LL-L "Language competency" 2005.07.20 (08) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 20.JUL.2005 (08) * 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: Holger Weigelt <platt at holger-weigelt.de>
Subject: "Language competency"

Moin Jonny -

> As I often feel, maybe even just in talking to non-natives of LS, I cannot
translate from G (a little bit better from E) into MY dialect of LS and/or
back. It's not just because this above mentioned 'sum of expressions', it's
a question of the background in education and mentality, formed by the
history and the whole way of life of a more or less limited community.
> This could sound chauvinistically, but You can't deny it at all.
> As I wrote some weeks ago: to go among older, 'real' LS-natives always is
a kind of step into another world, and even I (speaking myself LS each day)
sometimes feel myself as kind of an invader, in a better sense an explorer
> of their lives.

Of course: language reflects the way of life of it's speakers, their special
cultural background, their view onto their environment and the world as a
whole. The educational background becomes a main feature if the language is
restricted to a limited social group or class. And where the language has
been supressed or suffers from low esteem  it's development stagnates and
looses the ability to adapt to changing concepts of life, economy and
values. If You hear Your 'real' LS-natives it will sound quite natural if
they for example talk about matters of rural life but if people try to
discuss features of modern life it often will sound very strange even if
they speak LS competently (of course with loans but no (or low)
contamination). Moreover it will sound the more artificial the better they
speak it.

> We may not forget: lots of LS vocabulary got lost in the past, and even if
> reanimated they sound artifically for native dialect-speakers.
> For example: E: 'sock', G: 'Socke', 'Strunpf' today is LS: 'Sock',
'Söcken',
> 'Strump', 'Strümpsöcken'. Till the middle of the 19. century LS people
said
> 'Hoos', spoken like E: 'hose' and of course cognate with it. Today in G:
> 'Hose' means E: 'trousers', and in LS: 'Büx' (= derived from G: 'Büchse'
> [Frankonian?], meaning E: 'tube') is the nowaday's word for 'trousers'.
>
In EFLS "hôs" was the common word for "sock" until recent years and people
of my age or older still use it but in the use of younger people this
expression is getting lost as so many others are (just one example: späel,
präiem which have become stēknóódel and striknóódel - i.e G Stecknadel and
Stricknadel).

> Have a look at Holgers EFLS-dialect, and try to suggest him writing a
standardized 'Nedderassisch'. I'm sure he is able to do it, but I can't
really imagine any occurrence of this evidence ;-)!

He won't be able because there is no standard!  If I try to write something
like a standardized LS (what really has happened several times) I do this by
creating an artificial language based on what I know about patterns
different from those of my special dialect but widespread in the dialects of
those people I want to communicate with combined with LS-labeled German and
/ or Dutch. It may be helpful because I'm easyly understood then and many
people really admire this but it has few to nothing to do with LS and
therefore I dislike it very much.

Kind regards
Holger

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