LL-L: "Statistics" LOWLANDS-L, 09.AUG.2001 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 09.AUG.2001 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans, Ap=Appalachian, D=Dutch, E=English, F=Frisian, L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German), S=Scots, Sh=Shetlandic, Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: "Ian Eich" <ianeich at hotmail.com>
Subject: Statistics

Sandy wrote: "Of course, their are dangers to the language - but the main
danger as I see it
is that all this amounts to a self-fulfilling prophecy - that Scots is in
danger only because no-one can point to anything in
the literature to support the idea of Scots as a language for future
generations. This is something we need to turn on its
head - I think myself that if Scots started being taught with formal guidance
in the schools, it would soon achieve the
status of any fully
accepted national language such as Welsh or Gaelic."
 The same attitude seems to be given to Frisian by most of my fellows U.S.
citizens-that the language is nearly extinct.
However, in one book I have read titled "Words" (I don't remember the author,
I don't have access to this great volume
right now), it is stated that Frisian has 300,000 speakers (this book was
written in the mid-1970's). Now, the smallest
estimate of the number of people who speak Frisian that I have seen is
400,000. That's at least a 25% increase over 25
years (there are other estimates available,of course, so I don't know the
exact increase.) If the population of the United
States were to increase at this rate, in 2025 there would be 300,000,000
people in the United States of America. Very
impressive, though the presently "insignificant" numbers of Frisian-speakers
blinds many to this language's importance.

                                          Ian Kinzel

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