LL-L: "Standardization" LOWLANDS-L, 18.AUG.2000 (03) [S]

[R. F. Hahn]

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From: John M. Tait [jmtait at altavista.net]
Subject: LL-L: "Standardization" LOWLANDS-L, 16.AUG.2000 (05) [S]

Anent Andy an Sandy's cantation aboot spellin:

As faur's tellin fowk whit no ti dae is concerned - I tak it the principle
ahint this is ti mak a distinction atween (a) A regular orthography, like we
hae in English, at haes ae wey ti spell ilka (weel, maist ilka) word, an sae
implies a guid dose o langage staundardisation asweel, aither i the airt o ae
dialect or a synthesis, an on the ither haund (b) a braid staundard at disna
worry aboot differs in spellin whaur the'r genuine dialect differs ('no' an NE
'nae' wad be the maist obvious example).

I fairly gree wi this, but the'r an awfu practical problem wi't, an that is
at, gin fowk is ti accept this kynd o spellin, thay (or thaim at lairns thaim)
haes ti understaund the principles ahint it. For example, whit wey Muirfit
shoudna be spelt Mairfuit depends on understaundin at the UI phoneme is sayed
'ai' an 'i' in Central dialects, but ithergates ithergates (!). On the spellin
comatee we funnd at a lot o fowk juist wadna accept this. Gin ye leuk at the
wey at UI is uised in the SNDA dictionars, RWS an Scotscrieve ye'll see
spellins like (as faur's I can mynd) fuit, wuid (Scotscrieve), luik, tuik
(Scotscrieve an RWS); buik (aa o thaim?), an yiss (n), yaise (v), uisless,
yuisfae, usual (SNDA). Sin thir is wha lairns fowk ti spell Scots, an aa thair
representatives disassociatit thairsels wi the spellin report, aa the
exemplars o Scots spellin at haes onie influence haes spellins in thaim at
Sandy wad caa wrang. Aa o thaim thinks at it's necessar for NE Scots ti uise
spellins like 'eeze' an 'speer', sae identifeein UI wi the Central
pronunciations, an makkin it no clear ava whit wey <fuit> an <mair> (or even
<ruid> for 'rid') is no mensefu spellins. In ither words, aa the influential
craeturs in Scots _disna accept_ whit we tak for grantit. Cause the SNDA's ad
hoc spellins is likely ti be the only anes at haes muckle influence (for
example Colin - richt me gin I'm wrang, Colin - haes decidit ti haud wi
spellins like <buik> in his Stertin Oot in Scots) the diaphonemic principle
canna be seen ahint onie Scots spellin evenou. The'r a determination on the
pairt o RWS, the SNDA an Scotscrieve no ti lat oniething like kennin affect
spellin.

Anent the spellins <fock> an <bock>, I wad say at thay wad be reverse-Central
spellins. Cause Central Scots haes tint the [O] soond, an sae <lock> [lok] wad
rhyme wi <fock> [fok], it wad seem mensefu ti spell thaim the same. But in
Northern an some ither dialects, the [O] an [o] distinction hauds, sae <lock>
[lOk] but <Loake> [lok] (mak o shuin), <choke> [tSok}; <cock> [kOk] but <coke>
[kok], etc. Sae the <fock> spellin wad suggest [fOk]. (This is, in fact, hou
it's sayed in Shetland, an sae is spelt <fock>, but as faur's I'm awaur this
is a Shetland peculiarity. In Shetland asweel, <byock> [bjOk]. In the NE thay
tend ti uise anither word, _cowk_.) I wad suggest juist <folk> ti represent
the [fok] soond - etymological if naething ither.

Theoretically, final [t] an [d] in waek verb endins shuid can be spelt the
same wey, sae accoontin for dialect differs, cause the differ atweem thaim is
condeitional on the vowel afore, the same as plural <s> bein whiles [s] an
whiles [z]. Houaniver, this is complicate bi (a) the syllabic [@t] endin, an
(b) the fact at English haes different pronunciations for final <-ed> frae
Scots, an whiles uises final <t> spellins asweel. Sae gin ye spell thaim aa
the same wey ye'r apt ti get fowk sayin thaim wrang. For example, gin ye spelt
thaim aa <ed>, fowk wadna lift the syllabic Scots endin in words like 'happit'
(gin ye spelt it <happed>). Gin ye spelt thaim aa <it>, fowk wad pit a
non-existent syllable in words like 'freezit' (I still dinna ken gin the'r a
pronunciation [skri:v at t] ti match the <screivit> at ye sae aften see.) I hinna
thocht whit wad happen gin ye spelt thaim aa <t>!

John M. Tait.

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