<div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">===========================================<br>L O W L A N D S - L - 03 August 2009 - Volume 07<br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><a href="mailto:lowlands@lowlands-l.net">lowlands@lowlands-l.net</a> - <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/">http://lowlands-l.net/</a></span><br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">
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===========================================<br></div><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="NL">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="http://uk.mc264.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sassisch@yahoo.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>></span></font><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="NL">Subject: Language varieties<br><br>Hi, Ronald!<br><br>You wrote:<br><br></span></font><div style="margin-left: 40px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">From: </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="gI"><span class="gD">Ronald Veenker</span> <span class="go"><<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:veenker@atmc.net"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249348333_3">veenker@atmc.net</span></a>></span></span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Subject: </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="gI">LL-L "Resources" 2009.08.03 (01) [EN]</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Dear Lowlanders,</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
My granddaughter made a trip to the Island of Föhr in May.  She
described the languages spoken there as High German, Low German and
Frisian. Â I see that the island is near the Danish/German border. Â What
do you think might be the language known as Low German and what srort
of Frisian is spoken on that island?</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
Thank you for your kindness,</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
</font><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
Ronald Veenker</font><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
Holden Beach NC</font><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
USA</font><br></div>
<font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="NL"><br>The "original" language of the Island, called <i>Feer</i> in Frisian, is Frisian, specifically an insular North Frisian variety called <i>Fering</i>.<br>
<br>We have a Fering version of our Wren story:<br><a href="http://lowlands-l.net/anniversary/fering.php">http://lowlands-l.net/anniversary/fering.php</a><br><br>You can find a map and a list of Frisian varieties here:<br>
<a href="http://lowlands-l.net/anniversary/frysk-info.php">http://lowlands-l.net/anniversary/frysk-info.php</a><br><br>Most Frisian areas in Germany lost their Frisian varieties at various times in history, and the people adopted Low Saxon ("Low German") instead, which lately has been to a high degree replaced by (High) German. Frisian speakers also tend to speak Low Saxon, and nowadays also German. These Low Saxon varieties are regional dialects with added local Frisian "color".<br>
<br>Schleswig-Holstein, and Northern Friesland in particular, </span></font><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">is an area in Germany where the largest number of autochtonous languages and cultures rub shoulder and people are traditional conversant in more than one local language. </span><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="NL">Schleswig-Holstein, now Germany's northernmost state, is the southernmost part of the Jutland Peninsula and has seen both German and Danish rule. </span></font><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Danish proficiency is, or at least used to be, fairly widespread, especially in Schleswig, the northern half of the state close to the Danish border. On top of it, there is a good number of native speakers of Southern Jutish, which is also used or at least understood by some non-Jutish people.</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;">Many places on both sides of the border have more than one version of their names; e.g.</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<ul style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>Feer </b>(Frisian), <b>Föhr </b></span>(L.Sax., German)<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, </span><b><span lang="da">Før</span> </b>(Danish)</li>
<li><b>Eiderstedt</b> (L.Sax., German), <b>Ejdersted</b> (Danish), <b>Ääderstää</b> (Frisian)</li><li><b>Dagebüll </b>(L.Sax., German), <b>Dagebøl </b>(Danish), <b>Doogebel </b>(Frisian)<br></li><li><b>Wraksem </b>(Frisian), <b>Wrixum </b>(L.Sax., German), <b>Vriksum </b>(Danish)</li>
<li><b>Neukirchen </b><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b> </b>(German), <b>Niekarken</b></span> (L.Sax.), <b>Nykirke </b>(Danish), <b>Naischöspel </b>(Frisian)<br></li><li><b>Sleswig </b>(L.Sax.), <b>Schleswig </b>(German), <b>Sønderjylland ~ Slesvig</b> (Danish), <b>Synnejylland ~ Slesvig</b> (S.Jut.), <b>Slaswik ~ Sleesweg</b> (Frisian)</li>
<li><b>Affenråe </b>(S.Jut.), <b>Aabenraa ~ Åbenrå</b> (Danish), <b>Apenraad' ~ Apenrae</b> (L.Saxon), <b>Apenrade </b>(German)</li><li><b>Tynne</b> (S.Jut.), <b>Tønder</b> (Danish), <b>Tönnern</b> (L.Sax.), <b>Tondern </b>(German), <b>Tuner </b>(Frisian)<br>
</li><li><b>Flensborg</b> (L.Sax.)*, <b>Flensborg</b> (Danish)*, <b>Flensborre </b>(S.Jut.), <b>Flensburg</b> (German), <b>Flansborj </b>(Frisian)<br></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">(* same spelling but different pronunciation)</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;">Demographic statistics deal with labels, and the official labels are "German", "Danish" and "Frisian". But in Schleswig on the German side and Slesvig on the Danish side the linguistic and ethnic picture is difficult to devide up into labels. Yet, forced labeling has had some effect. Many people in the region have intermarried or grown up with more than one language as products of such intermarriages and multilingual communities. Some people labeled "German" would have preferred Danish rule in their area on the now German side. Some switched from the "German" label to the "Danish" label especially in the years following World War II. It was easy to do in that they could speak Danish, probably had some Danish, specially Jutish, ancestors, maybe married Danes and sent their children to Danish-speaking schools in Germany. Besides, surnames like Petersen and Johansen are commonplace in the region and give you no information about language and culture.</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;">There is an agreement between Denmark and Germany: ethnic "Germans" in Denmark and ethnic "Danes" in Germany enjoy minority status and are entitled to schooling in "their languages". So government-run or -supported Danish and German schools were established on both sides of the border. Many children that visit(ed) these had as their home languages neither (Standard) German nor (Standard) Danish but Low Saxon, Southern Jutish or North Frisian. In some western areas on the German side there are or used to be Frisian schools. But otherwise German and Danish are the languages of education. (The schools use both but emphasize one or the other according to their official labels.) As a result of this and the power of the media, multi-lingualism in the area is being eroded, German and Danish winning out and Low Saxon, Southern Jutish and Frisian going down the drain. This is particularly so on the Danish side where Low Saxon and Frisian have all but disappeared in the meantime.</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;">What I have learned particularly about Schleswig on the German side is that many homegrown people of the region are still difficult to label and that some of them are "nationally ambiguous", have at most loose emotional association with Germany or with Germany </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">and</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> Denmark. It has always been a linguistic and cultural crossroads, and I personally believe that makes for its special charm.</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;">Furthermore personally, I would have loved it if the European Union declared this one of a few officially European "Crossroads Regions", regions that link countries and ethnicities.</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;">Regards,</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;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Seattle, USA</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
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