Linguae Europaeae

by Lucas Haney Lucas Haney is a senior in Spanish and Italian studies at the University of Illinois. Lucas’ future plans include pursuing an MA in Translation and Interpretation in order to help facilitate communication between groups with linguistic barriers, like in the medical field and/or the border between the US and Mexico. He wrote this blog post in 418 ‘Language and Minorities in Europe’ in Fall 2021. Cyprus has had an interesting development as a country for a little over a century due to an ongoing dispute within the country that heavily affects Turkey as well. The beginning of the 1960s started off swimmingly with Cyprus officially declaring itself independent in August 1960 from the rule of the British. With this independence there was an agreement between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots for a partnership with a constitution that would help to govern the country (THO). At this point the use of Turkish, or more specifically Cypriot Turkish in some cases, was spre...

by Dorothea Christophorou Dorothea Christophorou is a senior in Political Science and communication at The University of Illinois. Dorothea’s future plans include working in Chicago with non-governmental organizations. Dorothea wrote this blog post in 418 'Language and Minorities in Europe' in spring 2019. Situated in the far eastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea, the island of Cyprus has a unique geopolitical position at the crossroads of three continents (Europe, Africa, Asia) and at the meeting point of great civilizations. A small island which became an independent country only in 1960, it has had a long and turbulent history. Throughout its history, Cyprus has been conquered by Phoenicians, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Arabs, the Venetians, the Romans, the Greeks, the Ottoman Turks and the British. They all left their historical, architectural, cultural and linguistic influences on the island, some of which remain to this day. Among all its conquerors, the Greeks, t...