Lowland Scots

[FRITZ JUENGLING]

Some linguists classify Scots as a separate language from English.  However, there is a continuum from RP in the mouth of Scotsmen to Broad Scots (or Lallans)--sort of like the German-Dutch continuum.  I have heard some Lallans speakers and they are virtually unintelligible to me--much the same way that Swiss German is to many German German speakers.  As far as Scots school children understanding Chaucer--it depends on their dialect.  Not every kid in Lowland Scotland speaks or understands Lallans (just as my cousins in Northern Germany no longer speak Plattdeutsch). It really depends where they are on the continuum.
However, there are some features of Lallans that are similar to the speech of Chaucer i.e. <gh> in 'night' is pronounced (with variable diphthongization of the /i/.)  'House' is 'hoos.'  'knight' will be 'knicht' with the 'k' being pronounced.  So, in these instances, and probably many more, Lallans is very close to Middle English.  However, there must be some differences as well.  A good way to find out something about the spellings and pronunciation of Scots is to peruse the "Concise Scots Dictionary."
Fritz Juengling
PS I do not know where Sean Connery is from, but his speech is not Lallans.


>>> dcamp911 at JUNO.COM 03/06/03 03:08PM >>>
I just got an email from a Scottish friend who used an aphorism in
"la'lands" dialect, i.e., the dialect of the lowland Scots. He went on to
explain that this dialect is close to medieval English and that "Scots
school children have very few problems reading Chaucer in the original.
All they need to do is forget the spellings and listen to the sound."

This sounds suspiciously like the supposed Appalachian / Shakespearean
nexus. Since this friend knows even less than I do, does anyone have any
insight on his observation?

D