LL-L "Language politics" 2007.11.25 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L  -  25 November 2007 - Volume 03
Song Contest: lowlands-l.net/contest/ (- 31 Dec. 2007)
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From: Heiko Evermann <privat at evermann.de>
Subject: LL-L "Language politics" 2007.11.25 (01) [E]

Hi Gabriele,
> Why would Lower Saxon road signs be needed in the first place? The natives
> know what to call their village all right - isn't that enough?
> This is also
> true for other areas of Germany - natives of Fulda call the town "Fol",
> natives of München (Munich) call it "Menga"; Köln (Cologne) is "Kölle",
> Kaiserslautern is "Lautere" - no matter what the signs say. Any non-native
> who is interested in speaking the local dialect or language will learn
> that, too. Why should it be of any interest to others?
Well, you are free to think that these road signs are superfluous. I think
they are neccessary. Low Saxon has official recognition as a regional
language and according to the European Language Charter article 10 2 g the
place names in these regional languages enjoy official protection from
Brussels. And I am no longer willing to discuss whether or not to put up
these bilingual road signs. What the Fehrs-Gilde and I and several other
people in North Germany demand is simply that these obligations will be
fulfilled.
(The charter can be found in
http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/148.htm)

> This is Germany, not Wales, where the two languages used are truly
separate
> and names for the same place can be very differnt. Between High German and
> Low Saxon, it is usually just a matter of pronunciation, I don't know a
> single case where two completely different names are used. And changing
one
> letter, as in "Lütjensee/Lüttensee" is plain stupid and will earn the
> concept of Lower Saxon as a separate language less respect, not more.
Even if the difference is only one letter, the Low Saxon "subtitle" serves
an
important purpose: it makes the LS language visible and it shows that there
is official recognition for this language. It shows clearly to everyone who
enters the village that LS is not just the dialect of dumb and uneducated
people, but that it is a real language with its own rights.

> Where I live, this would mean changing the ending -hausen to -husen in
many
> names and then putting up both on a sign, which I consider utterly
> pointless (and so do all the older, Platt-speaking people around here that
> I asked about it).
Well, Gabriele, you are free to think so. But as long as there are people
who
want these road signs (which obviously is the case), this does not count
much. Bilingual road signs are a right for those who want them. If there is
a
majority against these, this does not count as majority wishes do not count
when it comes to the protection of minorities.

Hartlich Gröten,

Heiko Evermann
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