SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 1413 Title : Interview 12: Shetland woman talking about languages in Scotland Author(s): N/A Copyright holder(s): Dr Holger Schmitt SCOTS Project Audio transcription M865: //Are you interested in languages at all?// U1028: //[inaudible]// F951: Well I've no really I've no really studied any but I'd quite like tae ehm learn Norwegian, //cause we've we've been over tae Scandinavia like three times// M865: //Oh right.// Uh-huh F951: an I always feel it's a bit of a cheek really that M865: Yeah. F951: they talk English while we're there so, M865: Yeah. F951: so that's the, I suppose the greatest motivation for me has been tae tae learn Norwegian like, //Norwegian or maybe like Danish or somethin like that, so.// M865: //Uh-huh mm.// F951: Because that's always the the a- the area o the world that we tend //tae always [?]go[/?].// U1028: //[inaudible]// //doggy// M865: //Yeah.// U1028: hot. //Hot.// M865: //[laugh]// F951: //Is it still hot?// M865: What do you teach then? F951: Teach primary seven since I ehm //which is like age ten an eleven.// U1028: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// M865: //Okay,// //primary seven, that doesn't mean that children get schooled at age three,// F951: //Yeah.// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: does it? F951: //Eh, no they go, well they go to school at age five in Ge- in Britain// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: //Right.// F951: //so they have// nursery age from age three to five. M865: No, I mean why do you call it primary seven then? F951: Because because there's seven primaries, so that's like age five tae eleven, //an then,// M865: //Oh okay uh-huh// //ah yeah okay okay// F951: //an then second- then they go intae secondary one up tae secondary six,// M865: okay, I see yeah. F951: so it gets called primary. M865: Right, now ehm, you've got quite a number of languages and dialects in Scotland, //so I'm basically// F951: //Yeah.// M865: interested in all the the Scottish dialects and languages, eh what languages and dialects are you aware of //in Scotland?// F951: //Well I ken there's// Doric in Aberdeenshire, M865: Yeah. F951: which is incredibly difficult to understand an I spent a few, I spent five years livin in Glasgow; //they've got an interestin,// M865: //Oh yeah.// F951: Glaswegian ehm but they they I've no I've no ehm, I've been ower tae the, I've no been in the Hebrides but I had some I have some Gaelic speakin friends, M865: Uh-huh uh-huh. F951: so we kinda had some fun when we were students wi the Gaelic //students,// M865: //Right.// F951: cause I always got lumped in wi them //cause they assumed that if ye were frae Shetland then ye could speak Gaelic// M865: //Uh-huh// //[laugh]// F951: //[laugh]// M865: //Did you did you study at Glasgow University?// U1028: //[cough]// F951: Eh Strathclyde. M865: Oh right, okay. F951: Yeah, in Glasgow. M865: In case you'd studied at Glasgow University we might ha- could have had one common acquaintance. F951: Possibly, //that would have been// M865: //Well.// F951: that was from nineteen ehm ninety, ninety-one tae ninety-six. M865: Eh well, John Corbett, he's a lecturer //at Glasgow University.// F951: //Oh right. John Caldwood?// M865: Corbett, C.O. eh R.B.E. double T. //Oh well, teaches English Language.// F951: //No oh right.// M865: Okay so ehm you've mentioned Glasgow, Doric, Gaelic, any other dialects or languages you can think of? F951: Not really. M865: Okay. Ehm, //Do you think there's there's any variety.// F951: //The Fife people.// U1028: //Doggy [inaudible] doggy.// M865: Fife, //yeah.// F951: //Fife.// They ehm they like there's there's a place in Fife I've been through there, an an they pronounce it "Enster" but it's it's called Anstruther. //Well [?]I[/?] was like,// M865: //Oh right, okay, yeah.// //Uh-huh ah// F951: //"she comes fae Enster", I'd never heard o Enster but when someone, "no that's Anstruther", I was like, "oh yeah, okay I do know where it is"// //an the Gla- an the Dundee folk always, they have a very interestin dialect, they speak aboot "pehs"// M865: //uh-huh yeah.// //Oh right! [laugh]// F951: //which are pies,// but then there's always, cause in Shetland there's got such a mixture of Scottish people fae all ower the place //so ye hear them all.// M865: //Yeah, yeah.// That's right. I've actually met quite a l- quite a number of English people //[inaudible] just knock at// F951: //Yeah ye ye will have.// M865: knock at the door and they say, "Okay, no I'm English, that's okay" F951: Well where I work in [CENSORED: placename] that, there's a a m- a real mix o people livin there because there's the Shetland people who live in the village, who've ken had generations o people livin //there// M865: //Uh-huh// F951: but the the majority o the folk that live in the community I work in have all come to Shetland to work in the oil industry, M865: Mmhm yeah yeah. F951: an they've come from, well a number o them have come fae like the sooth o England an then there's a num- there's also a lot o people that have come fae Fife, M865: Yeah. F951: so there's a good, there there's a real mixture o dialects an accents. It's more accents. M865: Yeah. F951: The dialect kind o thing has, I would say, has has died, it's really just, for us anyway it's really just an accent. M865: Uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh. F951: Whaur are you goin? Sit down. //Sit down. No, [CENSORED: forename]'s had her l- she had some lunch at nursery.// U1028: //[inaudible]// F951: Come on. U1028: [inaudible] //[inaudible]// F951: //[inaudible] are they still hot, let me try.// U1028: They're //hot.// F951: //They're not hot, they're good.// Sorry, carry on. M865: //Eh// U1028: //They're hot.// M865: do you have any favourite accent or dialect or whatever in Scotland where you'd say, "Okay I enjoy listening //to this sort of language".// F951: //Oh I I never// mentioned the Orcadian accent. //I love the Orcadian accent cause it's very, it's// M865: //Ah right, uh-huh uh-huh yeah.// F951: //they almost they a- they they it's like they sing// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: Yeah. F951: when they talk. //It's very, it's almost quite similar to Welsh.// M865: //Is that what you like?// Oh right, yeah, actually I've done a a number of interviews on //Orkney Orkney Orkney,// F951: //You might have spe- you might might have s-// //met a lass fae Orkney an she'll talk a bit like this an it's very, a lovely lilty accent.// M865: //Yeah, uh-huh yeah, yeah// sing-song, //yeah.// F951: //That's my first, that's my favourite.// M865: Okay. Any accent, dialect or language where you'd say, "Mm I don't really enjoy listening to that one, makes me kinda feel [inaudible]". F951: Well I think the Glasgow accent's a bit coarse. M865: Mmhm okay, yeah. Glasgow accent, I mean people seem to be divided, some people love it, some people mm no, [laugh]. //It's [inaudible], yeah, yeah yeah.// F951: //I think it depe-, well I lived there, and I I still thought it was a bit coarse.// M865: Uh-huh. Do you think there's any speech variety of whatever sort eh in Scotland that represents Scotland best, where you'd say, "Okay, somehow this is typical Scotland, that represents Sto- Scotland"? F951: Mm gosh! Well I don't think that Shetland really does represent Scotland, I mean. Is, I don't know. //I don't know what the true Scottish accent is,// M865: //Mm ah yeah.// I mean that's a //a difficult one because, yeah, mm.// F951: //cause there's cause there's influences fae all different places, I mean we've got our like Dutch influence on our accent and the Scandinavian and the German// //influence but ehm// U1028: //[inaudible]// F951: the S- I suppose it's I suppose it's kinda I would say Scottish Highlands //would// M865: //mmhm// U1028: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// F951: //be the most true Scottish accent cause there's maybe been less people actually movin in tae the// //movin intae the Highlands; the people that are there are kinda s- generations o, I suppose, survivors.// M865: //Yeah, uh-huh, uh-huh.// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: Yeah. F951: //What's happened? Oh the [?]carrat[/?].// U1028: //[inaudible]// Car. F951: It'll be okay, there you go. U1028: [inaudible] No a bin. F951: It's no a bin, no, we no need to put it in the bin, it's clean. M865: How would you describe your own //speech?// F951: //Okay,// well when I ehm when I maybe go to visit my ehm //my family in Unst which is like the island that lives, that's right in the north of Shetland,// M865: //Mm mm// //mmhm// F951: //then I'll probably spik broad Shetland// //tae, but as soon as I meet somebody that's, I know is not a Shetlander, then I just switch it off,// M865: //mm mm mm mm.// F951: //an an mak sure that whatever I say is is like communicated// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: Yeah yeah. F951: an like when you answer the phone M865: Yeah. //Okay [laugh].// F951: //you don't talk broad Shetland on the phone.// An when I was a girl at school it was very much //ehm not the thing to do.// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: //mm mm// F951: //We were encouraged to talk at school.// I don't think, I think there's a lot less of that now. //Talk properly.// M865: //Encouraged to talk what? Proper// //proper standard English that is, uh-huh mm uh-huh uh-huh// F951: //Yeah, yeah and especially when you were addressin an adult or a stranger there was absolutely no// ehm no way that you, I could say, "How do the day?" M865: uh-huh uh-huh //uh-huh ah// F951: //It would it w- I mean I I would just get get detention, shot doon in flames.// So my accent is ehm can be quite broad. //It isn't always.// M865: //Yeah.// U1028: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// M865: //Do you use your, your// well, what what kind of accent do you use at school, //and encourage at school?// F951: //I ehm// U1028: //[inaudible]// F951: well I I I I actually speak to the Shetland bairns in Shetland M865: mmhm F951: an the rest in //just well Scottish I suppose.// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: Do you switch //depending on who you talk to? Wow!// F951: //Switch, yeah, depending on who I'm talking to.// Yeah. M865: There's no particular accent or dialect that you encourage at school? //[inaudible] mm mmhm// F951: //No cause well we do in when we get we've been encouraged tae encourage the Shetland dialect. I mean there's actually a// //a ehm initiative at the moment in Scottish schools,// M865: //mmhm mmhm// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: //mmhm mm mm mm// F951: //which is meant sorta, we're meant to enhance and value the dialect of our community.// Ehm so there is actually a package I suppose where y- whaur you c- you're meant to like share Shetland dialect //stories an things with children.// M865: //mmhm// F951: But that's only meaningful to bairns who've actually got a Shetland //heritage in some ways.// M865: //Mm// mmhm mmhm F951: I mean my some o the little children that I teach who've been brought up in Cornwall U1028: [inaudible] //[inaudible]// F951: //they're [laugh] which is an in- interestin dialect of its own,// M865: Yeah. F951: //ehm [laugh] they ehm// U1028: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// M865: //mmhm mm// F951: //listenin to stories in Shetland dialect is maybe no just a very good use of their time at school.// M865: //Do you think this is a good idea; should er the local dialects be encouraged at school?// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: //Yeah,// F951: //Yeah I think it should be.// //I I think it should be but I think it has its its place// M865: //uh-huh// //Yeah, yeah, yeah,// F951: //an I mean you canna have ye canna encourage the Shetland dialect if you're no a Shetland speaker.// M865: yeah. F951: I mean there's there's only in the, my school which is a teachin or eh six teachers, //there's only two Shetlanders.// M865: //Mm.// //Yeah, yeah.// F951: //So we can't teach all the children in the Shetland dialect, can we?// //An it wouldnae be fair on the rest.// M865: //Yeah.// F951: But I think there's times perhaps when, for example, ehm we're studyin the Victorians in my school at the moment an there was a famous disaster that happened in nineteen oh one where the majority o the men in the community were drowned at sea. M865: Mm F951: An we have lots, we have some footage //recorded// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: //mm mm mm mm// F951: //with folk remem- auld Shetland people rememberin how this affected them and their families, things that happened at the time// an we use that //wi all the children,// U1028: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// M865: //Yeah, yeah, yeah.// F951: //so they an they have they, I mean an it's an experience for them because they've no really heard anybody talkin broad Shetland dialect, kinda they've always had a very watered-down version.// //[laugh]// M865: //Yeah. [laugh]// U1028: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// F951: //I think somebody's goin to play wi you [CENSORED: forename] [laugh]// M865: Uh-huh //yeah.// F951: //So I say I'd say I I I agree that it should be encouraged in school but I think it has its place.// U1028: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// M865: //Who who actually encourages you or// //you know, future teachers to use dialect?// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: //Is that in universities?// F951: //Well I mean it in// //ehm well when I was studyin at university which is a bit of a while ago now// U1028: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// F951: //there I mean you could you could elect to do a dialect kinda block.// M865: Right. U1028: [inaudible] //[inaudible]// M865: //mm// F951: //Ehm I didn't do that at the time; I actually studied French instead, [laugh]// but ehm the the Shetland, I mean they're like wh- in Scotland there's the five tae fourteen curriculum M865: mmhm mmhm F951: in in the la- in in the English language //document,// M865: //mmhm// F951: there is actually me- like a a special section mentionin spoken language, //and that we should// M865: //mmhm mm// F951: ence- enc- enhance an encourage M865: Mmhm mmhm. F951: dialects and accents //o your community.// M865: //Mm// //Yeah.// F951: //So it's I mean it's it's it's a broad thing.// //So in so in Glasgow they'll dae they'll do Glasgow poets an things like that an// M865: //uh-huh, yeah// U1028: //[inaudible]// F951: here we read trowie stories an an things like that, hello, now, //where are you goin?// U1028: //[inaudible]// I'm goin car. F951: You goin to that? No you're not. //You gonna go an see [CENSORED: forename]?// U1028: //[inaudible]// F951: She's got a video on upstairs. U1028: [inaudible] F951: [laugh] Your car is not goin there [laugh]. Behave [laugh]. //Carry on. [laugh]// M865: //[inaudible] between a microphone and a car.// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: Eh have you ever heard the term "Scots" referring not to the people but to the //language, yeah?// F951: //Yeah uh-huh.// M865: //Wh- what do you mean by that?// U1028: //[inaudible] car.// //[inaudible]// M865: //mmhm// F951: //Well I don't really know to be honest. When I think o Scots I tend to think o Robert Burns an things like that.// //That's the type o image it conjures up, conjures up for me.// M865: //Yeah, yeah.// F951: Burns' suppers an haggis an M865: [laugh] Right, //tartan [laugh] uh-huh ah okay yeah.// F951: //William, tartan an William Wallace an aw that kind o patriotic stuff,// //that's what [laugh].// M865: //Interesting conversations eh.// Well I mean linguists nowadays would say is Scots is ehm, well, basically connected also to to eh Robert Burns, spoken way be- before that and today survives in a number of dialects, like for example, ehm Glaswegian, Shetland, Doric, //ehm.// F951: //Mmhm// I wouldnae really actually think o the Shetland dialect as Scots. M865: Mm, you wouldn't agree? F951: No. M865: Okay why not? F951: That's just the noth- I mean it's just no what I immediately think of; when somebody speaks aboot Scots I think s- o a di- o a la- o a dialect that actually belongs somewhere on Scottish mainland. M865: Uh-huh uh-huh okay. Yeah. //I think, yeah, yeah, yeah.// F951: //Shetland has its own identity an I think you'll find that that most folk will say somethin along those lines tae ye.// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: It's interesting point ehm I started out you know asking for interviews saying that ehm I was interested in in the Scottish dialects and languages, ehm and that I travel all over Scotland, and I found people [inaudible] wouldn't let me in for some reason so I thought, "Well, why are people more reluctant here than a- anywhere else in Scotland?" so I just changed you know my my saying, my little saying, and said, "Okay, I'm interested in languages eh languages and dialects, I travel all over the place". //I think it made a difference [inaudible] yeah.// F951: //Mmhm yeah, maybe, could have been,// but a-a- a lo- some o the time Shetland Shetland folk dinna see themselves //as very Scottish but I certainly do.// M865: //Yeah yeah.// Yeah. Now there's people both in the Parliament and private people and eh language organisations who would like to ehm encourage Scots, give Scots a greater prominence within Scotland and so on, what do you think about that? F951: I think it's got prominence already, I think that when we got wur Scottish parliament, M865: mmhm F951: //I mean immediately we had had a [tut]// U1028: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// F951: //a building whaur the majority o the folk who are ehm// leaders o the land I suppose, are all communicatin in Scottish in one way or another fae all fae all corners o Scotland. M865: mmhm F951: So I actually think that we've got a a high- it's got a greater priority noo as it's ever had before. M865: So you don't think it's necessary to F951: I don't think it's necessary //to broaden it out any// M865: //No.// F951: further. M865: Okay right. //Could just// F951: //And I would actually like to see the U.K.// ehm bein far more o a of all of us together //rather than so much where's Iri- Ireland, Scotland and England// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: //Separated? Uh-huh yeah.// F951: //separated.// U1028: [inaudible] //[inaudible]// M865: //Okay, hiya, what's that? Cool!// F951: He said, "What is it?" [CENSORED: forename]. M865: //[inaudible]// U1028: //[inaudible]// [inaudible] //[inaudible]// F951: //[inaudible]// A r- oh a rabbit. //I think it's a ra- it's [CENSORED: forename]'s rabbit is it?// U1028: //[inaudible] rabbit.// M865: //Uh-huh yeah.// F951: //My children speak Shetland,// but when they go to their English childminder then they come home goin, "Mummy, can I have a drink now please?" //[laugh]// M865: //[laugh]// //mmhm// F951: //[laugh]// U1028: //[inaudible] draw.// //[inaudible]// F951: //Just goin tae dra, uh-huh.// U1028: [inaudible] //[inaudible]// M865: //Can I just show you something ehm this is a children's book by a publisher called Itchycoo,// F951: //Oh right, whit's this, is this [inaudible].// Oh! M865: and they produce all kinds of children's books in in Scots or what they think Scots is. F951: Oh right, "blether" that's that's actually a She-, we use that word. M865: Yeah yeah. F951: "You're a right blether". M865: "Blethertoun Braes" U1028: Beep beep! [inaudible] //[inaudible] bag.// M865: //Come on, come on my lap?// F951: //Yeah.// M865: That's my bag, yeah. U1028: [inaudible] bag. M865: [laugh] U1028: [inaudible] F951: What a lovely book. U1028: A book, a book. I want a book. [cry] //[inaudible]// F951: //Book.// U1028: [inaudible] F951: You want to have a peery look? U1028: [inaudible] A book. [?]A book.[/?] F951: So is this ki- is this kinda mo- is this a modern //ehm poetry?// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: Yeah, well it's, I think don't know when it was released but eh certainly //not too long ago.// F951: //Yeah// cause it's frae Glasgow I think. M865: Yeah. U1028: [inaudible] M865: //So, no problem.// F951: //Sorry it's me learnins-// //learnin my songs for a musical I'm goin to be in [laugh].// M865: //Oh right [laugh]// So what do you think about this one? //Uh-huh// F951: //It's quite nice, I think it,// I think that it would be more appropriate or in a Scottish mainland school. //I can imagine like a teacher usin this tae if I was if I was in Aiberdeen or Edinburgh or Glasgow,// M865: //mmhm mmhm mmhm// F951: certainly, ehm you could use it in language language //eh literacy hour with no trouble.// M865: //Yeah uh-huh.// F951: [?]About you?[/?] //Cause yeah we have we have a book similar to this,// M865: //Well I mean it's supposed mmhm.// //Oh right, uh-huh yeah, uh-huh yeah.// F951: //that's eh in Shetland dialect that we use an it's pairt o our like language studies.// M865: Ehm would you like your children to read this later on? F951: Well I dinnae think, it's really no that i- appropriate for them. They're too they're too, my children are too young but I think that the children I wo- I teach in [CENSORED: school name] might be able to enjoy it. M865: Mmhm okay. U1028: [inaudible] car, car. M865: I think it's it's meant to be eh //pan-dialectal// F951: //Sorry.// M865: //ehm Scots, not you know relating to any particular area.// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: //Eh. Yeah.// F951: //No, it's quite accessible though,// //like I think aa Scottish folk could probably understand it.// M865: //Yeah, yeah.// //Uh-huh, yeah, okay// F951: //I mean I can read it no trouble at aa.// //Oh drawin. Haud on a meenit.// M865: //If I can just show you something else, ehm, this is a print-out from,// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: yeah. F951: //Ye wantin tae draw? Oh I had a crayon for you here earlier.// U1028: //I'm gonna draw.// F951: Ye have tae limit [CENSORED: forename]'s crayons tae one, and have tae keep track o them cause he draws on the walls. There you go, see. Come an draw! I knew he'd eat the sausages, //see.// U1028: //[inaudible]// F951: There you are, [inaudible], ye can draw it on the paper, yeah. //There you are.// U1028: //[inaudible]// //rabbit. Rabbit.// F951: //I'm gonna move you alang a bit, yeah you colour in the rabbit.// //There ye are.// U1028: //[inaudible]// F951: Sorry //Now, whaur's this come fae?// M865: //No problem [laugh].// //Ehm this is from the Scottish Parliament, a print-out from the from the internet,// F951: //Oh right.// U1028: //[inaudible] Rabbit.// //[inaudible]// M865: //webpage.// F951: //Mmhm.// U1028: [inaudible] //[inaudible]// F951: //[laugh]// U1028: [inaudible] F951: Oh so they've actually done a, ye wantin your dinner, it's no there, your your dinner. A- the notice on their website [inaudible] in Scots I suppose? M865: Uh-huh, yeah. F951: Oh that's good! As lang as it's eh ehm there's also a translation, //[laugh] yeah.// M865: //Okay, there is a an English version, yeah yeah.// So do you think it's a good idea? //Uh-huh, okay. Do you understand most of it or all of it?// F951: //Yeah like, yeah mmhm, yeah.// Yeah. "We want tae mak siccar that as mony folk as can be able tae find oot aboot //whit the shi- Scottish Parliament dis and whit wey it warks"// M865: //uh-huh// //What does "siccar" mean?// F951: //Yeah I can read it.// "Siccar" is like ehm [sigh] well we actually we actually describe "siccar" in a different way cause if we say somebody is siccar it's like they're ehm bad losers, //but but it's no in this context cause that's that's obviously the Shetland use.// M865: //Uh-huh uh-huh [laugh] okay, no no, no no.// U1028: //Oh-oh [inaudible]// Oh-oh M865: Do you know what it means? //Do you have any idea, "mak siccar"? I mean many, many people struggle with the word "siccar".// F951: //"We want tae mak siccar that as mony fowk"// U1028: //[inaudible]// //[inaudible]// M865: //Mmhm, yeah.// F951: //Yeah well ye see I, I I wis wonderin when I read that word// //cause it's different tae what I understand as siccar.// M865: //Yeah// F951: "We want tae mak siccar that as mony fowk as can, as can as able tae fin oot", U1028: [inaudible] F951: Well I think it's maybe meant tae be "make available". M865: "Make sure" //Yeah that's it.// F951: //"Make sure", yeah.// M865: And there's also another word which is rather difficult for most people ehm, "A range o different leids". Do you know this word, "leids"? F951: "We hae Nope. //"Leids","leids", languages, oh no,// M865: //Oh it means "languages", ehm "leids" yeah, mmhm, I think it's an ancient word, it's// F951: it's too ancient //for me [laugh].// M865: //Yeah probably, yeah.// F951: //I think that most Scottish folk would probably find that too, but the, ken but but you,// U1028: //[inaudible]// F951: it's like ev- it's like everything you read, you can get, you get the gist //o it.// M865: //Yeah, yeah.// //Okay.// F951: //An I an I mean an I don't suppose if I// //if you took the novel I was readin at the moment an said, "What does every word in this paragraph means?" I would be able to tell you exactly so,// M865: //Yeah, yeah.// //These are just the the two words that most people struggle with, yeah, yeah.// F951: //but then I [inaudible] well I think there's quite a few that I would maybe struggle wi.// I dinna ken what this "follae" is //foll- f- foll- oh I ken "follow" but I've never ever heard that said "follae", "fo- follae this link",// M865: //"Follow", "follow", "follow this link", uh-huh.// F951: maybe mm M865: What would you say, "follow"? F951: Yeah. M865: Mm F951: //"Follow this link", yeah.// U1028: //[inaudible]// F951: "Follae" [laugh] I think maybe if somebody had read it aloud tae me, //"follae this link",// M865: //Uh-huh, yeah.// //Fine.// F951: //[inaudible] Scots [?]going to bed[/?].// M865: Now I've just given you two examples of eh modern usage of //Scots ehm,// F951: //Yeah.// M865: these are rather rare examples, now at the moment Scots defined as the language spoken by some people in the Lowlands and also here in the Northern Isles, eh and comprising various dialects like Shetlandic, ehm Glaswegian, Doric, F951: mmhm M865: almost always only used for private conversation. In which of the following language situations would you also welcome the use of Scots? U1028: [inaudible] F951: Right, well I mean, things like newspapers I dinna think there's any need for them to be written in Scots, M865: Mmhm, okay. F951: roadsigns, again I mean they have to be in English so everybody can understand them, it has tae be the common //language,// M865: //mmhm// F951: //private letters and emails an things like text messages we write them in Shetland// U1028: //[inaudible]// M865: //mmhm// F951: //dialect the whole time,// M865: [laugh] yeah I've heard this before yeah, must be interesting you know reading them [laugh] //yeah, yeah, people actually write this in in// F951: //"come alang", "see dee eftir", kinda [laugh].// //Yeah, that's// M865: //Shetlandic, oh it's amazing, yeah.// F951: "whaur's, whaur's du at?" //that's that's a famous text message, "whaur is du?"// M865: //uh-huh// "where are you?" //Oh right, uh-huh,// F951: //Yeah, "whaur's du?"// M865: [laugh] F951: But it'll just be "W.A.R.S. D.U" M865: uh-huh //Yeah, yeah.// F951: //"whaur's du?"// So, children's books, I think there's a place for them too //ehm// M865: //Mmhm// F951: not non-fiction books except [inaudible] well I suppose if you were studyin it, M865: Mmhm. F951: "websites o companies or government bodies". //I don't think so. I liked the Scottish Parliament one because I think it's just a bit o fun, isn't it? It's tryin tae mak a wee bit light I think.// M865: //Mmhm mmhm, well, mmhm, okay.// F951: "Official speeches?" ehm not a f- not a formal official official feeches- such, speeches such as these but //perhaps if// M865: //mmhm// F951: ye were doin a speech at a weddin or whatever, //you know?// M865: //Sorry, a speech?// F951: it says it says "formal //official speeches" here.// M865: //Yeah.// F951: I dinna think any o these are, should be in S- dialect, M865: Okay. F951: but it just depends who your audience is. M865: Mmhm, okay. //[laugh] mmhm// F951: //Teachin in schools, I try my best tae mak everybody understand what I'm sayin,// then they have a few children who've lived in in, like, Shetland aa their lives an they actually just love when we have a peerie discussion in Shetlandic, M865: mmhm mm //mmhm mm mm// F951: //cause they spik back to me an it's like, they they canna speak like that tae abody in the class; it's a [?]peerie[/?] special thing.// Ooh, yes we should do it at school. I think we should do it more in secondary school as well //as what we do, we do it more in primary school.// M865: //mm// //mmhm// F951: //Poetry certainly, there's a, there's a ehm// a magazine in Shetland, eh produced I think it's quarterly, an it's, encourages Shetland writers an M865: mm //mmhm// F951: //dialect writers an things like that.// An I dinnae see any, well I dinnae see any need for academic texts or the Bible to be in Scots either. M865: Okay. Actually there is a a translation of the New Testament in Scots, //I don't know if you know this, yeah, there there are several but one's rather famous by Lorimer,// F951: //There's, yeah mmhm mmhm.// Oh right. M865: he's the translator yeah, I think it came out in nineteen eighty-seven. It was rather famous at the time and you can still get it at bookshops, //but just a, yeah [laugh].// F951: //I would struggle tae read it [laugh].// M865: Okay, ehm just to finish off one brief questionnaire about your personal background. F951: Oh right, okay. M865: Ehm can you give me the //decade of your birth?// F951: //Sure, ehm I was// born in the seventies, //and I was born in Lerwick,// M865: //Okay, okay.// F951: and I've been in Scotland all my life //so it's thirty-three years.// M865: //Okay, okay.// F951: An I'm a teacher. M865: Right, how long have you been living here //in Shetland?// F951: //In// in Shetland? Well I, thirty-three take away five, //twenty-eight [laugh], ehm// M865: //Okay [laugh] I would have to work it out, yeah, okay.// //Uh-huh, mmhm.// F951: //my occupation is a teacher, as is my husband.// //And,// M865: //And finally how// strongly do you feel British, Scottish, English and any //other,// F951: //Oh!// //Okay.// M865: //eh from zero meaning "not at all"// //to four meaning "very much".// F951: //I feel, I think I'm// probably a three on British //and a four on Scottish,// M865: //Okay, mmhm// //mmhm// F951: //and a zero on English,// and I think I would would have to say that maybe a two for the other, just because I I still have a feeling that there's somethin slightly Scandinavian aboot a- all us //Shetlanders as well.// M865: //Okay, okay.// //So eh you would say two for Scandinavian, any for Shetland?// F951: //There's a draw from there.// Oh and four because I'm yeah, I'm a true Shetlander, //okay.// M865: //Okay, right.// Most people would say yeah I think. //Right, yeah yeah, yeah yeah.// F951: //Sorry I thought I wis- I wisnae I wisnae thinkin aboot Shetland whan it cam doon tae other.// //Okay.// M865: //Okay,// //thank you very much.// F951: //It's no trouble.// This work is protected by copyright. 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Information about document and author: Audio Audio audience Adults (18+): For gender: Mixed Audience size: 1 Audio awareness & spontaneity Speaker awareness: Aware Degree of spontaneity: Spontaneous Audio footage information Year of recording: 2005 Recording person id: 865 Size (min): 27 Size (mb): 103 Audio setting Private/personal: Audio relationship between recorder/interviewer and speakers Speakers knew each other: N/A Audio transcription information Transcriber id: 631 Year of transcription: 2006 Year material recorded: 2005 Word count: 4778 Audio type Interview: Participant Participant details Participant id: 865 Gender: Male Decade of birth: 1960 Educational attainment: University Age left school: 18 Occupation: University teacher / researcher Country of birth: Germany Place of residence: Bridge of Allan Country of residence: Scotland Father's occupation: Engineer Father's country of birth: Germany Mother's occupation: Housewife Mother's country of birth: Germany Languages: Language: English Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: At work Language: German Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Mother tongue Participant Participant details Participant id: 951 Gender: Female Decade of birth: 1970 Educational attainment: University Age left school: 18 Upbringing/religious beliefs: Protestantism Occupation: Teacher Place of birth: Lerwick Region of birth: Shetland Birthplace CSD dialect area: Sh Country of birth: Scotland Place of residence: Lerwick Region of residence: Shetland Residence CSD dialect area: Sh Country of residence: Scotland Father's occupation: Butcher Father's region of birth: Shetland Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: Sh Father's country of birth: Scotland Mother's occupation: Care assistant Mother's region of birth: Shetland Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: Sh Mother's country of birth: Scotland Languages: Language: English Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Language: Scots Speak: No Read: Yes Write: No Understand: Yes Circumstances: Participant Participant details Participant id: 1028