The differences between Americans and the rest of us
- Thread starter Zero Cool
- Start date
Duke said:
No Ali G reference. The "Ay" was a substitute for "Ey". I also use "Aye" because it sounds cool and because I secretly envy the Scots because they get to walk around in skirts and all i got are wooden shoes 
But maybe I, along with the other Scots on the board, should start typing in Scots to let you steal more of our language
Scots is a recognized form of English in it's own right.
You know Robert Burns, right? He didn't write in English did he? He wrote in Scots.
Edit: Btw Zero, just thought I'd mention, I think Scots in spoken in some areas of N.Ireland too.
And I snatched this from a site as an example:
Scots
COPYRICHT
Aw richts is pitten by. Nae pairt o this darg shuid be doobelt, hained in ony kin o seestem, or furthset in ony shape or by ony gate whitsomeiver, athoot haein leave frae the writer afore-haund.
A hae nae pleens whan the abuin is duin for tae fordle the Scots leid in eddication, sae lang's naebody is makkin siller oot o't. Ony speirins write us.
English
COPYRIGHT
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the author.
I have no objections if the above is done in order to further the Scots language in education, as long as no one is making money from it. Any questions write to me.
You know Robert Burns, right? He didn't write in English did he? He wrote in Scots.
Edit: Btw Zero, just thought I'd mention, I think Scots in spoken in some areas of N.Ireland too.
And I snatched this from a site as an example:
Scots
COPYRICHT
Aw richts is pitten by. Nae pairt o this darg shuid be doobelt, hained in ony kin o seestem, or furthset in ony shape or by ony gate whitsomeiver, athoot haein leave frae the writer afore-haund.
A hae nae pleens whan the abuin is duin for tae fordle the Scots leid in eddication, sae lang's naebody is makkin siller oot o't. Ony speirins write us.
English
COPYRIGHT
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the author.
I have no objections if the above is done in order to further the Scots language in education, as long as no one is making money from it. Any questions write to me.
Well, this is where the debate as to whether Scots is a language is strengthened. Ulster-Scots would be a dialect of it. Another point is that many natural English speakers cannot understand Scots.
And when you look at languages such as Swedish, Norwegian & Danish, they are similar enough to make it simple for their respective speakers to understand one another, right? And they're all considered languages in their own right. While Scots differs so much regionally that some Scots speakers won't even understand other Scots speakers. My point here, is it seems that some people would define a language on geographical terms, while diversity is probably more appropriate. And even if we were to define on the basis of geography, Scotland is a country in it's own right.
And when you look at languages such as Swedish, Norwegian & Danish, they are similar enough to make it simple for their respective speakers to understand one another, right? And they're all considered languages in their own right. While Scots differs so much regionally that some Scots speakers won't even understand other Scots speakers. My point here, is it seems that some people would define a language on geographical terms, while diversity is probably more appropriate. And even if we were to define on the basis of geography, Scotland is a country in it's own right.
"Most dialects of Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are mutually intelligible, and Scandinavians can with little trouble understand each other's standard languages as they appear in print and are heard on radio and television. The reason they are traditionally viewed as different languages, rather than dialects of one language, is that they each have their "army and navy", being spoken in separate countries."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavia
I suppose the real reason why Scots isn't really a recognized language is because so few actually speak it as a first language. To me it simply looks like a form of Early Middle English. Wikipedia says it remains closer to it's Anglo-Saxon roots than Modern English does thus reinforcing that viewpoint. If enough people are willing to use it as an everyday language then yes I think it should be classified as a language in it's own right (if it isn't already).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavia
I suppose the real reason why Scots isn't really a recognized language is because so few actually speak it as a first language. To me it simply looks like a form of Early Middle English. Wikipedia says it remains closer to it's Anglo-Saxon roots than Modern English does thus reinforcing that viewpoint. If enough people are willing to use it as an everyday language then yes I think it should be classified as a language in it's own right (if it isn't already).