LL-L 'Names' 2006.12.15 (02) [E] LL-L 'Names' 2006.12.14 (01) [E/LS]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L * 15 December 2006 * Volume 02
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From: jonny <jonny.meibohm at arcor.de>
Subject: LL-L 'Names' 2006.12.14 (01) [E/LS]

Beste Luc and Ron!

Luc, you suggested:

> ‚Neringen'
Luc- then again we should have a problem! 'Nerig' in today's LS here means
E: 'stingy', G: 'geizig' ;-)!

Ron- all your arguments I like to follow, though Lucx's suggestions sound
very 'solid' and are really worth to be thought about.

But- if we choose 'Nedderlannen' or something suggested near to that most
people would be confused and mix it up with The Netherlands.

I think it was 'our' Gothic brother ;-) Arthur Jones who sometimes prefers
to call us 'Laaglanners'. I think it's not too bad, because 'laag' could be
the older form of 'leeg'. In our region we still have some location names
written 'Laack' or 'Laak' (from Middle Low Saxon times, I think), denoting
just and only a lower region.

But- why not keep the already used 'Lowlanners'- created and grown on this
list as a living and lively mixture of English and all the
Afrikaans/American/British and continental Lowlandic languages???

Greutens/Regards

Johannes "Jonny" Meibohm

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

Jonny,

> Ron- all your arguments I like to follow, though Lucx's suggestions sound
very
> 'solid' and are really worth to be thought about.

I totally agree, Jonny, and I would expect no less from our Luc.  I
definitely did not mean to "diss" him or anything like that, but I assume he
knows me well enough by now to understand that.  I was merely telling him
(and he's a big boy and can take it) what my reaction is and what I assume
some other people would think about it.

Of course you and I understand what Luc was on about with this Neringen
idea.  However, while we toss ideas around the room we need to be mindful
that many people wouldn't be able or willing to make the mental connections
we intend them to make.

And we mustn't forget that there have been people that have made hostile
remarks about us, in particular in Germany where the idea of directly
connecting Northern Germany with the Low Countries and Britain (and their
offshoots) -- no matter how innocuous a mental exercise it is on our part --
comes across as heretical, secessionist and therefore threatening to some.
Remember my home-made saying "It's easier to destroy than to create"?  If
you create a work or art, publish a book, put together an action group, or
whatever ... the aasvagels ("carrion birds") are waiting out there ready to
hack into it with their filthy beaks, and they'll take advantage of
anything, even of the tiniest scrap. My prediction is that the Neringen idea
would be easily twisted to make it come across as a fantasy homeland of the
cuckoo.

> But- why not keep the already used 'Lowlanners'- created and grown on
> this list as a living and lively mixture of English and all the
Afrikaans/American/British
> and continental Lowlandic languages???

I have no fundamental problem with that.  Are you suggesting then that we
also use the place name "Lowlands" in Low Saxon?

Do you really think that people wouldn't get their heads around de Nedderen
Lannen as opposed to de Nedderlannen?*

* Incidentally, I've come across many a "Platt" speaker who doesn't even
know de Nedderlannen for "the Netherlands."  They use de Niederlande or de
Niederlannen instead!  This is how bad the state of affairs is in Northern
Germany that people started to use German names of well-known places and
peoples, also, for instance, Dänemark for Däänmark (Denmark), Schweden
for Sweden
or Swäden (Sweden), Schweiz for Swietz or Swiez (Switzerland), Griechenlandfor
Grekenland or Gräkenland, Frankreich for Frankriek (France), Türken for
Törken (Turks), and Juden for Jöden or Joden (Jews), and, yes!, even Friesenfor
Fresen or Freisen!

Thanks again, Luc and Jonny!

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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