LL-L: "Language politics" 15.JUL.2000 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

 ======================================================================
 L O W L A N D S - L * 15.JUL.2000 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
 Posting Address: <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>
 Web Site: <http://www.geocities.com/sassisch/rhahn/lowlands/>
 User's Manual: <http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html>
 Archive: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html>
 =======================================================================
 A=Afrikaans, Ap=Appalachean, D=Dutch, E=English, F=Frisian, L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German), S=Scots, Sh=Shetlandic
 =======================================================================

From: Colin Wilson [lcwilson at iee.org]
Subject: LL-L: "Language politics" LOWLANDS-L, 14.JUL.2000 (06) [E]

At 17:14 14/07/00 -0700, Sandy Fleming wrote:
>There also seem to be some lame excuses flying around amongst
>enthusiasts, eg "We'll get nowhere until we agree on a single
orthography".
>The truth is that we'll get nowhere until we're prepared to make
sacrifices.

In the case of Welsh, the people who made sacrifices could do so knowing
that the bulk of Welsh-speaking public opinion was behind what they
were aiming for, even if not necessarily behind how they went about
it.

With Scots, as far as I can see, we simply don't know what Scots-speaking
public opinion is, regarding issues such as road signs and the census.
As far as I know, no-one has investigated it in any great depth. Perhaps
this is a first step that we ought to take, a survey of public attitudes
to the official promotion of Scots.

>Hands up anybody who'll refuse to pay their bills until they get them
>in Scots? (an easy challenge for me to issue, since I live in England - at

>the moment!). We've had all the whinging about the census question - how
>many people are going to refuse to fill their census if the whole thing
>isn't in Scots? In Wales, the census will be bilingual.

I'm very surprised to see Sandy using the word "whingeing". This is
a word usually used only by people who would prefer issues not to
be discussed, and who would deny others the right even to complain.

Is that really Sandy's attitude here? Democracy is at least supposed
to be based on people making their views known to leaders, who are
supposed to act accordingly. We saw that it didn't work, but wasn't
it worth a try?

As regards refusing to complete census forms, to do so would be a
breach of the law. The Scots-speaking heartland of the rural/coastal
north-east is one of the most upright and law-abiding regions of Britain,
and probably of Europe. Support for any form of illegal protest would be
very limited here, regardless of people's views on the issue itself.

Colin Wilson.

*********************************************************************
                               the graip wis tint, the besom wis duin
Colin Wilson                   the barra wadna row its lane
writin fae Aiberdein           an sicna soss it nivver wis seen
                               lik the muckin o Geordie's byre
**********************************************************************

==================================END===================================
 You have received this because your account has been subscribed upon
 request. To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l"
 as message text from the same account to
 <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or sign off at
 <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
 =======================================================================
 * Please submit contributions to <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>.
 * Contributions will be displayed unedited in digest form.
 * Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
 * Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
   to be sent to <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or at
   <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
 * Please use only Plain Text format, not Rich Text (HTML) or any other
   type of format, in your submissions
 =======================================================================