[Ads-l] Off-topic: Cyrillic vs. Roman Writing

Geoffrey Nathan geoffnathan at WAYNE.EDU
Sat Mar 19 15:17:37 UTC 2022


Not really in our bailiwick, but on a political posting on Facebook
by a pro-Ukraine friend there's a picture of a pro-Russian banner.
It reads Zа Путина: [za putina] 'For Putin'. Now, for those
who don't read Cyrillic, the first letter isn't Cyrillic but Roman,
so this is (sort of) code-switched. And, for those following
the unpleasantness in Ukraine, the 'z' letter has become a rallying
symbol for the Russian troops (painted on their military
vehicles and aircraft). According to the Wikipedia entry on this
use of 'Z' (yes, there is one...) it's become quite common in
Russian pro-war propaganda.


Geoffrey S. Nathan
WSU Information Privacy Officer (Retired)
Emeritus Professor, Linguistics Program
https://clasprofiles.wayne.edu/profile/an6993
geoffnathan at wayne.edu


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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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