Language

1
Language Nationalism in Europe

• Chapter 11 Greece European Turkey From
  Religious to
  
• Linguistic Identity

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Overview

• Ethnic identities based on culture and religion
  have been transformed to territorial identities
  marked by language

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Greece

• Greece was part of Turkish Ottoman Empire for
  approx 400 years, 15th - 19th c
  
• Phanariot Greeks in Constantinople served as
  interpreters and gained some control over Turkish
  foreign policy within Ottoman Empire, Greeks
  governed Romania, Moldova
• Many Balkan Orthodox were considered Greek by
  culture, since religion was more important than
  language
  
• Greek travelers/traders spread Greek culture

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Greece, contd.

• After 11 years of war, and with help from
  Britain, France, and Russia, Greeks became
  independent of the Turks in 1832
  
• Turks were expelled and many Greeks returned from
  abroad

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Megali Idea (aka irredentism)

• The idea was to expand the borders of Greece to
  include ALL Greeks
  
• Many Greeks outside Greece did not support the
  idea
  
• But Greece did grow in expansions in 1864, 1881,
  1913, 1920, 1947
  
• Serbia Bulgaria feared that Greece would engulf
  them too, all three battled over Macedonia
  1912-1913
  
• After expansion, compulsory population exchanges
  based on religion
  
• Greece now includes many non-Greeks, diaspora
  still exists too

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Greece today
Greece in 1920
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Greek language

• The only surviving member of its branch of I-E,
  has no close relatives a unique orthography, is
  an unambiguous identifier of ethnicity
  
• Distinct dialects
• Tsakonian (now waning) in E. Pelopennese
• Pontic in Turkey

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Competition between two Greek Standards
Katharevousa vs. Dhimotiki

• Diglossia when Greece became independent
  Byzantine Greek was the written language, the
  spoken language was not written
  
• Possible solutions
• 1) Keep Byzantine Greek as literary language
• 2) Return to Ancient Greek for both literary and
  spoken language
  
• 3) Promote spoken language to literary status via
  purification, creating Katharevousa, with mixture
  of Ancient, New Testament, Byzantine, spoken
  Greek
• Just use spoken language -- Dhimotiki, this koine
  became dominant in Athens, used by Ionian poets

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More on Katharevousa vs. Dhimotiki

• Phanariot Greeks in government instituted
  Katharevousa as official language, though it was
  felt very artificial and problematic
  
• Since 1909, language policy favoring Katharevousa
  vs. Dhimotiki changed NINE times
  
• Since 1976 Dhimotiki only, Katharevousa has now
  disappeared

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Even more on Katharevousa vs. Dhimotiki

• Katharevousa associated with glorious Ancient
  past, Megali Idea, Hellenic identity, closer to
  language used in Church
  
• Dhimotiki associated with left-wing politics,
  heretical, subversive, pro-Slav Romaic
  identity
  

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Ethnic Linguistic make-up of Greece today

• No real data, because no census since 1951 has
  collected ethnic linguistic data
  
• Anti-minority Greek nationalism prevails,
  distortion of historical facts
  
• Minority languages Ladino, Armenian, Balkan
  Romance, Albanian, South Slavic languages, Turkish

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Linguistic minorities in Greece

• Ladino used to be majority language in
  Thessaloniki, but most speakers exterminated by
  Nazis
  
• Armenian was also once common in Thessaloniki,
  but most speakers emigrated
  
• Balkan Romance (Vlachs)
• Arumanian in Pindus mtns in Greece
• Megleno-Romanian in Macedonia

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Linguistic minorities in Greece, contd.

• Vlachs, contd. -- very much assimilated into
  Greek society, there are no attempts to promote
  Vlach language or ethnicity Romanians tried to
  claim Vlach as a dialect of Romanian Greeks
  tried to forcibly expel Vlachs to Romania (WWII)

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Linguistic minorities in Greece, contd.

• Albanian -- Greek Albanians do not feel connected
  to Albania, they are Christians and identify with
  Greece, in Greece their language is called
  Arvanitika, suggesting it is distinct from
  Albanian (although this is not so)

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Linguistic minorities in Greece, contd.

• South Slavic languages -- Greeks treat Slavs with
  greatest suspicion 6-7th c Slavs penetrate
  Macedonia, Thrace, and Pelopennese in modern
  times, Slavic languages are actively suppressed
  in Greece use of name(s) Macedonia(n) very
  controversial in Greece
• Turkish in Greece -- 100s of thousands left
  Greece 1821-1923, but many remained they are the
  only minority in Greece with protected status

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European Turkey

• Turkey created 1923
• Turkish is from the Turkic branch of Altaic
• 1929 conversion to Latin alphabet (from Arabic)

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European Turkey, contd.

• Minority languages (concentrated in Istanbul)
• Jewish Ladino (some emigrated to Israel)
• Armenian (few left after 1915 massacre of 1.5M,
  others emigrated to Soviet Armenia)
  
• Greek (some remain in Istanbul and on two
  islands)
  

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Conclusions

• Religion used to be the strongest marker of
  identity, but in the last two centuries it has
  been surpassed by language