book notice: Northern and Insular Scots

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Forwarded from Linguist-List
Northern and Insular Scots: Dialects of English,
2007, Edinburgh University Press
                http://www.eup.ed.ac.uk/


Author: Robert McColl Millar

The Scots dialects of northern Scotland, Orkney and Shetland are among the
most traditional varieties of 'English', exhibiting features not current
elsewhere for centuries. Until recently, they were spoken in communities
whose traditional occupations have encouraged the equation of speech with
local identity. They have all also been affected by contact with Gaelic,
or Norse, or both. In recent years, however, the decline of traditional
industries has been matched by the discovery of oil off their coasts,
encouraging in-migration of speakers of many varieties of English and
other languages. How well have these varieties maintained their
traditional natures at the start of the 21st century?

'Northern and Insular Scots' provides:

* An approachable description of the phonological, structural and lexical
	natures of these varieties
* A history of the varieties in relation to the areas in which they are
	spoken
* Examples of the language of native speakers
* An annotated bibliography which points the reader towards more
	specialised works.

Dialects of English - The Series

Books in this new series provide concise, up-to-date documentation for
varieties of English from around the world. Written by experts who have
conducted first-hand research, the volumes provide a starting point for
anyone wishing to know about a particular dialect. Each volume follows a
common structure covering the background, phonetics and phonology,
morphosyntax, lexis and history of a variety of English, and concludes
with an annotated bibliography and some sample texts.

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