LL-L "Language politics" 2004.11.20 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 20.NOV.2004 (02) * 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: Grietje MENGER <grietje at menger.fsnet.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties"

Dear all,

Please find below two articles from Eurolang.

Grietje Menger
Scotland

New survey shows Frisian declining with every generation
Ljouwert 11/19/2004 , by Onno P. Falkena
Children in Friesland speak much more Dutch than Frisian these days.
According to a survey among parents of young children by the Frisian
broadcaster Omrop Fryslâân only 34 % of all children are nowadays raised in
Frisian, while 54 % are raised in Dutch. Nine percent of the couples with
children raise their children bilingually. Twenty years ago 42 % of all
children were raised in Frisian, 48 % in Dutch and three percent
bilingually.

The effect of Frisian losing ground is that Frisian speaking children tend
to speak much less Frisian with other children in schoolyards. Frisian is
becoming rare in the playground, because only 9 % of the children in
Friesland still speak Frisian there. One generation before the level stood
at 30 %.

“Frisian is clearly under threat", professor Durk Gorter of the University
of Amsterdam acknowledges. “The language still looses approximately ten
percent with every new generation. We defenitely need a campaign to promote
the language, especially with young parents. Most parents know very little
about how to raise children in a minority language or bilingually."

At the same time the general attitude of most Frisians towards the language
is quite positive. 95 % of the population understands Frisian, 66 % of the
Frisians speak Frisian, 65 % claims to be 'proud' that they speak Frisian.
Considering that one out of three Frisians were born outside Friesland these
figures are encouraging.

84 % of the Frisians claim that they are strongly against Frisian
disappearing yet, despite this, only a minority of them raise their children
in the language. “This survey clearly displays a large gap between how
people feel about the language and how they act'', Gorter commented.
According to the survey it is especially mixed couples with one Dutch and
one Frisian parent who fail to pass the language on to the new generation.
60 % of this group raise their children in Dutch, 20 % in Frisian and 20 %
bilingually.

During the live TV broadcast from Omrop Fryslân television on the survey
Frisian deputy Bertus Mulder publicly questioned the validity of the new
survey. “The last survey I received gives a much higher percentage of
Frisian speaking children.'' Mulder therefore does not see the need to
change the language policy of the province.

Most parents in Friesland support Frisian in primary education. 37 % of the
Frisian parents are in favour of more Frisian in the educational system; a
majority of 58 % is in favour of trilingual schools, which teach in Dutch,
Frisian and English. Friesland has a limited number of trilingual primary
schools.

The results from these schools will be made public at the conference held by
Mercator Education, next week in Friesland. “It will not be easy, but there
are certainly possiblities to influence the negative tendency or even turn
it around. We need to make a better effort. I guess that here in Friesland
people underestimate what it takes to save a language'', Gorter said on
television.

Frisian councillor Annigje Toering of the Frysk Nasjonale Party (FNP) called
for an open debate on the strategy of Frisian language policy. “The official
policy of the province that 'Frisian goes without saying' is simply not
true. We are definitely in need of a new strategy." Mrs. Toering claims to
be 'glad' about the survey, because it clearly proves what many people who
work in Frisian education have been suspecting for some time. (Eurolang ©)


First language law for North Frisian an 'important step ahead'
Kiil/ Kiel 11/12/2004 , by Onno Falkena
On the eleventh of November the Landtag (Parliament) of Schleswig-Holstein,
Germany's northernmost state, passed its first law ever on the promotion of
the Northfrisian language. No one voted against the law, although seven
members of the liberal FDP abstained.

President Thede Boysen of the Nordfriisk Instituut followed the debates in
the Landtag. ''All parties spoke with good arguments on behalf of the
safeguarding of the Frisian language and culture. For us Frisians this broad
consensus is an important step ahead.''

The new law gives the 10,000 Frisian speakers in the Kreis (province) of
Nordfriesland, and on the island of Helgoland, the right to speak and write
in Frisian to the local authorities. The municipalities get the right to use
the North Frisian flag with its gold-red-blue colours alongside the flag of
Schleswig-Holstein. Place-names and signage will become bilingual as well.

This is, first of all, important for Northfrisians on a personal level,
according to Boysen. ''I am really happy for Frisian couples, who now
finally have the right to marry in their own language. And they can also get
the birth certificates of their children in Northfrisian.''

Boysen also appreciates the newly acquired right to use Frisian in signage
and shields on official buildings. ''Some people used to think of this as a
particular hobby. Now we have the right to use our language. And perhaps
this motivates some people, to speak more Frisian.''

The consequence of the law will be that all official bodies in
Northfriesland will need civil servants who are able to work in
Northfrisian. ''We really hope that our language will become a job motor. In
the past people considered Frisian as a break for one's carreer, now the
opposite might become true.''

The Frisian language law was submitted in both Frisian and German by Landtag
member Lars Harms of the SSW, the party that represents both the German and
the Frisian minority in the Landtag (Parliament) in Kiel. (©© Eurolang)

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