Conference tallis::celt

1047.0. "Language news" by MAJORS::COCKBURN (Craig Cockburn) Wed May 06 1992 03:51

Major news about European minority languages.

Craig

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From:	VBORMC::"GAELIC-L%[email protected]" 
	"GAELIC Language Bulletin Board" 
To:	Multiple recipients of <GAELIC-L%[email protected]>
Subj:	Council of Europe and minority languages: The European


From The European for 30 April - 3 May 1992, p. 4

WAR OF WORDS HOTS UP OVER ETHNIC CHARTER
by Alexandra Frean

The guardians of the French language are reaching for their dictionnaires in
horror over plans by the Council of Europe to recognise and promote minority
and regional languages throughout the Continent.

In an unusual alliance with some of the Balkan states, which fear that the
measure will sow the seeds of political conflict within their borders,
France's arbiters of literary and linguistic good taste are fighting a
rearguard action against the proposed new convention.

Based on a charter for regional and minority languages, which has taken the
Council eight years to draft, the convention will oblige member states to
usethese languages in schools, colleges, court rooms, government offices,
banks and the media, where demand exists.

It will be discussed by ambassadors of the Council's 26 member states at
their next meeting in May, and sources in Strasbourg expect it to be passed
before the summer is out.

Philip Blair, who has worked on the charter for the Council, said that the
convention was not a text on the rights of minority groups, but rather a
cultural treatise aimed at preserving Europe's rich linguistic diversity.

According to the Dublin-based European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages,
some minority languages such as Occitan, spoken in Southern France and
Sardu, the language of Sardinia, are threatened with virtual extinction, and
need to be preserved.

In other cases, a state language in one country may be a lesser-used
language in a neighbouring land. Examples are Hungarian, which is spoken by
two million people in the Transylvanian region of Romania, and Albanian,
spoken in parts of southern Italy and Sicily.

Do/nall O'Riaga/in, the Bureaux's secretary general, said: "Understandably,
some governments fear that according greater linguistic freedom in these
regions may lead to political fragmentation from the majority culture and
demands for greater minority rights.

"We believe, however, that a formal recognition of their linguistic and
cultural identity can only advance European integration and unity."

The French deny that their objections are based on cultural imperialism.

A spokesman for the French ambassador to the Council said: "As it stands,
the convention entails a certain amount of positive discrimination in favour
of certain minorities -- a concept with which we are uncomfortable."

A Greek representative conceded only that certain aspects would need to be
"looked at in detail."

Both linguists and politicians are increasingly aware that minority
languages, which are spoken by an estimated 50 million people in, the
European Community, will have economic as well as cultural benefits in the
new Europe after 1992.

Some, such as Catalan, Galician and Euskara, all spoken in Spain, have
recently achieved new status because of special education programmes.

Within the broader grouping of the Council of Europe, which stretches to
Romania in the east and Finland in the north, the cultural diversity is
greater still.

The new convention will not, however, place member states in a linguistic
strait-jacket. They will be able to choose a minimum of 35 measures from a
"menu" of more than 70 specified in the text, but must include at least
three provisions each on education and the media.

In the courts, defendants will have the right to have proceedings conducted
in their own regional language, where its use is considered to be
sufficiently widespread.

Similarly, banks and public offices will be required to employ minority
language speakers to deal with customers, where there is a demand for this
service.

The convention will come into force once it has been ratifled by at least
five of the member states.

Although not enforceable by law, its use will be scrutinised by the Council
every year and abuses brought to the attention of member governments.

Michael Everson
School of Architecture, UCD, Richview, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14, E/ire
Phone: +353-1-706-2745  Fax: +353-1-283-7778

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