You Say Euro; I Say Eiro

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euro.jpg

Latvia has “localized” the spelling of the euro to better fit its national language. Says this article…

    “The ‘eu’ diphthong is alien to the Latvian language. We don’t have such a sound, so we will use ‘eiro’,” Education Minister Ina Druviete, a trained linguist, told a cabinet meeting at which ministers unanimously opted for the “ei” word over the “eu” one.

And that’s not all; apparently Latvia is not alone. Malta will spell it “ewro” and Greeks spell it “EYPO” — when will the madness end?

I don’t see what the big deal is with these changes. I don’t speak Latvian but I think I could figure out what eiro stands for. Even for those who don’t, surely the little euro symbol will allevitate any doubts.

I think its human nature to modify and mutate names to make them your own. And, once you do localize something to fit your needs, you truly make it your own, which is a positive sign for the long-term survival of the euro, or eiro, or ewro.

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John Yunker

John Yunker

John is co-founder of Byte Level Research and author of Think Outside the Country as well as 19 editions of The Web Globalization Report Card.
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