[lg policy] UK: The future of Scots

Fri Jul 3 14:37:44 UTC 2015

 The future of Scots
 Harry Giles <https://www.opendemocracy.net/author/harry-giles> 2 July 2015

There is a responsibility on those working in Scots to use the language
imaginatively, and to break it into new political possibilities.

[image: Sign saying] What does the future hold for the Scots language?
Flickr/summonedbyfells. Some rights reserved.

*Below is the Scots version of this piece. It is followed by the English
version.*

Whit's it mean at Fiona Hylop, whan lenchan Creative Scotland's Scots Leid
Policie this month, hytert ower the pairt o her screed that wis wrote in
Scots?

Govrenment *s*creeds are wrote in a antrin idiom o English. Wir uissed tae
hearin the teum wirds o public relations slidder sneith by, an most o the
Culture Secretary's screed wis wrote in this aesy tong. Sae nae wunner at,
whan sheu ran intae the Scots o hir screed's final lines – wirds at jummled
archaisms, contemporar urbanisms an variant grammatical firms intae a nyow
aald leid, wirds pangit wi anxieties o cless an identity an nation – sheu
wis scunnert. Tae me, hid's grand tae think at Scots'll mebbe yet fool the
wheels o govrenment.

Hyslop blethered aboot growan up doon sooth wi a mither wha mostlins spok
English bit shifted straet awey tae a rich urban Scots whan phonan haem.
Mebbes, than, no lik the leid o govrenment, the wirds o the policie lench
screed wir uncan onywey:  thay mostlins belonged tae the literar (but yet
bonnie an uissfu) canon o Scots steid o the sneck vernaclar hir mither spok
doun the phon. This langed-fir leid – a firmal, standardised Scots suitid
tae journalism an cultural policies – belongs tae the govrenment websites o
some Scots' langed-fir staet, an that wey hid's closser tae the leid o
Westminster as the leid Craigmillar.

A leid haes mony registers, ilk suitid tae differ situaetions. E'en a
teknicly monolingual body spaeks to thir clossest freinds i a differ leid –
wi a differ, but owerleppan, vocabular, grammar, intonaetion an
pronunciaetion – as thay wad i a job interview. A leid haes mony dialects
teu, varyan fae piece tae piece, an some of thaim wad mebbe staek a claem
tae bean a leid an aa. So whan Creative Scotland's Scots Language Policie
(laudably) walcomes aa the kynds o Scots, whit daes that mean?

Mebbes hid means at ert mad i aa the kynds o Scots'll be walcomed, wi
cultural uphaud due tae the leids o Orkney an Drumchapel as tae Kelvingrove
an Holyrood. This, alang wi a shift in eddicaetion policie at taks Scots
intae the clessroom, is a bangin ootcome o decaedes o leid activism: wark
at means thare's no so mony bairns'll be shaemed fir the wey thay spaek, an
at mor weys o thinkan an scrievan'll mebbe flourish an be acceptid.  But
what are the limits of that acceptance? Hou wad hid be gin a govrenment
strategy event haed spaekers wi Niddrie or Sighthill accents an wirds, an
whit leid policie cad gar that tae com? An aathorised Scots ettles tae tird
the leid o ony cless or rural prejudice, but hid canno end cless conflict
or rural depopulaetion, an the standardiesaetion o Scots hidsel derns the
weys wir wirds merk iss oot. “Fouter” is alloued i the clessreum nou, bit
is “fam” – or “fml”?

Scots, the wey hid's mad nou, is a gustie hags. Thare's dictionars at offer
a dizzen differ spelleens an pronunciaetions fir ilk wird, competeen
grammars an orthographies, wholly incompatible politiecal foondaetions. As
a literar leid, uissed i mony firms, Scots is ferly establieshed, wi a
peedie bit signifiecant trinkle o novels, stories and poietry mad i mony
differ weys ilk yaer. As a spokken vernaclar, Scots haads on, wi more yet o
a wrote firm on social media (A ween more Scots is publieshed on Facebook
as i aa Scotland's presses togither), but hid's no consistent uissed fir
journalism, criticism, public relaetions, or govrenment policie. Whan
Creative Scotland saes at hid nou walcomes fundeen applicaetions i Scots,
the gee gars makkan a whole nyow register tae write wi – wir no yet got a
Scots fir the writan o fundeen applicaetions.

A muckle corpus o Scots comes fae laa, fir Scots wis the leid o laa in
Scotland fir gey wheen o centuries, bit hid's a trachle tae imagine a
register o contemporar Scots suitid tae the tesk. Whit wad hid mean tae mak
this registers?

Speiran at this fankle o quaistions gangs deep intae whit a cultural
fundeen policie or a govrenment leid strategy is fir. Both ir ert an pert o
the apparatus o the staet, o liberal govrenmentality. The resurgence o the
Scots leid is aa frappid i the Scottish Nationalist project, fir the claim
tae a leid haes lang been pert o the claem to staethood. Leid
standardiesation is at the foondaetion o the modren naetion-staet: whan the
Italian an German nation-staetes firmed, thay browt togither mony competan
pieces unner the een govrenment o centralised pouer, an thay browt togither
mony competan dialects unner the een leid o centralised pouer. 20Th century
Scottish Nationalists, ettlan tae firm a nyow 20th century staet, teuk
inspiraetion fae this projects i the erly daes o standardiesation.

Sae a nyow phaes o Scots leid wark maan  be engaged wi – fir hid's aye been
engaged wi – the politiecal formations of the 21st century. As European
regional indiependence meuvements come at, ir thay gaan tae repaet a
aerlier process o makkan naetion-staets, wi aa hids leid politics, or ir
thay gaan tae ert oot nyow politiecal an linguistic formaetions?

A'm interestid i politics ootower the naetion-staet, an that maks me
interestid i leids ootower standardiesaetion. We maan uiss wir utopian
imaginaetion. Hou wad hid be tae hae an eddicaetion system whar standard
grammars wir no enforced? Cad that be pert o undoan cless an raecial
oppression i the clessreum?  Hou wad hid be tae bide i a warld whar
Standard English didno sleek the flowe o globalised capitalism, whae we wad
maan tak time tae learn whit a body fae the ither side o the warld (or the
next toun ower) wis spaekan, steid o assuman we shared wir projects an
problems i aesy hegemonic understandeen. Hou wad hid be gin that global
English (Panglish?) continued hids process o disintegraetion an
regionaliesaetion, firdered bi text-spaek an Twitter abbrevieaetions an
phoneticisms? How wad hid be gin we didno aa spaek the leid o govrenment? –
or gin we cad understand it, right enof, bit chos tae spaek tae wir comrads
an femlies wi a differ tong? This quaistions bring oot dystopian landscapes
cheust as thay deu utopian possiebilities, bit wir history an wir present
hae mony inspiraetions: pieces whar English daesno ower aa or haes been
forcibly expelled, whar the leid o govrenment is differ fae the tong o
haem, whar monolinguality isno the standard, whar the liberal staet isno
the limit o the politiecal imaginaetion.

That Scots nou haes clear and strang material an financial support is tae
be celebratit. But A wunner gin – an hop at – the frawart, raivelt, ramstam
literar an spokan uiss o Scots wilno thole hids govrenment policie. Thare's
a responsiebility fir them wirkan i Scots tae uiss the leids imaginatively,
an tae turn the nyow level o uphaudan tae utopian ends, tae gar the leid
tae bide rammage an unassimielitatid, tae brak the leid intae nyow
politiecal possibilities.
*English version:*

What does it mean that Fiona Hylop, when launching Creative Scotland's
Scots Language Policy this month, stumbled over the part of her speech that
was written in Scots?

Government speeches are written in a peculiar idiom of English. We're used
to hearing the empty words of public relations slide smoothly by, and most
of the Culture Secretary's speech was written in this easy tongue. So no
wonder that, when she ran into the Scots of her speech's final lines –
words that mixed archaisms, contemporary urbanisms and variant grammatical
forms into a new old language, words stuffed with anxieties of class and
identity and nation – she was scunnered. To me, it's grand to think that
Scots might still foul the wheels of government.

Hyslop talked about growing up in England with a mother who spoke English
for the most part but switched immediately to a rich urban Scots when
phoning home.Perhaps, then, unlike the language of government, the words of
the policy launch speech seemed strange and unfamiliar anyway: for the most
part, they belonged to the literary (but still beautiful and useful) canon
of Scots rather than the agile vernacular her mother spoke down the phone. This
longed-for language – a formal, standardised Scots suited to journalism and
cultural policies – belongs to the government websites of some Scots'
longed-for state, and as such it's closer to the language of Westminster
than the language of Craigmillar.

A language has numerous registers, each suited to different circumstances.
Even a technically monolingual person speaks to their closest friends in a
different language – with a different, if overlapping, vocabulary, grammar,
intonation and pronunciation – than they would in a job interview. A
language also has numerous dialects, varying from region to region, some of
which might stake a claim to being a language as well. So when Creative
Scotland's Scots Language Policy (laudably) welcomes all the varieties of
Scots, what does that mean?

Perhaps it means that art produced in all the varieties of Scots will be
welcomed, with cultural support due to the languages of Orkney and
Drumchapel as much as to the languages of Kelvingrove and Holyrood. This,
along with a shift in education policy that increasingly brings Scots into
the classroom, or at least accepts the use of Scots in the classroom, is
the brilliant outcome of decades of language activism: it means we can hope
that fewer children will be shamed for the way they speak, and that more
ways of thinking and writing can flourish and be accepted. But whit's the
limits o that acceptance? How would it be if a government strategy event
had speakers with Niddrie or Sighthill accents and words, and what language
policy could make that happen?

An authorised Scots tries to strip the language of any class or rural
prejudice, but it can't end class conflict or rural depopulation, and the
standardisation of Scots itself hides the ways our words mark us out.
“Fouter” is allowed in the classroom now, but is “fam” – or “fml”?

Scots, as it currently exists, is a delicious mess. There are dictionaries
that offer a dozen different spellings and pronunciations for each word,
competing grammars and orthographies, wholly incompatible political
foundations. As a literary language, used in multiple forms, Scots is
fairly established, with a thin but significant trickle of novels, stories
and poetry produced in multiple varieties each year. As a spoken
vernacular, Scots holds on, with an extended written form on social media
(I suspect more Scots is published on Facebook than in all Scotland's
presses combined), but it is not consistently used for journalism,
criticism, public relations, or government policy. When Creative Scotland
says that it now welcomes funding applications in Scots, the notion
involves inventing a whole new register to write in – we don't currently
have a Scots in which you can write funding applications.

A significant corpus of Scots comes from law, because Scots was the
language of law in Scotland for some centuries, but it's hard to imagine a
register of contemporary Scots suitable to the task. What would it mean to
create these registers?

Asking these harder questions goes deep into what a cultural funding policy
or a government language strategy is for. Both are part of the apparatus of
the state, of liberal governmentality. The resurgence of the Scots language
is inextricable from the Scottish Nationalist project, because the claim to
a language has long been part of the claim to statehood. Language
standardisation is at the foundation of the modern nation-state: when the
Italian and German nation-states formed, they brought together multiple
competing regions under one government which centralised power, and they
brought together multiple competing dialects under one language which
centralised power. 20Th century Scottish Nationalists, trying to form a new
20th century state, took inspiration from those projects in the early days
of standardisation.

So a new phase of Scots language work needs to be engaged in – because it
is already engaged in – the political formations of the 21st century. As
European regional independence movements strengthen, are they going to
repeat an earlier process of nation-state creation, with its attendant
language politics, or are they going to find new political and linguistic
formations?

I'm interested in politics beyond the nation-state, and that makes me
interested in language beyond standardisation. Let's use some utopian
imagination. What would it be like to have an education system where
standard grammars were not enforced? Could that be part of undoing class
and racial oppression in the classroom? What would it be like to live in a
world where Standard English did not smooth the flow of globalised
capitalism, where we had to spend time learning what someone from the other
side of the world (or the next town over) was saying, rather than assuming
we shared our projects and problems in easy hegemonic understanding? What
would it be like if that global English (Panglish?) continued its process
of disintegration and regionalisation, furthered by text-speak and Twitter
abbreviations and phoneticisms? What would it be like if we did not all
speak the language of government? – or if we could understand it,
tolerably, but chose to speak to our comrades and families in a different
language?

These questions bring out dystopian landscapes as much as they do utopian
possibilities, but our history and our present contains many inspirations:
places where English does not rule all or has been forcibly expelled, where
the language of government is different from the language of home, where
monolinguality is not the standard, where the liberal state is not the
limit of the political imagination.

That Scots now has stronger material and financial support is to be
celebrated. But I wonder if – and hope that – the contrary, snarled,
headstrong literary and spoken use of Scots won't tolerate its government
policy. There is a responsibility on those working in Scots to use the
language imaginatively, and to turn the new level of support to utopian
ends, to ensure that the language remains untamed and unassimilitated, to
break the language into new political possibilities.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/harry-giles/future-of-scots

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