LL-L "Resources" 2002.06.21 (06) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
 L O W L A N D S - L * 21.JUN.2002 (06) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
 Web Site: <http://www.geocities.com/sassisch/rhahn/lowlands/>
 Rules: <http://www.geocities.com/sassisch/rhahn/lowlands/rules.html>
 Posting Address: <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>
 Server Manual: <http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html>
 Archive: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html>
=======================================================================
 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
=======================================================================

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Resources

Dear Lowlanders,

The special project I mentioned today under "Administrativa" in
connection with Mathieu van Woerkom is ... yes, "Project Blurb."
Mathieu has become something of a "blurb meister" in the meantime, and a
darn good one at that.

For those of you who joined us later or do not remember, the plan is to
put short introductory pieces about the various Lowlands language
varieties on the Web.  Mathieu was the first to answer the call by
sending me an introduction to Limburgish in Dutch, English, German and
French, and Gary Taylor was a close second by writing about his native
Estuary English as a "sub-blurb" under "English."

Mathieu has taken over the creation of the blurb pages.  So far I have
seen only the beginning of it, and it promises to be just splendid,
putting me and my little web pages to shame.  You will be pleasantly
surprised when you finally get to see the pages.

At this point I must hand a huge kudos also to Roman Laryushkin.  Roman
has been extremely helpful and supportive with ideas and suggestions and
with Russian and Ukrainian translations.  He has been a real gem.
Thanks, Roman!

I am also involved in "Project Blurb," have been doing some translating
and have been helping to iron out some initial kinks, also have been
converting Roman's Cyrillic text into a format that does not require
most visitors to change their browsers' encoding mode.  I am supposed to
come up with an introductory blurb to Low Saxon (Low German).  Help
would be appreciated.

We really cannot proceed much farther for lack of material.  So I am
appealing to you to consider writing introductory blurbs about your
language varieties, not necessarily your native ones but also non-native
ones with which you are well acquainted.  You could write them singly or
in teams.  If you plan to write one, it might be a good idea to ask
other people in your field if they are planning to write one too, and
you might do something in the way of collaboration.  These main blurbs
do not have to be literary gems, nor do they need to be long.  In fact,
briefer is better.  They should (*briefly*) cover all or most of these
aspects:

   Genealogical classification (language family/group)
   Area (geography)
   History
   Number of speakers (or estimate)
   Status
   Public Services
   Education
   Media (including literature)
   (And any other subject)

Also, I agree with Roman who suggested that we have small language
samples as illustrations.

The plan is that these (brief) main blurbs will appear in these
languages: English, German, Dutch, French, Russian, Ukrainian (just
because of the nature of the team: Mathieu (Nijmegen, Netherlands;
Roman, Simferopol, Ukraine; Ron, Seattle, Washington, originally from
Hamburg, Germany).  I can handle the German and English translations but
would appreciate help, at least input, would not be the least bit
offended if you corrected my compositions or translations.  So, for
these "main blurbs" we need volunteer writers and volunteer
translators.  Especially needed is someone who can proficiently
translate the main blurbs into French.  I would like to add Spanish and
would really appreciate some help with that, at least help with cleaning
up my own far less than perfect Spanish.

So much for the "main blurbs."  Then there are the "sub-blurbs."  These
can be anything in any style, like essays that are linked to from the
main blurbs (like Gary's is from the English blurb).  They may or may
not be translated (though translations would *always* be welcome).  So
here is an opportunity to write little pieces about your local or
favorite dialects or dialect groups, or about any related aspect you
like.  No, they do not have to be deadly serious.  Humor and
lightheartedness are fine as long as they do not render your
descriptions disrespectful.  They do not have to be written in English.
Chances are that someone will be able to translate your blurb, and we
would always post the original version anyway, no matter what language
it is written in.

Please send the texts to me (sassisch at yahoo.com).  I will send them
through the "blurbification" process.

So, huge, big thanks go to Mathieu and Roman, also to all of you who are
willing to help us in some ways, big or small.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

==================================END===================================
 You have received this because your account has been subscribed upon
 request. To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l"
 as message text from the same account to
 <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or sign off at
 <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
=======================================================================
 * Please submit postings to <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>.
 * Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
 * Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
 * Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
   to be sent to <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or at
   <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
 * Please use only Plain Text format, not Rich Text (HTML) or any other
   type of format, in your submissions
=======================================================================