LL-L "Language maintenance" 2007.04.26 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L  -  26 April 2007 - Volume 03

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From: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "History" 2007.04.25 (05) [E/LS/German/Latin]

Karl-Heinz wrote:
>Du liebäugelst also mit dem Schweizer Modell: Den ganzen Dag blot
>Plattdüütsch im Fernseher. Das würde funktionieren: die Glotze ruiniert
>die Regionalsprachen, sie kann sie aber auch erhalten wie die Schweiz
>zeigt und man könnte auch Regionalsprachen wiederbeleben. Schweizer
>Verhältnisse sind utopisch: Stell dir vor, das würde für euch bedeuten,
>ARD, ZDF und NDR nur auf Platt. Aber wenn es auch nur ein einziges
>ausschließlich niederdeutsches Fernsehprogramm gäbe, würde das Wunder
bewirken.

A TV programme in nothing but Platt? And who would the speakers be? Where
would they find enough people to dub everything who all speak the same
flavour of Platt, and are at the same time talented enough for the job? And
how would they pay for it all? It would probably sound horrible because to
most of them, Platt would be a foreign language they would try to imitate.
And even if it worked, we would be stuck with a standardized version which
could wipe out regional dialects.

Reinhard wrote:
>I am sure that the spirits of the millions and millions of medieval
>people that were tortured, burnt, quartered or whatever horrible thing for
>believing differently or not at all would agree with your assessment,
Karl-Heinz.
>And we still haven't really come to terms with the atrociousness of that
European
>past. Most of us still find the witchhunts kind of amusing, and it was one
of the
>greatest holocausts, primarily directed at women, mostly disenfranchised
women.
>Any type of minority (ethnic, sexual, physically and mentally handicapped
...)
>could be persecuted with impunity by virtually anyone.

Most of us still find the witchhunts kind of amusing? I should hope not!
Maybe you're thinking of Monty Python, but they also found WWII amusing...

Well, yes, all of the above. But also death in childbirth, broken limbs that
never mend, horrible toothaches that last for years, no eyeglasses, dentures
or hearing aids, infant mortality, untreatable appendicitis, no toilets,
showers or washing machines, no human rights, no health insurance, no birth
control, no divorce, no fresh food for months at a time, no books... but
what is all that compared to the privilege of speaking your own little
regional dialect and nothing else all your life? When even that fact was
turned against you because Latin was the language of the church, so you were
kept in ignorance and dependence all your life?

Actually, I'm part of a medieval reenactment group, but we all do it for fun
and none of us would really want to go back to that time. I think I could do
without bearing thirteen children to somebody I don't even care for, only to
see nine of them die before they reach adulthood, another crippled for life
because he fell out of a tree, and the remaining three... well, who knows.

Gabriele Kahn

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

Gabriele:

> And even if it worked, we would be stuck with a standardized version which
could wipe out regional dialects.

Is this based on theor or precedence?  If there are cases of standard
dialects wiping out other dialects, in what languages did that happen?

Reinhard/Ron
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