LL-L "Language use" 2007.10.08 (01) [E]

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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
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L O W L A N D S - L  -  08 October 2007 - Volume 01
Song Contest: lowlands-l.net/contest/ (- 31 Dec. 2007)
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From: Henry Pijffers <henry.pijffers at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Language use" 2007.10.07 (03) [E/LS]

Ron wrote:
>
>
> Yared is not the only well-known "black" person that speaks Low Saxon


Where I'm from, there are many autochtonous (coloured if you like) people
that speak the local dialect. If you work in a factory, or play at a
football club, and everybody speaks Low Saxon, what else can you do but
adapt?

cheers,
Henry

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

Hi, Henry!

I'm not surprised to hear that about the situation left of the border,
simply because "dialect" is still being spoken regularly and openly by
people of all ages, people aren't as uptight about these issues. Discussions
of the sort you're witnessing with regard to the situation right of the
border are thus only partly relevant. This is one of the reasons why I
advocate "looking across the garden fence," but even that tends to be
dismissed since some have decided that what is being spoken in the
Netherlands is a creature of an alien kind, is thus irrelevant.

Not too long ago I bumped into an African American that could hold a simple
conversation in "Platt" with me. He had learned it while living in the
Rostock area. Also, I know of Turks and other "guest workers" that speak the
it, even in Hamburg where the language still pretty much leads an
underground existence. None of this should come as a real surprise, but to
most in such places (outside Eastern Friesland and surrounding areas) it
still is, and it's considered a big deal. You have to understand the
historical ins and outs to fully appreciate this. To start with, in most
areas it's still a great surprise to hear a younger person (of our
children's or grandchildren's generation) use the language. Why, we were
directly and indirectly discouraged to use it, certainly use it in public.
Considering this, how would a younger person that has "alien" written all
over him or her manage to speak it now?

Having Yared act as one of the hosts of this program may be beneficial, if
only to make some people think (which, as you know, can be quite a task in
itself). This is not to say that I believe he's merely a token figure. From
what I can tell, he has a pleasant on-screen presence.

The need to make people rethink is also one of the reasons why I was pleased
that young Silke Mansholt (from Eastern Friesland, now in Southern England)
won the Freudenthal Prize twice (1997, 2004) and presented her works in the
form of avant-garde performance art, raising quite a few bushy eyebrows. All
I can say is "Go, Freudenthal Society!"

Kumpelmenten,
Reinhard/Ron

•

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