Is Cardassian the official language of Bajor?

[Avro Arrow]

According to MA, Dr. Mora's original container for Odo was labelled in Bajoran, but Odo's name comes from the Cardassian translation of that label. So it would seem both languages were in use during the occupation, even in "official" capacities such as at the Bajoran Institute of Science.

 

[Triskelion]

The writers cleverly exploited just about every real-world angle on diasporas and occupations, so it was not pure Palestine or Holocaust or Ireland or anything like that. Yet it would make sense for the Cardassians to play the role of the Space Nazis to the hilt: they would at first promote emigration from Bajor, then start actively deporting people, and only ultimately adopt a policy of placing the undesirables on death camps.

Naturally, "most Bajorans" would remain on Bajor anyway: it would be logistically impossible to move them away, even if Cardassia felt ready to part forever with the thousands of interstellar spacecraft required. This wouldn't stop the refugee camps from existing, though.



Also let's remember that Kira didn't actually at any point get uncertain about who she was. Her skin had been rather fantastically altered; the evil Cardassians might just as well have altered her language to the Cardassianeseianish it evidently was in the episode. This wouldn't count as evidence one way or another - but more fundamentally, she wasn't interested in evidence for pressing her case, as she felt no need to press a case, already knowing fully well that she was Nerys rather than Illiana.

Timo Saloniemi

This was my initial impression too. In Second Skin, Kira rides the force of her personality throughout, yes; but there is wiggle room for doubting who she really is as the charade deepens. I believe Ira Behr mentions in the DVD extras that Kira's Cardassian origin was even going to be made her official backstory; that they didn't was, IIRC, moot anyway, since Kira's arc was more about who she was to become, and a Cardie origin would not have changed that, very much anyway. She will have been so deeply immersed in Bajoran culture the character would have remained essentially the same. I can't recall what the producers' deciding factor was.

Viewing the episode through this perspective, it becomes clear that Kira's certainty is by no means grounded, her identity unassured. The character may have realized this; it depends on how one interprets gazing into a mirror and smashing it.

Worth noting - the "real" Iliana Ghemor - was never found throughout the course of the series.

 

[Six of Twelve]

I wish the real Iliana's fate had been revealed at some point, to give some closure to the Ghemot storyline. The later novels that deal with her were not satisfying for me, as I would have wanted her to be more like her father.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I like the description of what happens to Iliana in the novelverse:

Spoiler: novels

Crisis On Infinite Kiras.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Here's an interesting bit that I came across rewatching Heart and Stone:

ODO: Well, as you know, when Doctor Mora first brought me to his laboratory, it was under Cardassian supervision. All specimens had to be clearly labelled in Cardassian, so the overseers would always know what the scientists were working on. Since no one was exactly sure what I was, Mora labelled me Unknown Sample, which the overseer translated into Cardassian as Odo'ital.
KIRA: So, your name is Unknown Sample?
ODO: No, no. Odo'ital literally means the word 'nothing'. Even after it became clear that I was sentient, the Bajoran scientists kept calling me that. As a joke, they split it into two words like a Bajoran name, Odo Ital, which eventually got shortened.

I take it for granted that Kira can work with some technical Cardassian--I am myself often able to identify concepts in Scandinavian and Romance languages I do not speak. However, it seems odd that she could not describe the concept of "nothing" if she had neither education in Cardassian or if it were not used as a vernacular on Bajor. Perhaps "odo" was some sort of slang or idiomatic usage. Nonetheless, it works against the notion that she used the Cardassian language on a regular basis.