The Centre of Macedonian Studies organised a lecture in New York a few days ago on the significance of the Greek language and alphabet in the preservation of cultural heritage.

Among the topics presented was the emphasis on the dangers faced by the Greek language because of the European Union. Many academicians observe that the Greek language is being altered considerably through different processes. Examples such as, the use of the Latin alphabet in the e-mails, the abolition of accents, the likely abolition of vowels and the generalised use of the vowel "i" aimed at making the writing of the Greek language easier.

Speaker Vagia Karantidis, clinical psychologist, child psychologist and internationally recognised ancient Greek philosophy scientist, issued a warning by saying that if the Greeks want to promote the values of their race they must learn about their past. She referred in detail to the creation of the alphabet and the significance of every symbol-letter. She stressed that the Greek language is the richest in the world with 5 million words and 70 million word types, according to the 1990 Guinness Book of Records, while the English language has only 490.000 words. She also underlined the meaning of the alphabet in a language as the letters symbolise specific qualities.

She also noted that the Greek language is the basis for all European languages with words of immense audio-visual notional beauty, adding that the language of a people expresses the way it communicates and thinks and it is inconceivable for a language that is spoken for over 5.000 years to be forgotten, pushed aside and suffer a war against it.