LL-L: "Orthography" LOWLANDS-L, 20.MAY.2001 (02) [E/S]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 20.MAY.2001 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Orthography"

> From:  Andy.Eagle at t-online.de (Andy Eagle)
> Subject: LL-L: "Copy-editing" [S]
>
> Sandy Fleming wrote:
>
> > Some considerations:
> >
> > 1. I've already attempted various schemes for allowing the
> > user to select between original and "improved" texts, and
> > it always seems to come back to the fact that offering more
> > than one version of every text is far more trouble than it's
> > worth.
>
> Wad a wee note anent whaur the oreeginal is fae suffice, or a puckle
> jottins
> anent whit ye hae chynged. Wi a bittie java script an CSS ye coud mebbes
> hielicht the spellins ye'v chynged an hae the oreeginal spellins (an
> jottins) kythe in the status baur.

A think a wee jot o whaur the original is fae wad hae tae
suffice, Andy, for that it wad tak a sicht mair than a
"puckle" jottins tae say what aa A'd chynged. For example,
if ye tak Burn's typical spellins (the nummers is frequencies
in the sample text):

tak     34
tak'     2
take    27

taken    1

takes    7

takin'   4
taking   2

taks    7

tak'st   1

It shows up a thing that's endemic wi aa Scots writers
(modern anes no excepted) - that the spellin isna juist
whiles Englished, it's aawey inconsistent. What A'm
_mainly_ efter is tae mak the makars makkins mair consistent.
A wad dae this bi takkin ae form o the wird as acually
uised bi that makkar an uisin that ane for the ither
forms (a bit o a darg, but VBA's a great help here!),
or ense no, whan A can see that the writer did mean it
tae be different fae the norm (eg English or whatever).
A dinna think it's wirth makkin a midden o the reader's
screen - or even status bar, that could be pitten tae
better uise - wi jottins sayin that "Burns acually
uised 'take' here" or whatever.

A div think tho, that A'd better keep _general_ jots on
what A'v duin wi ilk makar, an pit them up on the site
(A div aareddy hae a system o mairgins for haudin jots
on the texts).

> >     o  correcting grammar;
>
> This is mebbes no a guid idea at aa. Chyngin spellins is ae thing,
chyngin
> a bodie's wark is anither.

It depends on what ye mean bi a body's wark. Leukin at
the Tam O'Shanter it's obvious that Burns couldna possibly
read it oot the wey he wrote it. It's obvious as weel that
this poem is ettled for recitin oot lood, sae A think the
best service could be duin Burns wad be tae edit it in a
wey that wad lat fowk read it oot lood athoot makkin a
bourach o'd.

Whan it comes tae some ither warks it can be different.
Tak "Marget Pow", for example, whaur this is meant tae
be a correspondence written bi a Scots wumman - Catherine
P. Slater mibbie didna think this wis the best wey tae
write Scots, but that sic a wumman as Marget Pow wis like
tae write this wey, ettlin at her best English but no
kennin onything but Scots idiom. But the beuk's readable
amaist the wey it is - maist like for that we can see the
realism o the situation whaur Burns is applyin artificial
literary conventions that dinna wirk in Scots ava. Alace,
Burns's conventions dis waste his Scots grammar an aa -
"tak'st" abuin is a typical Burnsianism - the'r evidence
he wad aye _say_ "Thoo taks", an yet he writes "tak'st"
an aa that. Syne aa the "which", "wha", "wham", "why" an
aathing. While A'm agreed anent no chaingin grammar, Burns
is a richt temptation - ablins a speecial lairners edition
wad be a idea, ance A get aa this ither stuff by!

> >     o  attempting full standardisation (instead, I now think
> >        the author's choice of dialect words should be allowed
> >        to stand, eg I shouldn't have changed Mitchell's
> >        "throwe" to "throu");
>
> This is the difficult ane. Bi chyngin tae a 'non-regional' Scots
> spellin ye disguise the owthor's dialect.
.
.
.
> Aiblins lea' dialect spellins alane gin its obvious that the owthor wants

> the reader tae 'hear' his vyce. Mebbe anither case for a puckle jottins.

Ay, hivvin duin this wrang wi Mitchell, A'm settled that
chaingin the writer's dialeck is a richt skaith tae the text.
Nou A'm juist ettlin at chaingin inappropriate anglifications
an inconsistent spellins, whaur thae spellins disna show a
differ in the soond o the wird.

> O course some owthors dinna write thair dialect sae obvious. Tak Burns'
> "Gude Ale Keeps The Heart Aboon"
>
> Ee'n in the teetle the vouel in Gude an Aboon is spelt different tho
Burns
> wad hae pronounced thaim [gId] an [@'bIn]

A'm no richt shuir if Central spaekers wad A soondit them
this wey in Burns's day. Up till aboot 1920 writers in
Central never seemed tae mak mistaks like "fuit" an
"abinn", sae A'm inclined tae think they sayed thae things
different then - maist like wi a [y] or similar. Burns
writes "aboon", "aff-loof", "blood" (11), "blude"(1),
"bluid" (9), Clootie, Clooty, coof, cuifs, &c. A tak it
that "oo" wis juist anither wey Burns haed o writin the
"ui" diaphoneme, an liftit aff the English at that, sae
A'm like tae say that this is wrang, espeecially for
modern Scots, an sort it.

> pleugh an eneugh juist haes <gh> for <ch> lik in maist o Burns
> wark tho nou

Likwice A'd want tae chainge <gh> tae <ch> in maist cases,
itherwice it gies laerners aathegither the wrang idea.

> O course A ken that but we'v aft heard Burns bein recitit whaur thae
> spellins haes been pronounced wi Inglis soonds sae the rhymes disna wirk.

> Wad the solution be tae spell ane - yin an aboon - abin etc. or in a
> 'genereal Scots' ane, abuin /abune etc. But gin bodies pronounce thaim
> wrang ye're back tae whaur ye stairtit.

Ay, but syne it's no ma faut! General Scots is the answer
wi a writer like Burns, cause he's maistly no writin in
his ain dialeck, but ettlin a hiegher register tae little
maiter.

> Sin some fowk is gaun tae pronounce
> aathing wrang oniewey for  the want o Scots ye micht as weel juist uise a

> 'general Scots' an pynt oot hou Burns wad hae pronounced <ane> <ui> etc.
> sae
> fowk can see the rhyme.

Ay, exackly. There should be a page, A dout, explainin
the main diaphonemes an ither maiters, athoot tryin tae
git ower lang-heidit aboot it - A wad stick tae a guide
for readers raither than tryin tae explain aathing.

> > 1. Although the continual use of "which" and "whom" will
> > grate on Scots speakers' nerves, I've left them because
> > of my decision not to correct grammar. I assume that most
> > Scots speakers will, like myself, correct them in recitation
> > anyway.
> As a said abuin richtin gremmar is vergin on chyngin a bodie's wark.

Ay, but "which" for "that"?! Serve him richt if A div
chainge it!

Sandy
http://scotstext.org
A dinna dout him, for he says that he
On nae accoont wad ever tell a lee.
                          - C.W.Wade,
                    'The Adventures o McNab'

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