Remarks for the Dedication of Newly-Transliterated Signs

April 23, 2008

Dear Mr. Minister, Mr. Mayor, Mrs. Draganova,
 
I’m indeed very glad to be here.  To me this is more than official, this is personal.

You know - Bulgarian is a difficult language for foreigners to learn.  I can say that, I have been trying for 20 years.  And maybe that’s why I’m a witness and maybe even a victim of that difficulty.  But for centuries, the difficulty was compounded by confusing, conflicting systems for transliteration.  This may seem like a minor problem.  But if you’re a tourist or a businessman, trying to find your hotel, and you don’t speak Bulgarian, and the same city seems to be spelled in three or ten different ways, it’s not a small thing at all.

This is also important because Bulgaria is introducing the Cyrillic alphabet into the EU for the first time.  This is fair because Cyril and Methodius devised the alphabet, and it’s appropriate that Bulgaria lead the way.  And I admire very much the way Minister Vassilev went about this.  He consulted with some of the top Slavic linguists in the world, including in the United States, and of course here in Bulgaria.  He, as he said, even asked me for my humble opinion.  I am not a famous linguist, but as you know I always have an opinion about these things.  In the end, there was only one letter we disagreed on.  And when I learned that the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences supported the Minister’s view, I respectfully withdrew my objection.

Mr. Minister, you and your team should be proud with what you did with Разбираема България. What you achieved will contribute to that goal not for just a year or decades, but for many centuries to come.  And as a sign of my respect to you and to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, I would like to give you something that is a symbol of my concurrence with your vision.

Thank you.