Please click here to leave an anniversary message (in any language you choose). You do not need to be a member of Lowlands-L to do so. In fact, we would be more than thrilled to receive messages from anyone. Click here to read what others have written so far.
What’s with this “Wren” thing?
The oldest extant version of the fable
we
are presenting here appeared in 1913 in the first volume of a two-volume anthology
of Low
Saxon folktales (Plattdeutsche
Volksmärchen “Low German Folktales”)
collected by Wilhelm Wisser (1843–1935). Read
more ...
Manx
The
pre-English language of a small island nation (here
a view
of Purt
Chiarn/Port Erin), Manx is being
revived
by a
growing community of language activists.
Language information:
Manx, used on the Isle of Mannin/Man, is a descendant of Middle Irish, mostly
of the Ulster and Galloway dialects. The earliest extant or reported written
sources
in and
about
Manx
are from
the
5th century
C.E. Use of this language declined dramatically in the 19th century, and it
eventually came to be replaced by English, mostly due to declining prestige
in the course
of Anglicization. When only a handful of elderly speakers remained in the late
20th century, a Manx revival movement had begun, and people
turned to the few remaining native speakers to learn Manx as a second language.
In the meantime, new native speakers have emerged as second-language-speaking
parents have been using the language with their children. This has been reinforced
by the
Manx government’s promotions, new academic opportunities and Manx broadcasting.
Manx has been officially recognized as a minority language in the United Kingdom
and the European Union.
Frontpage
