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Ethnic Cleansing of Iranian Language
Fox News is reporting that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered government and cultural bodies to use modified Persian words to replace foreign words that have crept into the language, such as 'pizzas' which will now be known as 'elastic loaves.' All governmental agencies, newspapers and publications are to use words deemed more appropriate by the official language watchdog, the Farhangestan Zaban e Farsi, or Persian Academy.
The academy has introduced more than 2,000 words as alternatives for mostly Western language words, being less sensitive about Arabic words because the Koran is written in Arabic. Among the changes, a 'chat' will become a 'short talk,' a 'cabin' will be renamed a 'small room,' and 'firewall' will be 'baroo,' or firewall in the building sense (although some are reporting the 'pizza' change to be a joke).
The idea of such a 'language academy' is not new, with France's being probably the most famous. Some are also glad to have a direct translation tool, now being able to explain that 'telecommuting' to work is nothing more 'distance working' ('door-karee') where there was no Farsi word for the act previously.
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anti-progress
- reposting b/c it posted my comment as anonymous and I don't know why b/c I did sign in....
A restaurant opened around the corner from where I work and they really do have "freedom fries" on the menu. Of course, for us, we order them because we think it's funny and ridiculous. "I'd like the freedom fries with my hamburger, please." It's ironic considering that they didn't rename the hamburger too, considering its origins. "I'd like my freedom fries with my Ghenghis meat patty sandwich." Of course, the word sandwich is still acceptable due to the fact that it's British and was thus named(sandwich) before the Revolutionary War and kept its name because our memories are short.
If anything however, from a business perspective, refusing to use a word that has become universally known because of its origin, will merely hinder a person when they have to leave the "safety" of their home country. Of course, currently, an Iranian person would know the equivalent "western" word to use when in a business meeting with foreign counterparts because they would have been forced to change their verbage. However, 10 years from now, if the laws of language really did adhere, an Iranian business person would be handicapped per se, amongst his/her foreign counterparts. It's not as if these are slang words or swear words that would be rude to use. Or maybe the business people, those being the ones who would bring foreign revenue into the country, will be exempt due to their benefit to society. $$$$$$$$$
As westerners, we would suffer horribly if we had to trade in parts of our language because of its origin. We don't have an original language to fall back on.
The language academy's been at this for years. They didn't "replace" English words that were already in Farsi. They came up with a set of standard Farsi translations in about 40 different fields, including cinematography, geology, and technology.
For instance, my brother didn't used to know much English, but he knew "dub", "frame", "pan", "zoom", etc..., because of he was a camera man there.
I don't see a problem with introducing Farsi translations for those. I don't believe "frame" is a universally known word. In fact, the academy specifically accepts words of Latin origin if they have universal use, like "cinema" and "pizza".
If you look at the list of 2000 words, over 20 different reports by some 10 to 20 experts per each report, you'd probably agree that there should be a translation for them.
I really didn't like FOX's (and others') spin on the story. In fact, they reported the "pizza" translation inaccurately. There is not now nor was there ever a translation for "pizza". But without that little gimick, the story would have seemed fine, and FOX wasn't having that.
A comedian made a joke on a sitcom, where jokes belong, and FOX used it to trivialize the work of hundreds of serious people.
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anti-progress by Anonymous :: NR0 :: Show
A restaurant opened around the corner from where I work and they really do have "freedom fries" on the menu. Of course, for us, we order them because we think it's funny and ridiculous. "I'd like the freedom fries with my hamburger, please." It's ironic considering that they didn't rename the hamburger too, considering its origins. "I'd like my freedom fries with my Ghenghis meat patty sandwich." Of course, the word sandwich is still acceptable due to the fact that it's British and was thus named(sandwich) before the Revolutionary War and kept its name because our memories are short.
If anything however, from a business perspective, refusing to use a word that has become universally known because of its origin, will merely hinder a person when they have to leave the "safety" of their home country. Of course, currently, an Iranian person would know the equivalent "western" word to use when in a business meeting with foreign counterparts because they would have been forced to change their verbage. However, 10 years from now, if the laws of language really did adhere, an Iranian business person would be handicapped per se, amongst his/her foreign counterparts. It's not as if these are slang words or swear words that would be rude to use. Or maybe the business people, those being the ones who would bring foreign revenue into the country, will be exempt due to their benefit to society. $$$$$$$$$
As westerners, we would suffer horribly if we had to trade in parts of our language because of its origin. We don't have an original language to fall back on.