Re: NATLANGS: Difthongization across Europa

On 20.2.2008 Tristan McLeay wrote:
 > Ahh ... seriously? I'm probably in a better position to
 > pick up French than any indigenous languages. Pick your
 > favorite European country and there's probably more of
 > them in Melbourne than there are people who speak an
 > aboriginal language. Things produced by local councils
 > will have numbers to call for a translation listing any
 > number of languages from Europe, the Middle East, the
 > Subcontinent, Asia and Africa, even languages I've never
 > heard of

True. I'm also more likely to pick up a Mideastern or
African language -- or Spanish -- in the streets than Saami
or any of the 'dialects' not intercomprehensible with
Standard Swedish still spoken in our North. Though maybe
most of these groups (including the Northern dialect
speakers) will be reluctant to share the carrier of their
group identity with outsiders! Many will also feel that what
they speak is not the proper (=Standard) version of
whatever language they speak, and reluctant to share it for
that reason (like my woman fx).



/BP 8^)>
--
Benct Philip Jonsson -- melroch atte melroch dotte se
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   "C'est en vain que nos Josués littéraires crient
   à la langue de s'arrêter; les langues ni le soleil
   ne s'arrêtent plus. Le jour où elles se *fixent*,
   c'est qu'elles meurent."           (Victor Hugo)

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