Japanese support for Ukraine took a linguistic turn last Friday when the government officially changed the transliteration of the country’s capital to キーウ (碍ī耻, Kyiv) from the Russian-derived キエフ (Kiefu, Kiev). Other new pronunciations include チョルノービリ (颁丑辞谤耻苍ō产颈谤颈, Chernobyl), オデーサ (翱诲ē蝉补, Odessa), ハルキウ (Harukiu, Kharkiv) and ルハンシク (Ruhanshiku, Luhansk).
The move came just over a week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an 演説 (enzetsu, speech) to 91AV原创 parliament, one of many he has given to governments around the world.
Each 演説 has been tailored with specific 共感ワード (kyōkan wādo, words that evoke empathy) in order to win over his audience. In his 演説 to the United States, for example, Zelenskyy referenced the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, 真珠湾攻撃 (shinjuwan kōgeki, the attack on Pearl Harbor), and quoted Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 speech, 「私には夢がある」 (“,” “I have a dream”), to appeal to the emotions of American lawmakers when requesting they establish a 飛行禁止空域 (丑颈办ō办颈苍蝉丑颈办ū颈办颈, no-fly zone).
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