LL-L "Language survival" 2003.04.30 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 30.APR.2003 (04) * 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) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: "thomas byro" <thbyro at earthlink.net>
Subject: LL-L "Language survival" 2003.04.30 (02) [E]

Ron

A professor once told me that modern Hochdeutsch is based on what he
called "Stage German". a dialect used by travelling troupes of actors
that was readily understood by nearly everyone.  Does a "Stage
Plattdeutsch" exist?  In that regard, promotion of artistic endeavors in
Plattdeutsch such as cabaret performances in Plattdeutsch only might be
helpful in preserving the language.  The Welsh seem to have had
considerable success in preserving their language.  They stage cultural
events that promote their language such as their Eistedfod (pardon my
spelling).  Perhaps we should ask our Welsh friends for their advice?

Tom Byro

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

Tom, Lowlanders,

I basically agree with what you said above, Tom.  (And it's
"eisteddsfod" but that's another story.)

You have to understand the fundamental dilemma: the weakness of the
language is its fragmentation (and this will be the main cause of its
demise) and that at the same time most people reject (including ignore)
virtually all unification attempts.

People insist on their particular little local varieties being used and
written in what they think are their "pure" forms (which in writing
usually means wild, ill-informed stabs at "phonetic" renderings).
There is nothing wrong with preserving local varieties and thus
diversity, of course.  However, this is accompanied by a type of
paranoia -- again based on ignorance -- with regard to the possibility
of an *auxiliary* interdialectal variety, even if only a loose type of
"standard," a variety everyone pretty much understands and can aim at
using for interregional and international purposes.  Proposals to this
end usually meet with kneejerk dismissal -- "Artificial!", "No one talks
like that!", "What do I care about other regions?"  People have visions
of a small bunch of academics sitting together in a vacuum creating a
Lowlands Saxon (Low German) Frankenstein Monster.  It does not matter
how often you stress that it could be a gradual process accommodating
language-wide input.

I think that one of the underlying problems is poor understanding and
education in matters of language, even among those who care about
language, and at the "specialist" end a lack of appreciation for the
emotional value of language.  There are two main camps: (1) enthusiastic
laypeople and (2) academics.  The former mostly distrust the latter (or
feel intimidated by them), and among the latter there are too few who
are native or proficient speakers and care about the language on a truly
emotional basis.  Real progress could only be made if the two camps
could somehow be united and pointed into the same direction.

As far as I know, Welsh had an advantage in already having had something
of a standard in place, certainly at least a rough orthographic
standard.  On top of it, interregional meetings (eisteddfodau,
especially the nation-wide Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Frenhinol Cymru) are
part and parcel of their traditional culture, and people have thus been
used to interdialectal communication and understand the need for
facilitating measures.  Other highly fragmented languages have some sort
of basic thread they share, such as more or less neutral Classical
Arabic that every Arabic speaker can read and write and can approximate
in speaking, thus having an all-Arabic lingua franca from Iraq to
Mauretania, and nowadays all over the world.  However, this tends to be
more difficult among minority (including "minoritized") and regional
languages that do not have or have lost "classical" literatures, such as
Berber, Kurdish, Romany, Scots or Lowlands Saxon.

Yes, interregional events would likely be beneficial.  But how do you
motivate people to doing so given their preconceived ideas and fears?
It is psychologically not easy for small local organizers to deal with
loss of total control in interregional gatherings and communication.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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