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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">===========================================<br>
L O W L A N D S - L - 08 April 2009 - Volume 06<br>
===========================================</span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br>
From: <span class="gd"><span style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);"><a href="mailto:bsu295@bangor.ac.uk">bsu295@bangor.ac.uk</a></span></span></span>
<br>
Subject: <span class="gi">LL-L "Language varieties" 2009.04.08 (01) [E]</span><br>
<br>
Indeed it seams to be you. I only just joined this group, but I remember
reading your website, that later got closed down, not to long ago. And I wanted
to just discuss about the Shetland Dialect with you, or where I would go about
learning it. etc etc, or who I would contact if I really wanted to learn the
more traditional version, such as the one of the older folk. Sorry abit strange
I know, But I was just really interested by your email site when I first read
itand I was thinking about bye a book that I think you had wriyten<br>
<br>
Nice to eventually meet you.<br>
<br>
I hope you are well<br>
Gregg Ashcroft<br>
Lancashire<br style="">
<br style="">
</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">----------<br>
<br>
From: <span class="gd"><span style="color: rgb(91, 16, 148);">jmtait</span></span></span><span class="gi"> </span><span class="go"><<a href="mailto:jmtait@wirhoose.co.uk">jmtait@wirhoose.co.uk</a>></span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Subject: <span class="gi">LL-L "Language varieties" 2009.04.08 (01) [E]</span></span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Â </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Andy wrote:</span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">If one
wishes to postulate that Shetlandic (that word again :-), or *Shetlands*,
should be considered a a separate language rather than a variety of Scots
perhaps the following questions need answering first. How does *Shetlands*
differ structurally from other varieties of Scots in terms of syntax and
morphology? How predictable or unpredictable is the pronunciation of underlying
phonemes when compared to other varieties of Scots? Subjective impressions of
difference may have more to do with unfamiliarity than any, if I may say,
linguistic criteria. The same of course can be applied to Ulter Scots in
regards to other varieties of Scots.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Â </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Aye Andy,
hou ye daein?<br>
<br>
For the sake of argument, I'll use the term 'Shaetlan' - which is what it used
to be called in it's native region, or 'bonhoaga' - rather than 'Shetlandic.' I
used to avoid this term when writing English because it seemed like using, let's
say, 'Deutsch' rather than 'German' or 'Cymraeg' rather than 'Welsh', but owing
to the opprobrium attached to the word 'Shetlandic' in Shetland, 'Shaetlan'
will do until the opprobrium is transferred to it as well.<br>
<br>
I think the main point is - what do the people who speak it think it is?<br>
<br>
I've commented elsewhere that the nomenclature has largely changed in my
lifetime, from 'Shaetlan' - which suggests its identity with the Shetland
islands - to 'dialect', which is how it is described by Shetland For Wirds, the
group which has been set up to promote it. Their mission statement is "to
foster and promote the use of written and spoken dialect as a valued and
essential element of Shetland's distinctive heritage and culture." Notice
that they do not consider it necessary to specify what it is a dialect of. The
term 'dialect', taking over from the term 'Shaetlan' shifts the emphasis from
regional identity to 'dialect' identity - in other words, the Shetland tongue
is seen as belonging to that category which is known as 'dialect' with all the
connotations which go along with that, the primary connotation being its
non-standard nature, and implying that it can be promoted without any of the
baggage of a 'language' such as Catalan or Faroese - eg: orthography or official
status. The main emphasis is on encouraging people to speak it.<br>
<br>
This makes no sense to me. When I was young, perhaps 98% of Shetlanders spoke
Shaetlan. Recent guesstimates suggest that only a sixth of children in country
schools speak it - in the town, where about half the population lives, it may
be nearer to zero. It seems to me that the mission of Shetland for Wirds is to
re-create the exact situation - unofficial oralism - from which the tongue fell
in the first place. It's a bit like trying to rebuild a building without
correcting the fault that made it collapse.<br>
<br>
There is no doubt that this attitude stems from the Scottish situation. One of
the severest criticisms I have had from Shetland is for criticising the
statement of James Robertson that the value of Scots lies in its
unrespectability. It was apparently not acceptable for me to criticise such an
eminent figure in the Scottish literary establishment. The idea that you can
promote a dialect of a language which is characterised primarily for being
unrespectable says more about the necessity of not offending certain Scottish
literary figures than it does about elementary processes of logic. Apparently,
when my name was mentioned to a visiting Scottish promoter of Scots, I was
immediately identified as 'the man who disagrees with James.' This implies
that, in order to be acceptable to the Scots-promoting establishment, or its
Shetland tributary, it is necessary not to disagree that these forms of speech
are, and are valued for being, intrinsically unrespectable.<br>
<br>
John M. Tait.</span></p>
•
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