LL-L "Language politics" 2005.03.17 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 17.MAR.2005 (03) * 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:  Arthur Jones <arthurobin2002 at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "Language politics" 2005.03.17 (02) [E]


Hi Ron!

I have been following the recent contributions of Peter Snepvangers,  Ingmar
Roerdinkholder and your goodself regarding the politics of Lowlands (Saxon
and others) language survival. All of your insights and arguments are both
inspiring and well formulated. Further, all show a keen awareness of the
twin perils of governmental alloofness and community apathy.

Also, I feel viscerally (while hunting for my glasses) that youall have
identified and described the malignant symbiosis that exists between
governmental parochialism, on the one hand, and the medieval conceit that
tells us that all those people beyond the sounds of our village bells speak
a slightly "mistaken" form of the (fill in the blank here) language.

Politicians have known this for eons, hence the phrase "divida et impera".
When the Brits helped create the modern state of Belgium, they had precisely
this in mind. It worked for quite a while, didnt it?

Did Lowlands Saxon ever exist as a single language? I doubt it. I doubt that
any "language" ever did. Languages are purely organic: the most intangible
part of our existence, apart from music, a closely related development. They
change, shift and grow constantly. There probably never was a single
Proto-Indo-European language. I visualize languages more like a spiral
nebula, throwing out new and separating languages from a whirling core.

But then, of course, I'm just weird.

Together with my submission of a Gothic version of The Wren, I wrote a
postscript about the extinction of the Gothic language that contained some
impressions about language survival. They might be applicable to this
discussion, and I would like to ask Ron to place it, in whole or in part,
into this list discussion.

Ron will reply, I just know it. He won't ignore me like Schwarzenegger or
the BBC, will he?

With best greetings,

Arthur
Arthur A. Jones

"Anger is a great motivator but a terrible editor."
--------Bishop Wulfila

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

Hello, Arthur!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.

> Ron will reply, I just know it. He won't ignore me like Schwarzenegger
> or the BBC, will he?

Hey, how dare you say things like that about my lovely future governator
(and future presidator if the constitution gets changed)!  ;-)

Serious, though ... of cooourse I will not ignore you or any other
Lowlander, vocal or silent, verbose or taciturn, revealed or concealed!
Eventually I'll get to everyone if they write to me off-list.

You and your communication have been millimetering up in today's to-do
queue.  But now that you've asserted yourself publicly by first shmoosing me
with your sweet talk, let's just cut to the chase!  The answer is an
enthusiastic "By all means!"  It would be a treat.  We'd link from your
intro and your Gothic translation to your (and Robin's?) travelogue as a
sort of siding from the main track.  Why, we could even add a picture or
two.

> But then, of course, I'm just weird.

Join the club by wearing it as a badge of honor!  I like to think that here
on Lowlands-L we have more than our fair share of people that march to their
own drummers, and together we make beautiful music.  How's that for a
positive spin?

Cheers!
Reinhard/Ron

***
"Adolescence and snow are the only problems that disappear if you ignore
them long enough."

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