Subject: Re: [BoundaryPoint] Language &quot;enclaves&quot; in Switzerland<br/>
Date: Mar 08, 2001 @ 15:20<br/>
Author: Alexandre Mauron (Alexandre Mauron &lt;alexandre.mauron@...&gt;)<br/>
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<div id="ygrps-yiv-1345140192">Hello,<br/>
<br/>
I was happy to find your forum : I had always thought that my fascination<br/>
for enclaves and boundaries was a mild form of eccentricity better kept<br/>
private, lest my friends should send me to a shrink...<br/>
<br/>
I think the &quot;language enclaves&quot; depicted on this map correspond to<br/>
Mennonite communities in the otherwise French-speaking Jura area. The<br/>
Anabaptists and Mennonites were fiercely persecuted in Canton Berne from<br/>
the 16th to the 18th century and settled in what was then a rather remote<br/>
area controlled by the Prince-Bishop of Basel (and out of reach from the<br/>
authoritarian government of Berne). They also went to Alsace, Southern<br/>
Germany, Holland and ultimately America. These tightly-knit communities<br/>
were small German-speaking islets in the Jura, which however have been<br/>
largely diluted out by emigration and secularisation. I don&#39;t know what<br/>
period the map is meant to refer to, but I doubt that it represents the<br/>
present situation. The history of languages in Switzerland is a hugely<br/>
complex problem and you will not find two language maps that are exactly<br/>
alike.<br/>
<br/>
Best,<br/>
Alex Mauron, Geneva, Switzerland<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
At 20:01 07/03/01 +0100, you wrote:<br/>
<blockquote><span title="qreply"> &gt;  Hello!<br/>
&gt; <br/>
&gt; You can find a map of languages used in Switzerland at<br/>
&gt; <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.eye.ch/swissgen/chspra.jpg">http://www.eye.ch/swissgen/chspra.jpg</a> .<br/>
&gt; <br/>
&gt; This map is interesting, because the map shows three small areas with<br/>
&gt; German language in the northwest of Switzerland where the language is<br/>
&gt; actually French. I have never seen this before (though I knew the German<br/>
&gt; speaking spot in the Italian speaking area in the very south).<br/>
&gt; <br/>
&gt;&quot;&quot;? I could not<br/>
&gt; find any town names that sound German in that areas on my maps.<br/>
&gt; <br/>
&gt; Best regards<br/>
&gt; <br/>
&gt; -- <br/>
&gt;           mailto:<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:Manfred.Haertel@...">Manfred.Haertel@...</a><br/>
&gt;                         <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://rz-home.de/mhaertel">http://rz-home.de/mhaertel</a><br/>
&gt;   <br/>
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