LL-L "Language use" 2008.08.21 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 21 August 2008 - Volume 02
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From: Paul Finlow-Bates <wolf_thunder51 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Art" 2008.08.19 (01) [E]

I've often wondered what language(s) Holbein spoke when he first came to
England. Certainly no English; nobody outside the Anglo-Scots area of
Britain did.  Would he have used Latin, or some form of Court French? or
maybe a Continental lowlands language would have been similar enough until
he learned English?



Paul

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

Yes, Paul, the same goes for people like Friedrich Engels (from
Wupperthal)), Georg Friedrich Händel (George Frideric Handel, from Halle),
Gottfried Kniller (Sir Godfrey Kneller, from Lübeck), Karl Marx (from
Trier), Nathan Mayer Rothschild (from Frankfurt on Main) and others. And it
also goes for all those people from Dutch-speaking Europe that went to live
in Britain long ago.

While in more recent times people were able to study even conversational
English before their migration, English teachers were very rare before that,
though people could find introductory books and pick up some vocabulary,
which they probably pronounced horribly when they arrived. Furthermore, as
far as I know, there were no large German communities in Britain in the
early days.

It also makes me wonder how the Hanseatic merchants communicated with their
British counterparts at the London Steel Yard, and how Anne of Cleves coped
when she arrived at Henry VIII's court, though there may have been French
proficiency on both sides in the latter case.

I don't think that Holbein knew any type of Lowlands language. He was from
Augsburg, Bavaria. It was probably easier for Handel and Kniller, since in
their youth they must have at least been exposed to Low Saxon.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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