LL-L "Resources" 2004.08.25 (05) [E]

Wed Aug 25 16:36:19 UTC 2004

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L O W L A N D S - L * 25.AUG.2004 (05) * 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: Bill Wigham <redbilly2 at earthlink.net>
Subject: LL-L "Administrativia" 2004.08.24 (18) [E]

>>From Bill Wigham:
subject Administrativia, u.s.w. (25.8'04)

It is quite overwhelming to read what so many scholars are writing for LL-L.
I feel I am learning that which is not readily available in our local
libraries.  My #1 question is: Is anyone planning to publish anything?  Has
anything been published by contributors that the new people should know
about?  Q#2:  With all due humility I am interested in knowing where all
this is going...is there a core purpose beyond gemuetlich sharing?  Nothing
wrong in that but with so much muscle in this group it would seem that there
must have been some discussion about what might be done to promote whatever
is needed to help the little languages to survive.  For instance are there
any childrens' books written in, say, Frisian.  Not just kids' books but
grammars and readers that older folks can learn from.  It is frustrating to
limp through 10 paragraphs of Dutch or Flemish getting only 10 % of it and
that only if it should serendipitously sound out like standard German.

 I don't mean to burden anyone with my problem but a list of good lowland
grammars, readers and dictionaries might be helpful for the new folk
especially.  For instance, I have two Dutch books, one says that in
conversation the Dutch drop the final "n" so that Staaten Eylandt becomes,
Staate Eylandt.  The other book says not one word on this "n" dropping.

 That probably is enough moaning and groaning from me for one day.  If any
one has any words of advice, guidance, instruction or the like I would be
overjoyed to hear from you, one and all.

Thank you for your kind attention,
Bill Wigham
in the People's Republic of Massachusetts

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From: R. F. Hahn <lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net>
Subject: Resources

Bill,

Here is just a relatively brief response, hopefully followed up by other
members' responses.

Where do we go with this?  Pretty much anywhere we (i.e., everyone) sees fit
within the parameters of our stated goals (http://www.lowlands-l.net).

People are using Lowlands-L as a resource in three major ways: forum,
research and learning.  Many, being interest-wise relatively isolated and
scattered all around the globe, just want to be in touch with those that
share their interests, for comparison of notes, _bletherin, clashin,
corrieneuchin an colloguin_, to borrow some Scots terms.  They wait for
juicy morsels to come their way, or they actively angle for them, for the
benefit of their professional or hobby research interests or their language
studies.

If you go to our homepage (http://www.lowlands-l.net) and scroll down the
menu entitled "Resources" you will find various online resources, including
lists of links and bibliographies for various language varieties.
Furthermore, there are language introductions under "Lowlands Talk."
Granted, most of these need updating (for which help will be welcome
anytime).  But they are there for you to avail yourself of, as many other
people do visiting the site from all over the world.  This goes for our
archives (http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html) as
well.  All these are the result of members' collaboration.

Quite a few Lowlands-L members are published authors on relevant topics, be
it about the languages and cultures or using the languages in creative
writing, and some are editors of relevant periodicals.  Many of these are
lurkers, so I will not name them, since it is a part of our confidentiality
policy not to "out" any lurkers or to mention anything about "vocal" members
that they do not reveal themselves to the List.

Colin Wilson's recently published Scots textbook is an example, as are
Reuben Epp and Herman Rempel's various publications in and about Mennonite
Lowlands Saxon (Low German, _Plautdietsch_).  Ole Stig Andersen has produced
a terrific radio documentary about Scots (and Gaelic) for Radio Danmark (in
Danish, with a copy at his site
http://www.olestig.dk/ole_stig_andersen/index.html).  Well worth mentioning,
also, are some major online presentations by our members, such as Herman
Rempel's Mennonite Lowlands Saxon dictionary
(http://www.mennolink.org/doc/lg/index.html), Andy Eagle's "Scots Online"
(http://www.scots-online.org/) with numerous resources, including a
dictionary, Sandy Fleming's online library "Scotstext"
(http://www.scotstext.org), and Mathieu van Woerkom's "Taal in Nederland"
(http://taal.phileon.nl/) introducing the languages of the Netherlands.
There are smaller presentations, such as my own introduction to Lowlands
Saxon (Low German) grammar (http://www.sassisch.net/rhahn/low-saxon/),
worldwide Lowlands Saxon resource guide
(http://www.sassisch.net/rhahn/low-saxon/plattewelt.htm), collected Lowlands
Saxon stories by Clara Kramer-Freudenthal
(http://www.sassisch.net/rhahn/kramer/) and poems by Klaus Groth
(http://www.geocities.com/grothwarken/), all with accompanying English
versions.

Creative use of Lowlands languages (other than English) in print can be seen
in a number of published works by Sandy Flemings in Scots, and by Anja
Mayfarth and myself in Lowlands Saxon, to give just a few mentionable
examples.  (I would love to find out about further works, mentionable or
otherwise.)

Some of our members are leaders of language or culture organizations, while
others are well-known scholars, such as Michael Montgomery (Ulster Scots and
Appalachian), Glenn Simpson (Northumbrian), Ian Parsley (Ulster Scots),
Henry Baron (Frisian), and Marco Evenhuis (Zeelandic).  We are in the
fortunate position of having "representatives" of lesser-known language
varieties among us, such as Frédéric Baert from the Flemish community of
France.

Once in a while we have used Lowlands-L as a rallying station for "actions"
regarding the treatment of relevant minority languages.  Most importantly,
just by including the "smaller" languages along with the "bigger" ones and
treating all of them as equals, we make a pretty important point, both to
ourselves and to the world.  We happen to be in the unique position of
accommodating both the world's most powerful language (English) and some of
the least known, lesser-used and most endangered ones (e.g., Frisian
varieties of Germany, and Flemish varieties of France).

The initial and still underlying purpose of the List -- if I need to spell
it out -- is to allow people to come together from otherwise fairly isolated
enclaves, across politican boundaries, to discover what they have in common
and what makes each one's local heritage unique within this kinship group.
We show, virtually in every posting, that nothing and no one is isolated,
untouched by others, that features, thoughts, ideas and concerns cannot be
viewed in isolation, that there are common sources and constant mutual
influences.

Furthermore, we demonstrate that people with all sorts of backgrounds from
all over the world can get along with mutual compassion and respect while
talking about more than the weather.  We rarely spell this out, and
preaching is not our foremost purpose.  Where you take this knowledge, both
the minute details and the "big picture," depends on you, the individual
member.  As one of our members said in a private message to me recently, "We
give a little example of how people from all over the world, with probably
so different backgrounds, can have positive and mutual understanding. At the
end it is more than just "languages".

I hope I have answered your questions at least in part.  Thanks for the
opportunity to clarify things for you and others, and for sorting out my
thoughts on the matter (since I have been asked to submit an overview to
someone who wishes to use this information in a research publication).

Best regards,
Reinhard "Ron" F. Hahn
Founder & Administrator, Lowlands-L
lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
http://www.lowlands-l.net

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