The Greek Language War: A Nation’s Identity Crisis
For over a century, Greece was torn apart by a linguistic civil war, a battle fought not with weapons but with words. This post delves into the intense conflict between…
Tag: language policy
The Alphabet Wars: Central Asia’s Script Politics
An alphabet is more than just a tool for writing; it's a flag, a declaration of identity. In Central Asia, nations like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are embroiled in "alphabet wars,"…
How Vietnam Got Its Latin Script
The Vietnamese alphabet, Quốc Ngữ, presents a fascinating paradox with its Latin letters used for a tonal, Austroasiatic language. Originally created by 17th-century Catholic missionaries to spread their faith, the…
Turkey’s Alphabet Revolution
Explore one of history's most radical linguistic reforms: Turkey's 1928 Alphabet Revolution. At the direction of Atatürk, the nation abandoned the centuries-old Arabic script for a new Latin-based alphabet in…
The Billion-Dollar Dialogue: How a Nation’s Language Policy Shapes Its Economy
Beyond culture and identity, a nation's language policy has a powerful, measurable impact on its economy. From Switzerland's multilingual GDP boost to the EU's single market, we explore how decisions…
“Je me souviens”: How the Fight for French Forged Modern Quebec
The motto on every Quebec license plate, "Je me souviens" (I remember), is the key to understanding the province's modern identity. It recalls a history where French was sidelined and…
One Nation, One Hundred Languages: The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union’s Grand Linguistic Experiment
The Soviet Union's language policy was a dramatic paradox, beginning with the revolutionary promotion of over 100 minority languages through the *korenizatsiya* (indigenization) program. This ambitious project, which created new…
Mayday, Mayday, Mayday: The High-Stakes Linguistics of Aviation English
Discover Aviation English, the meticulously engineered language designed to prevent disaster at 30,000 feet. From its unique phonetic alphabet to a zero-tolerance policy for ambiguity, this 'language' is a linguistic…
When a Language Won’t Awaken: The Hard Truths of Linguistic Revitalization
While the revival of Hebrew is a celebrated success, the path of language revitalization is often fraught with failure. The hard truth is that most efforts face immense challenges, from…
The World’s Smallest Languages: When a Language Has Fewer Than 10 Speakers
What happens when a language's entire world can fit into a single room? We explore the most extreme cases of language endangerment, from the Tolowa Dee-ni' in the US to…
The Ainu Language: A Linguistic Island in Japan
On the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, a language isolate with no known relatives is fighting for survival. The Ainu language, with its unique polysynthetic grammar and rich oral traditions…
The Fight for Purity: Inside the Académie Française and the Quest to Protect the French Language
For nearly 400 years, the forty "immortals" of the Académie Française have stood as the official guardians of the French language. But in a modern world dominated by English loanwords…
Where is Esperanto Spoken?
Esperanto, the most successful constructed international auxiliary language, was invented in the late 19th century by L. L. Zamenhof with the intention of fostering harmony...
The Welsh Not: A Controversial Practice in the History of Language
Introduction The Welsh Not is a fascinating yet contentious chapter in the history of languages. It was a practice used in some Welsh schools during...
The History of the French Circumflex
The French language, renowned for its fluidity and musicality, is adorned with a variety of diacritical marks that contribute to its phonetic, etymological, and aesthetic...
Are There Two Norwegian Languages?
Most people may be surprised to learn that there are two Norwegian languages: Bokmål and Nynorsk. Not dialects, mind you, but officially recognized and taught...
The Politics of Language: The Coexistence of Spanish and Catalan in Spain
Language, by nature, serves as a medium for communication, conveying thoughts, feelings, knowledge, and culture. However, language can also reflect political power dynamics, personal and...
Welsh: A Modern-Day Linguistic Enigma
The Welsh language, or “Cymraeg” as it’s known by its native speakers, is a fascinating tapestry of history, culture, and linguistics. For those unfamiliar with...
Preserving Endangered Languages: An Urgent Quest for Linguistic Diversity
Every language encapsulates a unique world view, an intricate tapestry of culture, history, and identity. However, many of these linguistic gems are rapidly disappearing, falling...