[lg policy] Scotland: Calls for Doric to have same status as English and Gaelic

Wed Mar 7 15:32:11 UTC 2018

 Calls for Doric to have same status as English and Gaelic

Views east from Bennachie in the heart of Aberdeenshire, where almost 50
per cent of adults speak North-East Scots, including Doric. PIC: Creative
Commons/Flicr/Gordon Robertson. Views east from Bennachie in the heart of
Aberdeenshire, where almost 50 per cent of adults speak North-East Scots,
including Doric. PIC: Creative Commons/Flicr/Gordon Robertson. Alison
Campsie Published: 21:15 Tuesday 06 March 2018 Share this article Get Daily
Updates To Your Inbox 1 Have your say Doric is to be promoted and protected
on a new scale in Scotland with a body now set up in Aberdeen to secure the
same status for North-East Scots as English and Gaelic. The North-East
Scots Language Board is being led by academics, key figures and
institutions in the region to normalise the use of the language in civic
life, media, business and education. North-East Scots is spoken between
Montrose and Nairn with Doric, a dialect of the language, found in roughly
half that area from Aberdeen northwards. Doric itself has several different
dialects as it moves between fishing and farming communities. READ MORE: Do
you now these 25 Doric words and phrases? Now, road signs, public
information and media broadcasts could be delivered in North-East Scots in
the future given the creation of the board which aims to enhance the area’s
distinctive culture. Around 1.5m people speak Scots with the highest
proportions found in Aberdeenshire and Shetland (49 per cent) and Moray (45
per cent), according to latest census figures. READ MORE: The first map of
Gaelic speakers in Scotland While the Scottish Government has set out a
Scots language policy, the board hopes to forge ahead in making Doric and
North-East Scots more visible in everyday life with hopes its work could
lead to the development of a national Scots language body. Dr Thomas
McKean, director of Aberdeen University’s Elphinstone Institute and
vice-chair of NESLB, said: “North-East Scots and Doric are mostly thought
of as being a language for home and family, but its use is far more
widespread than that. “Large numbers use it in their everyday lives, but
one of our aims is to promote and celebrate its use in areas where it isn’t
often visible, such as in our civic life, in the media, and education.
“It’s important that young people see themselves – and the language they
speak – reflected back at them in public life. Just as children need to see
diverse gender and race role models, they need to know that someone who
speaks their native language can be a success in any walk of life.” The
board will include representatives from Aberdeen University, Robert Gordon
University as well as Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Angus
councils. It will build on the work of Aberdeenshire Council, which last
year passed a Doric Language Policy which promotes its use in schools
across the region. Dr McKean said studies have shown that children taught
in their native language attain better academically in other fields with a
Pathway for Scots in schools now being developed by the Elphinstone
Institute in support of the Board’s work. He added: “We want to raise the
status of North-East Scots and Doric. We know it is used in business life
in the North-East but simply we would like to hear more North-East voices.
“The number of Scots speakers here is probably denser than anywhere apart
from perhaps urban Glasgow. “You here a vast number of different voices in
the media - Shetland, Highland, Central Belt, but not a lot of North-East
voices. “Doric and North-East Scots was always seen as the vernacular, as
in you wouldn’t speak it to your minister or doctor that way. We are really
trying to normalise the use of the language, to overcome that sort of
attitude.” A major event will be held at Aberdeen University’s St Machar
Cathedral on Saturday night to reflect the aims of the new board - a
rendition of Handel’s Messiah in Doric. “It’s never been done before. It is
very unusual to find Doric represented as ‘high’ culture or ‘high’ art,” Dr
McKean added. He said promoting North-East Scots should not be at the
expense of the work done on raising awareness of Gaelic. Only 0.6 per cent
of the population in Aberdeenshire and 0.8 per cent of Aberdeen residents
speak Gaelic, although recent rises have been recorded. Dr McKean said:
“Gaelic has had a hard time since the 1609 Statues of Iona. There is
certainly grumbling here in the North-East, where some complain about the
money Gaelic’s had. “That is a very sad attitude, I think. Scots absolutely
deserves social, political, and financial support, but there’s no need to
decry what Gaelic has gotten and what its campaigners have achieved. There
is a great deal to be learned from their progress over the last few decades
and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do. One nation, three leids.”
North-East Scots/Doric words and phrases Foos yer doos? - How are your
pigeons/how are you? Far div ye bide? - Where do you stay? loon - boy/son
quine - girl/daughter muckle - big bosie - hug affa fine - really good
myaggart - filthy foggie bummer - bumble bee sna - snow sklyter - a portion
of something, like land Leave The Baby Alone With Dad For 5 Minutes... Read
More Give It Love hamedrachtit - selfish, or drawn to home fooshin -
gumption foosics - little bits of fluff) foonert - scunnert, given up

Read more at:
https://www.scotsman.com/regions/aberdeen-north-east/calls-for-doric-to-have-same-status-as-english-and-gaelic-1-4701399

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 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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