LL-L: "Copy-editing" LOWLANDS-L, 14.MAY.2001 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 14.MAY.2001 (04) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From:  Colin Wilson <lcwilson at starmail.com>
Subject: LL-L: "Copy-editing" LOWLANDS-L, 13.MAY.2001 (03) [E]

At 04:02 14/05/01, Sandy Fleming wrote:

>So the questions I'm asking in this submission is:
>
>1. Does anyone see any objections that might be raised to
>   this sort of "improvement"?
>
>2. Is there anything in the policies I've suggested above
>   that anyone would have a problem with?

I've often thought that more of Burns's work needs this treatment -
its conversion to a modern Scots orthography. I think this is a
great step on Sandy's part.

As far as this specific example goes, my only suggestion would
be to change "unchristen'd" to "unchristent".

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 Colin Wilson                  the graip wis tint, the besom wis duin
                               the barra wadna row its lane
 writin fae Aiberdein,         an sicna soss it nivver wis seen
 the ile capital o Europe      lik the muckin o Geordie's byre
*********************************************************************

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Copy-editing

Sandy,

Given the intended purpose and scope of your online presentation, I can see
nothing wrong with improving the spelling of works, as long as the reader
is informed of this and is referred to the originals, even if the originals
are not presented at your site.  (I suppose simple bibliographical
references would suffice.)

I also agree with your decision not to change grammatical and lexical
choices.  If it were my project, I would probably use footnotes or,
preferably, inserted notes in cases of glaringly "un-Scots" words (e.g.,
"... which [= whilk] ..."), perhaps inserted in a different, lighter color,
such as gray.  This would not only help/prompt those that read the texts
aloud and wish to make substitutions, but it would also be of great help to
those who wish to acquire reading profiency in Scots as a non-native
language.  Even if you intended the presentation to be for the reading
pleasure of Scots speakers and of those that have good reading proficiency,
there are bound to be many who would wish to take advantage of the
opportunity to use it as a foreign language reader (perhaps after having
worked their way through Colin's upcoming textbook).  A relatively small
device, such as inserted notes, would accommodate all of the above.

Keep up the good work!

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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