Introduction
Language as mankind’s prime means of communication has two widelydiffering
side effects: a common language unites its speakers, whereas different
languages separate them. Language has thus become an extremely important
symbol indicating that a person does or does not belong to a given group. As
such, this symbol may be used just for that purpose and may engender grave
consequences. Examples of this are the biblical shibboleth (Judges 12, 6) or the
password ciciri during the Sicilian Vespers. It is hardly coincidental that numerous
languages use words to denote strangers that refer to linguistic matters;
cf., e.g., Greek ftàpfîapoç or Slavic nêm- (whence nëmec ,stranger4 or german1);
both words are most likely of onomatopoetic origin and designate
incomprehensible speech, with the latter eventually coming to mean ,dumb‘.
The unifying effect of a common language and the separating effect of different
languages have long been recognised and have played a role in political
considerations. (The earliest symbolic expression of this may be seen in the
story relating the construction of the Tower of Babel.) Out of this general
recognition various forms of language policy have developed in the course of
time, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. The most recent example of this
in Europe is former Yugoslavia where „ethnic cleansing“ was accompanied by
„linguistic cleansing“.
When employed in a political context, language policy uses a given linguistic
situation to achieve non-linguistic goals. It is especially helpful in justifying
existing borders or in cases where existing borders are called into question. It
does not come as a surprise, therefore, that language policy is of particular
importance in border regions, which are more likely to be subjected to language
policy intended to support political goals of the state as a whole without taking
into consideration the interest of the population in the area. Furthermore,
language policy, even though encompassing the state as a whole, will often be
more marked in border areas. It is for this reason that border regions are of
particular interest for the analysis of language policy.
Such considerations led to the planning of a conference devoted to this topic.
The organising body was the interdisciplinary research network „Border regions
and areas of interference“ of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of the
Saarland. The network has been analysing typological and historical aspects of
borders and the reciprocal and combined influence of various kinds of borders
(„natural“, political, cultural, religious, linguistic etc.) as well as their effect on
the life and the mental attitudes of the population in such border areas for some
years. The network brings together scholars from various fields: geography,
prehistory, history, Romance, Germanic and Slavic studies. The geographical
domain of research is the so-called Saar-Lor-Lux area encompassing regions in
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