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ziq wrote (edited )

We now know we migrated here from the mainland (Syria/Lebanon), so it's likely we originally spoke a language from there, and it slowly morphed into the Eteocypriot language, before being (forcibly) supplanted after Hellenism, Venetianism, Ottomanism, Britishism, and all the other invading colonialists made their mark, and very deliberately set us against each other (for example, the British making one group the exclusive police force and ordering them to fuck up the other group, or the Ottomans heavily taxing one group but not the other to get people to switch cultures).

but we still have this amazing capacity for learning many new languages

I think adopting a common language, maybe a blend of the 2 (which we pretty much already have, to some extent) is the way forward.

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[deleted] wrote

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ziq wrote (edited )

I think as long as people that share one land speak different languages, it will be used by hostile external forces to set them against each other. Divide and conquer has been every imperialist's MO.

Language is the biggest divider because we literally don't understand each other. You could force everyone to learn both languages, but that would only work in times of stability where everyone is affluent and educated. As soon as drought, hunger or invasion hits, everything is up in the air. With climate change hitting the region hard, things will get a lot harder to control.

The languages merging could take generations, but I think it's the best hope for lasting peace in the future.

Not that we have any control over it - wasn't suggesting it be a gov policy, just a natural evolution.

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[deleted] wrote (edited )

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ziq wrote (edited )

Good points. I'm not sure about languages not merging though; our dialect is very different from mainland Greek and contains countless Turkish words and influences already. But I'm no linguist.

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