LL-L "Administrativia" 2003.10.07 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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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: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "Administrativia" 2003.10.04 (11) [E]

Ron wrote:

> Again, there is no right or wrong, though this may be hard to
> believe when viewed from one extreme to the other.  At one extreme you get
> people who wish to keep their threatened languages alive and give them
what
> they think is their rightful place, and they believe that knowledge,
> including scientific knowledge, is power and their "dissection" leads to
> remedies.  At  the other extreme you get those who simply want to enjoy
the
> last sounds of the old language as it is lingering on its deathbed --
death
> is deemed inevitable, and no life-support and resuscitation attempts are
> wanted.  Can the two extremes coexist within the same forum without any
> resentments and condemnations?

Wait a minute, Ron - what you are saying here is that those who "dissect" a
language are trying to rescue it, while those who merely speak, enjoy and
listen to it, are prepared to see it die? And you're still claiming that you
don't see the one "extreme" as more valuable than the other?!

I'm a (natural) scientist myself, so I understand the underlying interest.
But, for example, writing a dissertation on early bone development in wolf
fetuses and living with a pack of timber wolves are two VERY different
things. Of course it is neat to trace the way of word roots throughout the
cultures and centuries, but preservation of a language has nothing to do
with that. It is up to the people who actually use the language and make it
their own, without ever understanding what is considered a schwa or a
fricative. It just so happens that you, Ron, have both the academic interest
AND the love for those languages. But it's not your "dissecting" self that
is actively using and preserving them.

The physicist will calculate the force with which a spade cuts the ground
from its shape, specific weight, and the pressure being applied. The farmer
will just pick it up and dig a hole; that's what it's for, after all.

Practically,
Gabriele Kahn

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