LL-L "Diversity" 2006.03.06 (07) [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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   L O W L A N D S - L * 06 February 2006 * Volume 07
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From: Lone Olesen <istranza at yahoo.dk>
Subject: LL-L "Diversity" 2006.03.04 (02)

Hello to all,

Paul Finlow-Bates <wolf_thunder51 at yahoo.co.uk> wrote: 

> But Wales doesn't reciprocate with this recognition
> of "Legislative" versus 
> "Traditional" boundaries.  All of Wales uses
> bilingual signage, including 
> the Southwest, Pembroke area.  Here all the >place
names are Germanic - 
> largely Anglo-Danish.  The area was once termed the
> "Englishry" as it was 
> always inguistically distinct from other parts of
> Wales.  If it important to 
> recognise the character of minority areas in the
> English- German- or Dutch- 
> speaking world (and this group surely exists because
> most members believe 
> that?) then the same should apply to other
> countries.  Wales is in effect 
> atempting to homogenize the country.

This is a very interesting question. I came across
this discussion many times last year, being on a study
grant to Sardinia (one of the reasons for my prolonged
"lurking" on this list).
One aspect is the "visual" biblingualism in itself.
Surely it must be a good thing to put "all" signs in
two languages? Even when one of them is not present
locally (eg. Welsh signs in a predominantly
English-speaking town), there is still the potential
presence of both languages. A "homogenization" in that
sense is perhaps then the best solution. Otherwise,
you'd have to have local administrations taking out
polls as to how many people speak what language in
order to determine wether you should have monolingual
or bilingual signing... possible, but then you might
end up with one town chooses one language, the next
chooses the other the third has bilingual signing and
so on.
Another aspect is of course the place-names. I am not
quite sure wether you mean "originally" English
place-names have been translated?
As long as you "know" what the place-name was to begin
with, a translation might not be a bad thing. To take
a Sardinian example, most place-names have been badly
translated into Italian. Problems now arise to
determine when an Italian place-name was a bad
translation to begin with, or wether the town was
renamed altoghether, if a sign of the Sardinian name
is to be put up. To "reconstruct" a name can seem
exagerated. But then again, even if the translation is
correct, it is not "the original", so perhaps with
place-names the decisions might not be so easy as it
might seem in theory.
I realise this kind of discussion is potentially
"dynamite"...
regards,  Lone Olesen

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