Kevin, Greg, Sterling and others
As a Scot, who speaks Scots (or Lallans as it is sometimes referred to) I am
aware of the debate surrounding the status of Scots vis-à-vis English. Is it a
dialect of English, a variety of English or a separate language? As is normal
in this sort of discussion, where you stand is often influenced by politics
rather than linguistics.
The answer is net definitive in any way. Before the development of Standard
English, there was a patchwork of dialects and languages across England and
Scotland reflecting the different immigrations that took place after the
departure of the Romans. Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Scandinavians all came in
and settled in different parts of the island. The languages were all Germanic
in origin, and may have been mutually intelligible to a greater or lesser
degree, but led to a mosaic of local languages and speech. Scotland was no
different in that the southern part was largely Anglic reflecting its partial
incorporation into the Kingdom of Northumbria. Celtic languages were spoken in
the South West, West and Highland. Norse was spoken in the far North and in
Orkney and Shetland.
As Scotland and England developed began coalescing into distinct nations, a
tendency towards a "standard" form of speech also began. With the English court
based in London, a standard for of the language was derived from dialects and
varieties of the South East. In Scotland, the court was based in Edinburgh so a
different standard was developed. In effect English and Scots diverged at this
point.
As time went on though, English came to have an increasing influence on
Scottish speech until after the Union of 1707, the adoption of English became
increasingly obvious as Scots was considered a mere dialect and therefore
somehow lesser. This continues today where Scots is being eradicated by the
prevalence of English, despite a lively and diverse literary culture.
This is very much a brief summary of the arguments, and has nothing to do with
meteorites - many, many apologies.
Cheers
Peter Davidson
Curator of Minerals
National Museums Collection Centre
National Museums Scotland
242 West Granton Road
Edinburgh
EH5 1JA
Phone: +44 131 247 4283
p.david...@nms.ac.uk
www.nms.ac.uk
-Original Message-
From: meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Forbes
Sent: 12 September 2009 20:14
To: List Meteorite
Subject: [meteorite-list] Scots
Even just the mere thought of contemplating this statement,
"Do you count Scots words as a dialect of English?"
to me seems, well, glaekit.
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Magnificent Machines: the transport event of the season. National Museum of
Flight, 26-27 September. www.nms.ac.uk/magnificentmachines
National Museums Scotland, Scottish Charity, No. SC 011130
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