Chapter 5 – About Difference: Do All Languages Work the Same Way?

1. Changing Scripts

Read the following extract from an earlier version of Chapter 5: 

The script in which a language is written might be changed, often to reflect new politico-cultural realities or aspirations. Atatürk’s replacement of the Arabic-Persian alphabet with the Roman one in 1928-29 could hardly have carried a clearer message, to Turks and to the world: the new republic of Turkey was secular, European-oriented and ‘modern’, and the break with the Ottoman Caliphate was irreversible. In this sense, the selection of a script in which to write a language might not be merely a technical affair, but an ideological one. 

Now search online for some more examples of script change within a country, and discuss them with reference to language ideologies, narratives and symbolism. What did the authorities involved intend to achieve? To what extent were they successful? 

2. Language typology

Look at this meme:

What does it suggest about the way Bosniak developed as a language, and about the history of Bosnia? (You might need to do some internet research!) Design a similar meme about the historical development of your own language, or any other language you are familiar with.