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I don't like the idea of creating a kind of rivalry between minority languages so this thread makes me feel uncomfortable. West Frisian is (as the North Frisian languages and Saterfrisian) a language of its own, even if it might show results of the contact to Dutch. I might say the same about Dutch as I wasn't able to learn it because my Low Saxon was stronger and taking control. I can read Dutch without big problems - so Dutch isn't more than a Low Saxon dialect, right? Okay, that was a pun. I hope you get my point.<br>
Why cannot we applaude Google Translate and Facebook for their decision and work on for getting the same for Low Saxon and other minority languages?<br>
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As for the relations between the languages around the North Sea: Through the centuries they had many contacts because of migration, trade and politics. Of course that had an impact on the languages. English is even the best example how a language develops because of history. Anglo-Saxons, Danes, Normans - they all came to conquer what we know today as England. They all brought their own languages as sign of their mastery.<br>
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Greetings from Kiel,<br>
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Anja<br>
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<-----Ursprungligt Meddelande-----><br>
<table style="border-collapse: collapse" width="99%" height="143" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bordercolor="#111111" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="3" height="131" bgcolor="#EFEFF1"> </td><td width="3" height="131"> </td><td width="98%" height="131"><font style="font-size:13px" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>From: Lowlands Languages & Cultures [lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org]</b><br>
Sent: 20/7/2017 9:50:18 PM<br>
To: lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org<br>
Subject: Re: [Lowlands-l] Google Translate </font><font style="font-size:13px" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
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</font><div dir="rtl"><font style="font-size:13px" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><div dir="auto">Yes. Definitely lively, that's why we should make Google add it.</div><div dir="ltr">I really don't see the point of making West Frisian a seperate language though, </div><div dir="ltr">as it doesn't contain that much of a unique vocabulary, and strongly resembles Dutch. </div><div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">בתאריך 20 ביולי 2017 8:24 אחה״צ, "Lowlands Languages & Cultures" <<a href="mailto:lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank">lowlands-l@listserv.<wbr>linguistlist.org</a>> כתב:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<div class="m_-919306421249195449m_2887648211244148869moz-cite-prefix">On 20/07/2017 11:18 AM, Eitan wrote:<br>
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<div dir="ltr">Hi all,</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
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<div dir="ltr"> I've requested Facebook they should add low
german into their language poll since they recently had added
West Frisian which isn't much an obvious choice.</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
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<div dir="ltr">That being the case, to my surprise Google
Translate added West Frisian as well.<br>
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<div dir="ltr"><br>
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<div dir="ltr">I don't consider West frisian the closest
language to English language because of certain reasons.
Here's what I wrote:</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
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<div dir="ltr">Low german (of plaudietsch language) is spoken by
450,000 people around the world, which is about on par with
Frisian on the total. It has a rich body of literature,
including the bible, and many unique expressions and vowel
sounds. </div>
<div dir="ltr">Compared to what is spoken in west friesland,
it's a fully-fledged and dynamic language. And while it is
true that Frisian is recognised minority language in the
Netherlands, Plautdietsch is recognised in belize and has a
minority status there.<br>
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<div dir="ltr"><br>
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<div dir="ltr">Do you agree?</div>
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<a class="m_-919306421249195449m_2887648211244148869moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf55TFRG-2w" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?<wbr>v=tf55TFRG-2w</a><br>
<a class="m_-919306421249195449m_2887648211244148869moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lV4S4VLhV0" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?<wbr>v=9lV4S4VLhV0</a><br>
<a class="m_-919306421249195449m_2887648211244148869moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdaLj8jkJfI" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?<wbr>v=EdaLj8jkJfI</a><br>
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Sure doesn't look dead to me.<br>
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Ed Alexander<br>
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