LL-L "Language contacts" 2003.09.24 (07) [E]

Wed Sep 24 15:14:10 UTC 2003

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
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From: William Parker <William.Parker at three.co.uk>
Subject: Language Contacts - Helgoland

Ron / John,

Regarding Helgoland my information indicates that the population was
returned to Helgoland / Dunne c 1952-1953 following the end of the [British]
Military control zone which lasted from 5 May 1945 - 1 Mar 1952.
A rhyme in local dialect says, "Grön is dat Land, rood is de Kant, witt is
de Sand, dat is de Flagg vun't hillige Land", i.e. "green is the land, red
is the cliff, white is the sand, that is the flag of our holy land".

It is likely that this enforced period of exile - for up to 10 years in some
cases including the war years - may have influence the speech of the
islanders on their return.  One thinks of the impact on the Channel
Islanders use of the old Norman French dialect which was greatly reduced -
and is now almost terminal - as a consequence of the twin disruptions of a
significant portion of the population being evacuated and military
occupation.

The following links re Helgoland may be of interest:

http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Germany.html#Heligoland
http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/H/Helgolan.asp

> William Parker

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From: pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk <pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Language contacts" 2003.09.22 (02) [E]

Check is my favourite word in the Oxford English Dictionary (despite the
charms of blunderbus, which I also encourage all to look up.

John wrote:

CHEQUE / CHECK : Some like to derive this from the verb 'to check', but
personally I believe it is from the Classical Arabic word Sakk, meaning a
written document used in place of cash. If my idea is correct it would proba
bly have come via Spanish. The French word chèque was apparently borrowed
from English.

The OED derives it from the verb, which it derives, ultimately, from the
Persian (I think it's Persian) word 'Shah' (king).

Best wishes to all,

Pat [Reynolds]

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

William (above):

> A rhyme in local dialect says, "Grön is dat Land, rood is de Kant, witt is
> de Sand, dat is de Flagg vun't hillige Land", i.e. "green is the land, red
> is the cliff, white is the sand, that is the flag of our holy land".

This is the Lowlands Saxon (Low German) version.  I know it like this:

"Gröyn is dat land, rood is dey kant, wit is dey sand. Dat is dey vlag(ge)
vun Helgoland."
(<Gröön is dat Land, root is de Kant, witt is de Sand. Dat is de Flagg(e)
vun Helgoland.>)
"Green is the land, red is the edge, white is the sand, That is the flag of
Heligoland."

... though I have heard the version "... vun't hillige Land also."

(The "edge" of the island is red cliff.)

Does anyone know the Heligoland North Frisian version?

> It is likely that this enforced period of exile - for up to 10 years in
some
> cases including the war years - may have influence the speech of the
> islanders on their return.

Good point, and very likely so.  Besides, not all the islanders returned
home and thus must have infused local speech with mainland elements during
visits.  Many people weren't really able to make a living on the island
after World War II.  Firstly, the island was only a fraction of its original
(already small) size, because the British forces were in the process of
blowing it to smithereens and stopped only after a student protest drew
international attention to it.  Besides, this and the preceding German
militarization of the island had drastically changed the local economy, and
this, in conjunction with increasing pollution from the Elbe River, put an
end to lobster fishing, one of the mainstays of the original economy.

http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Germany.html#Heligoland
http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/H/Helgolan.asp

The second site briefly mentions Africa.  I was told that Britain ceded the
island to Germany specifically in exchange for Zanzibar.  I am not sure if
this is correct.

Back to language: the languages that rubbed shoulders on the island were
thus Frisian, Lowlands Saxon, Danish, German and English.

English first names are or used to be common in Heligoland, even more common
than in places like Hamburg (where John and Jenny used to be very popular at
one time).  In Heligoland you find the name James quite a bit, such as the
famous local writer James Krüss (http://www.james-kruess.de/home.html,
http://www.james-kruess.de/biografisches.html, see one of his Frisian poems
below).

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

***
Faarsk Gölken iip Market

James Krüss

Greow es 'et Weeter,
de Roland komt leeter,
de Cobra de lait,
de Win hat 'em drait.