A multilingual journey through the Euregio Meuse-Rhine
Will we still be speaking Limburgish or English in 500 years' time? What does our future language sound like? How come so many different dialects and languages can be found in the Euregio just a few kilometres away? Is it true that German dialects are disappearing? Do Walloons still come home in their own language like their Flemish neighbours? In a three-part podcast, two young people from Dutch Limburg are looking for answers to these questions in their homeland: the Euregio.
The listener of this podcast follows two young trace researchers: Sarah Eummelen and Bas Opgenoorth. They are looking for the origin and future of multilingualism in the Euregio. They meet historical linguist Michiel de Vaan who knows how the Euregio sounded in year 1 and in the years thereafter – 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, even into the distant future of the year 2500. We hear him create sounds from the distant past and from the future.
The listener also hears personal stories about language and home, such as of a love between residents from Aachen and Liège and how a new language emerged in the cité of Eisden. The young trace researchers also speak with experts such as Leonie Cornips, Marie Guy Boutier, Clemens Bayer, Lou Spronck and Eric Wetzels, who talk vividly about this linguistic diversity in and across the borders of the Euregio. In this podcast, the listener is directly involved in the subject due to the 1-on-1 relationship with the trace researchers.
You can listen to the podcasts on Spotify or watch it on YouTube with subtitles (part 1, part 2 and part 3).
Commissioned by the Euregional heritage project Terra Mosana, the podcast was produced by documentary maker Lubert Priems, with audio editing by Arno Peeters. The podcast was created in a collaboration among Terra Mosana project partners Maastricht University/Maastricht Centre for Arts and Culture, Conservation and Heritage (MACCH), including the chair of Language culture in Limburg, and the Municipality Maastricht. In the context of Terra Mosana, Eric Wetzels (Municipality Maastricht) wrote an article about language developments in the Euregio.
Terra Mosana is supported by the Interreg V-A Euregio Meuse-Rhine programme. Project website: www.terramosana.org
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