LL-L "Resources" 2002.09.18 (06) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 18.SEP.2002 (06) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
 L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic
               V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: "Mathieu. van Woerkom" Mathieu.vanWoerkom at student.kun.nl
Subject: resources


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Ron Hahn wrote:
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Thanks to one of the great efforts of our own Mathieu van Woerkom
(Mathieu.vanWoerkom at student.kun.nl), the resources menu of our website
(http://www.lowlands-l.net) now includes a
"zoomable" map of the
European Lowlands and their language varieties.
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and Nigel wrote:
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The map is well realised and looks very professional. It will be an
excellent addition to the website.

However: I am probably being dim, but I am unclear about what it
actually depicts. Does it show a snapshot of the extent and distribution
of the Lowlands languages at a particular point in time? If so, which
point in time? If not, what state of affairs does it show? Apologies for
being slow on the uptake...
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Hello Nigel,

The map shows the current distribution of the Lowlands languages, with the
exeption of English and Dutch. For those two languages, only the original
('old') area is drawn, instead of the current area which is of course a
lot
bigger.
English is now the lingua franca in Scotland, Wales and Ireland as well,
the
same goes for Dutch in the Netherlands and Flanders. We deliberately
choose for
the 'smaller' areas, to show the original distribution. (also keeping in
mind
the distribution of the minority languages.)
Please note, however, that 'current distribution' doesn't mean that the
language is spoken everywhere in the given area. My guess is, that on the
mainland, no single minority-Lowlands language is spoken by more than 80%
of
the population. In all areas in the Netherlands and Flanders, Dutch is
very (or
even: more) important. For Germany, German is the lingua franca, also in
the
Low Saxon area.

I guess this map is most valuable for people interested in the mainland
varieties of the Lowlands languages, because it is unclear to many where
each
(minority) language is spoken. Bear in mind, though, that in some of the
coloured areas, the 'density' of Lowlands languages is very low. For
instance,
in large part of the Saxon coloured area of Germany, (High) German is
spoken
much more often than Low Saxon (Low German). However, I choose to make the
entire area darkblue.

In short: the languages are spoken in the areas which are now coloured in
such
way, with the exeption of English, Dutch (and German), which are spoken
everywhere in their respective countries.

hope this is a bit clear :)

Mathieu
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