The Major Issue of Minority Languages

When Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero took office earlier this year, he decided to take a new linguistic approach than his predecessor. Within just a matter of weeks he had called on his counterparts in the European Union to grant Spain's regional languages official recognition in the future European constitution.

If the EU agrees to Madrid's request, Catalan, Basque and Galician will be awarded 'treaty status'. "It would allow people to communicate in their language, or to obtain documents in that language," James Fife of Eurolang, the newsagency attached to the European Buro for Lesser Used Languages, told DW-WORLD. And given that there are more speakers of Catalan than of either Slovenian or Maltese -- which has not yet become an EU working language -- it doesn't seem an altogether unfair request.

However, Spain's conservative opposition slammed Zapatero's demand for recognition, saying it was nothing more than a stunt aimed at sweetening his nationalist coalition partners. But whatever the motives, Fife welcomes Spain's nurturing approach, and would like to see other European states take their cue from Madrid's lead.

"Even if Spain were successful in achieving treaty status, it is hard to see how there would be a snowball effect. Not all states are minority language-friendly," Fife said. For many regional languages, simply gaining recognition on home ground is a steep enough mountain to climb. "It's often all that national minorities can do to maintain themselves, in many cases they are losing their fight to stay alive," he concluded.

Eastern Europe provides new impetus

Interestingly enough, the new EU member states have dusted off the issue of minority European languages, and put it squarely back on the table. While western European governments have traditionally tended to close their ears to regional tongues, the approach in the East is quite different. Many of the ten new countries were forced into a life of Russian, and are only too glad to have the chance to promote their own linguistic heritages.

Although the EU is home to more than 40 minority languages -- with tens of million speakers -- the only one on the whole continent actually entitled to the status of official working language, is Gaelic, and that is only the case because Gaelic is an official language of the Republic of Ireland. But would other countries want the same treatment for their pockets of linguistic diversity? According to Fife, it varies from place to place. He cites Hungary as great believer in the promotion of its 15 sub-languages, and France as country which is doggedly determined not to acknowledge it linguistic treasure chest.

Fife said Germany, with its Slavic Sorbian minority, is somewhere in the middle. "Germany doesn't have quite the same negative attitude to minority languages. It provides some support and recognition, more than the French," he said.

Keeping Sorbian alive

But the official association of Sorbs feels that Germany's Federal government could do more to integrate Sorbian into the regional and national consciousness. Although the government currently stumps up an annual budget for the promotion of Sorbian culture, it has already threatened to cut its contributions.

With a total of 60,000 speakers of Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian in the states of Saxony and Brandenburg, local residents can theoretically go from one day to the next without speaking any German. Theoretical, however, is the operative word. "Many people can't speak Sorbian, but those who work for the local authorities, and the police etc, should be bi-lingual. If Sorbs saw that they could use their language freely, they would do so," Bernhard Zies, Managing Director of the Association for Lausitzer Sorbs told DW-WORLD.

It's an ideal which remains far from reality. Even measures to revitalize the language, such as the introduction of bi-lingual kindergartens and schooling, are unlikely to make it as important to Germany as Catalan appears to be to Spain.

"We will never reach the stage where people who live in Sorbian areas have to be able to speak both languages, because we do not have territorial autonomy," Zies added. That is a view shared by James Fife, who believes devolution from central powers is a pre-requisite to the successful preservation of minority languages.