LL-L "Language varieties" 2004.04.25 (01) [E/LS]
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L O W L A N D S - L * 25.APR.2004 (01) * 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: Ruth & Mark Dreyer <mrdreyer at lantic.net>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2004.04.23 (02) [E]
Hi, Criostòir & co.
Mark here:
I beg to differ with you in the matter of Creole, Afrikaans & Dutch, but for
what may seem to you to be an odd reason.
All languages grow out of other languages, & some of them by blending
two or more, to a greater or lesser degree.
Now there are two significant forms of blending, dependant on how
closely the languages involved are related.
In one case, where the languages or dialects are most closely related,
the daughter language might be deemed a product of 'ablative' blending.
Here, where a modicum of understanding can be achieved between the dialects,
the speakers tend to stay with what they know; only abandoning the forms
they find are unique to their own tongue, & favouring those they find common
to both. Here, the common features tend to be the oldest, & the unique
features the most recent. They will also favour simpler forms over those
more complex, tending to prefer analytic structure to grammatical structure.
Nederlands tourists have mischievously reported to me that Afrikaans, if
it only didn't sound so childish, would seem to be a lot older than 16th
Century. The previous paragraph supports both points they raised.
In the other case, languages only remotely related if at all will blend
agglommeratively. The socially (not necessarily politically) dominant
language will be retained, even with a comparatively - let us rather say,
unnecessarily - complex grammatical structure (us analytics tend to a mild
bigotry in these matters). Thennn, to this language the lexicon of the other
language will be absorbed, as much as will serve for communication.
To which of these trends will 'creolisation' apply, & if to both, what
earthly use is it as a term? To students of language, that is.
Here in Southern Africa, we have an example of both forms of blending,
in Fanagolo for the first, & in Swahili for the second.
Fanagolo evolved out of the blending of Southern Bantu dialects on a
grammatical matrix largely common to them all, but under the influence of
the dominant Zulu. It is not a native tongue to any People, but a trade
argot. It was the only common medium of communication on the Gold Mines. All
miners, even whites, even visiting Israeli mining engineers, had to learn
it. They were given a fortnight to do so. The 'language' consists of a tiny
pamphlet; two small pages of rules, & the rest giving examples, & a couple
of thick dictionaries, some of them handling highly technical terminology.
Swahili is a construct of the Slave traders. Here a polyglot of
East-Coast Bantu dialects blended on a largely Arabic grammatical matrix,
comparatively complex. Wherever the slave trade went, this tongue was
spoken. Again, it is not uniquely a native tongue to any specific people,
but a trade argot. There are some few words common to Fanagolo & Swahili,
but I understand communication between the two is decidedly 'iffy'.
How does this concern us? Afrikaans evolved out of Zeeuws, I suspect,
but most of the speakers, employees all of the VOC, spoke some more or less
related Lowlands, or 'Plats', 'Plattisch'? tongue. All these speakers
contributed to an ablatively blended common speech. Interested parties might
try to find 'The Diary of Jan Alleman'. I venture to aver that before
Afrikaans was a native tongue of Afrikaners, it was the 'lower ranks' trade
argot of the VOC. Afrikaans is still thick with seamanly terminology. It was
entrenched before we ever became a landlocked people.
Other ablative tongues of interest are Yiddish; blending all the
dialects of all German-speaking Jews across the entire German Language area,
& Syriac, blending a plenitude of Aramaic dialects. I have this visceral
feeling that Hebrew is another case of (ancient) ablative blending. It
manifests a fascinating quality of Archaiscism together with a marvellous
capacity for analytic forms. Of course, there is also highly grammatical
Hebrew, used in the same language, in a more formal context. I wonder if the
same didn't also apply to Latin, roundabout Cicero's time?
English shows both types of blending. It is ablative in the case of the
parent dialects of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes & Fries, & later the Danes. It
is agglommerative in the case of English, Norman-French, & Church-Latin.
Of course loan words & forms will be found in both cases. Some remain
forever 'foreign' accretions, like 'encore!' (where a Frenchman would say
'bis!') & some slip into the language like a native form, like 'gaol'
('jail' for Americans) The issue is; to what extent communication in the
blended language is dependant on these loans. If it is highly dependant on
the borrowings, then it is agglomarative, if not, well, all languages will
'borrow'.
Yrs sincerely,
M Dreyer.
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From: Ruth & Mark Dreyer <mrdreyer at lantic.net>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2004.04.23 (02) [E]
Sam S Claire:
This interests me. I had the reverse experience. before I learned
Hebrew, I walked my way around Israel talking in Afrikaans to the older
folk, Some of them could always help me in Yiddish. By the way, I managed
better with Litvak than with Polin.
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From: Utz H. Woltmann <uwoltmann at gmx.de>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2004.04.23 (02) [E]
Moin Ron,
>Daar hest Du schients wat in'n verkehrten Hals krägen un wat persöönlich
>verstahn, dat nix mit Di to doon harr.
>
Magst woll recht hebben. Heff ik woll in´n verkehrten Hals krägen.
Hol Di
Utz H. Woltmann
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language varieties
Mark,
Thanks a lot for the very interesting and erudite descriptions (above).
Here just a couple of footnotes from me.
(1)
> Swahili is a construct of the Slave traders. Here a polyglot of
> East-Coast Bantu dialects blended on a largely Arabic grammatical matrix,
> comparatively complex. Wherever the slave trade went, this tongue was
> spoken. Again, it is not uniquely a native tongue to any specific people,
> but a trade argot.
While this is certainly true with regard to the majority of
(second-language) speakers, the language (native _Kiswahili_) has progressed
beyond that, has become the first language of descendants of Arabs and
Sub-Saharan Africans that consider themselves an ethnic group and call
themselves Swahili (native _Waswahili_, plural of _Mswahili_).
Traditionally they are coastal trading and fishing communities of what is
now Tanzania, Zanzibar being their major stronghold. Elsewhere, the
language is indeed mostly used as a non-native lingua franca, mostly in
Burundi, Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa and Uganda, with more
recent spreading and development of specific dialects in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. However, even in some of these outlying regions there
are now communities of native speakers, especially in larger cities.
Estimates of speakers worldwide revolve around the following figures: 30
million second-language speakers, and 5 million native speakers. In other
words, the world has about as many native speakers of Swahili as it has of
speakers of Danish and (combined Halh and Cahar) Mongolian.
> This interests me. I had the reverse experience. before I learned
> Hebrew, I walked my way around Israel talking in Afrikaans to the older
> folk, Some of them could always help me in Yiddish. By the way, I managed
> better with Litvak than with Polin.
This is a common experience of Germanic speakers due to the fact that
_Litvak_ (Lithuanian/Baltic Yiddish) is more "German," i.e., has not
undergone the "distorting" shifts (e.g. u > i and o > u, thus retaining more
phonetic distinctions) and has far fewer Slavic loans. This provoked a
branch of language activists to propose basing international Stage Yiddish
and Yiddish Romanization on _Litvak_ at a time when German was still
considered prestigeous among Yiddish speakers (i.e., prior to World War II).
Needless to say that that movement fizzled out soon enough.
Utz:
> Magst woll recht hebben. Heff ik woll in´n verkehrten Hals krägen.
Denn will ik fast hœpen, dat Du Di fuchtig höllst un fix wiederdeist, ook up
Ingelsch. Dien Mitdoon is 'n Hœgen, sachs nich bloots för mi.
Hier wardt an keen een sien Spraakkœnen mäkelt, un 'n Weddstried is 't ook
nich. Daarwägen bruukst nich schockt or bang to wäsen.
Kumpelmenten,
Reinhard/Ron
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