CAN TURKEY RELATE?
LOVE AND LANGUAGE
BARRIER (FATHIA FATA NKRUMAH).
Language has
been the most common principal method of human communication for so many
centuries. The evolution of human language has come from Symbolic language,
Oral Culture, External Symbols and so on. The fact is language is needed in any
form of communication in any human activity. Language can be in the form of
Argot, Cant, Colloquial Language, Creole, Dialect, Jargon, Lingo, Lingua
Franca, Patois, Pidgin, Slang and
Vernacular, just to mention a few.
The most
infuriating feat is the inability to communicate with one another in a common
Language. Language Barrier or Linguistic barrier is the difficulties in
communication experienced by people or groups originally speaking different languages
or dialects. It is the lack of a common language that prevents two people from
speaking to or understanding each other through verbal communication. Dealing
with Language or Linguistic Barrier could be the most dreaded act any human
could go through, but the question is, “Does Language Barrier really count when
it comes to love or relationships?”
Highlighting on
the love story of the first Prime Minister and President of the first republic
of Ghana, His Excellency Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (an African and a native
Ghanaian) and his wife, the first lady, Madam Fathia Nkrumah (a Coptic Egyptian
born in Zeitoun, Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt).
These two lovely
pair seem to have fallen in love with each other despite their language barrier.
According to the Ghanaian history, Fathia and Dr. Nkrumah did not have a common
language since Fathia was unable to speak any language aside French and Coptic
(a mix of the Greek alphabets and Demotic signs), neither did her husband, Dr.
Nkrumah speak French or Coptic. Their only way of understanding each other was
through an interpreter who helped in translating whatever they both had to say
to each other. This may also bring a lot of interesting rhetorical questions in
mind.
A lot of people
who are familiar with this story share the view that, Dr. Nkrumah married
Fathia because of his desire to unite the whole Africa as one country just like
the UAE’s. That could definitely be a reason but after their civil marriage,
Nkrumah called on a British-born and an African-American women to assist Fathia
in taking English Language Instructions (lessons).
With this story,
the question still holds, “does language or linguistic barrier really count
when it comes to love or relationship?” especially now that inter-racial
marriages are a trend in the world.
BY CINDY A. BREFO
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