Troika targets Greek alphabet
Ancient Greek
characters may become history in new cost-cutting transliteration proposals
Author: Damian Mac Con Uladh
Author: Damian Mac Con Uladh
ΟΧΙ may have to become
OCHI if the troika-forced transliteration rules are implemented (Reuters) ΟΧΙ
may have to become OCHI if the troika-forced transliteration rules are
implemented (Reuters) Greeks may have to abandon their unique alphabet and
embrace Latin characters under new plans that the troika promises will save the
country millions every year.
Exasperated at still
not being able to read simple street signs or hostile newspaper headlines since
starting their austerity mission in Greece three years ago, troika inspectors
decided to bring up the issue with senior government officials in recent weeks.
“If we can’t get our
heads around this crazy script after so many years in the country, what chance
does a tourist spending a few days or weeks have of understanding it?” one
troika mandarin commented.
He said ditching Greek
characters will lead to immediate savings and would thus contribute to paying
off the country’s onerous debt.
“It would also send a
strong signal to the markets that Greece was serious about getting back on
track. Changing alphabet would be a strong confidence-building gesture that
could help the state’s privatisation programme by making it easier for
investors to find their way around the country,” he continued.
Companies would no
longer have to produce special computer keyboards for the Greek market and
municipalities would have to spend less on street signs, he pointed out.
“There would also be
benefits for tourism. With the need to transliterate place names gone, traffic
signs will become smaller, freeing up the view of the Acropolis and other
Athens landmarks for motorists driving on central boulevards,” the troika
official said.
Lenders have already
set up a subcommittee – the troika transliteration team – to prepare a
timetable for the character change. The hope is that pro-memorandum politicians
and pundits will lead by example by communicating in Latin characters before
any official switch.
Conservative estimates
put the cost of Greece and Cyprus having
a unique alphabet in the region of about €800m a year, money that the troika
says would be better used to pay off bondholders.
The official said that
the Cypriot government – the island being more familiar with Latin characters
owing to British rule from 1878 to 1960 – had already indicated its willingness
to ditch the 24-character script.
He added that
Ireland’s move to exchange Gaelic for Roman
type in the Irish language in the 1950s was a precedent that
Greeks could follow.
Πρωταπριλιάτικο μεν,
αλλά από αυτούς όλα να τα περιμένεις…
MΟΙΡΑΣΟΥ ΤΗΝ ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ
http://amphiktyon.blogspot.gr/2015/08/reuters.html
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