LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.12.31 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: rossmay <rossmay at bellsouth.net>
Subject: LL-L "Holidays" 2002.12.30 (04) [E/L]

Mathieu mentioned the language of the people from the Netherlands who were
settled in South Africa.  Is it a separate language or just a dialect unto
itself?  I notice that some of the spellings are different.  Could the way
that they speak the language be archaic or did the language or dialect
change as language is prone to do?  Ross May

[Harlan Ross May]

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From: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.12.30 (01) [E]

Ross May wrote:

> But then, again,  that is why some nations  can never rise above
> their own passiveness.  They are satisfied with mediocrity, and lack that
> indefinable feeling called, for lack of a better name, "pride".  If you
> can't conceive it, you can't really understand it.

Yes, I understand all too well, and that's why I'm restricting my answer to
a sad little headshake. But, despite this attitude in many people, I, too,
continue to hope.

Ron, I'll try to dig deep (no time today, I'm afraid) to see whether Busch
actually wrote anything completely in Platt. He did use it a lot of in
direct speech; he would describe a situation in High German, and then have a
(mostly rural) character say something in Platt. One example would be two
lines preceding the ones I recently quoted as an example for a double
negative:

"Wat het he segt?!" So tönt's im Chor - fünf Besen heben sich empor.

Another example would be the following passages from "Fips der Affe":

Mit den Schreckensworten: "Da kummt de Dübel!"
Fällt sie in einen dastehenden Kübel.
Doch Dümmel schreit und kennt ihn gleich wieder:
"Dat is de verdammtige Haaresnieder!"
...
Sie alle machen großmächtige Schritte,
Und plötzlich ruft einer: "Kiek, kiek, da sitt'e!"

Given the great popularity of Wilhelm Busch's works in Germany to this day,
such lines sprinkled within the "understandable" text often constitute the
first time many people are exposed to Lower Saxon "Platt".

Regards,
Gabriele Kahn

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