Libertine Seguros said:
Christian, feel free to correct any of this you disagree with, I'm not sure quite how much of this I remember accurately:
Lëtzebuergesch is of a weird status. It is a national language but is yet, according to the theories of Abstand, not a fully-developed language (more a half-language). It is developed from Rhine-Franconian dialects of German, but Luxembourg's independent status and distinctness from the rest of Germany (plus its official ties to French) have led to the dialect becoming usable for all functions of society. It now has, after about fifteen attempts, a standardised orthography (though not an enforced one) and is in the process of codifying its grammar, at which point it should be considered a language in its own right.
Lëtzebuergesch became an official language in 1984, I believe, or rather a national language, not an official language. French and German remain the main working languages of the country, with French holding the higher prestige, partially due to urban educated classes (much like in Brussels) preferring it, and partially due to some residual resentment against the Germans for historical reasons.
Yup that is all very true, except it is a Moselle-Franconian dialect and not Rhine-Franconian dialect
However people here are very sensitive about calling it a "dialect of German" - that has a lot to do with national pride and a bad history between Germany and Luxembourg. From a linguistic point of view this is absolutely true though. You have dialects in Bavaria for example, that are at least as far from German as Luxembourgish, yet are not considered a language - mostly because Bavaria is part of Germany and Luxembourg is independent.
Grammar and orthography rules have been changed many many times, but now it's been the same for quite a while. The funny thing is though that almost no one is familiar with them, resulting in the fact that everyone writes however they think it sounds best. The evolution of texting and chatting has had a positive influence on Luxembourgish though, because kids use it there, whereas before people used French or German more in letters.
As for French being more prestegious than German, that is also correct. This is mainly due to two things: again the historic aspect of the relations between Germany and Luxembourg, and also the simple fact that French is much harder for Luxembourgers to learn than German. Being fluent and eloquent in French is a sign of being well-educated and intelligent.
Since 1984 Luxembourg has three official languages: French, German and Luxembourgish. In the European Union, Luxembourg is the only country which does not translate the treaties into its national language or have interpretors, they simply use the French versions usually. Hence, it is almost impossible for Luxembourgers to become an interpretor, since they only interprete into their mother tongue, and no one needs anything interpreted into Luxembourgish.
I read a nice phrase in an article sometime that said: "In Luxembourg, politicians discuss in Luxembourgish about law-texts in French, and the next day the papers report about it in German." I think this sums it up nicely!
RedheadDane said:
Psst... Jens Voigt is older than Armstrong...
By one day!
python said:
it was a rather technical course with some climbing. most riders rode regular non-tt bikes without h-bar extensions (except armstrong).
Really, really technical - a lot of curves, narrow roads and pavement. And one really long and steep climb with pavement. Ambiance there was amazing. You could hear the riders' chain bouncing up and down. I think that's also what happened to Hupond - his hain fell off or skipped a tooth and he had to start again right at the steepest part of the climb. In the paper he was listed as DNF today.
I'm just really disappointed about Saxo Bank: Richie Porte, Stuart O'Grady and Jakob Fuglsang did not start. They brought in Kasper Klostergaard but apparently couldn't find anyone else. They are a big professional team and no other race is going on and they can't find two riders ?! It's not a big deal if ISD-Neri starts one man short, but one of the best international teams who also happen to be the defending champions? That's just a little weak ...
I understand Richie Porte being tired but O'Grady did not break his collarbone just yesterday, that's been known for quite some time ... and what the hell is up with Jakob Fuglsang ?! This guy was supposed to be the Schlecks' most valuable helper come July, and first he misses the Pyrenees training camp, then doesn't start in Luxembourg and no one knows why. I'm gonna be mad if he's not in top form for the TdF.
/edit: I don't think the report from last night is on the web yet, I'll keep checking though. Here are some more pictures:
http://pressphoto.rtl.lu/browse/search?q=Tour+de+Luxembourg+Prologue&t=e
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