XPost: soc.culture.welsh, soc.culture.cornish, soc.culture.irish
XPost: soc.culture.scottish
From: micheil@shaw.ca
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:40:00 +0100, Féachadóir wrote:
>Scríobh "Westprog" :
>>allan connochie wrote:
>>...
>>>> There are two aspects to the language - pronunciation and vocabulary.
>>
>>> You forget grammar!
>>
>>I didn't forget it, but I forgot to write it down. I'd assumed that Scots
>>was grammatically similar to English, but I've no strong basis for that.
>
>It is. But then again, Spanish is grammatically similar to Italian.
>
>>>> If a
>>>> word is pronounced differently in "standard English" and Scots, then
>>>> it isn't necessary for it to be written differently. English isn't
>>>> spelled phonetically, so a written sentence might be considered as
>>>> being Scots, Ulster-Scots or English simply depending on who is
>>>> reading it. Vocabulary is
>>>> a different matter.
>>
>>>> I can see why it is necessary for Burns' poetry, or Trainspotting,
>>>> to be transcribed phonetically. I don't see the same as being
>>>> necessary for the bus timetable. Sometimes the precise rhythms of
>>>> the language are important,
>>>> sometimes they aren't.
>>
>>> Most written Scots isn't written phonetically though. One well known
>>> poet who does that is Tom Leonard. However though there is no single
>>> written standard as such there is a spelling tradition, which in
>>> itself is less idiosyncratic than standard English, going back
>>> through the centuries which most writers more or less work with.
>>
>>I can see it being useful if it's necessary to represent how people are
>>speaking, but I don't see it as important when processing a planning
>>application for a gazebo.
>
>Of course not. You speak a majority language, you take it for granted.
Hear hear! Excellent insight!
The Highlander
Tilgibh smucaid air do làmhan,
togaibh a' bhratach dhubh agus
toisichibh a' geàrradh na sgòrnanan!
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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