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language lost

Reader comment on item: 50 Years of Syrian Misery
in response to reader comment: Colonial Boundries

Submitted by myth (Germany), Mar 9, 2013 at 17:18

Germany has nine borders with neighboring countries. The Rhine marks the southern part of the border with France. To my knowledge all the other borders are far from natural and have been disputed and changed until the recent 20th century. Any telephone book tells me, ethnicity is not the dividing characteristic, nor is religion. Even culture often spreads across borders.

Seven borders present me with a characteristic change the very second I cross them. People speak another language. The development of distinct modern languages in Europe during the Middle Ages laid the foundations for today's countries. Here in Europe, the language one speaks, tells the story to what extent our ancestors resisted the Roman Empire.

From Morocco, to Syria, to Saudi Arabia, people speak Arabic. Where have all the languages of the Middle East gone that existed after the Roman Empire? The survival and dominance of Arabic points to a conquest of Arabic-speakers. It is that conquest, not European colonialism, that created this unorderly situation in the first place. It left the majority of the Middle Eastern countries with only one common language, a common religion, but little else. Most of the individual languages are lost, each one capable of defining a country.

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Reader comments (17) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1Assad the Exception? [235 words]ChadMar 10, 2013 18:10204182
2You raise an interesting point [334 words]saraMar 10, 2013 18:41204182
1Syrian people, other people [58 words]SJoshMar 10, 2013 03:04204173
1Follow the money [33 words]EthanPMar 10, 2013 20:07204173
1Anti-western dictatorships rival democracies as the most stable form of government [349 words]stuffagainMar 9, 2013 22:26204168
2The Muslim/Arab world does not know how to live in peace. [135 words]batya daganMar 9, 2013 21:56204167
1Islamic Ethics Are A Failed Paradigm [90 words]DaveMar 9, 2013 21:40204166
1some good in the Bathist regime? [16 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Barbara HoshikoMar 9, 2013 16:40204158
1Saddam & Assad friendly toward Christians [115 words]EliyahuMar 10, 2013 16:00204158
50 Years of Syrian Mysery [171 words]JudithMar 9, 2013 13:21204153
What's the meaning of the Palestininan/ Hijaz flag inside the number 8? [25 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
PezDispenserMar 9, 2013 02:23204141
1"Horror and Barbarity" [134 words]sdjamesMar 9, 2013 01:33204140
1Colonial Boundries [104 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
EthanPMar 8, 2013 16:54204130
1Assyria [20 words]JenkaMar 9, 2013 10:36204130
4language lost [203 words]mythMar 9, 2013 17:18204130
2No Simple Answers. [157 words]EthanPMar 9, 2013 21:04204130
1"Surely we have been here before .?" [74 words]UgriMar 11, 2013 01:28204130

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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