LL-L "Language politics" 2007.10.27 (04) [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  -  27 October 2007 - Volume 04
Song Contest: lowlands-l.net/contest/ (- 31 Dec. 2007)
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From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at scotstext.org>
Subject: LL-L "Language politics" 2007.10.23 (03) [E]

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Language politics
>
> Under "Phonology," Jaap reminded us that Zeelandic and West Flemish
> are very similar. What I have been observing about them has convinced
> me that the two constitute a single dialect group, one dialect
> continuum, at most two subgroups of the same dialect group, and that
> they would generally be seen that way were it not for the
> Netherlands-Belgium border between them. In past times, both of them
> tended to be called Vlaemsch, Zeelandsch Vlaemsch with special
> reference to the coast and to the islands of what is now the province
> of Zeeland.
>
> This then is similar to the case Low Saxon in which some people see
> and want to perpetuate a separation along the international border.
>
> Is it not also similar to the case of Scots in which some people in
> Ireland want to see Ulster Scots ( Ullands) officially separate from
> Scots of Scotland?

Yes, there are opinions running in both directions there.

Taking a linguistic approach to Scots, Shetlandic needs to be treated as
a separate language, Ullans and Northumbrian could much more easily be
treated as dialects of Scots (Orcadian is still a grey area for me).

Yet political activists try to take up language as a unifying factor
will try to say that Shetlandic is just Scots, while Ullans and
Northumbrian aren't. Long-standing list members may recall Colin
Wilson's frequent use of the phrase "The Northumbrian dialect of
English" in an attempt to vanquish a politically uncomfortable truth.

A myth that's sprung up in Scottish language activism is the idea that
the Scotland-England border is the sharpest linguistic divide on any
border in the world. Apparently some people are easily enough
brainwashed to believe that this could be demonstrated, but they're
reminded that there was a radio interview that "proved" it. This
involved an interview with an English couple just over the border from
Coldstream. If you examine the isoglosses and linguistic commentary in
the Scottish National Dictionary, however, you can see that Coldstream
is the point where you would expect dialect to change maximally as you
crossed the border (to the west of it the loss of /x/ doesn't happen at
the border and to the east of it the broad vowel distinctions between
the Anglic dialects don't change at the border). So the whole thing
looks more like a set-up than a scientific enquiry!

Sandy Fleming
http://scotstext.org/

•

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