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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" align="center">=====================================================<br>
<b>L O W L A N D S - L - 30 August 2010 - Volume 01<br>
</b><a href="mailto:lowlands.list@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style="" lang="FR">lowlands.list@gmail.com</span></a> - <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/" target="_blank"><span style="" lang="FR">http://lowlands-l.net/</span></a><br>
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<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From:
R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject:
Language politics</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Hello,
Lowlanders,</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Last
Friday afternoon I had another one of those “discussions” regarding Scots. This
one was with a self-proclaimed “pure Scotswoman” who was born and raised in Canada and explained that her parents had still
been Gaelic speakers, and that in the Toronto
area.</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">As
is apparently common among overseas and long-time expatriate Scots, she was not
aware of current language politics in Scotland
and the rest of Europe. I explained it to her,
and whenever I referred to “Scots” she would talk about Scottish English and
would sometimes even “correct” me accordingly. I clarified that they were not
considered the same. At first she thought I was only voicing my own opinion and
gave me the “What would <i>you</i> know?” look. I explained the official
position and attempted to give her a little background information, which she
dismissed by rolling her eyes and giving me a “Balderdash!” smile. It probably
meant that she did not believe me and/or that she thought those developments
are quite ridiculous. </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">I
am not quite sure if this reaction and attitude are particularly common among
Gaelic speakers and their descendants who like to simplify the issue as “Gaelic
versus English,” because I remember a similarly dismissive reaction from an
actual Gaelic speaker from Canada.
However, I have also noticed somewhat dismissive attitudes when talking to
Lowlands-born Scots that left Scotland
before the European Languages Charter became an issue. They tended to refer to <i>braid
Scots</i> as “slang” or “jargon,” implying “of Scottish English.”</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><br>
I imagine that this is particularly common among overseas Scots that, while flaunting
their Scottishness, are really not well informed about today’s Scotland. However,
I would not be surprised to find out that this attitude still prevails in Scotland
as well, at least in certain sectors of society.</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">I have noticed similar attitudes
among overseas Germans and Netherlanders regarding Low Saxon as a recognized language.</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">Can any of you share further
information on this?</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">Regards,<br>
Reinhard/Ron<br>
Seattle, USA</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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