acknowledges two different spellings, Ukraine wants Ukrainian language spelling

The spelling of the capital of Ukraine has sparked a political debate in Norway. According to the Norwegian Language Council, there are two different spellings of the Ukrainian capital – Kyiv (an official Latin transliteration of the capital from the Ukrainian language) and Kiev (the Russian name for the city). For the past years, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry has favored Kyiv whilst the newspaper Aftenposten announced this week that they will follow suit. Aftenposten’s usage of Kyiv has also sparked a discussion with other Norwegian media companies, including NTB.

Many in Ukraine have pushed for the Ukrainian spelling of the city, and the country itself, after years of what they see as the “forced adoption” of Russian linguistic standards and practices. This so-called “Russification” was a process where the Ukrainian language was banned in favor of Russian political, cultural, and linguistic methods administered first by the Russian Empire and then by the Soviet Union.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Language Council have used both spellings

The Norwegian Language Council has updated its website with a recommendation to use the Ukrainian spelling when referring to any location within Ukraine, including the capital. However, some locations have a longstanding tradition of being spelled a certain way in Norwegian including Tsjernobyl (Chernobyl), Krim (Crimea), and Kiev (Kyiv).

Sturla Berg-Olsen, a senior adviser at the Language Council, spoke to NTB about the Language Council’s practices when it came to Ukraine and the Ukrainian language. Work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has seen the two different spellings of the capital used in the recent past. Olsen said that “In 2020, we had a number of inquiries about Kiev – Kyiv. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had done a job on this matter. It is also part of the story that we had the form Kyjiv as standardized for a while, before it was changed to Kyiv in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs… Kiev was recommended for a while. Then as a joint Nordic work for transcription rules for Russian. But Kiev was not used.”

“Marker of national identity“

For Norway’s first ambassador to an independent Ukraine, the use of Ukrainian spelling was a powerful tool to help dissociate the country from historical ties with Russia. Øyvind Nordsletten, who served as Norway’s top man in Kyiv from 1992 to 1996, told NTB, “the name change is a marker of national identity and independence, as proof that Ukraine is something else, and that Kyiv is no longer part of the historic Russian Empire. They want Ukrainian place names and names to be reproduced in the country’s main language.”

Nordsletten also reminisced about the young country’s urgency for the world to recognize its language and spelling. He remembered that “They came to all the foreign embassies with a wish that we should change the spelling in the capital of Kyiv. This was very important for them.”

“Want out of the Soviet shadow”

Although Russians are the largest ethnic minority in Ukraine, the majority of Ukrainians feel passionately about the use of their language after years of Russian repression. Euro News, which is in Kyiv, reporting on the crisis with Russia fermenting on the nearby border, has reported that “The Ukrainians want out of the Soviet shadow. Ukraine also wants to show its newfound linguistic freedom beyond its own borders. Therefore, foreign media are being asked to use the term Kyiv for the capital.”

Since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, the use of language has become the latest tool in an ongoing cultural war between Russia and Ukraine. A social media campaign (#kyivnotkiev) begun by Ukrainian authorities earlier this year has pushed international media to use the Ukrainian spelling for the nation’s capital.

“Usually, there is not much politics in how to write place names,” Berg-Olsen told NTB. Yet given the deep divisions in Ukrainian society, there is nothing but politics when it comes to the correct spelling of its capital city.

Source : © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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