LL-L "Language policies" 2004.12.19 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 19.DEC.2004 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Uilleam Òg mhic Sheumais <goidel.glas at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Language policies" 2004.12.18 (02) [E]

Latha math, a Lowlanders;

Speaking of language politics in Norman French-dominated England, does
anyone know of some good resources which describe the story of
English's development (or language politics in the British Isles) from
1066 'til the re-establishment of English as the dominant language?

Beannachdan,
Uilleam Òg mhic Sheumais

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

I wrote:

> Thus, the power of individuals ought be underestimated.

Obviously, this was supposed to be "Thus, the power of individuals ought not
be underestimated."

Sorry.

> Elsewhere it may not have been as subtle, as in the 20th-century
> Japanese attempts at integrating the Ainu population or the treatment of
> Kurdish and Slavonic in Turkey and Greece respectively.  (I am not
> finger-pointing and singling out, am just picking out some recent
> examples.)

Let me add to this the even more glaring examples -- also in the 20th
century -- of aboriginal children in Australia, Canada and the USA being
taken away from their families to be put into remote foster homes or
institutions with the express aim of separating them from the "bad
influences" of their native environments, thus alienating them from their
social, cultural, spiritual and linguistic roots and as a result speeding up
the extinction of their native cultures and languages.  These children
tended to be punished for as much as uttering a word in their own languages
...  Those that survived are somewhere between middle-aged and old now.
Some have reacquired their heritage, but most seem to have ended up with
some sort of equivocal indenty.

I have mentioned these examples in part for the sake of showing that even
quite recently sinister plans have indeed be carried out in language
suppression, if they are not being carried out somewhere right now.  You do
not necessarily have to be a permanent subscriber to conspiracy theories if
you suspect deliberateness at least in some cases.

By the way, I have been seeking high and low to find any sort of Scots
programming at BBC Scotland radio and television.  I have found none so far,
accept the occasional special feature that contained Scots snippets.  There
is nothing regular, but there is regular broadcasting in Gaelic (albeit
mostly about cultural and historical matters).  What is being done to change
this?

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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