<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">=========================================================================</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">L O W L A N D S - L - 18 March 2008 - Volume 04</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="HcCDpe"><span class="EP8xU" style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">orville crane</span> <span class="lDACoc"><<a href="mailto:manbythewater@hotmail.com">manbythewater@hotmail.com</a>></span></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="HcCDpe">LL-L "Language use" 2008.03.18 (03) [E]<br><br></span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Ron,</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
The Lowlander designation fits the Low German speaker well. The Platt
speakers along the North Sea Coast form a continuity from east to west,
from the Baltic to the North Sea. The North Germans agreed to speak the
official language of 19th Century unified Germany, High German. High
German became the language of state and success. Over the course of 140
years, the importance of Platt has become reduced. If people wish to
speak in their Platt, more power to them!</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Tom,</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
man bij het water</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">----------</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="HcCDpe"><span class="EP8xU" style="color: rgb(91, 16, 148);">Marcus Buck</span> <span class="lDACoc"><<a href="mailto:list@marcusbuck.org">list@marcusbuck.org</a>></span></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="HcCDpe">LL-L "Language use" 2008.03.18 (03) [E]<br><br></span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Yes, performance artists and whatever is all great and I'm really happy</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
about anybody doing unconventional stuff in Low Saxon. But I don't</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
think, this will have much effect. Unconventional stuff in an</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
unconventional language. But we need to make Low Saxon a language, that</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
is not considered unconventional anymore. I don't know the work of Silke</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Manshold, but "recital and movement" sounds very much like "art" and art</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
is not for the mass market. We need down to earth work, popular culture</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
in Low Saxon, "South Park" in Low Saxon or whatever. Something that</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
appeals to the mass. If it's done good, the people will love it and they</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
will be given access to Low Saxon through this. It must be fun to be</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
able to speak Low Saxon (not fun like "haha" but enjoyment). It must be</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
cool to speak Low Saxon.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
I am 25 years old. And I don't speak Low Saxon to anybody in my age.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Cause nobody of them speaks it (well some are able to, but don't do it</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
either). If I started speaking Low Saxon, everybody would think "_Why_</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
does he do that? Nobody of us does speak Low Saxon, why he?" And if I'd</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
start talking about "language of itw own" and stuff like that, nobody</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
would understand my arguments. They probably would say: "And you think</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
you can stop change by talking to us in Low Saxon?" And they would be</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
right. But if the public opinion among young people would be "Low Saxon</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
is fun", I would be free to speak Low Saxon whenever I wanted to and I</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
never again had to use "eccentric" arguments like "language on its own"</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
or "every language is worth being maintained". "Fun" is argument enough!</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
So, if you want to change something, don't waste your time on</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Shakespeare op Platt or Low Saxon Haikus or writing Wikipedia entries</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
about long forgotten 19th century Low Saxon writers. Start translating</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
South Park or the Simpsons (maybe not, I think they jumped over the</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
shark and are on the road downward) or the newest comedy with Adam</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Sandler or whatever is popular into Low Saxon. Dr House or Battlestar</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Galactica or Heroes or 10,000 BC or try to create an international</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
internet meme which involves Low Saxon (like the "Loituma Girl" created</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
interest in the Savo Finnish dialect. "Loituma Girl" is no art, it is</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
pure nonsense. But highly appealing, kind of psychedelic nonsense, it's</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
"catchy").</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
We need the masses on our side.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Marcus Buck</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">----------</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
From: R. F. Hahn <</span><a style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com">sassisch@yahoo.com</a><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject: Language use</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Tom by't Water:</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
The Lowlander designation fits the Low German speaker well. The Platt
speakers along the North Sea Coast form a continuity from east to west,
from the Baltic to the North Sea. The North Germans agreed to speak the
official language of 19th Century unified Germany, High German. High
German became the language of state and success. Over the course of 140
years, the importance of Platt has become reduced. If people wish to
speak in their Platt, more power to them!</span><br></div><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Dat dout wy ook, Marcus, Marlou, Jonny, ik un 'n barg annere.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Marcus, we are actually on the same basic page. It's only that I seem to have expressed my vision less clearly than intended.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">In a nutshell, what I meant was that release from confinement is needed, in </span><u style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">all</u><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> direction, not only in unconventional and "sophisticated" (</span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">anspruchsvolle</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">) art but also in pop culture and everyday spheres. And for all I care those that like it can continue the </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Heimattümelei</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> tradition. </span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">"Ordinary" and "popular" is important; I'm all with you there. But "sophisticated" is also needed for the sake of image and for the sake of stretching and experimenting. Most people have been led to believe that the language is too lowly to be a "world literature language," something that is quite wrong. A real language ought to be allowed and able to dance at all balls and to all manner of music.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">You are quite right. Use in areas of mass appeal is a very good way of popularization. But why only have one tune? Where there's pop, rock and country music, why not also have classical music, </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">koto </i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">music and African drums? Besides popularizing, we also need to demonstrate variety. Otherwise you end up with another box, just a different color one. Enough with the boxes! Open the lids and let it fly wherever it may!</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kumpelmenten,</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">