Please see contribution from Mathieu van Woerkom below. Best regards, Håvard ------------------------- Håvard Hjulstad mailto:[log in to unmask] Solfallsveien 31 NO-1430 Ås, Norway tel: +47-64944233 & +47-64963684 mob: +47-90145563 http://www.hjulstad.com/havard/ ------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 25. april 2002 15:42 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: ISO 639 submission - Limburgish Dear Havard Hjulstad to answer your questions: > How accurate is you estimate of 1,000,000 speakers? Other sources give > smaller numbers (but still sufficiently large numbers). This estimate is very rough, and also considering both the provinces of Limburg in Belgium and the Netherlands. Dutch Limburg has ±1,200,000 inhabitants (of which an estimated 75% speaks Limburgish) and Belgian Limburg has ±650,000 inhabitants (of which the amount of speakers is unknown). The amount of 1,000,000 people in both provinces could also be 150,000 higher or lower. > Does the language have a normalized orthography? There is no standard orthography (yet), but a universal spelling system is used for all the different dialects (this means that syllabels who sound the same are also written the same, in each dialect). The magazine that introduced this spelling system can be found here: http://www.veldeke.net . There is, though, a group of scientists and writers who are looking to promote a standard Limburgish, but their system is not official (yet). Their website: http://www.limburghuis.nl (e-mail: [log in to unmask]). > Is there any kind of "academy" or formal committee that is promoting the > language? Yes, the Dutch province has installed a formal committee last year, called the "Raod veur 't Limburgs" ("councill for Limburgish"). Although this committee is formed by the Dutch province, Belgian Limburgish matters are also dealt with. This committee advises the province, regarding language policy. This committee has no website or general contact address, but you can contact one of its members by e-mail at [log in to unmask] (mr. Paul Prikken). Also, a Limburgish language official (streektaalfunctionaris) is appointed by the provincial government of Dutch Limburg, with the job to promote the language where possible. His e-mail address is: [log in to unmask] (mr. Pierre Bakkes). > Does the language have any recognition in the public school system in the > Netherlands or Belgium. There is no compulsory course "Limburgish" in Limburgish schools, but recently the language official came up with a plan to teach in and about the language on elimentary schools. > Does the language enjoy "status as regional language" > in the Netherlands only, or also in Belgium? No, the official status counts for Dutch Limburg only, at least on a national level. The government of the Netherlands ratified the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, recognizing Frisian (fry), Low Saxon (nds) and Limburgish as official regional languages. Belgium, however, didn't ratify this Charter, because of the tense lingual situation in that country (Dutch-French). However, Walloon (wln) a Romanic regional language was given ISO 639-1 and 639-2 codes. However, on the provincial level, the Belgian province of Limburg has stated that actions ought to be taken to preserve Limburgish, with or without the support of the Belgian government. > Isn't the language also used in > Germany? How much, and with what kind of status? Yes, to a very small extent the language is also spoken in Germany (in a few border villages). However, the status is very low (since Limburgish has more in common with German than with Dutch, people in Germany see it as a German dialect) and the amount of speakers can't possibly be more than 5,000 . The area I'm talking about is the Selfkant area (http://www.selfkant.de) used to be part of the Netherlands from 1949-1963 (demanded because of 'war damage'). I don't even know if the majority of the people over there see the linguistic relation with Limburg at all, but I think they do: on their municipal website it says "Selfkant: einmalig, zweisprachig, vielseitig" and the local tourist office calles the region: "Land ohne Grenzen zwischen Maas und Niederrhein". I hope I helped you by answering your questions, Kind regards, Mathieu van Woerkom For more information, visit these websites: http://streektaal.cjb.net - the regional languages in the Netherlands http://www.veldeke.net - Limburgish magazine http://www.eblul.org/wow - information on Limburgish language, provided by the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages. http://www.geocities.com/sassisch/rhahn/lowlands - discussion group on Lowlandic languages and cultures http://www.logos.it/bimbi/index_en.html - Children's dictionary, containing Limburgish words (called Limburgian there) > ------------------------- > Havard Hjulstad mailto:[log in to unmask] > Solfallsveien 31 > NO-1430 As, Norway > tel: +47-64944233 & +47-64963684 > mob: +47-90145563 > http://www.hjulstad.com/havard/ > ------------------------- > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 05:59:50 -0400 > From: WWW generic account <[log in to unmask]> > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: New ISO 639-2 code > > This data was submitted on: Tuesday, April 9, 2002 at 05:59:50 > > lang_in_eng = Limburgish / Limburger / Limburgian > lang_in_fre = Limbourgeois > ref_where_found_1 = European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages / European > Charter for Regional or Minority Languages / > www.geocities.com/sassisch/rhahn/lowlands > lang_in_vern = Limburgs > ref_where_found_2 = > trans_lit = > evidence = - Library of the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands > (100+) > (contact: [log in to unmask]) > - Library of the University of Leuven, Belgium (100+) > - Publisher "Uitgeverij TIC", Maastricht (amount unkown > (contact:http://www.uitgeverijtic.nl/) > - City Library of Maastricht, the Netherlands (amount unknown) > - Meertens Institute (amount unknown) (contact: www.meertens.knaw.nl) > addinfo = number of speakers: rough estimate 1,000,000 > official status: recognized as regional language in the Netherlands > (http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/WhatYouWant.asp?NT=148&CM=8&DF=27/07/0 > 1) > where spoken: in the 2 provinces of Limburg (the Netherlands and > Belgium) > (www.eblul.org/wow) > request_addition = ISO 639-1 and ISO 639-2 > 2_code_suggestion = LB > 3_code_suggestion = LIM > submit_name = Mathieu van Woerkom > submit_email = [log in to unmask] > submit_status = academic student > > > > > >