LL-L "Help needed" 2003.10.22 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 22.OCT.2003 (01) * 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: John Duckworth <jcduckworth2003 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: A Query


Dear Lowlanders,

Many years ago (about 1983 I think) I had a weird experience that I have
often thought about, but never fully understood. I suppose there is one
possible explanation, but even that seems unlikely. Anyway, on the
off-chance that some of my fellow Lowlanders might have a solution, I have
decided to mention the experience on this list.

I was travelling on a train from Munich to the Hook of Holland, and quite
simply each station the train stopped the announcement seemed to be made in
the local dialect until it arrived in the Netherlands when only fairly
standard Dutch was used.The more I think about it the weirder it sounds, but
I am not even speaking about local accents but dialects. People who have
travelled in Germany will no doubt confirm that station announcements are
not particularly heavily accented anyway, and tend to be in reasonably clear
High German.

The only explanation that occurs to me is that West Germany was having a
sort of 'National Dialect Day', but I can't begin to imagine the confusion
such a thing would have caused travellers!

Any ideas? Surely I wasn't halucinating for the whole journey!

John Duckworth

Preston, UK.

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

John,

This is the strangest story I've heard in a while, sounding a bit like
"Twilight Zone," though I'm not saying it can't be true.  (You are sure,
though, that it couldn't have been something you partook of, aren't you?
;-) )  "Dialect Day" seems the only reasonable explanation to me also.  I'm
curious to hear what others have to say about this.

Travelers often have strange tales to tell.  This reminds me of a long train
ride from Istanbul to Hamburg, via Bulgaria, the then Yugoslavia, and
Austria.  I must have been really exhausted and fell asleep somewhere in
Croatia.  When I woke up the compartment was full of people reading
Hungarian newspapers, and I panicked, made an enormous fuss and wanted to
get off at the next station, because I assumed I had entered Hungary by
mistake in my sleep.  It turned out that that part of Croatia has a large
Hungarian minority ...  This goes to show that an ounce of geographic,
ethnographic and linguistic education can prevent a load of confusion and
stress when you are traveling abroad.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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