Endangered Language Personal Response Blog Post
What did medieval linguist Antonio de Nebrija mean when he told Queen Isabella that: “language is the perfect instrument of empire?” How has language contributed to colonial power? Focus on a specific example.
Antonio’s quote directly relates to linguistic imperialism. He implies that to have full control of a state or “empire,” one must have the command of language and must be able to manipulate it. Manipulate it, not in the sense that you change the words or the grammar, but more rather manipulate the use of it. By this, I mean, in a sense, globalize it. When conquering a land, for that land to be yours, you must also transfer your language, or any means of actually using that country to your advantage becomes null.
Moreover, language has become a significant and dominant part of imperialism for many countries. Russia is a prime example of this and linguistic imperialism. Russia has been able to use language as a way of conquering nations so efficiently that there is a word for it, Russification: make Russian in character. The most significant instance of Russification was present in the Soviet Union. Russia had taken over many countries and labeled them all under the Soviet Union. So as an act of being all “united,” they had implemented them all to Russian ideologies and the Russian language. This was done by changing one of the most fundamental aspect of people's lives: how they communicate. They were forced to speak Russian and were punished if they were to go against the government. While this strategy might have been 'aggressive,' it was also efficient. Through forcibly changing people's livelihoods, Russia was able to russify many countries and use them to their advantage, mostly for political and military purposes.
Antonio’s quote directly relates to linguistic imperialism. He implies that to have full control of a state or “empire,” one must have the command of language and must be able to manipulate it. Manipulate it, not in the sense that you change the words or the grammar, but more rather manipulate the use of it. By this, I mean, in a sense, globalize it. When conquering a land, for that land to be yours, you must also transfer your language, or any means of actually using that country to your advantage becomes null.
Moreover, language has become a significant and dominant part of imperialism for many countries. Russia is a prime example of this and linguistic imperialism. Russia has been able to use language as a way of conquering nations so efficiently that there is a word for it, Russification: make Russian in character. The most significant instance of Russification was present in the Soviet Union. Russia had taken over many countries and labeled them all under the Soviet Union. So as an act of being all “united,” they had implemented them all to Russian ideologies and the Russian language. This was done by changing one of the most fundamental aspect of people's lives: how they communicate. They were forced to speak Russian and were punished if they were to go against the government. While this strategy might have been 'aggressive,' it was also efficient. Through forcibly changing people's livelihoods, Russia was able to russify many countries and use them to their advantage, mostly for political and military purposes.
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