site.btaAustrian Researcher Ziemann: Today's Cyrillic Alphabet Has Very Different Meaning

The Cyrillic alphabet has a very different meaning today, Austrian scholar Assoc. Prof. Dr. Daniel Ziemann told BTA on Thursday. He is one of the participants in an international forum on the Cyrillic alphabet "Alphabet. Language. Identity."

"I am a historian and I am most impressed by the Middle Ages and medieval writings in Bulgaria," said Ziemann. "This is an alphabet that can more easily render all those letters that Greek and Latin don't have enough capacity for," he says.

According to him, the Cyrillic alphabet certainly has a connection with religion and Christianity, as well as with identity. "On the one hand, it is a font that we write in today, but on the other hand, it is something that has become a national identity for many countries, not only in Bulgaria, but also in Serbia, in Russia," the researcher said.

His encounter with Bulgaria was accidental. "When I graduated in history in Germany, there was a PhD-ship that was related to Bulgarian history. At that time I had no idea exactly what was ahead of me. But even then it was clear that I had to learn Bulgarian so that I could read the original literature. In the beginning, the plans were to stay for only three months, but I am into my third year," said Ziemann with a smile.

The forum continues on June 28, in Plovdiv.