LL-L "Language varieties" 2006.02.13 (06) [E]

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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 (Zeeuws)
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   L O W L A N D S - L * 13 February 2006 * Volume 06
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From: Andrys Onsman <Andrys.Onsman at CeLTS.monash.edu.au>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2006.02.05 (05) [E]

To: Ron
From: Andrys
Subject: Language varieties

> What people did they claim moved into Friesland?  Was it people from
> the same area from which Saxons migrated to Britain, namely what are
> now Holstein?  It has been said that, due to environmental problems
> and land shortage, some areas of that region became virtually
> depopulated due to emigration, assumedly to Britain.  And it has also
> been said that these areas later came to be repopulated.  By whom?
> Assumedly Frisians in the case of the Northsea coast of Holstein,
> Schleswig and Southern Jutland (in two major waves, of which todays
> insular dialects represent the earlier wave).  Who else?

Hi Ron
Apologies for the tardiness: things are crook when a bloke can't give a
mate a quick answer!

I devoted an entire chapter to the subject, so this response is so light
it's laughable. Then again, much of what I say is. The most common
assumptions are that whenever the population fell (due mostly as you say
to environmental factors) people from elsewhere flooded in when
conditions improved. Most commonly it is thought that the immigrants
came from the areas you mention. Partially to stir the possum, but also
because it is entirely feasible, I've posited the notion that within the
time span (generally agreed to be longer than 100 years) the extant
population could easily have increased in numbers without any outside
help.People in other areas did it: I'm sure we were no less fertile or
willing. The main evidence for such an organic interpretation is that
Frisians have a fairly homogenous genetic imprint. (Hence geneticist T.
E. Merelman's comment that you don't have to go back very far to find a
common ancestor. Which is not to imply support for either Cafalli-Sforza
or Sykes - Seven Daughters of Eve - , because there is still greater
genetic diversity amongst Frisians than between us and anyone else. Of
course, the ebb and flow of the Frisian language is a different matter.
Hereby endeth the disclaimers.)

Best wishes,
Andrys

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

Ta, Ondrys.

Things may be crook at times but so far not between you and me, mate.  Your 
explanation and hypothesis make heaps of sense to me.

So can you stir the possum with regard to migration to Britain?  A somewhat 
mixed population (Frisians, Saxons, etc.) with linguistic permutations 
before and after crossing the Channel?  And what about the areas left 
underpopulated by Saxons around the mouth of the Elbe?

By the way, I take it you're referring to the following work:

   Andrys Onsman,
   _Defining indigeneity in the twenty-first century : a case study of
   the Frisians_, Lewiston, N.Y. ; Lampeter, Wales : Edwin Mellen
   Press, 2005

Good on ya!

Cheers!
Reinhard/Ron 

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