LL-L "Language varieties" 2003.02.12 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
 L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
 S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Andrew Howey <andyandmae_howey at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Shetlandic and Orcadian


Hello, all:

I was intrigued by another subscriber's sig line regarding Shetlandic, so I
went to his web site to find out more about this language/dialect.  Is it
basically a more-or-less archaic form of Scots with a Norn substratum, or is
it considered a language in its own right?  In either case, does it fit into
the charter of this list?  I was especially interested in the apparent use
of the verb "tae be" to form the present perfect tense, as opposed to "have"
in English.  Supposedly, more archaic forms of Scots have the same
construction.  Is that due to the Norse influence?  In my experience, with
the exception of English, most Lowlands languages use "to be" to form the
present perfect of verbs of motion and certain other verbs, and "to have" to
form the present perfect for all other verbs.

Apparently the verbal construction applies to Orcadian, but there is
significantly less information available about it on the web.

In any case, I was curious about the status of these "dialects".  Also, is
there any effort being put forth to preserve them?  Based on the information
that I HAVE read, they are in danger of being overrun by English.

Andy Howey


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