| EBLUL Deutschland – Komitee für Regional und Minderheitensprachen / Anschriften |
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President
Mr Karl-Peter Schramm Komitee
Dänische Minderheit - Danish minority
Niederdeutsche - Lower German
Nordfriesen - North Frisian
Saterfriesen - South Frisian
Sinti und Roma - Sinti and Roma
Sorben - Sorbian
Für Dänisch:
Sydslesvigsk Forening (Südschleswigscher Verein), Dansk Generalsekretariat, Für Niederdeutsch:
Institut für niederdeutsche Sprache, Schnoor 41-43, 28195 Bremen Für Nordfriesisch:
Nordfriesischer Verein e.V., Geschäftsstelle, Klockries 64, 25920 Risum-Lindholm http://www.nordfriiskinstituut.de/
Foriining for nationale Friiske, Moose 4, 25842 Ost-Bargum / Aaster-Beergem
Dokumentations- und Kulturzentrum Deutscher Sinti und Roma,
Seelter Buund,
DOMOWINA, Bund Lausitzer Sorben e. V., Postplatz 2, 02625 Bautzen
Regional and Minority Languages in Germany Danish Through centuries of history Danish and German influence have altered in the border region between the two neighbour states. The present border was drawn as the result of a vote in 1920. It left national minorities on both sides that still exist today. The Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations of 1955 gave the freedom of national confession to both communities. The Danish minority counts approximately 50.000 people, located in the northern part of the federal State of Schleswig-Holstein called “Sydslesvig”, referring to the old duchy of Slesvig that was divided by the Danish-German border. The traditional regional dialect “Sønderjysk” only counts very few speakers south of the border. The Danish minority in general speaks Danish similar to the state language in Denmark. The Danish language is an important, but not the only and obligatory identifying mark for the Danish minority. Its members are often bilingual with German on one hand and different levels of fluency in Danish on the other. Protected by the constitution of Schleswig-Holstein and strongly supported by Denmark the Danish minority has a very broad network of institutions to maintain its cultural autonomy: Schools, Kindergartens and youth clubs, cultural associations, churches, libraries, health service and its own political party (SSW) that is represented in the federal parliament of Schleswig-Holstein.
The Frisian language today exists in three types: North Frisian, Saterfrisian (see below) and West Frisian that is spoken in the Netherlands by more than 400.000 people. Frisian is part of the West German language family, like English belonging to the Ingaevonic group. It had its largest coverage in the medieval period. Due to the dominance of first Lower German (official trade language during the Hanse period) and since the 17th century High German Frisian lost its domains. For decades North Frisian was only spoken locally and privately. It also experienced long lasting influence by the Danish language. Its dialects today are split up into an insular and a mainland group, each of them covering several subgroups. In the 19th century a new movement arose, engaging for development and strength of the Frisian language and culture. A written tradition with a great variety of genres came into existence after the first printed book from 1809. Today literature competitions are very popular. The German-Danish conflict, however, complicated and dominated the Frisian movement for at least one century. Today approximately 10,000 speakers located on the islands and at the Western coast of Schleswig-Holstein speak the North Frisian language. While some dialects will soon disappear with their old speakers others (especially on the isle of Föhr and in the Northern part of the mainland) are quite strong. Several associations support the Frisian language. The Frisian Council (“Frasche Rädj”) coordinates the cultural efforts while the most important scientific institution is the “Nordfriisk Institut” at Bredstedt / Bräist.
While the East-Frisians in general gradually changed to Lower German in the 16th century, a small community in the Northwest of Germany kept the East-Frisian language. Until the 1950s the language had a strong position due to the isolation in a remote bog area. The settlement of refugees after World War II, industrialization, labour market mobility and the integration of ethnic Germans from Russia in the 1990s meant a considerable pressure to the Frisian language. Among the total population of 13,000 in the area today there are only appr. 2000 speakers left. Compared to the other Frisian communities in the Dutch province of Fryslan (appr. 370.000 speakers of West-Frisian) and in Northern Germany (appr. 10.000 speakers of North-Frisian) the East-Frisian language faces the most descending development. From 4 dialects only the Saterfrisian dialect is left, and the increasing mobility in the society threatens what is left. On a voluntarily basis the association “Seelter Buund” works for the survival of the Saterfrisian language. It is taught in a few schools and Kindergartens in the area of “Saterland”, and the Saterfrisian is spoken in a cultural centre, in a local radio station and in reading competitions. However these efforts are more an introduction to the language than a profound acquisition.
Lower German is like Dutch, Frisian and English characterized as a part of the West-German language family number by a significant number of common features. It was the main language in Northern Germany in the Hanseatic period from the 13th to 16th century, spoken and written in trade, justice, administration and in private life in a huge geographic area covering also the Baltic Coast and many cities in Northern, Western and Central Europe. After the Hanseatic period Lower German was gradually ousted by a change to High German that arrived from the Southern areas and soon dominated the written language. Though several initiatives in the 19th century tried to regain other than its local and oral dominance Lower German faced further reduction after World War II. Today Lower German is understood by 75% but only spoken by 12% of the population in Northern Germany. It exists in a widespread variety of local and regional dialects. There is no written standard, and speakers can often - but not necessarily - understand each other. The promotion of Lower German is organized in different ways in the eight relevant federal states. It is part of the education at universities, in schools and kindergartens. Sections in Lower German are seen in parts of the media and especially the theatre tradition has a strong stand in cultural life. Nevertheless a steep reduction in native speakers has been seen in the last decades.
The Romanes language is an important part of the cultural identity of Sinti and Roma who have lived for many centuries in Europe. Romanes has its roots in Sanskrit and the basic vocabulary originates from both Sanskrit and ancient Greek. However, there are large differences between the various Romanes languages in Europe. In Germany the regional varieties of the language correspond with the long-established residential areas of its speakers. The language itself was never codified in Germany although written forms exist. Mainly young members of the minority are using their own language to correspond and to cha on the internet. Due to discrimination, persecution and genocide the language suffered from significant decline in the 20th century. Today approximately 70.000 Sinti and Roma live in Germany, but the status of the language is not estimated equally. In the Czech Republic only half of the Roma population still speaks Romanes and in Hungary the share is even lower. In Germany there is no clear statistical data. It is assumed that most of Sinti and Roma have some kind of active use of the language, but nevertheless the situation of the language must be described as threatened. Since 1998 Romanes is recognized under the Charter on European Regional or Minority Languages. The implementation in the different federal states is still a difficult process.
Sorbian is a West-Slawonic language like Polish, Czech, Slowakian and Kachubian. The sorbs migrated to a large territory in Eastern Germany in the 7th century. Many place names like Leipzig and Chemnitz still tell from the Slawonic past. During the following centuries other Germans from the Western and Southern part of Germany settled in these areas as well and the Slawonic influence was reduced gradually, partly by active German language policy in the Middle Ages. While there is only little written documentation from the centuries before the reformation the Sorbian language hereafter gains influence in church through the following centuries. Two written standards evolve from several regional dialects: Lower Sorbian based on the Cottbus dialect and Upper Sorbian based on the Bautzen dialect. This distinction still exists today where the Sorbians live in two non-connected areas in the federal states of Brandenburg (Lower Sorbian) and Sachsen (Upper Sorbian): As a result from the national revival in the 19th century the Sorbian language spreads to other cultural areas like lyricism, novels and magazines. All Sorbian organisations are in DOMOWINA, which covers all aspects of Sorbian cultural, educational, research and commercial activities. Books, magazines and newspapers are published regularly and the federal public service broadcasting companies cover specific sectors in Sorbian language. Though protected as a national minority in the communist period and by prolonged guarantees after the German reunification, the Sorbs find themselves in a defensive position today, not only due to reduced public funding. The open mobility of the modern society seems to be the most serious challenge for the survival of the language. 60.000 people are regarded as Sorbs, but less than half of them speak Sorbian.
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