<html><head></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:13px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500619307510_8581" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500619307510_8583">The question of "closest£ when it comes to languages is very dependent on definition. A philological tree re[resents how different languages developed; it doesn't reflect intelligibility. The classic case is the Scandinavian languages. Norwegian classifies as a West Norse language, on a branch with Faroese and Icelandic. Swedish is East Norse, a distinct branch. The reality is that most Norwegians would struggle to understand more than a handful of words of Icelandic, but can converse with a Swede comfortably.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500619307510_8581" dir="ltr"><span><br></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500619307510_8581" dir="ltr"><span>Paul</span></div><div class="qtdSeparateBR" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500619307510_8582"><br><br></div><div class="yahoo_quoted" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500619307510_8814" style="display: block;"> <div style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500619307510_8813"> <div style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, Sans-Serif; font-size: 16px;" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500619307510_8812"> <div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500619307510_8811"> <font size="2" face="Arial" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500619307510_8815"> <hr size="1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500619307510_8833"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Lowlands Languages & Cultures <lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Friday, 21 July 2017, 6:50<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Lowlands-l] Google Translate<br> </font> </div> <div class="y_msg_container" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500619307510_8888"><br><div id="yiv8558279963"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500619307510_8889">
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 clear="none">
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 clear="none">
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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 clear="none">
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Greetings from Kiel,<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
Anja<br clear="none">
<div><br clear="none">
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<-----Ursprungligt Meddelande-----><br clear="none">
<div class="yiv8558279963yqt7955300291" id="yiv8558279963yqt63874"><table style="border-collapse:collapse;" width="99%" height="143" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="3" height="131" bgcolor="#EFEFF1"> </td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" width="3" height="131"> </td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" 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 clear="none">
Sent: 20/7/2017 9:50:18 PM<br clear="none">
To: lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org<br clear="none">
Subject: Re: [Lowlands-l] Google Translate </font><font style="font-size:13px;" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br clear="none">
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</font><div dir="rtl"><font style="font-size:13px;" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font><div>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="yiv8558279963gmail_extra"><br clear="none">
<div class="yiv8558279963gmail_quote">בתאריך 20 ביולי 2017 8:24 אחה״צ, "Lowlands Languages & Cultures" <<a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank" href="mailto:lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org">lowlands-l@listserv. linguistlist.org</a>> כתב:<br clear="none"><blockquote class="yiv8558279963gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
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<div class="yiv8558279963m_-919306421249195449m_2887648211244148869moz-cite-prefix">On 20/07/2017 11:18 AM, Eitan wrote:<br clear="none">
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<div dir="ltr">Hi all,</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br clear="none">
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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 clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr">That being the case, to my surprise Google
Translate added West Frisian as well.<br clear="none">
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<div dir="ltr"><br clear="none">
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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 clear="none">
</div>
<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 clear="none">
</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br clear="none">
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<div dir="ltr">Do you agree?</div>
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<a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="yiv8558279963m_-919306421249195449m_2887648211244148869moz-txt-link-freetext" target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf55TFRG-2w">https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=tf55TFRG-2w</a><br clear="none">
<a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="yiv8558279963m_-919306421249195449m_2887648211244148869moz-txt-link-freetext" target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lV4S4VLhV0">https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=9lV4S4VLhV0</a><br clear="none">
<a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="yiv8558279963m_-919306421249195449m_2887648211244148869moz-txt-link-freetext" target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdaLj8jkJfI">https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=EdaLj8jkJfI</a><br clear="none">
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Sure doesn't look dead to me.<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">
Ed Alexander<br clear="none">
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