"Yo, yo yo!"

     Language is a pliable, constantly changing thing. For example, the English of 100 years ago is not exactly the same as the English of today, see my earlier article on the ampersand. While English made the change with the ampersand many years ago, a similar change seems to be happening to the Russian language.   

     The symbol to the left is the Russian symbol for the sound "yo". This symbol was added to the language in the 18th century and later was championed by Stalin and mandated in schools and in the Communist party's official newspaper. Recently, ë seems to have fallen out of favor with many modern speakers, as well as some Russian language purists who point to the relatively late addition of the letter to the Cyrillic alphabet as a good reason for it's removal. 

     However, a small group of people have been fighting back in favor of the ë, going so far as to write books in its defense, programming computers to be able to use it, and even going as far as getting monuments placed in two small towns in it's honor. These people call themselves yofikators, champions of the letter ë. Their opponents call them amateurs and sticklers to artificial rules. However some yofikators believe that ë has an opponent from outside of Russia. In December of 2012, one yofikators interview led the CIA to come out and officially deny that they have been working to take the ë out of the Russian language.

     In an interview in November of 2012, shortly before his death at the age of 80, Viktor Chumakov, who called himself the "Chief Yofikator", was interviewed about his fight to keep the letter ë in the Russian language. Mr. Chumakov stated several reasons for the decline of the letters use, Russian laziness since Stalin's death, opposition by government officials, and lastly,that it was an assault by the CIA. Mr. Chumakov claimed that the CIA was working covertly in the Russian Language Institute, a state run language organization, to bring about the downfall of ë and weaken Russia. "In any country, the alphabet is an instrument to bring order," and "If it isn't respected, everything falls to pieces."

     Conspiracy theories are not a new thing. New ones seem to pop up everyday. However what makes Mr. Chumakov's claim different, is that it resulted in an official comment from the CIA, denying any such involvement. According to the CIA, “There is absolutely no truth to this allegation. The Agency supports the practice of good grammar and pronunciation in any language.”

     Whether or not the CIA is attempting to remove ë from the Russian language, the cause to keep the letter recently gained an important ally. After receiving a complaint letter about not being able to use the ë on a government form, Education Minister Dmitry Livanov unexpectedly joined the fight to keep the letter. "We absolutely have to fix this problem," Livanov said, "Millions are suffering." While Livanov hasn't announced exactly how he plans to do it, it seems like the ë may have a future in the Russian language.








1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/12/17/cia-officially-denies-that-it-is-trying-to-erase-a-letter-from-the-russian-alphabet/
2. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324784404578144972339592016.html