LL-L 'Language varieties' 2006.07.14 (01) [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 * 15 July 2006 * Volume 01
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From: Paul Finlow-Bates <wolf_thunder51 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L 'Anniversary' 2006.07.14 (02) [E]

    From: R. F. Hahn
    Subject: Anniversary

    Hi, Paul!

    Our Elsie went to a lot of trouble producing these (Afrikaans recordings)..

    Regards,
    Reinhard/Ron

Very good stuff - though I couldn't understand much of the Griqua form!
 
Paul

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From: Paul Finlow-Bates <wolf_thunder51 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L 'Language varieties' 2006.07.14 (05) [E]

    From: 'Marcel Bas'
    Subject: LL-L 'Anniversary' 2006.07.14 (02) [E]
    (Re: Afrikaans)
    .... and in Argentina there is a
    dialect (look here: http://roepstem.net/argentina.html and
    http://roepstem.net/boere_sports.html).
    Marcel.

Thanks for that Marcel. I recall an article in the old "Rand Daily Mail" about
the Argentinian Afrikaners back in the 1970s; At that time they mostly spoke
Afrikaans at home, but it seems they were the last generation to do so.  Sad that
it's dying out in younger people.
I wonder if there is a "critical mass" for such enclaves to survive? I remember
noting in Santiago that German is alive and kicking in Chile, but whether that is
because there are many more German-Chilenos, or because the "homeland" language
mass is much bigger, I'm not sure.
 
Paul 

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

Hi, Paul!

> Very good stuff

Indeed.  The way I see it, this is were we as a collaborative can deliver a
service, and Elsie has been at the forefront (or has been the only one) in the
Afrikaans area.  (You have to admire her stick-to-it-ness over the years when
other Afrikaans speakers have come and gone.)

What I'm referring to is showing the "world" not only "lesser used" languages
alongside "more used" ones but also diversity within a given language in a world
and at a time when attention rearely goes beyond standard varieties of
internationally better known languages.  You, Paul, are not the only one who told
me he was surprised to hear that there's more than one type of Afrikaans.  So
kudos to Elsie for raising awareness.  Some may think this isn't a very big deal.
 But it is, considering that these pages are visited from all over the world on a
daily basis.  If only one person per week comes away from a visit with the
awareness that, in this case, there's more than one type of Afrikaans and
Afrikaans is not only used by "Whites," then that is progress, also when we
assume that a good number of people will tell others who will tell others.  So,
folks, the educational power of this anniversary exercise ought not be
underestimated.

> At that time they mostly spoke Afrikaans at home, but it seems they 
> were the last generation to do so.  Sad that it's dying out in younger 
> people.

I understand that this applies to Argentina's Welsh- and (long-standing)
English-speaking communities as well.  As for the latter, what I mean is that
fewer Anglo-Argentinians now speak English as their *first* language, while they
learn it as a second language mostly in non-specific schools as other
Argentinians do.

I hear similar things about non-Mennonist Low-Saxon-speaking communities in the
USA (mostly in the Northeast and Midwest).  Some of these go back to immigrant
groups of the mid and late 19th century, but language proficiency has been
dwindling lately.  I sometimes get mail from people in such communities, and many
say they regret that they either don't speak the language or don't speak it as
well as their parents do or did.  It is a shame that it is so difficult to get
language samples from such communities, considering that some of them have
developed their own dialects.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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