LL-L "Language varieties" 2005.11.02 (02) [E]

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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 (Zeeuws)
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02 November 2005 * Volume 02
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From: Luc Hellinckx <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Resources"

Beste Roger (en Ron),

You wrote:

>Other websites referred to in the introduction to the new Belgian pockets;
>http://www.huisvanalijn.be/taalkamer/index.html

Thanks for the link, it was new to me.

I don't know how these dialect speakers were selected (I may have recognized 
some of the interviewers though); but anyway, altogether, this is a good 
sample of southern Dutch dialects in my opinion. Sure, linguistically, 
there's even more variety than this, but what's good is that this bunch of 
people must have been born and bred in a seemingly "unspoilt", unilingual 
dialect-environment.

Definitely no _Patentplatt_ (~ "Verkavelingsvlaams") or _Pedantplatt_ here. 
Only genuine dialect. I'm quite sure however, that most (if not all) of our 
northern Dutch and Saxon friends will have a hard time understanding the 
conversations (would that even apply to our _Genius-on-Duty_? *s*). This 
could also be due to the significant amount of teeth lacking in many a 
speakers mouth; but methinks there's more to it.

Among this "frolickxome lot" (as Ron correctly puts it...Alaaf, Kamerad! 
*s*...btw, English _frolic_ < Dutch _vrolijk_*sss*), I happen to think that 
western speakers will be better understood by non-Belgians than central or 
eastern ones. One of the reasons may be that slower speakers seem to use 
more intonation (add depth/pitch, see next paragraph), which makes their 
speech harder to grasp. Another reason could be the settling of a number of 
Saxons along the Flemish coast in a distant past.

Indirectly, this difference in intelligibility may also have something to do 
with the landscape though. Of course people change the landscape they're 
living in continuously, but at the same time it's my belief that the scenery 
itself also molds people's minds to some extent. Thus, people living in 
"Mondriaan-county" are indeed usually more straight(-laced), behave more 
minimalistically and talk "flatter". Hills on the other hand provide an 
extra dimension: be it in speech or mentality, everything becomes rounder, 
more elaborate...redundant...even pompous *s*.

Germany has that divide too...most of us will be quite happy to check this 
for example: http://www.planet-liebe.de/vbb/showthread.php?t=88859
But less so when its counterpart pops up: 
http://www.planet-liebe.de/vbb/showthread.php?t=48728

Let's blame it on statistics *s*.

Greetings,

Luc Hellinckx

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From: Elsie Zinsser <ezinsser at icon.co.za>
Subject: LL-L

Pfui, boys, behave yourselves. Public urinating is not compatible with good
company.

Elsie Zinsser

>I'll pee (on) *your* dant!  It wasn't I but our Ian that started it: 

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