<div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">===========================================<br>L O W L A N D S - L - 26 September 2009 - Volume 02<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;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject: Language politics<br><br>Thanks for your comments in this thread, Hanne and Jonny.</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;">Jonny, you wrote:</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><u><strong>Reinhard</strong> schrieb:</u></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span></span>Â </div>
<div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span><font color="#000099">Unless I
totally misunderstand it, the basic premise of the author's thesis appears to be
the typical one prior to the late 20th century: a language is only then valuable
and thus worth saving if it has complex morphological forms, that languages that
do not have developed such forms are "primitive" and that those that have lost
them are "debased". </font></span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span>Ich interpretiere
es ein wenig anders (habe aber natürlich den kompletten Text gelesen): es ging
ihm in der Hauptsache um eine Einigung der deutschen Teil- und Duodez-Staaten zu
<strong><u>einem</u></strong> Deutschland, und dabei schien ihm Sprachenvielfalt
im Wege zu sein.</span></div><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">For the sake of everyone I rephrase: the protagonist was mostly interested in the unification of then disjointed group of independent and semi-independent states under the label "Germany", and he was interested in doing away with linguistic diversity.</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;">This was indeed the </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">modus operandi</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> in those days, and its ghost haunts German and European minds till this day, hence today's opposition to (mostly in passive-aggressive form) to the European Languages Charter. We are dealing with the "one country = one ethnicity = one language" mindset, one that is opposed to internal diversity and is therefore closely linked with xenophobia.</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 can see that, Jonny. But from what I read in the parts you sent us, I gather that he sought to present "linguistic" arguments to support his essentially politically motivated call for abandoning Low Saxon (Low German). I heard him claim that the latter had had its glory days and was now "debased" and ready for the scrap yard. </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;">And why single out Low Saxon? By virtue of a powerful commercial empire with its own Saxon lingua franca, the North had had its semi-independence from the "Holy Roman Empire" even after the Saxons had finally been subdued and Christianized by Charlemagne and his heirs. The (real) Saxon language was quite different from that of Germany proper and was not readily comprehensible to others, except to speakers of Dutch. Saxons (and Slavs) were entitled to use their own languages in a court of law. Martin Luther commissioned a special Bible translation for the Saxons but none in any other Germanic language used in the area of the "Holy Roman Empire". In other words, the language of the Saxons was seen as different as well as powerful, and this view lingered even after the decline of the language with the decline of the Hanseatic League. In other words, it seems to me (and you don't have to subscribe to conspiracy theories to feel that) that having the Saxon language and thereby Saxon ethnic and cultural identity disappear was seen as the means of bringing the North into the German fold, especially as far as the wealthy, independent city states Hamburg and Bremen were concerned, also the area north of it that had been claimed by Denmark. This is why I was talking about "denigration." He seemed to say, "Sure, it's nice to listen to that kind of talk at home by the fire, but it ain't a real language no more. So don't waste your time trying to keep it alive!" And indeed, in his days the language had already been outlawed in schools and in most churches, as had the Slavic languages of Germany. </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;">As one of my favorite friends likes to say, "It is what it is." You can't undo what has been done, unless you resort to extreme measures, such as secession followed by draconian language politics as for instance in post-Soviet Latvia. I don't think there are too many people that follow the pipe dream of Low Saxon becoming </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">the</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> language of the North again. I think that in these days of appreciating rather than fearing diversity it is however reasonable to expect that Low Saxon be given room and respect to develop as a language in its own right. </span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">All</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> languages, like </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">all</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> cultures, are valuable and can do what they are supposed to do, as long as they are given the freedom and respect to do so.</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;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">P.S.: Thanks for the well-wishes, everyone. I suggest that, if you do get the flu that is going around now, you lie low and let it run its course fully. If you don't, it will come to bite you in the behind.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
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