„Language  policy  in  the  Middle  Ages“  shows  how  such  problems  were  dealt
with  in  the  Middle  Ages  in  mostly  multi-ethnic  and  multi-lingual  states.
Language  policy  (in  the  sense  of  promotion  of  a  dominant  language)  can  be
traced  back  to  the  Middle  Ages.  It  seems,  however,  that  language  policy  in
general  was  rather  moderate.  Linguistic  diversity  was  accepted  as  a  fact  and
respected.  There  were  even  attempts  to  make  the  structure  of  the  state  reflect
this  situation.  An  example  of  this  is  the  requirement  that  the  ruler  speak  several
languages  himself.  This  general  conclusion  is  corroborated  by  the  findings  of
Steffen  Renner  (Saarbrücken)  „Did  the  English  try  to  destroy  the  Welsh
language  in  fighting  Owain  Glyndwr?“.  In  spite  of  claims  to  the  contrary,  there
were  no  serious  attempts  to  eradicate  the  Welsh  language  at  that  time;  similar
accusations  regarding  the  English  language  are  equally  unfounded.  It  seems,
however,  that  such  claims  were  made  in  order  to  gain  support  in  the  fight
against  enemies  speaking  another  language.
Two  contributions  are  devoted  to  general  questions  of  language  policy.  Peter  H.
Neide  (Brussels)  „Vitality  and  dynamism  of  European  linguistic  minorities
living  in  border  areas“  analyses  the  relationship  between  major  languages  and
languages  spoken  by  minorities  in  border  regions.  He  shows  that  the  generally
assumed  dynamics  of  inevitable  decline  of  minority  languages  in  favour  of
major  languages  is  not  always  supported  by  factual  evidence.  It  seems  that  the
dynamics  of  the  relationship  are  most  complex  since  they  depend  upon  a
multitude  of  non-linguistic  variables.  Minority  language  loss  in  one  case  is
contradicted  by  minority  language  maintenance  in  others  and  it  is  not  possible
to  draw  general  conclusions.  Johannes  Kramer  (Siegen)  ,„Two  and  a  half
lingualism“  (case  studies  on  Corsica,  Cura9ao,  the  Seychelles,  the  Gröden
Valley  and  Luxemburg)“  describes  quite  an  unusual  linguistic  situation.  It  can
be  described  as  a  special  case  of  diglossia.  A  prestige  language  (H-variety)  is
opposed  by  two  varieties  of  another  language  not  cosely  related  to  the  prestige
language.  One  of  these  varieties  is  a  traditional  standard  language,  the  other  one
is  in  the  first  phase  of  ausbau.  The  examples  he  adduces  are  mainly  from  the
Romance-Germanic  contact  area  in  Europe  but  include  Creole  languages  as
well.
In  view  of  the  difficulty  of  arriving  at  valid  generalizations  and  considering  the
meagre  factual  basis  in  many  areas  it  is  hardly  surprising  that  many  contributions
  are  devoted  to  detailed  analyses  of  particular  situations.  Hubertus
Menke  (Kiel)  ,,,I  am  a  Dane  and  speak  German.“  On  linguistic  history  and
language  policy  in  the  German-Danish  border  area“  describes  the  situation  in  an
intra-Germanic  border  region.  This  multilingual  area  divided  between  two
states  has  a  long  record  of  peaceful  coexistence  and  natural  evolution  of
languages.  This  was  interrupted  by  a  period  dominated  by  nationalist  thinking
which  led  to  discrimination  against  the  respective  „foreign“  language.  In  spite
of  considerable  support  by  the  respective  states  all  such  attempts  failed.  It  was
not  until  the  introduction  of  the  concept  of  self-determination,  however,  that  it

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