#afrikaans — Public Fediverse posts

So what I want to write about is this: I wonder when, why and how new #languages emerge or are born. I know this sounds sort of cryptic, but bear with me! Once upon a time #Afrikaans emerged and was no longer considered a variant of #Dutch. After the war in #ExYugoslavia, new countries emerged and we no longer spoke of Serbo-Croat, but of #Bosnian #croation and #Serbian languages. I sometimes fear the same could happen to #Dutch. When one variant of a language develops in a natural way into another, I don’t feel that’s problematic. However, when politics and purposely orchestrated manoeuvres come into play, that is something that worries me. And that is something that I want to write about. #linguistics