Why no Cyrillic?

[Paul B. Gallagher]

[redirecting my reply to the list]

Susan Bauckus wrote:

[quoting me:]
> "That being said, I still find it preposterous that Slavicists
> working with Russian find the need to transliterate in case fellow
> Slavicists working with Russian might not have Cyrillic capability."
> 
> I suggest that it's more like a doctor and a computer specialist not
> being able to understand each other's jargon or knowlledge of each
> other's fields. unfortunate, or interesting, perhaps. why
> preposterous? Not being able to type in Cyrillic would be
> preposterous, but that's not what we're talking about.
> 
> don't non-Russianists read linguistic papers with examples set forth
> in transliteration? it's a tool of the field.

Just because we have a tool in our repertoire doesn't mean it should be 
used for everything. You're right that transliteration is appropriate 
for linguistic papers addressed to a broader audience, especially one 
including non-Slavicists (I haven't seen any such papers here since I 
subscribed in February 2001). And I find it easier to see cognate 
relationships when the various reflexes are presented in the same 
writing system. But I don't find it reasonable for a comparative Slavist 
to say "I can't read Cyrillic, so dumb it down for me, please." (not 
that anyone here has done so) It's a basic tool of the profession.

I guess the question is whether it is reasonable for someone posting to 
SEELANGS to expect his readership to be literate in Cyrillic. I would 
say Cyrillic literacy is a reasonable expectation for someone posting on 
Russia or Russian in this forum. Readers who are not Cyrillic-literate 
are probably also not interested in the posting; a serious Russianist 
would have made the commitment to acquire the necessary skills and 
technology.

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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