Zekiye Cansu’s final response to Michael Merdoyo’s letter to the editor: “To stand by is not to preserve”
Thank you, Michael Merdoyo, for your closing remarks and for a respectful exchange of views on an issue that is important to our people.
We agree on the goal: that Assyrian/Suryoyo should live on in the diaspora. We also share the view that education, digital tools, and greater investment in the language are crucial.
Our point of disagreement concerns the writing system. You view the Latin script as a complementary tool for improving accessibility. I do not share that view. Instead, I believe that the future of the language is best secured by strengthening the use of our historical alphabet in both education and modern digital contexts.
For me, accessibility isn't about introducing a new writing system, but about making the existing alphabet more accessible to the next generation.
I see a risk that a parallel Latin writing system could, in practice, reduce the use of our historical alphabet over time, even if the intention is to strengthen the language.
Our responsibility is both to strengthen the language in the here and now and to preserve the written continuity that binds generations together.
Ultimately, the future of a language is not determined by new writing systems, but by how successfully we pass on the alphabet that has carried our language through history.
With this text, Huyada has chosen to put an end to the debate for now
