Dear GunChleoc, we (the inner circle of developers) spoke about whether we could and would want to support a Scottish Gaelic translation. But before I get to the good news, there is one thing left ...
Am 20.02.2014 12:59, schrieb Fòram na Gàidhlig: > Frankly, this is the first time I have run into this kind of rejection > from a FOSS project. Or should I use a stronger word, be somewhat > dramatic and say discrimination? > Packing out the big words now, are we? I thought I'd be old enough to not become unsettled upon such rant. Well, I'm not. And from time to time, I like to be dramatic, too. > I apologize for my sarcasm, but I didn't expect to have to tilt at > windmills for this - minority languages have to tilt at too many of > them as it is. I also know that you meant no offense, but with issues > like this it is hard for me to keep my cool. I guess most majority > language speakers have no idea what it feels like, and why should they ;) > You said it, send it, meant it. Let me answer. You might not remember, but there was a time when Scottish-Gaelic was actually the majority language of your country. You surely know about the High- and Lowland's past, but for the other listeners here let me recall that, about fifteen hundred years ago, yet another language dominated old Caledonia ... the middle and Eastern part, to be more precise ... Pictish. The Pictish tribes and their culture survived the rise and fall of the Romans and the assaults of the Vikings, only to be slowly absorbed by some West-coast invaders, the Gaels. The Gaels hailed from an isle the Romans once called Scotia, and what we nowadays call Éire, or Ireland. Just five hundred years later, the Pictish language and culture was forgotten. Pushed into oblivion. Forever, with the exemption of some fairy tales and myths. And the Gaels from Scotia ruled. It would be totally wrong to say that the Picts were in any way innocent. Without having proofs at hand, I'm deeply convinced that in some part of their history, they or their ancestors were the onces to displace or absorb some other culture, may it be on the British Isles or elsewhere in Europe, wherever their origin might have been. Our memory does not go back that far. Which is a pity. And maybe a blessing. Today, Scottish-Gaelic is the minority, and at the edge of extinction. Take a look at the numbers ... 60.000 ... not more than inhabitants of Inbhir Nis. Maybe this is the cycle of life for languages? Having to struggle and grow, dominate, absorb others; then to stagger, to freeze and to go into decline, leaving only some marks in aspiring new languages, before dying and being forgot. Even the mighty Latin was not immune to this fate. Maybe things are more complicated than this. Maybe things someday just have to die. But it's not ours to decide when Scottish- Gaelic's time has passed. It's yours to decide. And as long as an aspiring young man or determined woman wants to keep this language alive, it will live. We are only too happy to give you some shelter for this. Enigma's base, our home, is small, but there should be some place for you. And not in some expansion pack, but in the very core aside the others. Just do me a favor. Languages don't live by being conserved. A language has to grow, and to develop. To absorb other influences and create new expressions by itself. By rediscovering its past and redefining its future. With the small number of speakers Scottish-Gaelic calls its own, your impact on Scottish-Gaelic is the impact a thousand me's could ever have on German. So please be considerate about how you translate. It might become a puzzle piece in your language's future. Viel Erfolg dabei, Andreas _______________________________________________ Enigma-devel mailing list Enigma-devel@nongnu.org https://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/enigma-devel
