LL-L 'Language loyalty' 2006.12.03 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
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L O W L A N D S - L * 03 December 2006 * Volume 04
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From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Language loyalty

Folks,

Yesterday I had a chance encounter with a student "fresh off the boat" from Sri
Lanka.

Of course it didn't take all that long for me to twist the conversation around to
Lowlands topics, such as use of English (which is considerable). I also asked him
if he knew how much culture and language loyalty there is within the community of
"Burghers," namely Sri Lankans of (partly) Dutch descent, whose Burgher ancestry
goes back to Dutch arrival (1505) and eventual colonial rule (1653-1796). He
confided in me that his mother is a Burgher, while his father is "purely
Sinhalese" (though not Buddhist but Roman Catholic like his wife). The young man
himself does not consider himself a Burgher. A fellow student I was friendly with
in Australia was a Burgher, and she began taking Dutch lessons there, saying that
she may not have considered doing so back in Sri Lanka.

The young man told me that his mother only knows English and some Latin besides
her native Sinhalese (Sinhala). He does not personally know any Burgher that
knows Dutch, but he has heard of some that are studying Dutch as a means of
getting in touch with their European heritage.

I know that there are quite a few Burghers in Australia, such as the TV
personalities Geoff Jansz and Jamie Durie, and a well-known Canadian Burgher is
Michael Ondaatje, the author of _The English Patient_. However, I am not aware of
any of them knowing Dutch of Sinhalese.

Apparently, most Burghers of Sri Lanka consider themselves Sinhalese, or
representing a subset thereof. Because of their mixed heritage and because many
of them are Christian, it may well be that it was not always easy for them to
marry into "good" Buddhist families. I have it from two upper-class Sri Lankans
Buddhists that they would probably not have their children marry Burghers, even
if they were Buddhist (something that strikes me as being rather un-Buddhist).
Being "mixed" to start with, not only with Sinhalese but with Portuguese as well,
apparently many of them kept on mixing, which is why quite a few of them appear
to have Tamil and British ancestry as well. So they are really part-European Sri
Lankans. At least in places such as Trincomalee and Batticaloa, Burghers have
been having contacts with Cafrinhas ("little Kaffirs" ...), descendents of
Portuguese-imported African slaves that mixed with Sinhalese and Tamil and speak
a Portuguese-based creole. A Sri Lankan once told me that some of them have
intermarried with Burghers.

Does anyone know more about this topic, especially with regard to cultural and
linguistic choices and identity?

Thanks in advance!

Reinhard/Ron

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