LL-L "Language use" 2003.07.16 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 16.JUL.2003 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: thomas byro <thbyro at earthlink.net>
Subject: LL-L "Language survival" 2003.07.10 (07) [E]

Ron:

What was the language of instruction in lowlands schools before German
unification?  For that matter,what language did some famous lowlanders grow
up speaking? For example,a friend of mine researched Copernicus and found
out that he was born Nikolaus Kopernick in the city of Thorn.  Thorn did not
become a part of Poland until he was 20 years old. His father was German and
his mother Polish (probably Kashubian - few would make the distinction).  He
allmost certainly grew up bilingual but what language did the young
guttersnipe Copernicus speak when he was kicking a ball around with his
schoolyard chums?

Catherine the Great was born in Anhalt-Zerbst.  The place must have been
very small because I have never found it on a map but I believe that it was
somewhere in Pommern.  Like most people of her class,she probably chose to
speak French as much as possible but what language did she speak when she
was a little girl and played with dolls with the other little princesses?

I had read that George I of England never learned to speak English.  He
likewise probably spoke French as much as possible but what language did he
grow up speaking?

Tom Byro

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

Hi, Tom!

Thanks for your questions (above).  I am sure others will be able to answer
them more competently.  I can merely venture guesses.

The problem with most earlier historical figures is that the languages of
their homes was never mentioned, that all you know is what the general
populations of their native areas spoke and in what languages these
personages wrote, which in former times on the European continent was
limited to Latin, later French and a handful of powerful languages.  The
other problem is that in those eastern areas mentioned by you language
varieties were not distributed in neat areal patterns, because these
formerly mostly Slavonic-speaking areas had been settled by speakers of
Germanic (Saxon, German, Flemish, Brabantish, Hollandish and Frisian), and
retention of Slavonic (and Baltic) as well as adoption of Saxon and German
(the most powerful of the imported languages) occurred more socially than
areally, though, by and large, it can be said that Saxon predominated in the
north and German predominated farther south.

According to my sources, Copernicus (born 1473 in Torun/Thorn, died in 1543
in Frombork/Frauenburg, Poland) was really called Nicolaus Koppernigk.   I
have a hunch that Koppernigk is a Germanic-Slavonic mix: Slavonic _-ik_
added to Lowlands Saxon (Low German) _kopper_  'copper'.  The astronomer's
father was also called Nicolaus Koppernigk.  He came from Cracow
(Krakau/Krakow) where Polish and German dominated.  He was a trader in
copper (!).  I have no sources that say that the astronomer's mother was
ethnically Polish, Kashubian, Saxon or German.  She was a native of
Torun/Thorn and was born Barbara Waczenrode.  I am not sure about the origin
of her maiden name.  It could be a mix of Slavonic and Saxon or German also.
She came from a prominent family.  This and the fact that she married a
well-to-do man from Crakow may point toward her having been
Germanic-speaking, most likely Low-Saxon-speaking, given that she lived in a
Hanseatic-dominated area.  The astronomer studied at the University of
Cracow, which probably means that he used German, Latin and probably also
Polish, and he died in Frombork/Frauenburg, which appears to have been
predominantly German- and Polish-speaking.

Anhalt-Zerbst is an area within today's German state of Saxony-Anhalt
(Sachsen-Anhalt), the major city being Zerbst.  Saxony-Anhalt is
linguistically complex.  It used to be mostly Slavonic-speaking.
Southeastern Lowlands Saxon dialects came to dominate in the north, German
dialects in the south, and there is a belt of transitional or contact
dialects.  Catherine the Great (Catherine II, Empress of all the Russias)
was *called* after Anhalt-Zerbst, but she was born April 21, 1729, in
Szczecin/Stettin, then Germany, now Poland, a formerly Saxon-dominated city.
However, at her birth, Lowlands Saxon had already begun to be beaten down,
certainly in high society.  I am therefore fairly confident that Catherine
grew up speaking German, probably with French as a foreign language.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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