💾 Archived View for cobradile.cities.yesterweb.org › gemlog › 2022-03-06_exceptionalism.gmi captured on 2022-06-11 at 20:38:55. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content

View Raw

More Information

⬅️ Previous capture (2022-04-28)

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Byleid exceptionalism in Scots

Oreegionally postit on the 22nd Fabruar 2022 on Gopher

UPDATE: Turns oot thit the Shetland dialect uised tae be fairly distinct fae Mainland Scots, but a hink it haes reconverged intae Scots, gien whit a'v seen. The latest exemple a'v seen o a distinct Shetland wis fae 70 year ago.

Thare's bin a wee hing come up aboot a group o fowk tryin tae pit forrit the Shetland dialect o Scots as it's ain leid, separate fae Scots an Inglis, "I hear dee" thay'r cawed. yese micht o heard o thaim.

Massel, am skeptical. Am gaun'ae explaun how, gien whit a'v seen an heard, a hink it's maistly fabricatit, an hou it micht actual be dangerous fur the Scots muivement!

Fur the record, a'v naethin agin fowk fae Shetland at aw, an a ken aboot the desire fur Shetlanders tae be unthrilt fae Scotland, an 'at a kin symapthise wi cause o hou faur awa thay ur fae the mainlaund, an how it became pairt o Scotland tae stairt wi. Am enthusiastic aboot Nynorn an it's muivement an aw.

Nou, a'v bin pairt o the Scots muivement an it's wee pocket communities fur aboot 10 year nou, an a'v seen ettlins afore tae try an brak aff a byleid fae Scots tae be it's ain. Sae faur, a feel Shaetlann is tickin aw thare boxes.

Nou, a ken, based aff o Shetland fowk a'v tawkit tae, Shetland Scots haes some unique pronoons (Du, dee, etc.) an the definite airticle is "da" insteid o wir "the". Ayont that, tho... it disnae seem like the byleid is 'at different fae mines at aw, bar mibbie one or twa wirds here and there. Am no tawkin aboot the wirds are seemlar but spelt an pronooncit different, a mean thay'r *the exact same wirds*, an the wirds it disnae share? 99% o the time, it juist uises the Inglis wird!

A unique byleid? Aye, but enouch tae caw itsel a leid? No really. A hink thay realise this, s' whit dae thay dae? Thay mak up a spellin seestem thit disnae mak sense in ony context, juist tae mak it leuk different. Uisin furrain chaiaracters thit nae keyboard in Scotland (or Shetland) haes!

A'll gie ye a saumple fae thair Wirdle help box:

Whit wye tae play
Guess da wird athin 6 goes. Efter ivry guess, da colour o da tiles'll cheinge tae shaa hoo closs yir guess wis tae da wird.
BAIRN
Da letter B is athin da wird an idda richt plaess.
OXTER
Da letter T is athin da wird bit idda wrang plaess.
GLUFF
Da letter L isna athin da word in ony plaess.

The anely wirds thare thit ur unique tae Shetland ur "da" an "idda". 'At's it.

Ye kin see the attemptit spellin chynged in "cheinge", "shaa", "closs", an "plaess".

The rest o the wirds ur 100% identical tae Scots or Inglis. 'At includes the exemple wirds thay gied fur guessin an aw.

Here's thair "aboot" paragraph:

Da I Hear Dee project'll be makkin a in-depth grammatical description o Shaetlan, at is fir eenoo tocht tae be endangered. Da grammar'll be maed tae mak fokk understaand da language better, tae gie it mair credibeelity an acceptance, an tae shaa at Shaetlan is a linguistically viable kind o language on its ain.

Dis is a oppen source wird guessin game - tak a skoit at da code here"

"Dis", "Da", an "Skoit" ur the anely unique wirds thare, the rest ur taen fae Scots or Inglis wi unco spellins.

Grammar wise, thay'r baith identical tae whit a'd hiv pit it in Scots an aw.

This isnae the first time fowk o a byleid haes tried suhin like this. Doric an Ulster Scots duin it awmaist constant-like, a'v seen some Glesga fowk dae it tae an extent tae.

Thare wis the "Focurc" an aw. Focurc wis, as fowk claimed, a byleid uised in Fawkirk, an wis meant tae be this amazin leid whaur it haes mair vowel an consonant soonds nor ony ither European leid, haed lenition in the wirds an super complex grammar rules an sic-like, an this wan man wis the savour o this deein leid! He e'en got news kivverage fur it! (Remember youse o anyhin?)

Wan problem: Fowk fae the area he claimed it wis uised cawed him oot on his shite, say thay'v nivver heard it in thair life, an eventually it aw backfired on him!

Nou, yese micht ask, whit wad thay hiv haed tae gain bi makkin suhin up like that? Clout. Thay war wantin tae be seen as a savouir or white knicht o this deein an obscure leid an be immortalised furiver fur it!

Am no 100% shuir 'at's whit's gaun on wi Shetland, am leanin a wee bit mair taewarts plain ignorance an desperation fur tae be seen as it's ain laun no pairt o Scotland. (The same reason thay vote Lib Dem in elections) Tho we'v seen hou much tent it got fae it's Wirdle. The Shetland Wirdle isnae e'en 2 week auld at the time o scrievin 'is, but it haes gotten a lot mair press nor the Scots an Doric Wirdles, thit ur a lot aulder!

Didnae ken thare wis a Scots or e'en a "Doric" Wirdle? Exackly.

In ma experience, fowk thit ur oot fur clout ur awfy, AWFY guid at gittin tent an press kivverage. Coorse, it's no definitive pruif o the motive, but it maks me hink thit mibbie thay git mair tent is cause 'at's whit thay'r efter.

UPDATE: Turns oot the I Hear Dee is led by a German professor thit haes nae connection tae Shetland at aw, s' we kin dicht the seicont theory.

See gin it's the former an no the latter, like am hinkin the nou: like a said, a unnerstaun the sentiment, but yese really sudnae pretend thit the wey yese tawk is suhin it isnae. It's pittin a square peg intae a roond hole.

"Awricht", yese micht be hinkin, "Bit hou can this be dangerous tae the Scots muivement?", weel, like statit afore, Scots haes haed a problem wi byleids tae tae go rogue an tryin tae pit thaimsels forrit as thair ain leid.

It teuk us a lang time tae git thaim on board ontae the Scots muivement, an am feart thit the hale "Shaetlann" hing is gaun'ae undae it, an mak Doric an Ulster Scots fowk hink "Haud on, thay git tae hiv thair ain leid, how can we no?", an thay stairt brakkin awa an aw, an the Scots muivement will lose a lot o momentum...

A spent the last 10 years dedicatit tae pittin the Scots leid forrit, 'is ideae gars me feart an bylin! An a cannae help but hink hou selfish an short-sichtit the hale "Shaetlann" hing is! Thay'r doomin whit's unique in thair byleid, an thay'r at risk o takkin the hale leid doun wi it!

Juist hinkin aboot it maks ma bluid byle, an thay'v got a lot o fowk duped! Includin Microsoft wi thair Swiftkey! A cannae e'en leuk at ma ain Scots server or hink aboot the state o hings o the leid wioot hinkin aboot 'is...

A howp fowk wake up tae whit's gaun on, or else the leid is potentially doomed...

A juist wantit tae git 'is aff ma breist.

Back