LL-L: "Language politics" LOWLANDS-L, 14.JUL.2000 (04) [E/S]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 14.JUL.2000 (04) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Language politics"

Ron wrote:

> not granting these "special" deals, many of which are nothing more
than
> window-dressing symbols anyway.  Did not the campaign to permit
bilingual
> signs in Wales involve some swamping with requests?  (I vaguely
> remember Sandy
> explaining that quite a while ago.)

Strangely enough, I posted a message about this on another mailing list
just
last night. Here's what I wrote:

A dinna agree wi this, John, the wey ye can leuk at Wales in the past
therty year an read anither story aathegither. Whan A first gaed ti Wales
twinty year back, activists wis likely still writin letters for individual
signs (this is what Welsh activists did - they wrate a separate letter ti the
government for every singl sign they saw athoot Welsh, ti apply for
that sign ti be made bilingual) an A that sindle saw a bilingual sign that
A'd stop an staun an leuk at it whan A did! The idea that onybody in the
government wad ever bather ti mak _every_ sign in Wales bilingual seemed
that donnert that maist fowk saw the hale idea as a lost battle ti start wi.

Houanever, new signs kept on kythin, till it startit ti seem odd ti see
a roadsign athoot the Welsh. Shops that started pittin up bilingual signs
wis seen as makkin a pro-Welsh political statement, an tho the signs in
thae shops leukit gey orra at first, nouadays fowk's that uized wi them that
a shop _athoot_ signs in Welsh wad be seen as makkin a political
statement! Even the big English and Scottish chains (M&S, John Menzies,
Sainsbury's &c) haes Welsh signs aawhare. Meanwhile on the roads, even
temporary signs started appearin in Welsh, an nou ye never see ane athoot the
Welsh.  Even the "SLOW" signs painted in the road aye haes "ARAF" painted the
same  size abuin or ablo them.

(ie, the "swamping with requests" that you mention involved individuals
methodically sending in a letter to formally request a single specific
sign to be replaced with a bilingual sign - I should add, however, that this
technique was a response to a technique used by the authorities to
deter Welsh language activists - civil servants had replied to earlier
activist requests for signage by saying that a sign could only be replaced
with  a bilingual sign if an application had been received for that specific
sign. It seems clear that the idea was that there were so many road signs in
Wales that the activists would have to give up - instead, the authorities
found themselves hoist by their own petard!)

Sandy
http://scotstext.org
  Things in this subloonary warld bein far frae
perfeck, 'No that bad' is the maist that mortal
man can venture tae say while here ablo.
             - Catherine P. Slater, 'Marget Pow'

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