--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, g <st-george@...> wrote:
> pielewe wrote:>
> PS: Would it be perceived as an offence if said that
> what's spoken West of Venlo & Herlen can also be
> deemed as dialects of German? (Net bees sein! :-))
We would have to stage an experiment and see what happens.
It is usual to let the concept of "Dutch" resp. "German" dialect
coincide with the standard languages involved, i.e. with the state
borders. From a sociolinguistic point of view this would appear to
make sense because sociolingusitically speaking a dialect is a
dialect in relation to the corresponding standard language. Of course
if it would become customary to attach political significance to
isoglosses and, say, to refer to Low German dialects as "Dutch" and
to create an atmosphere of territorial claims, then problems would
arise. Such things depend on definitions. If one would define a
linguistic boundary between "Dutch" and "German" coinciding with,
say, the High German Lautverschiebung, then suddenly Holland would
become entitled to vast areas in the north (and Germany to part of
Limburg). But this would still depend on an arbitrary definition,
coupled with the daft idea that state borders ought to coincide with
ancient isoglosses.
Contrary to what is sometimes thought Dutch and German are not
mutually comprehensible or easily learned, except by people
especially interested in language. Acquiring even a modest reading
knowledge in German (learning how to read a newspaper with the help
of a dictionary, e.g.) takes a lot of work, never mind actually
speaking it in a way that can be understood. Nowadays Dutch school
children regard German as a difficult exotic language.
Willem