A) APPEARANCE OF DUALISM IN THE MACEDONIAN LANGUAGE

A) APPEARANCE OF DUALISM IN THE MACEDONIAN LANGUAGE

Pressures applied due to the Greek political and cultural improvements, as well as everyday pressures from the new demographic reality, greatly contributed to the Macedonian language losing its physical integrity. Many Macedonian-ized Greek words began to penetrate the Macedonian language and, in time, dualism began to appear which had nothing to do with bilingualism. Among the first words to enter the Macedonian language were korofilak (policeman), astonom (police chief), dikastirio (court), stenohoria (grief), anisihia (harassment), etc. This infiltration of Greek words in the Macedonian language continued to be used and over time became common, and even considered native by the next generations. Dualism in languages also appeared in the Serbian and Bulgarian occupied parts of Macedonia. Dualism in the Macedonian language, through its erosive everyday processes, contributed greatly to the divergence of the language. Instead of the various dialects spoken throughout Macedonia converging towards the central Macedonian dialects such as the one spoken in Bitola, Veles, Prilep, etc., as they had done until the Balkan Wars, in a natural way starting to objectively form the Macedonian literary language, the introduction of the Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian languages in the three divided parts of Macedonia, gradually but systematically began to push the Macedonian language away from its natural convergence. The penetration of foreign words is not unique to the Macedonian language but is an indication that this kind of penetration usually occurs in nationally enslaved nations, and is a corridor for the transition from one language to another. Dualisms in languages also appear under conditions of freedom.

This kind of dualism in languages has also occurred in Canada, Australia, the United States, New Zealand, etc. Both Europeans and non-Europeans, gradually but surely allow English words to infiltrate their mother tongue. Among the first English words to infiltrate the Macedonian language were fridzho (refrigerator), karo (car), fono (telephone), floro (floor), baxi (boxes), biznes (business), etc. The power of the Anglophone reality is so great that dualism has been shown to appear even in the French language in Quebec.

But this kind of dualism that appears, for example, in the languages of the Macedonians, Poles, Italians, Croats, Greeks, Serbs, etc. in overseas countries always appears and develops outside of their home country. This kind of dualism does not appear in the native lands of people, in their historical and national territory where their language develops naturally and where its historical, national, cultural and biological development is guaranteed. Unfortunately the dualism that appeared in Macedonia, in the native land of the Macedonian people, was due to the invasive and forceful intrusion of dominating powers that had aims at assimilating the Macedonian people and extinguishing their culture. This invasive intrusion has placed the historical, national, cultural and biological survival of Macedonian people in jeopardy.

2. THE MACEDONIAN PEOPLE’S RESISTANCE FOR THE PROTECTION OF THEIR MACEDONIAN NATIONAL IDENTITY (1913-1940)

National and social oppression of the Macedonian people inside Macedonia contributed to the emergence of a worldwide Macedonian resistance movement, struggling to preserve the Macedonian national identity and culture. The Macedonian language, as one of the basic elements characterizing the Macedonian nation, was jealously guarded and protected by Macedonians everywhere. This continuous struggle took various passive and active forms and was present in the everyday lives of the Macedonian people.

Even under oppressive restrictions, the Macedonian family played a decisive and unwavering role in the preservation of the Macedonian language and culture. Banned, belittled and persecuted, the Macedonian language found a safe and lasting shelter within the Macedonian family. The Macedonian language was secretly present in the family every day, in daily conversations, in Macedonian songs, in Macedonian dances, in Macedonian stories and riddles, in Macedonian sayings and jokes, etc. Inside the Macedonian family, young generations created a sense of respect and love for their mother tongue which was secretly passed on from generation to generation. This way the Macedonian language played an invaluable role in the preservation of the Macedonian identity.

In addition to nurturing and safeguarding the Macedonian language, the Macedonian family has also preserved, nurtured and safeguarded the Macedonian historical consciousness and the Macedonian cultural tradition. The new Macedonian generations learned about the Macedonian Ilinden Uprising and the legendary deeds of Gotse Delchev, Damian Gruev, Vasil Chakalarov, Pando Kliashev, Lazo Poptraiov, Hristo Uzunov, Nikola Karev, Pitu Guli and many, many others, from their families, as they did about the criminal deeds of the Greek Andari (cutthroats) the likes of Pavlos Melas and Kote from Rulia. By making the next generation aware of its true Macedonian identity and by passing on this relevant and vital historic information, the Macedonian family not only slowed down the forced Greek assimilation but, in many cases, prevented it. The same role was played by the Macedonian family in the Serbian and Bulgarian occupied parts of Macedonia. At the same time, in the period between the two world wars, the Macedonian family jealously protected its national integrity and made a conscious and collective effort to resist mixed marriages, whose ultimate goal was to “to dilute the Macedonian identity” and to turn more Macedonians into Greeks. In the period between the two world wars, there were almost no mixed marriages between Macedonians and Greeks or between Macedonians and colonists. It is worth mentioning at this point that the Greek government had introduced a policy of encouraging Greeks, including the non-Greek colonists, to marry Macedonians, especially Greek men marrying Macedonian women, in an attempt to further dilute the Macedonian population.

As a result of struggling to preserve the Macedonian language, the Macedonian family passively showed strong resistance to the forcible learning of the Greek language. This resistance was particularly intensified and publicly expressed during the Metaxas dictatorship. Adult Macedonians included in the so-called evening schools for studying the Greek language found various ways to devalue the lessons and in that way expressed their dissatisfaction with being forced to learn Greek. There was hardly a single Macedonian village where people did not make fun of the teachers in the way they taught the Greek language. And, without exception, every one of these stories of ridicule was gladly recounted in fluent Macedonian. The same kind of resistance was observed everywhere among the Macedonians. Even Macedonian children in Greek classes whispered to one another in the Macedonian language. During holidays and after hours they spoke exclusively in their beautiful Macedonian dialects, despite the cruel treatment they received from their teachers, Greeks and the Greek authorities. For every Macedonian word uttered, students were beaten with rods on the palm of their hands, on their fingers, legs or head while being yelled at and called derogatory names including “hondrokefale” (thick-headed).

Thanks to the Macedonian national collective solidarity and to the role the Macedonian family played, the Macedonian language survived and remained the primary language of the Macedonian

people. Everything spoken and learned in the privacy of the family was always expressed in the Macedonian language. Over time, the Macedonian people did learn Greek in school but the Greek language was always regarded as secondary and foreign. This is confirmed by the fact that Macedonian people cannot naturally say the Greek sounds that do not exist in the Macedonian language. For example, Macedonians cannot pronounce the Greek letters “Γ” gamma and “∆” delta, as much as Greeks cannot pronounce the Macedonians letters “Ч” (CH) and “Ш” (SH). As a result, Macedonians always spoke Greek with an accent which was often looked down upon and ridiculed by Greeks.

With the foreign Christian colonist element deposited in Greek occupied Macedonia, resistance against the Macedonian population intensified. “This unexpected and peaceful colonist invasion truly took a genocidal approach against the Macedonian population.” (Jacques Ancel, op. cit., p. 122.) “The Greek authorities turned the colonist element into a political instrument aimed at the Macedonian population”. (Hagi Gogu, Occidentalii.., p. 150.) Knowing that the Greek state supported them, the colonists took an inhuman attitude towards the Macedonian people. Their behaviour, their daily deposition about the Macedonian human and national dignity, their rape and murder of innocent people…, were everyday occurrences. Their vicious attacks usually began with the defamatory words: “Are you still here? You filthy Bulgarian! Go back to Bulgaria!” Greek gangs, consisting mainly of colonists from Asia Minor, invaded Macedonian villages and viciously attacked the Macedonian population, beating people and yelling and screaming for them to leave while chanting: “Slavs get out of Greece!” (Veritas, op. cit, p. 125.) Captain Stephanos’s band, a gang of colonists from Lerin Region, for example, specialized in terrorizing the Macedonian population. In the Drama Region 11villagers from the villages Trlis, Lovcha and Starchina were killed because someone accused them of cooperating with the communists. Similarly, a number of villagers from the villages Livadishte, Butin and Chereshevo were badly beaten, women raped and “many Macedonians disappeared without a trace…” (Balkan Federation, 1925, No. 15, page 205).

The Macedonian people, under these circumstances, were left with no other choice but to resist the colonists in order to protect their

national and material interests. One form of resistance was not to allow the properties of the evicted Macedonians to be plundered by the colonists. The Macedonians in the village Zagorichani, Kostur Region, for example, would not allow colonists to enter their village at all. The Macedonian population in the village Nestrum attacked the colonists who were there to plunder them, calling on all Macedonians to “beat the dogs out of here…” (Rizospastis, March 3, 1934). The constant robberies and frequent violence, perpetrated by the colonists against the Macedonian population, forced the Macedonian people to actively defend themselves. When the colonists tried to forcibly seize Macedonian properties, the Macedonian people violently fought back. For this reason, there was a build up of intolerance between the Macedonians and the colonists in the period between the two world wars. These acts of violence created animosities and isolation between the two peoples. This resulted in no intermarriage between Macedonians and colonists during this period. All in all, the Greek colonization of Greek occupied Macedonia entered the realm of yet another real struggle “against nature and against the people…” (Societè de Nations, L'establisment de Refugies en Grèce, Genève, 1926, p. 136.) The once passive Macedonian resistance, in time turned into an active resistance with a conscious political aim against the Greek policy of assimilation and denationalization.