minorized languages in Europe:
Dec 24th, 2000, 02:18 AM
#61
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Basque is not the 1st language for most of the inhabitants of that nation divided into Spain and France, but this is more and more known, specially among youngs. There are more than 600,000 spekears of our language, and many more who speak Spanish or French speak in different degrees some Basque. Being such a mysterious language -it does not even belong to the Indoeuropean branch, of which developed most of the European languages, such as the Romance (Spanish, French...), Germanic (English, German, Swedish...), Greek or Slavic-. So, if you speak some word in Basque, nobody will get angry with you. <BR>For instance: <BR>hello - kaixo <BR>goodbye - agur, aio <BR>good morning - egunon <BR>good afternoon - arratsaldeon, arrastion <BR>good evening, good night - gabon <BR>thanks - eskerrik asko, mila esker <BR>see you - ikusi arte <BR>
Dec 24th, 2000, 02:44 AM
#62
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The province of Fryslan/Friesland in the Netherlands has a website in Frisian and Dutch. Have a look at: http://www.fryslan.nl/
Feb 7th, 2001, 06:37 PM
#65
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Does anyone know whether any southern Italian dialects besides Sicilian may be "languages" with a written literature? I'm especially interested in information about the Lucano dialect. <BR>It has elemments of Greek and of archaic dialects. The traditional words for tomorrow reflect the cultural sense of time: crai (tomorrow), piscrai (day after tomorrow), piscrille (day after that), piscruflo, maruflo, maruflicchio, maruflone (etc., etc.) Crai is derived from an ancient Greek word for "day" I think.
Feb 20th, 2001, 04:44 AM
#67
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To Nigel and Sheila re: bad grammar and errant apostrophe's. <BR> <BR>I work in advertising (yes, it's all my fault) where increasingly we adopt language and tone that is in current verbal usage. Is this promoting bad grammar or is it mearly another avenue for the evolution of language? We are often guilty of over-preciousness about our heritage, and who's to say that our language should remain static. Who's to say that apostrophe's are wrong? Just a ponder...
Mar 1st, 2001, 01:23 PM
#68
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Wow, what an education one can find here. I was searching for threads on Dracula and this came up. Preparing for a trip to Scotland planning to stay on Skye, I am hoping to learn some basic conversational Gaelic. I found this language site from the University on Skye its <BR>www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/ionnsachadh/bac<BR><BR>This is a thread to savour.<BR><BR>Dr. Betty<BR>
Apr 1st, 2001, 06:53 AM
#71
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This thread already was topped by the Friulian post only an hour or so after cmt complained about being unable to find it, and its URL was posted on another thread.<BR><BR>But maybe it's going to become the poster child for those who think topping is still better than using hyperlink references to locate old threads again.<BR><BR>So, let's just keep topping this one all the time.<BR>
May 18th, 2001, 05:59 AM
#75
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This is a great topic. I discovered this forum 2 weeks ago and its been a great help in planning my trip to London next week. <BR> <BR>Does Galacia, in northeast Spain, have its own language? I know they have a distinctive style of celtic music including their own version of bagpipes.
May 18th, 2001, 06:19 PM
#77
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Fascinating discussion, you guys... <BR> <BR>This story isn't about a European language, but it relates to the point Kate brought up about language not being static. <BR> <BR>I knew a young man who came from an interesting linguistic background: his family was ethnic Chinese from Madagasgar (a large island in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Africa), so they spoke Malagasy, French, and Cantonese. When he was introduced to a young woman from Hong Kong, he tried speaking some Cantonese to her. She was able to understand him, but with difficulty -- she said it was like listening to an old-fashioned movie. <BR> <BR>They pieced together this explanation: Because the Chinese community in Madagasgar had been isolated for so long, the Cantonese they spoke had retained an archaic 19th century form, while the Cantonese spoken in Asia -- which was exposed to outside influences -- had changed and evolved over the years.
May 18th, 2001, 06:30 PM
#78
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Follow-up about Galicia <BR> <BR>I guess it's called Galego "in Galego" - - maybe two "l's" when written "in English or "in Spanish" (Castellano). <BR> <BR>Anyhow, here are some web pages about the language of Galicia: <BR> <BR>http://www.galiciacity.com/city/Huma...go/index.shtml <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>
May 18th, 2001, 07:43 PM
#79
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What a wonderful thread! <BR> <BR>Yiddish is still the first language of the Chassidim in the US and in Israel. They believe Hebrew should be used for prayer only, so, even in Israel, they speak Yiddish among themselves. <BR> <BR>I want to comment on Gaelic. Gaelic is still spoken as a first language on the eastern end of Nova Scotia in isolated pockets. Please remember that many people there came from Scotland when enclosures pushed them off the land. Most of these people came from the Highlands where Gaelic was their language. There is, I believe, a college in Antigonish on Cape Breton Island that has a well recognized Gaelic program and there are festivals throughout the summer. I was told that some people even come from Scotland to improve their Gaelic--which is hard to believe, but true. <BR> <BR>If you want to see some spectacular scenery, take a break from vacationing in Europe, and spend some time on Cape Breton Island. It is truly spectacular and the people are very friendly. There is a lot of Gaelic influenced culture. <BR> <BR>And, I didn't mention the archiac French spoken in some parts of Canada--including Nova Scotia--as well. <BR> <BR>In the US, it will be shortly mandatory for children to study Spanish. Those of us--like me--who do not speak it will be at a disadvantage. Last weekend I went to graduation at William & Mary where my daughter picked up a degree in French with a lot of German courses on the side. French and German have largely become useless in this country. I learned French in school and carried on with it at college on the side (I got my degree in political science and history, not languages), but it has never proved useful in a monetary sense--although it has provided me with much satisfaction for my soul. In retrospect I wish I had learned Spanish. <BR> <BR>At William & Mary there were 5 degrees in Spanish for every one in French or German. It is a sign of the times. <BR> <BR>Having said all of that, I am fascinated by all the posts on the Basque language and very curious about its ancient origins. <BR> <BR>Anyone in the US who thinks he is going to have a free ride being understood in England or Scotland is in for a shock, by the way--and, as for the Geordie accent, I could not understand a word. <BR> <BR>Again, thanks for all the intellectual posts here!
