User talk:J. 'mach' wust
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Welcome
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If you have any questions, you can ask at the help desk or on my talk page. Two useful tips are that you can sign your name using four tildes (~~~~) and you can preview your changes before you save using the show preview button. You can regularly find new tips on the Community Portal. I look forward to reading your great articles and I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian. :) Angela. 11:47, May 21, 2004 (UTC)
- Thank you so much! I'm getting along fine! Actually, I'm a litter more engaged on the German wikipedia. J. 'mach' wust 09:23, 26 May 2004 (UTC)
"German" pages
Hi! It would be great if you gave the "German" pages a look. German language, German spelling reform of 1996, ß, etc. I have started poking around a bit, but (1) some more drastic changes would be nice, and (2) things are more fun if more people are editing the same page.Thore 13:01, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)
- I'm sorry I've overlooked this message since I barely ever look at my user page but only at this user:talk page when a message pops up that there's been left a message.
- I don't see a need for drastic changes. J. 'mach' wust 19:43, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Walser/Walliser
Excuse me, you completely re-wrote the article on the Walser (or Walscher) people and dialect, but what you apparently don't know is that the term Walser (or Walscher) is reserved for the people who left the upper Valais (or Wallis) canton in the Middle Ages (except for Simplon which is part of the same canton but is on the other side of the Alpine watershed), as opposed to those who stayed, who are called Walliser. Ask any Walliser and they will tell you as much. (I just checked the other day with someone who lived all her life in Leukerbad and Brig.) The two groups are considered distinct. So, now you've hijacked the article on the Walser and changed it into an article on the Walliser (including the Walser, but without making any distinction between the two groups). I strongly recommend that you undo all your changes and start a new article on the Walliser (with all the valuable information you've added) and restore the article on the Walser to what it was before you so radically altered it. Thank you very much. Pasquale 17:49, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)
OK, I read your message and saw your changes. I understand what you're saying about the Walser diaspora speaking a rather diverse group of dialects rather than a language. And I've studied enough dialectology (including German dialectology) to know what you're talking about. While in a strict dialectological sense, you are most probably quite correct, the fact remains that a lot of sources, including the Ethnologue (a link is available on the Walser page), consistently classify Walser as a separate "language" from Alemannic, possibly simply to underscore the distinctive Walser ethnic identity. This identity is very strong and it specifically identifies the diaspora, all the way from Haute-Savoie to Tyrol, but not the Walliser who stayed in Wallis. This is a very common phenomenon all around the world (e.g. the Cajuns of Louisiana vs. the Acadians who stayed behind in New Brunswick), so it's no surprise that it should be so. Historical and political considerations often trump a strictly dialectological classification and it makes sense that it should be so. Otherwise, if you were to apply a strictly dialectological approach, you would have to say that there is no Dutch language, but that Dutch is simply part of the Low German dialect continuum. While that is technically correct, it would not be very "politically correct" and it would get you into a lot of trouble. Regards, Pasquale 17:00, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Grüetzi. Believe me, it's not just me affirming that the Walser have a strong sense of ethnic identity. It is themselves! And they make a big deal out of it. Just do a Google search for Walser and you will find several websites about the Walser diaspora. Try this one, for example: http://www.wir-walser.ch/de/walser/. I understand what you say about the dialects slowly dissolving into their neighboring German dialects. Of course, when they do so, they are no longer Walser dialects. In Graubünden, for example, you can find the complete range from rather well-preserved Walser dialects to others that are Walser in name only (i.e. in the ethnic origin of the population), but are otherwise assimilated to the adjacent Nicht-Walserisch Bündnerisch dialects. So, my impression is that it is more of an ethnic than a linguistic thing. As for the Ethnologue, did you notice it also sets up an Alemannic dialect spoken in Venezuela ("Colonia Tovar") as a separate language? Now, isn't that all the more ridiculous? But when it comes to the Walser, I assure you I have seen it classified (rightly or wrongly) as a separate language in many other linguistic sources, although I am sorry I can't give you references right now. Anyway, I am not disagreeing with you, I am just reporting what seems to be some kind of consensus out there, which, as I repeat, may well be more ethnically than linguistically based. So, let's leave it at that. Pasquale 20:54, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Swedish disputes
At RfC I listed:
- Talk:Rikssvenska, Talk:Swedish language, Talk:Swedish phonology, Talk:Voiceless dorso-palatal velar fricative, and most probably soon in more related articles, souring relations between contributors with conflicting attitudes and personalities (likely related, among other things, to the status of Finland-Swedish and the Mandatory Swedish education in Finland)
I guess this is a field where you can weight in as a moderating force.
Regards!
--Johan Magnus 09:59, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Phonetics project
I'm trying to get some activity in the Phonetics project going. I've organized the project page and added some links and templates. Anyone who feels they're interested in phonetics, come and have a look. The more the merrier. Peter Isotalo 15:09, Apr 13, 2005 (UTC)