LL-L "Language use" 2004.06.30 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 30.JUN.2004 (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: denis dujardin <dujardin at pandora.be>
Subject: LL-L "Language use" 2004.06.30 (01) [E]

Great letter from Troy!
That really is the only attitude which we Flemish do appreciate, because we
had a history of fighting for our language. (The Dutch never had to do
this).
We still have to fight for it in the area around Brussels.
People like Troy are more than aware that this area is Flemish spoken,
whereas a big number of immigrants in that area seem to be too lazy to
wonder what the cultural context is, in which they live. So they just switch
to French, helping that part of the French spoken community in that area
(Flemish) who never tried to adapt to the native speakers and highhartedly
continue to speak their language, regardless of the social and historical
context they went to live in.
Congratulations Troy!

denis dujardin
kortrijk
west-flanders.

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From: R. F. Hahn
Subject: Language use

Thanks to everyone for their informative and thought-provoking input in this
thread so far.

In my last response I indicated that I agreed with Sandy's statements.
While I still basically agree with the general tenet of his message, I keep
waffling back and forth in my mind about the statement that language loyalty
and revival depend upon the speakers' desire for it.

I still basically agree with it.  However, I wonder if the speakers' desire
cannot be engendered by "activists."  After all, there are the frequently
encountered phenomena "linguistic inferiority complex" and "linguistic
defeatism" (the latter stemming from an underlying sense of powerlessness).
I am pretty sure that in our area of interest this applies particularly to
Scots and Lowlands Saxon (Low German), less so to Westerlauwer Frisian, and
I am not sure about Flemish, Zeelandic and Limburgish.  Outside our area of
interest, I have come across this sort of attitude among some Yiddish
speakers, where there is strong personal emotional attachment and on the
other hand a sense that the language is somehow inferior and/or is
reminiscent or symbolic of an era and of types of circumstances and
attitudes that are remembered as bitter-sweet and belong to the past.

In cases of non-power languages (i.e., minority and regional languages) it
is more often than not the case that privately speakers do have the desire
to see their languages gain or regain greater prestige and thus stand a
chance of being reinvigorated, but they feel defeatist in the current
climate.   Oftentimes, after decades or centuries of political and/or social
opression, they themselves have come to believe that their languages,
despite their love for them, are inferior and are bound to die without
anyone "out there" caring.  (I have heared such speakers refer to their own
native languages as "jargon" or "slang," even as "common" in the sense of
"vulgar.")

In such cases I can see "activists" (preferably many of which come from
various walks of life with which other speakers can identify) playing the
role not only of language assertion agents but also of moral support agents,
convincing the defeatist average speaker that the language *is* worthy of
status and preservation, and that its extinction is *not* inevitable.

I can furthermore see a degree of usefulness in international attention,
where non-locals and non-nationals study and use such languages, which would
signal to the average speaker that there *are* people that know and care,
not only at home.  Our own Yasuji Waki's recent visit from Japan to Northern
Germany and all the media attention his interest in "Platt" (i.e., Lowlands
Saxon) received there is a case in point.  Sure, many people's first
reaction may well have been that it was a case of "exotic aberration."
However, it may have at least made them think, and further cases of the sort
might reinforce the notion that outsiders do care.  Might this not serve as
a morale booster?  I remember visiting Denmark as a teenager.  People
thought it really peculiar that a German boy (who did not belong to the
German minority of Denmark) learned Danish and made a real effort.  I even
ended up on the radio!  At the same time even more fuss was being made about
a young Frenchman who spoke rather good Danish; he even ended up on TV.
Since that time, Danes have encountered loads of foreigners, not only
immigrants, that know Danish, and I have a feeling this is now far less
peculiar to them then at that time.

What do you think about this, folks?

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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