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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">===========================================<br>
L O W L A N D S - L - 19 February 2009 - Volume 07<br>
===========================================</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">From: <span class="ep8xu"><span style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">Paul
Finlow-Bates</span></span></span><span class="hccdpe"> </span><span class="ldacoc"><<a href="mailto:wolf_thunder51@yahoo.co.uk">wolf_thunder51@yahoo.co.uk</a>></span><br>
Subject: <span class="hccdpe">LL-L "Language diversity" 2009.02.19 (05)
[E]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Of course
languages have always gone extinct; the difference is that in the pre-global
age, as one vanished another dialect split from its parent enough to become a
new language, due to isolation or separation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">That
obviously doesn't happen anymore. The problem with preservation is, do
you try to preserve the isolation as well? Ultimately the responsibility for a
language surviving has to lie with those that speak it. We can stop
outright attempts at elimination such as the British tried with Welsh and
Gaelic, the French with Breton, or the Turks with Kurdish. But in the
end, if the kids don't want to speak something, and don't miss it, who are
others to criticise them?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Paul</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Derby</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">England</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><br>
----------<br>
<br>
From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>>
<br>
Subject: Language diversity<br>
<br>
Hi, Paul!<br>
<br>
I don't think terribly many (reasonable) people criticize the kids that don't
want to speak a given language or even elders that don't teach them the
language or don't insist on it being spoken with them.<br>
<br>
Much rather, what has to be criticized in my opinion are the circumstances that
led to and/or keep reinforcing such decline. This includes such things as
governmental and educational attitudes, policies and support (or the lack
thereof), administrative sabotage (such as the foot-dragging in implementing
the European Language Charter directives), also media behavior, coverage (or
the lack thereof).<br>
<br>
There are countless examples of this. When I grew up, many parents did not
teach their children Low Saxon because directly or indirectly they had been
given the message that it was low-prestige and a hindrance to their youngsters'
educational and career success. A friend of mine very much regrets not having
been spoken to in Yiddish by his parents, but the atmosphere in the post-WW-II years
had been influenced by Israel's influential Zionist ideas and ideals that viewed Judeo-specific Diaspora
languages, especially Yiddish, with disdain. As a result, many Jews and others
mistakenly believe that Yiddish is now extinct, many others just refer it only
for its supposed amusement value, and all of them miss out on the tremendously
powerful literary heritage that can only be fully appreciated in the original
language.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Reinhard/Ron<br>
Seattle, USA</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>