Shetlan wirds in Scots Dictionary

[DePooperit]

 

Hit myght verie weel be da Engliesh oagin in ati'da Shætlin as du says. An A'm windrin if d'ir no a Scots equivalent, mebbie ati'da Dorik? "Fit's at?" soonds kynda ryght ta me? Du wid mebbie ken bettir as me, depooperit?

 

(

 

Sych. Anidder mird o complications at naebody forbye mesel can laekly be buddered wi.

 

In da Nort Aest, da Scots/English ineetial 'th', at we turn inta 'd', or 't', is maestly missed oot aatagidder. So 'ere' for 'there', 'at' for 'that', 'e' for 'the' an sae trowe.So you widna kaen fae dat.

 

Bit 'at' as a relative pronoun is common in idder plaeces o Scotland at duisna dui dis regular. Hooever, dis is complicatit mair bi da fact at - I tink - in some plaeces laek dis 'at' as a demonstrative pronoun turns up as weel.

 

(Juist ta clarify (some fock wid say at me sayin 'clarify' wis a automatic oxymoron) in 'Whit's dat at I see', 'dat' is a demonstrative pronoun, standin for some noun or idder, an 'at' is a relative pronoun.)

 

Onywye, Lorimer oesed 'at' for da relative pronoun regular-laek in his New Testament, so I wis wint ta oese it in Scots laek I dui in Shaetlan. Hoosumever, some o da enes in Edinburgh at controls da little interest at dae ir in Scots nooadays (an increasingly Shaetlan tui, wi da fact at ForWirds seems ta be gaein mair an mair tae da Itchy Coos for advice) objects tae dis in my writin, so in Scots - afore I gied up writin it aatagidder - I switched ta 'that'. Bit dan, some o dem is also objectit, back an fore, ta things laek a singular verb wi plural nouns (a strynd o Scots an Shaetlan fae Barbour til da day); an say at Shaetlan 'du' is a mair emphatic form o 'dee' ("Boy, is dis du?":? ); Scots 'ae' a mair emphatic form o 'ene' ("Wid ye like this ae or that ae"?) an da laek.

 

No at I'm sayin at dey'r wrang an I'm richt. In postmodernity, hit's da presentation at maiters, an if dey can present dir eegnorance sae at hit leuks laek laer, dan hit's dem at's richt. Obviously.

[DePooperit]

I'm no heard onybody in Shatlan sayin 'buidy', wi da first syllable rhymin wi 'guid' an da laek, bit maybe some fock duis. Dat's mair or less da wye at hit's pronounced in Mainland Scots - laek 'buddy'.

 

I doot whit I wid spaek wid be laek 'aa' is in aa wir coin 'bid' as in bid wir neebirs ower an dan da ee soond, if dat makks ony sense. Ah'm nivvir dat certain whaar me spaekin comes fae, bein a Yall boy wi a Nesteen feddir an a Scallawa mam. Hit's mibbe sum kindo bastardisation parteecilir tae wir eens

 

I’m scratched mi haed a grain, bit I mosst admit I'm lost dee here. Is dis ‘body’ at du’s still spaekin aboot?

 

 

Ah'm personally o da opeenyin dat somethin feelin ryt is paramount, eespeeshilly whin you hae da privilege at wi dae o wirkin wi a langweej ir dialekt ir whitivvir you want ta caa hit, ultimately a wye o spaekin, whaar da rules o scrievin hit ir saft laek da bens o a bairn, reddir is sturkinned laek da waa o a leisure centre.

 

Dat’s laekly da sam as haein da preevilege o spaekin a language at’s certainly gaein ta dee oot aatagidder i da nixt 50 year or sae, alang wi Lakota, Kwakiutl an Maliseet-Passamaquoddy. Peety aboot da Faroese, Catalans an Welsh - an for dat maiter da English, Danish an Spanish - at duisna hae dat preevilege.

 

Juist ta clarify, in Faroese da spellin is fixed, bit da pronunciation is saft.

 

BTW - I tak it fae Yell, at ‘saanic’ staands for Sandwick (‘Sannick’) an no Sandness (‘Sannis’).

[ex-isle]

I doot whit I wid spaek wid be laek 'aa' is in aa wir coin 'bid' as in bid wir neebirs ower an dan da ee soond, if dat makks ony sense. Ah'm nivvir dat certain whaar me spaekin comes fae, bein a Yall boy wi a Nesteen feddir an a Scallawa mam. Hit's mibbe sum kindo bastardisation parteecilir tae wir eens

 

Yun makks perfiekt sens ta me, Saanicboy - I doot depooperit's no hed his moarnien choklit yit

 

Dat’s laekly da sam as haein da preevilege o spaekin a language at’s certainly gaein ta dee oot aatagidder i da nixt 50 year or sae

 

I hæ a lokk a'riespekt fir de as dominie, bit I doot no joost da sam as prophet. No'at eddir a'wis'll be aboot ta ken

[saanicboy]

 

Dat’s laekly da sam as haein da preevilege o spaekin a language at’s certainly gaein ta dee oot aatagidder i da nixt 50 year or sae

 

I hæ a lokk a'riespekt fir de as dominie, bit I doot no joost da sam as prophet. No'at eddir a'wis'll be aboot ta ken

 

Weel if I play me cairds ryt dan firstly Ah'll choost aboot be still hingin on in dere, an I keen hit winna dee afore me! Ah'm no scholar bit I keen you baith ir, in fin eneoch itae da langweej tae hae an academic debate i da writtin wird at set's me hert rissin an me heid birlinn, an Lola B tae da smuck shop. Personally I dunna tink dat's da behavyir o a langweej at's on da wye oot

[DePooperit]

Whit - writin afore aetin shocolate! Come ta tink o it, I did da sam... Bit I'm aaricht noo toh - I et a lock o shocolate i da efternuin - I winna gaeng intae da percentages - an dan half a bottle o wine wi mi denner (braised lamb an leeks!) an dat's kinda oonusual for me, so I tink mi qualifications is increased exponentially as da day is gien on! Da wine is no improved mi touch-typin skills, toh.

 

BTW - while I mind, saanicboy - didn' du write Yall? Dat wid be richt, I doot - hit rhymes wi 'bal' an 'wal', no wi 'bell' an 'hell' (an no wi Bogg edder, bit dat's anidder story... )

 

Onywye, dae'r twa kinds o prophecy. Dae'r da Delphic kind, at couldna hardly fail ta come true caase hit wis datten ambiguous; an dan dae'r da Hebrew kind, at wisna sae muckle prediction as social comment, an predictions at cam oot o dat. Dae wir a kind o a naitural selection in dem at cam ta be mindit apon - laekly dae wir a footh at wisna caase whit dey sed wid happen never did! So 'prophecy' is no necessarily supernatural (in fact, I wid traep, if hit's successful hit never is) - juist scoitin oot da lie o da laand, an takkin tent o whit your naitural senses tells you.

 

Fae dat point o view, I dunna see foo you can traep at da Shaetlan tongue is no deein oot. Hit began i da toon, whaar maest bairns under a certain age juist spaeks standard English. (Some o dem begins ta spaek a grain o Shaetlan laeter on, bit dat's a puidin for anidder preive.) I mind da peerie boy at bed nixt ta my midder - baith o his fock Shaetlan-spaekin - sayin ta me at he could read a 'Shetland poem', an dan recitin 'Moose Moose Meeseris', ithoot, as far as I could see, understaandin a wird o it.

 

Dan da sam tendency moved oot intae da country. My nephew - brocht up i ca country wi Shaetlan-spaekin fock at never knappit til him - speaks standard English wi a home counties accent. Da accent is maybe kinda oonusual, bit da standard English is no. Exactly da sam thing is happenin i da hert o Doricland - my idder nephews an niece, brocht up i da hert o rural Aberdeenshire, spaeks onnly standard English. Ene o dem sed ta me 'There are some children in our school who speak Scottish, and nobody understands a word they say.' Dae'r a weel-kent (correction: ill-kent) pattern o language daeth, an Shaetlan is spricklin itae da daed-traa o it. Hit's aa very weel ta caa dis a 'black ootlook', laek some duis, bit I wid laek ta see ony evidence (an I dunna coont oonsupportit optimism as evidence!) at suggests at I'm wrang.

 

Da main characteristic o dis - an ene at naebody spoed - is at, insted o Shaetlan comin ta be dilutit wi every generation (altoh dat happens tui) dae'r a sudden shift ta standard English. I'm telt at, i da toon, sometimes da aalder bairns i da sam faimly spaeks Shaetlan an da younger enes English.

 

Ah'm no scholar bit I keen you baith ir, in fin eneoch itae da langweej tae hae an academic debate i da writtin wird at set's me hert rissin an me heid birlinn, an Lola B tae da smuck shop. Personally I dunna tink dat's da behavyir o a langweej at's on da wye oot

 

Man, me an ex-isle is twa middlin-aged expatriates at haes a parteecular interest in language. In fact, wis at bides Sooth is kinda isolatit fae dis dooncome o Shaetlan in Shaetland, an wis at writes or dat maybe mair sae.

[filskadacat]

Bairns I tink at Depooperit is laed oot a bleak but accurate picture dere. Da fact dat da rest o wis sit in admiration o dir (Depooperit an Ex-isle’s) linguistic an grammatical range of knowledge – and care fir dat knowledge - duisna mean at dere mony mair o dir laek hoidin some wye an jøst no happenin edder to be joinin in dis discussion or indeed spraedin da word aboot spikkin Shaetlan whar it is maist laekly at fokk wid spik it. Maybe we can cry into wir beer ower dis (I dunna drink beer…) da moarn’s nicht at Milne’s.

 

On which point – I tocht I hed PM’d Skyumpie – as da idder lass – last night – na I’m been buddered no to hae a reply. But wir hale network is been actin up nad dere were tree o dem wirkin at it da streen on da idder twa computers – an noo I see da mesaage still in my Outbox although hit telt me it hed geen. So I will resend it ta Skyumpie – BT man comin da moarn, dey tell me – an pit bits o it on here fir aabody else as it’s gettin late noo – apologies - hit’s maistly in English.

 

I am determined to win down on Tuesday - it would be aafil fine to be able to put faces to names - which brings me to the point of the faces. I think you must be xxx - I have looked up websites and printed out a couple of photos. However I don’t see a way to post you a photo of me - I don't have the facility to do any of the web-based stuff.

I will take the train which is due in at 16.51. I have a peerie airrent to run in Jenner's and then Milne's is just round the corner so if train is on time I should be there well before 5.30.

So I am looking for: you as per your photos, plus three chaps - one with long blond hair, Lola B who I gather is also male, as is Ex-isle(?). I am a couple of years younger than you (just looked it up!) blonde-ish hair a peerie bit longer as yours and will aim to wear cream jacket and black skirt I think. Oh yes – Shetland Silvercraft (gold) Sleipnir brooch and necklace – my trademark. Earrings too - maybe an improvement on saat piltocks! If you could please let me have your mobile number that would avoid the possibility of me being stuck in Edinburgh looking in vain for people whom I don’t know!

Looking forward v much to meeting you all.

[skyumpie]

I hoop Filska, du's gotten mi reply. I wis haein a braa trachle wi no managin ta gyet messages sent afore da link wis lost....an I jöst gae up! Fairly luikin forward tae danicht, an esp dat der'll be anidder o da female gender!

Da message I tried ta write aboot da prophecy o doom wis owre lang ta reconstruct, but A'm mair optimistic. Hit's göd dat bairns can spaek English weel. I keep stressin da need ta be fully bi-lingual an ta spaek Shaetlan wi pride. We need ta catch dem young afore da teenage years an da mid-Atlantic dirt sets in for a year or twa. But if dey hae aa da soonds o da Shaetlan tongue i der heids, dey'll ken dey can turn hit on lik a tap whin dey want. Dat's why I try ta write stuff for bairns, an mak recordins, an geeng roond scöls. Hit hes ta be for fun, for der nae money in hit! Luckily A'm retired an hae da time. An hit hes ta be funm for bairns an aa.

Noo A'm awa ta gyet da smucks aff! See you danicht..an sometime Depooperit, we'll shurly meet up an hae a yarn. ta ta eenoo.

[filskadacat]

Skyumpie - Jøst ta say I'm gotten dy PM an tried to reply bit hit winna ging. Most be some hiccup in da site atween dee an me. See you later.

[skyumpie]

Filska - I did gyet dy reply.....sae aa is weel!

[DePooperit]

I hoop Filska, du's gotten mi reply. I wis haein a braa trachle wi no managin ta gyet messages sent afore da link wis lost....an I jöst gae up! Fairly luikin forward tae danicht, an esp dat der'll be anidder o da female gender!

Da message I tried ta write aboot da prophecy o doom wis owre lang ta reconstruct, but A'm mair optimistic. Hit's göd dat bairns can spaek English weel. I keep stressin da need ta be fully bi-lingual an ta spaek Shaetlan wi pride. We need ta catch dem young afore da teenage years an da mid-Atlantic dirt sets in for a year or twa. But if dey hae aa da soonds o da Shaetlan tongue i der heids, dey'll ken dey can turn hit on lik a tap whin dey want. Dat's why I try ta write stuff for bairns, an mak recordins, an geeng roond scöls. Hit hes ta be for fun, for der nae money in hit! Luckily A'm retired an hae da time. An hit hes ta be funm for bairns an aa.

Noo A'm awa ta gyet da smucks aff! See you danicht..an sometime Depooperit, we'll shurly meet up an hae a yarn. ta ta eenoo.

 

If hits ony lent (an sorry aboot da want o apostrophes caase da condwined thing winna print dem eenoo) dan I write it ithin mi wird-processor an paeste hit in. Hits da onnly wye Im fun no ta loss your roeds - no wirt da risk ta try an dui it strecht. Even for shorter enes, I tak a copy afore I submit, juist in kaese.

 

Daer mair ta Shaetlan as soonds - daer grammar an da laek tui. An da want o soonds is wan o da things at Im spaekin aboot - bairns growin up spaekin juist English sometimes canna pronounce Shaetlan wirds. Dis stage taks plaece afore schuil age - so schuil is no aerly aneoch. An wi want o da naitural grammar, you can git whit you git in Scotland eenoo, wi maest leeterary Scots written wi fock at juist duisna hae da vynd o it (an, laek I sed in anidder raecent posst, sometimes layin oot for dem at duis caase dey understaand dat little aboot it).

 

Dan, as weel as "can", daer "want." Whit wye wid young enes growin up noo even want ta spaek dialect? Whit uise is dialect ta maest fock, mair as restin shairs, Shaetlan spades an kishies?

 

Da idee o promotin Shaetlan as dialect mosst tak a braa grain o optimism richt aneoch. Im aksed mony a time for somene ta gie me a example fae onywye i da world whaar dis is ever been duin afore, bit sae far naebody is come up wi onything.

 

Daer a interestin article on language daeth in Wikipedia - you can fin it wi Googlin it. Hit wid be interestin ta see foo mony o da categories o language daeth Shaetlan is shaain eenoo.

[filskadacat]

Whit a fine evenin wir hed in Edinburgh - well wirt da 3 hoors on a train fir me ta geing an come! We'll hae ta organise een in Aiberdeen an dan du can come tø, Depooperit!

[skyumpie]

Hit wis richt fine an göd ta see aaboady (spelling?). We did raise a gless ta dee, Depoorerit, an created a 'Peerie Shætlan' feelin (as opposed to 'Little Sparta'?) i da back room o Milne's Bar. Da fock at na table neist ta wis wir kinda agog, but we nivver leeted. Definitely a

[DePooperit]

Heth, whit wir you doein at gluffed da nixt door fock?

 

I'm blyde you hed a fine time an didna aa faa oot - bit dan I wisna dere!

[filskadacat]

No ta firjit at we also räse (??? which a?) a gless ta Trout and his intended, fir aa da wirk at he's pitten in ta mak wir peerie chat-room (sheekserie???) possible.

[skyumpie]

A'm jöst gotten back fae seein Sannik Boy ithin 'Lorca's Shadow' at da Fringe!! Hit wis braaly göd, an some fine bits o Shætlan athin hit. Hit wis cross-cultural you micht say! At ee point, a wife neist me i da audience jamp up an shouted 'No' in a muckle voice. Whittan a gluff! Hoosomiver shö was een o da cast, kinda bidin her time an makkin a dramatic entrance.

Dey wir fine Spanish guitar music an a coarn o singin, an flechs copulatin. Noo, if dat dusna gyet you wantin ta geng....I dunna ken whit mair I could say. Weel some lines fae Lorca maybe?