LL-L "Resources" 2001.11.15 (02) [D/E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
 L O W L A N D S - L * 15.NOV.2001 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
 Web Site: <http://www.geocities.com/sassisch/rhahn/lowlands/>
 Rules: <http://www.geocities.com/sassisch/rhahn/lowlands/rules.html>
 Posting Address: <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>
 Server Manual: <http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html>
 Archive: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html>
=======================================================================
 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
=======================================================================

From: Dl7bk at aol.com
Subject: Radio programme

Dear Lowlanders!

Several years ago I heard on the Dutch radio (Radio 1) a programme in
which a
reconstructed example of the Old Saxon language could be heard.
Unfortunately
I don't remember the name of the programme (I think it was a series
about
language) nor the broadcasting organisation (omroep). Did anybody record
the
programme(s)? Has the programme been repeated or will it be repeated?
Does
anybody know the title of the programme and the broadcasting
organisation
(omroep)? Are there other radio programmes which fit in to the topics of
this
list?

Regards,

Hyazinth Sievering

***

Beste Laaglanders!

Enkele jaren geleden hoorde ik op Radio 1 (NL) een programma waarin een
gereconstrueerd monster van de Oud-Saksische taal te horen was. Helaas
weet
ik noch de naam van het programma noch van welke omroep het was (ik denk
dat
het om een reeks over taal ging). Heeft iemand dit/deze programma('s) op
band
gezet? Is het programma of de gehele reeks ooit herhaald of zal het
worden
herhaald? Weet iemand de titel van het programma en van welke omroep het
was?
Zijn er andere radioprogrammas die bij de onderwerpen van deze lijst
passen?

Groeten

Hyazinth Sievering

----------

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Resources

Dear Hyazinth and Lowlanders,

This seems to be a good moment to draw your attention to or to remind
you of a wonderful recorded radio program about language in Scotland,
with substantial reference to Scots, presented by Ole Stig Andersen, one
of our subscribers.  It can be downloaded at
<http://www.olestig.dk/skotland>.  Unfortunately for many of our
subscribers, the program is basically in Danish.  However, there is an
English verson of the webpage, and the program contains substantial
components in English, including some by our own Colin Wilson.  Below
please find what I wrote about it on January 9, 2000.

Friendly regards,
Reinhard/Ron

***

Bravo, Ole Stig Andersen! Bravo, Radio Danmark!

<snip>

I am very much impressed by your contributions to spreading the word
about Scots and also about the language situation in Scotland in
general. I had the most wonderful time listening to the recorded radio
program tonight here in Seattle, USA. (I did so while cooking and burnt
something because I was so captivated by the program and didn't pay
enough attention to what I was doing. Never mind!) It was a marvelous
half hour or so of listening. Radio Danmark, with which I was madly in
love in my late teens in Northern Germany, just went up a couple of
notches on my personal radio popularity meter, not only for expending
the time and energy to tackle this language issue but also for doing so
in an exemplary fashion, with fine, elegant reporting and smooth
editing, all based on sound, in-depth research. Bravo indeed!

On behalf of the subscribers of Lowlands-L, please allow me to thank you
and congratulate you on a job well done in introducing Scots and its
struggle to the Danish-speaking world. I hope Lowlands-L was of some
help with your research.

Thank you also for mentioning Low Saxon (Low German) in the program. I
would probably not be the only one on this list who would be delighted
if you considered doing a similar job reporting about our language
sometime. There are much ignorance and many misconceptions about it in
Denmark and elsewhere, including in Germany and the Netherlands where it
is used. After all, Low Saxon used to be used and may still be used in
Southern Jutland, its ancestors of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
exerted tremendous influences on the development of Danish, and its
northernmost dialects have noticeable Danish/Jutish substrates. As for
its history and current status, you'd have an easy job. Pretty much all
you have to do is "translate" the Scots situation. The two languages
have a lot in common in many respects.

I also enjoyed your introductory piece posted on the web, Ole Stig, even
though it is only that, introductory. I hope you don't mind me posting
my translation below for the benefit of our subscribers who do not
understand Danish. This is only an excerpt, only of the part dealing
with Scots. (Please let me know if there are any errors.)

Again, thank you so much for a marvelous job and for sharing it with us.

Best regards and wishes,

Reinhard "Ron" Hahn
Administrator, Lowlands-L


A THRASHING FOR SCOTS

After Gaelic, it was the Scots' turn to become the main language of
Scotland. In the 5th century, Scots was the spoken and written language
of the Scottish state. When Great Britain came to be established in
1707, Scotland's government moved to London, and Scots lost its
political status to English. And even when Scotland's national poet,
Robert Burns, was writing in Scots -- "Should auld acquaintance be
forgot" among other things -- the language was being rapidly reduced to
a purely spoken one, to the status of an everyday colloquial language,
not something one could use in school, for example.

In several centuries -- until the beginning of the 1980s -- Scottish
children were under threat of corporal punishment for talking Scots in
school. From having been an independent language used by people on all
social levels Scots had descended to the status of being considered a
dialect of English, a dialect used by ignorant peasants, fishing folk
and laborers, not by genteel people. As recently as in 1993 a man was
arrested for having spoken Scots in court proceedings, for contempt of
court.

CONFUSION BETWEEN SCOTS AND ENGLISH

The most recent British census asked if people spoke Gaelic but not if
they spoke Scots. In the meantime, a government study conducted in 1996
has shown that it may be as much as 30% of the population, i.e., 1.5
million people. Furthermore, Scots has far more speakers than has Gaelic
-- in excess of 20 times more -- but it may be harder to recognize,
indeed even among Scottish people themselves, who tend to confuse it
with English with a Scottish accent.

Scots has virtually none of the resources that are now channeled in the
direction of Gaelic. There is no radio or TV broadcasting in Scots, it
is, generally speaking, not taught in school, and it is not at all used
as an educational medium. There is a Scots renaissance underway too, led
by singers, poets, movie and theater people. But Scots, the language
with many speakers and low status, enjoys nowhere near the public
support that is afforded Gaelic, which has far fewer speakers but at the
same time carries greater symbolic weight.

==================================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 postings to <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>.
 * Postings 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
=======================================================================