7 remarkable new Low Saxon initiatives of 2020
For years, people have been lamenting the downfall of Low Saxon a.k.a. Low German a.k.a. a whole string of other confusing names. It does appear to be a thing of the past, though, this downfall: Twents, and other sorts of Low Saxon, can relish an increase in attention and appreciation. 2020 saw some interesting new developments for the language. Here are seven of them.
1. Nysassiske Skryvwyse
The so-called New Saxon Orthography has already been turning heads (and lifting a few eye-brows) for a while now, but halfway in 2020, the official website was launched.
It’s often said that if you want to instigate a Low Saxon holy war, start talking about spelling. The New Saxon Orthography brings all dialects closer together optically, and stimulates interdialectal exchange across state borders, offering a middle ground for the usual Dutch- or German-based orthographies. On the website, readers can select their own dialect and see how the NSS works for them.
2. Seven new Low Saxon/Low German podcasts
Because writing Low Saxon or Low German is a bit of a controversial topic, one of the unofficial dogmas in Low Saxon land has become: “You shouldn’t write it, you should speak it.” With the recent surge in podcasting’s popularity, quite a few people have taken this advice to heart. Possibly the first podcast was the Wearldspråke Podcast, with a semi-scientific view on language-related issues. for some light-hearted weekly banter as some sort of a Corona comic relief, two guys started the WATATA podcast.
Crossing the border into Germany, there’s several podcasts more. They can now be found listed on the Low Saxon Wikipedia.
3. Low Saxon film promoted to Dutch Film of the Year
Adapted from an original Czech script, the Low Saxon feature film ‘De Beentjes van Sint-Hildegard’ (The Bones of Saint-Hildegard) attracted well over 700,000 viewers. Massive numbers, in Dutch terms. Written and played by renowned comedian Herman Finkers, the film tells the story of an elderly couple of which the wife dotes a little too much on the husband. To get some relief, he fakes the onset of dementia.
4. Twents voor Dummies
When language enthusiast Ellen Peters from a border town called Oldenzaal wanted to learn more about her ancestral language, she hit a wall. There were very few learning materials available for language beginners. The stuff she found was either too specific or too advanced, or it assumed readers had some basic knowledge already. So, she decided to write an entry-level book for absolute beginners with the help of dialectologist Harrie Scholtmeijer: Twents voor dummies.
5. Low Saxon in Provincial State Chambers
Unthinkable just 20 years ago, the renewed appreciation for the language has lead to an appeal by a politician in the Province of Overijssel: to use Low Saxon as the language of discussion. As Low Saxon got promoted to a national language of the Netherlands in 2018, it was about time. The first official Low Saxon meeting is to take place in March 2021.
6. The ‘Twents Kwartearke’ on a local media station
The Twents Quarter is a new weekly item on 1Twente, in cooperation with the Twentehoes (a language promotion institute). The moderators of this local media broadcaster don’t speak a single word of Twents. Or do they? In cooperation with the Twentehoes, at least they’re learning a few!
7. A Low Saxon Comic Year Review
The WATATA lads are at it! Originally starting out as one of the podcasts mentioned under #2, the two friends of WATATA decided to kick things up a notch, and wrote a review of local issues, fully in Low Saxon. Who said the young don’t speak it anymore? Here’s an hour of your finest Low Saxon.
Obviously, these weren’t the only developments. But going by this short list, there’s more where that came from. Here’s to a full-fledged Low Saxon Renaissance in 2021.
