We've all probably heard at some point in our lives about this vote that took place and the Greek language didn't qualify as a lingua franca, eventually losing by just one vote.
Others put it in the years of the United States of America, others at an important UN meeting, others even talk about the European Union, which was looking for its central language.
Ancient Greek was, after all, a language with a global impact for centuries and centuries, and it would be appropriate for it to qualify as colloquial in a country or federation close enough or far away, you choose and take.
History is well rooted in our consciences, as it has been around for decades and big names in our interior have been associated with it. Some have even heard it from the mouths of their teachers or in wells where there is "that" guy who knows such things. And it is one of the few times that this is not something that was born in the years of the internet and its great conspiracy passion, even if in the era of social networking it was reconstructed and experienced a second and equally jealous life.
But how did the tale of the historic candidacy of Greek as the official language that it lost from a cursed vote begin? Where did the script first play, before it unfolded and appeared at meetings of global and European institutions?
It all started when the United States gained independence in 1776, and the nation's fathers did not even want to hear about English, the language spoken by the British tyrants. And so they set out to find the official language of the newly formed state and to sever ties with the colonialism that had so plagued them.
And of course most of them wanted Greek, the language that gave birth to democracy! Some preferred German and others French, but Greek gathered the preferences of most who rejected English. Even if we lost for just one vote. Of course, this is a myth, as it has never been discussed by the fathers of the American nation.
Even in the session of the House of Representatives in 1794, such a conversation did not take place, as the second version of the myth is sworn in. The truth is that anti-British sentiments were ignited in America at the end of the 18th century, and many local patriots did not want the language of the oppressed colonialists at all.
Small groups actually promoted the adoption of other languages: German, because it was the language of correct speech, French, as the language of freedom, Hebrew, as the language of God, and Greek among others, as the language of democracy. Of course, this does not mean that a vote has been taken on the adoption of an official state language in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, the two legislatures of the federal Congress.
There is, of course, the report of Roger Sherman of Connecticut, a great US statesman and one of the fathers of the American nation, who went so far as to claim that the Americans must maintain the use of English, but that the British must begin to speak Greek! So far so good.
Even Xenophon Zolotas was recruited by some to protest, in a statement the truth or not of which cannot be verified. Here is what some people want Zolotas to have said some seventy years ago, endorsing the historical truth of a vote: "Washington, Jefferson, Adams and others when they drafted the United States Constitution in 1787 - which applies to some new paragraphs. who voted to adapt to the new developments, until today in its original body - they had proposed that the language of the new state be Greek, in honor of the language of the Nation that first gave birth to and overthrew the Republic and spread it to the world. For one vote only, English was finally adopted and adopted instead of Greek ".
The irony is that the myth does not seem to be Greek, but German! Many languages have their own myth about this historic vote that lost their international appeal for a vote in English, but German holds the reins. And it is possible that all those who claim a place for their language in the mouth of the Americans have stepped on its own fake adventures.
According to popular German legend, it was under discussion in the House of Representatives in 1794 or 1795 when the body met to decide whether German would become the official language of the United States. The plenary voted in favor of the English vote.
Of course, the vote never took place. The only thing that happened was a request by some citizens of German descent from Virginia to print federal laws in German (at the same time as English), although Parliament never legislated. However, he discussed it on January 13, 1795, without reaching an agreement. All they did was vote on whether to discuss it at a next meeting, a request that was rejected by 42 votes to 41. This damn one vote!
Despite the fact that the vote was not taken to adopt German in the federal legislative documents, but only to continue the parliamentary debate, the German-Americans wanted it to have just lost their language establishment for one vote.
The irony is that from the official minutes we finally know that the discussion took place in the lower house on February 16, 1795, after a new request, but the meeting decided to print the federal laws exclusively in English. The law was approved by the House of Representatives and ratified by President George Washington a month later. The legend lived and reigned, however.
Frederick Mullenberg, a German-born Lutheran pastor and member of parliament from Pennsylvania (1789-1797), the first Speaker of the House of Representatives, had his own involvement here. Mullenberg chaired the 42nd session against 41 votes and abstained (as his position required), commenting that "the sooner the Germans become Americans, the better"! And despite the fact that he did not take part in the historic vote, everyone now knew who was responsible for not making German the official language of the United States.
The United States did not and does not have a constitutionally guaranteed language. English was in fact established as the dominant lament of the federal state without being enshrined in any institutional or legislative text of the country.
The spoiled phone of the myth was brought after the vote to world-class conferences, to internationally renowned institutions, and even to our own European neighborhood. And everywhere the Greek lost for just one vote. There aren't even nuggets of facts that one can tread on here, they are completely fabricated stories by those who dream of our language cosmopolitan and the privileged representatives themselves.
Even today, a walk on the Greek internet reveals that the myth has not stopped, it has not subsided: "It is said that at the conference held at the end of the last century in America by people of letters in order to decide which language will become international for them. Greek lost for one vote ", we read somewhere.
Or even "you are learning English my child because in the vote of all peoples Greek lost for 1 vote"! The myth has not faded and is still being reproduced in "those" corners of the internet that feed our national ego with false pride. That is where we have so many real reasons to be proud as a people.
And Cicero may have said that when the gods are chosen, they use the Greek language, but no mortal intended to control it.