<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> </span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">L O W L A N D S - L - 23 June 2007 - Volume 04</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">=========================================================================</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>></span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
Subject: Language use</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Enno is appalled that the promotional material for the Low Saxon play I recently announced was in German, and Heiko replies (below) that this is common practice these days, which is also what I have observed.
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">In my opinion, this and related problems (such as editors' choices of Low Saxon material) are to be expected where financial profit is involved. For-profit theater companies and publishing houses are primarily interested in maximizing popular appeal, which means accommodating people that know little or no Low Saxon.
</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> Low Saxon merely represents a market niche to them.</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> Although they would deny it, they are in fact complicit in the process of language decline, in part in that they tend toward "dumbing down" and Germanizing.
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Another reason appears to be the false assumption that Low Saxon is devoid of "elevated" styles deemed necessary for promotion and the like. The underlying assumption seems to be that we are merely dealing with remaining linguistic fragments that have limited usage and must not be (re)developed. This plays out particularly clearly when it comes to technical communication.
<br><br></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">All</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> languages take on neologisms, and most of those neologisms are borrowed from other languages, either phonologically adapted (
e.g. </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Kompjuter</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">) or translated (calques, e.g. </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
Räkener</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> < German </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Rechner</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> 'computer'). The other day I wrote about the Scots journal
</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Lallans</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">. It was afterwards that I found in it an article about some of the latest software written by our own Andy Eagle. Obviously many technical terms he used were English calques, but nothing seemed unnatural to me, although I am not the best person to judge this.
<br><br>My suspicion is that on the lowest level the problems regarding publications are based on the attitude that Low Saxon is not a </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">real</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
language, is not and can never be independent from ("High") German. I believe that this will not change until new blood takes over, and a lot of grooming of new speakers and players is needed to get to that point.
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">By the same token, I personally see nothing wrong with occasional bilingual publications in which the two language versions appear on facing pages in print. I believe there is a need for it in that there are numerous people that wish to learn or to improve their Low Saxon and also in that bilingual
</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">belle lettres </span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">publications can enhance the reading experience.</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Regards,</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">---------</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
From: </span><span id="_user_privat@evermann.de" style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25); font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Heiko Evermann <<a href="mailto:privat@evermann.de">privat@evermann.de</a>></span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Subject: LL-L "Language use" 2007.06.22 (08) [E/LS]</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Moin Enno, Leve Lowlanners,
</p><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" class="q">
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">> also, op gaar keen Fall wüll ik nu Öil in?t Füer geten, man mi is</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">> wedder maal opfullen: Dat Bekennt-Maken van düt Theater weer jo</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">> kumpleet op geel.</span></p></span>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">So is dat vundaag. Ok dat Ohnsorg-Theater hett sien Netoptritt blots op Hoochdüütsch. </p><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" class="q">
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">> Op düsse Aart is to?n Bispill ok de ?Plattaart? in Ollenborg (wat mi</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">> angeiht) in de Büx gahn. Daar weern överall Lüüd, de geel schnackt</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">> harrn, un daartwüschen geev dat denn Seminare un Lesestünn op platt</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">> ?echt grusig. Dat leet so as een Opdelen in enkelte folkoristische</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">> Happen, de mit us Alldaags-Weerld gaar nix to daan hebbt. Ik weer an</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">> een Namiddag daar, un keem mi man wat bannig verlaten vör.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">> Is dat nich no anners hen to kriggen? Oder geiht dat vandage gaar nich</span></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">> mehr anners? Dat kann ik gaar nich hen nehmen.</span></p></span>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Wann weer dat? Över de Plattaart hebb ik nix in't Internet funnen. Ah, doch:</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.plattart.de/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">www.plattart.de</a></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">De Idee finn ik ja eerst mal goot. Aver so as du dat vertellt hest, löppt dat denn ja doch nich.</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Wat ik mi de letzte Week ankeken hebb, is Koornsch, de inheemsche
Spraak vun Cornwall. De weer ja meist richtig utstarven. (Oder villicht
doch nich so ganz?) En Henry Jenner (1848-1934) hett noch de letzten
Lüüd utfraagt, de noch Resten vun de Spraak snackt harrn. 1904 hett he
denn en Book över de koornsche Spraak rutbröcht un denn hebbt Lüüd sik
de Spraak wedder bibröcht. Vundaag gifft dat 300 Lüüd, de dat richtig
goot snackt un 3000, de tominnst 'n beten Koornsch snacken köönt. Dat
is weniger as 1% vun de Inwahners vun Cornwall. Aver Grottbritannien
hett disse Spraak nu as Minnerheitenspraak ünner de EU-Sprakencharta
anerkannt.</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">De koornschen Spraakverenen maakt Kursen, sogar mit en Spraaktest un
keen dat schafft, kriggt ok en Urkunn. Un wokenn dat gröttste Examen
schafft, kann Liddmaat vun de <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorseth_Kernow" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorseth_Kernow</a>
warrn, bloots dorför, dat he de Spraak snacken kann. (Un en koornschen
Naam gifft dat noch dorto!) De ehrt ok vele annere Lüüd, t.B. Lüüd, de
coornsche Musik maakt. Ik denk mi, Lüüd warrt geern ehrt un ik denk,
dat helpt, so en Spraak vörantobringen. </p>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Wenn een vun jou Bards vun de Cornish Gorsedd warrn will: de Kurs is op <a href="http://www.kdlcornish.freeserve.co.uk/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
http://www.kdlcornish.freeserve.co.uk/</a>
Lehrt dat allens, maakt den Test un ji köönt Bard warrn. Ik harr fröher
jümmers dacht, dat weern Sänger (so ut Asterix), aver ut <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bard" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bard</a> hebb ik jüst lehrt:
</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">"A bard was one of a caste of poets and scholars of medieval and early modern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall."</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Gifft dat nich in de plattdüütsche Vörgeschicht ok so wat, wat een utgraven un nee in't Leven trüchhalen kann?</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">De maakt ok Spraakfestivals, aver so as ik dat lesen hebb, lett dat
so, dat kloor is, dat dor Koornsch snackt warrt, jedereen so good as he
kann un Spraakkursen gifft dat dor ok.</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Ik bün begeistert, wat so en lütte Trupp vun Spraakenthusiasten
henkregen hett. Un mi maakt dat ok Moot, dat een en Spraak noch retten
kann, wenn de letzte Minsch doot bleven is, de dat noch snackt harr.
Dat maakt mi för Platt richtig Moot. Dat is noch lang nich to laat.</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Hartlich Gröten,</p><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" class="sg">
<p>Heiko</p></span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">