The first ten years

by Reinhard F. Hahn, Founder, Administrator & Chief Editor

“Celebrate what you want to see more of.”

Thomas J. Peters (1942–)

en years? It doesn’t seem like a lot to someone who has been around the block a few times. It seems like an eternity to a youngster, given that it’s just about the average length of basic education in industrialized nations. While not exactly like an eternity, it is a pretty long time on the Internet, and it’s an exceptionally long time in the rather novel world of “e-zines” and “e-lists.” Most electronic discussion lists are like trendy restaurants and boutiques: flashes in the pan, here today and gone tomorrow. There’s always a newer and supposedly better one coming along. Many “listers” flit from e-flower to e-flower, staying just long enough to sample le nectar du jour. So, we at Lowlands-L feel that in the fleeting world of global electronic meeting places the completion of the tenth year spells longivity, is a major milestone, an occasion worth celebrating.

We are delighted that you joined this little party of ours, even if you do so for just long enough to take a peek at what’s going on here.

“How could it not be a joy when friends come from afar?”

Chinese proverb

I was very surprised when the first twenty or thirty people from various countries subscribed to Lowlands-L right after its establishment was announced on the Linguist list and elsewhere in April and May of 1995. I wasn’t technologically as savvy and jaded then (not that I am terribly much of either even now). So this seemed like a minor miracle to me. Besides, I expected at best a handful of language “geeks” to assemble over time; so this quick and seemingly tremendous response came as a real surprise, as a somewhat scary surprise—“be careful what you ask” ... Now came the time to get the show on the road, to deliver to a steadily increasing group of people from all over the world. After a year or so we had about two hundred subscribers. With very close to the half-millennium mark now, Lowlands-L still isn’t one of the largest or even larger lists, but it has endured and has a relatively large core of loyal and devoted members, many of them since the early days, some even from the very beginning. Now, this may not be world peace, but it isn’t anything to sneeze at either, is it?

And the part about delivering? Well, it took some practice, but things have been working out so far. By and large, we have remained faithful to our initial focus and goals. We only had to slightly tweak the rules and guidelines to accommodate technological advances. We stayed with the same group of languages and cultures, though several years ago we included Limburgish and Zeelandic/Western Flemish as discrete entities. We have amassed a vast body of information in our archives. The one that began in May 1999 is freely accessible online; the earlier one still awaits online conversion (which is one of several projects yet to be seen to).

Lowlands-L came to be hosted by Linguist, the oldest and largest linguistics list—and it shares its resources with related lists in exchange for information sharing, yet without any other obligations. They have been most gracious hosts and deserve a word or two of thanks, especially Anthony Aristar and Michael Appleby for their personal assistance with technical and procedural matters.

Βοήθα με να σε βοηθώ ν’ ανεβούμε το βουνό.
“Help me so I can help you so we can climb the mountain.”

Greek proverb

Even though it rarely seemed like work, we have dragged a very large number of questions, problems, topics and even discoveries across the discussants’ arena into our archival vaults. Among other things, we have disseminated information about linguistic and cultural varieties that are rarely mentioned elsewhere, some of them overshadowed by mainstream languages and cultures, some of them kicked to the curb as worthless, some of them mere childhood memories, and some of them mere relics from times long past. We have combined our knowledge and discoveries to work our way back to earlier stages, even to beginnings. Together we have been learning about details, about differences and commonalities, have encouraged each other to disregard garden fences, political borders and the boundaries of the mind, and together we have been getting closer to a vantage point from which to see the bigger picture.

While Lowlands languages and cultures have been our common intellectual focus we have been reaping the social and emotional rewards awaiting those that dare to reach out to fellow human beings everywhere. This makes for tremendous growth opportunities. This is why a casual yet respectful and challenging yet supportive and always non-hierarchical atmosphere has been very important to us. Our members come from many walks of life, from many countries, have different cultures, and their ages range from the early teens to the late eighties. Many of us realize that the educational disciplines we deal with seem rather intimidating to many who are interested but fear that they lack the knowledge to follow and contribute. We have never aspired to being an academic club, nor have we ever aimed at the lowest denominator. We have always welcomed anyone who shares our interests and goals and who is prepared to act according to our rules and guidelines. We are fully aware that by helping those with less pertinent formal education we really help everyone, but we expect them to be serious about learning beyond the level of coffee table chats. Furthermore, we fully realize that everyone has something to contribute, even if “only” by asking questions.

Similarly, we have never limited ourselves to being a gathering place of those with certain linguistic, cultural or ethnic backgrounds. Again, we welcome anyone, and this has been making for enrichment for everyone. Everyone is a “Lowlander” on our list, by virtue of merely being interested.

The language group to which we pay attention happens to have as members the currently most powerful language (namely English) and some of the “smallest” and most severely moribund languages (for instance the Frisian varieties used in Germany). This compels us to investigate linguistic and also cultural issues from different points of view. In the process, most of us have learned that languages themselves cannot be blamed for the decline or even disappearance of other languages, that it is people that allow or even will this to happen, sometimes even the speakers of declining languages themselves, those that have been brainwashed into believing that their languages are inferior, those that abandon them or fail to pass them on to their offspring.

“As knowledge increases, wonder deepens.”

Charles Morgan (1795–1878)

The kind of thing that keeps us Lowlanders interested day after day is the discovery of great similarities in our family of linguistic and cultural varieties, similarities often concealed by orthographical and terminological differences, differences that seem great and alienating only at first glance. We keep discovering that the continua of our linguistic and cultural heritage have not yet been totally torn apart by political borders, by national centralization or even by geographic distance. Such awareness brings us closer together, and this is very timely given the steadily waning importance of national borders and dramatic advances in international electronic communication that can be utilized on personal levels.

At the same time, we keep discovering how adaptable our linguistic and cultural heritage has been, how in new locations it has taken on new, even “exotic” forms and colors yet has been fundamentally true to its roots. Oftentimes several closely related varieties came together and mixed with indigenous varieties of faraway lands. In such cases it tends to be difficult to tell which European varieties participated in the creation of new ones, such as in the cases of Afrikaans and Appalachian.

“Good, the more communicated, grows.”

John Milton (1608–1674)

All Lowlanders, past and present, are to be thanked for having contributed to the life of Lowlands-L, especially those that have been active participants and have given much of their inquisitiveness, knowledge, time and effort. Kudos to those who have been with us from the beginning or for close to ten years, also to those that have helped with administrative matters and those that participated in our special projects, such as “Lowlands Talk” and this 10th anniversary presentation, also all non–Lowlanders who contributed as guests of honor. Very special thanks go out to all of the many helpers of this 10th anniversary project, especially those that went way beyond the call and those that helped without being members of our group.

“Behold, how good and how pleasant: brethren dwelling together!”

Torah/Old Testament, Psalm 133:1

On a personal note, I have made many friends on Lowlands-L, and this alone is very gratifying. Furthermore—and I do not mean this to be patronizing or condescending—I have been taking enormous pleasure in watching a good number of members “blossom” over the years, be it in terms of knowledge, understanding, outlook or skills—linguistic, investigational and social skills. I remember some of our now “old hands” and savvy debaters being lost, bewildered and skeptical when they were newcomers. Directly or indirectly, Lowlands-L has inspired and helped quite a few to pursue related courses of study, careers and hobbies or to organize related activities in their more immediate communities. Many members who had not done so previously have come to realize that all language varieties are worthy of respect and study, and this realization has led them to take fresh looks at language varieties their societies had taught them as children to look down upon. Also where there is little or no relevance to Lowlands-L, I have watched some of our members “make it out there,” succeed educationally and professionally, find love, start families, and begin retirement with lots of interesting projects awaiting them; and, yes, a couple of times I have had to wave final farewells. Furthermore, I have noticed that I myself have grown and matured in various ways, not least because of my Lowlands-L activities.

What has been bringing us together are common interests and great eagerness to share questions and knowledge, eagerness for discovery as a group of individuals reaching out to each other across various sorts of boundaries. The rewards, accomplishments and victories are not limited to the intellectual sphere; they have been variously interpersonal as well. We have achieved a lot in ten years, and much of it may become apparent to us sometime in the future. We have grown together, and we have grown together.

To and for all members and friends of the Lowlands-L family over the years I give thanks.

Hold fast!