All over the world and throughout history, conquering cultures and new regimes make deliberate changes to local language use as a way to highlight their own power and authority. Just look at the placenames in the Americas, for example: while some landmarks retain indigenous names (hello, Lake Ontario!), many are given new names in the languages of the conquerors.
Currently, in Afghanistan, the ruling Taliban regime is working to eliminate Persian words and expressions from schools, universities, and placenames. In Kabul, the authorities are steadily replacing Persian placenames with alternatives in the Pashto language, generally by directly translating the names from one language into another.
The impacts of this sort of policy and behaviour are far-reaching. While the Afghan and Persian cultures have a long and complex history, Persian (which is known in Afghanistan as Dari) has long been the common language of Afghanistan, enabling people to communicate with ease, even when they spoke different languages at home. Demoting Persian in this way, especially in the harsh political environment of Afghanistan, sends a chilling message to the public, including education providers and businesspeople.
Of course, there are many examples of similar behaviours all over the world. Many cultures compromise by featuring two, or more, languages on signs and by having more than one official language. This way, rulers can make statements about power and authority, and ordinary people can continue to communicate in whatever language works best for them at any given time.
Photo Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/toronto-skyline-and-cn-tower-hRg1KL4-AUE
