----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe" <joe@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2004 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: CHAT: The EU expands (was Re: THEORY/CHAT: Talmy, Jackendoff
and Matchboxes)
> Mark P. Line wrote:
>
> >Danny Wier said:
> >
> >
> >>The EU now has languages from three families: IE, Uralic and
Afro-Asiatic.
> >>Malta was a close vote; the others were not. Turkey got rejected, and I
> >>assume Cyprus means only the Greek part, so no Altaic languages yet.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Cyprus means Cyprus, which is bilingual. (There are probably some
Cypriots
> >who would disagree, but that's the EU position as nearly as I can tell.)
> >The Translation Directorate is expanding to include Turkish as a
> >co-official language or something like that -- Turkish Cypriots are
> >certainly not being left out in today's expansion.
> >
> >
> >
>
> Actually, they are. All European laws will apply only to Greek Cyprus,
> and only Greek is becoming an official language.
I disagree on this point. Greek is not becoming an official language: it's
already an official language since 1981.
>
> >>Will
> >>this change the number of official languages of the European Parliament?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Yes. Twenty official languages, but Malta has agreed to restrict the use
> >of Maltese to treaty texts. They'll muddle through with English for
> >everything else.
> >
> >
> >
>
> I'm not sure if that's true - surely, an official language is an
> official language.
I don't like that too, but there are 2 precedents: Lëtzebuergesch
(Luxembourgish? I'm not sure about its English name) and Irish Gaelic.
>
> >>But still only two scripts. No Cyrillic-alphabet languages yet.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Byelorussian will probably be the first one to use Cyrillic; maybe the
> >only one.
Will Russia never join the EU in my lifetime (I'm 28)?
Yes I know Russia has an important part of Asia in it and then the EU would
become the Eurasian Union ;-) , but is that really impossible in the near
future? I remember Putin didn't say "no" in an interview on a French TV.
On the European bank notes (billets de banque), the word EURO is written in
the Latin and Greek alphabets. Will we have new banknotes when Byelorussia
join?
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> Actually, the first one will be Bulgarian, which will join in 2007.
>
> >>So who will join in the next expansion? Will Turkey and Turkish Cyprus
get
> >>another shot?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Turkey may or may not get its act together. There's a lot of pressure
from
> >Germany and Skandinavia for them to clean up their human rights
violations
> >against the Kurds, which they may or may not find it opportune to do.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> They already have done. At least to some degree. I don't expect
> they'll make the 2007 expansion, but maybe a few years later.
>
> >>Other Balkan republics?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Croatia is a sure thing. Others are still iffy, I think.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> And Romania and Bulgaria.
>
> >>Former USSR states?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Byelorussia for sure. Ukraine probably won't get a domestic mandate to
> >join the EU in my lifetime. Armenia and Georgia will almost certainly
> >join, though I wouldn't bet on it being in the next expansion.
> >
> >
> >
>
> Not Belarus, in the next expansion, anyway. Belarus is practically a
> dictatorship, from what I've heard. Ukraine is a much safer bet.
> Armenia, too.
>
> >Albania is not former USSR, but you didn't mention it and it's almost
> >certain to join eventually.
> >
> >
> >
>
> It's a Balkan state, but that'll be a long time.
>
> >>An independent Faeroe Islands or Greenland?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >When Hell freezes over. I expect Iceland to join eventually, though, so I
> >guess it evens out...
> >
> >Norway and Liechtenstein seem to have made themselves comfortable with
the
> >status quo, and I don't see that changing.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> I think Norway's planning to have a referendum soon. Iceland will join
> in a while, but, again, not in the next expansion.
>
>