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Question
“When a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their prison.”
Can you think of examples in history where conquered people had their language taken away from them or had a language imposed on them?
Solution
Some examples of the native language taken away from its people and/or imposition of the language of the conqueror are:-
(a) Portuguese becoming the lingua franca of Angola.
(b) English imposed on the various Celtic peoples.
(c) Spanish imposed on the Basques and the Catalans.
(d) Turkish imposed on the Kurds.
Notes
A few examples have been provided for students' reference. It is strongly recommended that students develop the answer on their own.
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