A Compromise Doomed to Failure: The Soviet Practice of Greek ‘Language Construction’ in the 1920s–1930s

Fedor Sinitsyn

Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 2025, vol. 27, issue 4, 559-575

Abstract: The ‘Greek language problem’ in the USSR represented a special ‘case of complex ethno-linguistic identification,’ because in the Soviet Union, in addition to Katharevousa and Dimotiki, several dialects (languages) were used as a spoken language. In May 1926, at the first All-Union Meeting on Cultural Building among the Greeks of the USSR it was decided to abandon the use of Katharevousa. However, the reform of 1926 created the ground for a very broad interpretation. In 1932–1934, several more meetings on the ‘Greek issue’ were organized in the USSR, as well as a linguistic expedition to the places of residence of the Greeks. But the final decision on the ‘language problem’ has never been made.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/19448953.2024.2414169

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