Afghanistan, where sword remains mightier than pen, can't even decide whether to use the Pashtu or the Dari word for 'university'

[Dennis Baron]

There's a new post on the Web of Language:

Afghanistan, where sword remains mightier than pen, can't even decide  
whether to use the Pashtu or the Dari word for 'university'

This week, as Afghanistan continued to outpace Iraq in the two  
countries' olympic race toward self-destruction, the Loya Jirga, or  
Afghan parliament, debated whether to use the Pashtu or the Dari word  
for 'university' in the new higher education law. Delegates also  
argued over which of the nation's two official languages should be  
used in class.

... A reporter for a state-run newspaper was recently fined for using  
the Dari word for 'university' instead of the Pashtu one, even though  
that Persian word is on Kabul University’s official seal.

Language has often been a flash point in Afghan education, though  
until recently, education hasn't been much of a national priority in a  
country known for the routine destruction of its own cultural heritage  
and whose national flower is the opium poppy.

... Delegates to the Loya Jirga proposed three solutions to the  
current language debate: let schools in Pashtun areas use Pashtu; let  
those where Dari speakers predominate use Dari. For schools in mixed  
areas, the language of each classroom would be dictated by whether  
there is a majority of Pashtu or Dari speakers. They've apparently  
learned much about majority rule from their American "advisors." Even  
so, delegates came to no decision and in true American fashion, the  
parliament referred the matter to committee.

Read the rest of this post on the Web of Language


____________________
Dennis Baron
Professor of English and Linguistics
Department of English
University of Illinois
608 S. Wright St.
Urbana, IL 61801

office: 217-244-0568
fax: 217-333-4321

http://illinois.edu/goto/debaron

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