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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>The proposal was ultimately stiffed by the French Senate:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>"Le Sénat refuse d'inscrire les langues régionales dans la
Constitution" (Le Monde, 19.06.08)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><a
href="http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2008/06/19/le-senat-refuse-d-inscrire-les-langues-regionales-dans-la-constitution_1060100_823448.html">http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2008/06/19/le-senat-refuse-d-inscrire-les-langues-regionales-dans-la-constitution_1060100_823448.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>And this during l'Année Internationale des Langues, of which I
believe France was one of the principal proponents…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>
owner-lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
[mailto:owner-lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Dennis
Baron<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, June 20, 2008 1:07 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> language language policy<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Local language recognition angers French academy<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div style='border:none #D61D00 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;min-height: 68px'
id=article-header>
<div id=main-article-info>
<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:14.4pt'><span
class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:#333333;font-weight:normal'><a
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/17/france">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/17/france</a></span></span><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:14.4pt'
id=heading-alone><span style='font-size:26.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";
color:#333333;font-weight:normal'><o:p> </o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:14.4pt'
id=heading-alone><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333;font-weight:normal'>Local language
recognition angers French academy</span></span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
</div>
</div>
<div style='margin-bottom:7.5pt;float:left' id=content>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><a
name="&lid={contentTypeByline}{Angelique_Chris"><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#333333'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]></a><a
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/angeliquechrisafis"><b><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#005689;
text-decoration:none'>Angelique Chrisafis</span></b></a><span style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'> in Paris<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><a
name="&lid={contentTypeByline}{The_Guardian}&l"><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#333333'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]></a><a
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#005689;text-decoration:none'>The
Guardian</span></a><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#333333'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>Tuesday June 17, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:2.25pt;
margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:-.25in;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;color:#333333'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>Article history<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div id=article-wrapper>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:9.75pt;
margin-left:0in'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>For years France's regional languages were seen by Paris as a
taboo that threatened national unity and should be repressed - children were
punished for speaking Breton in the playground, banned from speaking Occitan in
southern schools or Alsatian dialect in the east. But now, just as the French
parliament has taken a historic step to recognise minority languages in the
constitution, a new war of words has broken out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:9.75pt;
margin-left:0in'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>L'Académie française, the institution that defends the purity of
French, yesterday issued a furious warning that recognising regional languages
in the constitution would be "an attack on French national identity".
In turn, local language militants criticised the academy as a ridiculous relic
of outdated nationalism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:9.75pt;
margin-left:0in'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>The row has highlighted how far France differs from other
European countries in the defence of minority tongues. Unlike the UK, which has
acted to protect languages such as Welsh and Scottish Gaelic, France is one of
the few European states which refuses to ratify the European charter for
minority languages and give legal status to its various language groups.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:9.75pt;
margin-left:0in'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>France boasts 75 regional languages, including those spoken in
far-flung territories from the Indian Ocean to South America. Regional
languages such as Alsatian, Occitan, Corse, Breton and Basque, and even smaller
ones such as Béarnaise and Picard, have increasingly powerful and
well-organised lobby groups. Parents have campaigned to set up regional
language schools outside the state system, while the state has started offering
some bilingual classes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:9.75pt;
margin-left:0in'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>But minority languages have no legal status and are deemed by
Unesco to be dying out. Before 1930 one in four French people spoke a regional
language to their parents; that figure has nosedived.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:9.75pt;
margin-left:0in'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>Last month the parliament broke a taboo by holding a debate and
agreeing to insert a line in the constitution recognising local languages as
part of French heritage. "Speaking or singing in Breton, Alsatian or
Basque doesn't stop you being patriotic," said one Breton MP. All parties
were unanimous.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:9.75pt;
margin-left:0in'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>But before the senate examines the issue today, l'Académie
française has objected, warning that writing regional languages into the
constitution would dilute French identity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:9.75pt;
margin-left:0in'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>Dàvid Grosclaude, president of Occitan language group l'Institut
d'Estudis Occitans, issued an open letter to the academy, which he called
"full of bitterness, resentment and fear" and too blinkered to
recognise France's diverse citizenship.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:9.75pt;
margin-left:0in'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>Philippe Jacq, director of l'Office de la Langue Bretonne, said
the constitutional change was only a small step, and France must provide legal
recognition and sign the European charter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:9.75pt;
margin-left:0in'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>He said: "All we ask for is to speak our languages in
public life, to have services in our languages, for parents to have the right
for their children to be taught in the language of their choice."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style='mso-element:para-border-div;border-top:dotted #999999 1.0pt;
border-left:none;border-bottom:dotted #999999 1.0pt;border-right:none;
padding:2.0pt 0in 2.0pt 0in'>
<h2 style='mso-margin-top-alt:15.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;
margin-left:0in;border:none;padding:0in;background-position-x:0%;background-position-y:
100%'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>Small Talk<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
</div>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><strong><span style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Alsatian</span></strong><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'> Dialect
of German spoken in Alsace and Lorraine (at times part of German state) by
500,000 in 1999; only 15% pass it on to children, though 160,000 pupils learn
it at school<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><strong><span style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Occitan</span></strong><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'> or
Langue d'oc; 780,000 speakers in southern Europe in 1999, half in Aquitaine and
Midi-Pyrénées<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><strong><span style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Corse</span></strong><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'> Spoken
by 90,000 on the island, and studied by 90% of primary pupils<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><strong><span style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Breton or Brezhoneg</span></strong><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'> Celtic
language spoken by one million in Britanny at start of 20th century; now down
to 270,000, with two-thirds aged over 60<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><strong><span style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'>·</span></strong><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'> This
article was amended on Thursday June 19 2008. A panel in the article above
about France's regional languages gave the Breton word for the Breton language
as Breizh. That is the word for Brittany. The language is Brezhoneg. This has
been corrected.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";
color:black'>____________________<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";
color:black'>Dennis Baron</span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";
color:black'>Professor of English and Linguistics</span><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";
color:black'>Department of English<span class=apple-converted-tab>
</span></span><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";
color:black'>University of Illinois<span class=apple-converted-tab> </span></span><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";
color:black'>608 S. Wright St.</span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";
color:black'>Urbana, IL 61801
</span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";
color:black'>office: 217-244-0568</span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";
color:black'>fax: 217-333-4321</span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'><a href="http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/debaron"><span
class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#0000EE'>www.uiuc.edu/goto/debaron</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";
color:black'>read the Web of Language:</span><span style='font-size:10.5pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#0000EE'><a href="http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/weboflanguage">www.uiuc.edu/goto/weboflanguage</a></span></span><span
style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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