语言的压迫

In another countrywide “linguistic experiment,” Soviet authorities changed the alphabet of the former Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova from Latin to Cyrillic. Latin is the alphabet used by Romanians to the west of Moldova, whereas Cyrillic is the alphabet used by Russians to the east of Moldova. The population of the small southeastern country of Moldova is largely made up of Romanians, who were then forced for decades to use an alphabet that was ill-suited for their native language. Romanian is a Romance language that is the closest of the living languages to ancient Latin, hence its use of the Latin alphabet. The Soviet efforts to manipulate national identity were aimed at bolstering a more Russian and Soviet-oriented identity among Moldovans and building distance from a Romanian and Western-oriented identity.

Just as an individual’s self is influenced by language, so is national identity shaped by the language its speakers share. Language channels culture, folklore, belief systems, values, history, and group identity. Which is why groups of people and entire nations at various points in history have been discouraged or even forbidden to speak their native language and had a different language imposed upon them. This happened in North and South America, in Europe, Asia, and Oceania, and continues to happen in several geopolitical regions today. Economic, political, and physical domination attract most of the attention, but dominating through language cuts to the heart of a nation and its people precisely because language and mind are so closely connected. To forbid not only certain words but entire languages is to forbid a certain way of thinking and of being in the world.