[HN Gopher] A small town in Sweden fights to preserve Elfdalian,... ___________________________________________________________________ A small town in Sweden fights to preserve Elfdalian, a dying forest language Author : hashmush Score : 33 points Date : 2021-07-09 07:30 UTC (15 hours ago) (HTM) web link (www.pri.org) (TXT) w3m dump (www.pri.org) | LAC-Tech wrote: | _"My parents spoke Elfdalian with each other, and with my grandma | and my aunts and uncles and everyone around," Schutt said. "But | when they turned to me, they spoke Swedish." | | Schutt said her parents spoke Swedish with her because that's | what was spoken in schools. Students were even discouraged to | speak Elfdalian in the classroom. Now, there's only about 2,500 | speakers left._ | | This same story has played out in so many different places around | the world. | ericmay wrote: | It's so sad too. I think nation states have destroyed a lot of | local cultures. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. | contingencies wrote: | Any language that begins with _Elf-_ and features forests is | clearly doing their marketing right. "Give me the five second | pitch!" "Sympathy for cutesie elf people living in a forest in | Sweden". Internet win. | cmrdporcupine wrote: | Interesting that the language has preserved proto-Germanic eth | (d) and other voiced fricatives. Similar to English (or | Icelandic). And also like English has kept the 'w' (spoken like | English instead of the 'v' sound like in other Germanic | languages). ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2021-07-09 23:00 UTC)