LL-L "Language planning" 2006.01.17 (03) [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
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17 January 2006 * Volume 03
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From: Karl Schulte <kschulte01 at alamosapcs.com>
Subject: LL-L "Orthography" 2006.01.17 (02) [E]

The problem with Greek especially is that the rough breathing loss loses a 
real letter (Hellas is correct, not Ellas)that distinguishes between words. 
Most Osmanli books and heritage are now unintelligible to modern Turks, as 
in fact few have been transliterated. I have a wonderful old Osmanli/Greek 
dictionary, only half of which I can read (I know modern Turkish). If we 
only would pronounce English correctly (so should not sound like sew, 
through and threw should be different, with a more Germanic sound for the 
former) why no problem would exist. The same case should be made for Greek: 
oi = oy, u-ou, w = long o just like its name, etc. As this would make life 
easier for students of Chaucer and Classical (Attic, Ionian) Greek and 
spelling easier for everyone, this is the only correct reform. Speak as your 
ancestors did! I have heard an example of Greek using musical tones - 
sounded much like Norwegian - and that of a remote, isolated group in what 
was the USSR which had been isolated from late Hellenic times whose Greek 
sounded much like that taught in American seminaries. Here's a wonderful 
idea: have a group of villages run by LL professors who would raise adopted 
infants and toddlers to speak both a modern tongue and an ancient one. In 
this way we could have a population of native speakers of Attic, Koine, Old 
High Frisian, Norse and Latin. What a wonderful experiment it would be, and 
a great source of future language professors.
As you may guess, my linguistic heroes include the folks of Iceland.

Karl
Karl Schulte

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

Thanks for sharing your opinions and ideas, Karl.

In the case of Turkish and of various languages under Soviet power or 
influence, severing ties with the past was one of the intentions, of course, 
and only (trusted) intellectuals got/get the key to the past.  So, yes, 
writing reform can be used as political tools.

You see, my set of horns can be used either way.

Are you serious when you say we should "speak correctly," where correctly 
means "as in ancient language varieties"?  I'm afraid to break it to you: 
that's not how the world works.

Greek tones and "rough breathing" went bye-bye a long time ago.  Language 
changes, and that's just how the cookie crumbles.

Icelandic language planning with its "purity" mission began as a part of an 
anti-colonial campaign, aiming at not only kicking out the Danes but also 
ridding Icelandic of the influences of their language (which included 
numerous "foreign" words, internationalisms and an abundance of Middle Saxon 
loans).  While this seems to be working on a written and oratory level --  
thus on a more or less artificial level, lately controlled by the Íslensk 
Málstöð (Icelandic Language Institute) -- real-life Icelandic has plenty of 
loanwords, yes, over and above those that official Standard Icelandic has 
(e.g., _bil_ 'automobile', _tóbak_ 'tobacco', _banani_ 'banana').  All 
"purely" (i.e., language-internally) created and officially approved 
neologisms hover around in the waiting room, some eventually enter the truly 
spoken language while others die off, and most of them have real-life 
counterparts, mostly foreign loans, at least calques.  For instance, while 
the official word for "fax" is _bréfasími_ ("letter wire"), many people say 
_fax_ in real life, and many people say _e-mail_ instead of official 
_tölvupóstur_ ("computer mail"), _baktería_ for _gerill_, _gen_ for 
_erfðavísir_ ("inheritance indicator" = 'gene'), _palma_ for _lófi_, etc.

Creation and maintenance of language purity have been abetted by Icelanders' 
relative isolation and inculcated pride in purity so far.  It remains to be 
seen if this can be maintained in an age of electronic communication in 
which geography is irrelevant, bearing in mind that the Internet is a 
particularly welcome means for a highly literate and globally savvy nation 
lioke Iceland to overcome its geographical isolation.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron 

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