From: cockburn@edieng.enet.dec.com (Craig Cockburn)
Subject: Re: Accent and Dialect, the politics thereof
Organization: Digital Equipment Co. Ltd., Reading, England
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 11:58:33 GMT


In article <1992Nov5.173505.3693@gssec.bt.co.uk>, cwilson@gssec.bt.co.uk (Colin Wilson) writes...
>In article <1992Nov3.090705.5752@dcs.qmw.ac.uk>, mmh@cs.qmw.ac.uk (Matthew Huntbach) writes:
>|> I am arguing that there is (or was) a continuum not only
>|> between English and Scots, but also between English, Dutch and
>|> German, because they had a common origin and evolved separately
>|> through a process of spreading out. There is not a continuum
>|> between English and Welsh - the relationship between the two is
>|> very distant.
>|>
>Part of my argument has been all along that there is a discontinuity
>between Scots and English along the border between Scotland and
>England, and I have cited Billy Kay and Jack Aitken in support of that
>assertion. If your argument rests on the premise that there is an
>unbroken continuum between them, will you please substantiate it?
> 

I read somewhere (sorry, can't remember the reference) that the English
language changes more between Edinburgh and Newcastle than it does between
any other two points a similar distance apart anywhere else in the world.

If this gradient of language change is so steep there compared to anywhere
else, and isn't due to the border then what is it due to?

I'm with Colin on this one.

Matthew, have you read "Why Scots Matters", published by the Saltire Society?
It is an excellent introduction to the case for recognising Scots as a 
language - there is also an equivalent for Gaelic which was written by
Prof Derick Thompson.

>It's not being silly at all: whenever anyone suggests that greater use
>should be made of Scots in broadcasting, education, or anything of that
>kind, a frequent response is that it is unworthy of consideration
>because it is not a language, but "a dialect" - whereas English, of
>course, is a language. When I (on behalf of the Scots Language Society)
>asked for the chance to speak on Channel 4's "Comment" regarding this
>subject, the request was turned down on exactly those grounds.
> 

Good on you for doing that. Have you enlisted the help of the EC bureau
of lesser used languages - they recognise Scots as a language. I thought
about getting onto Comment to speak about Gaelic and legal status. I'll
be in Inverness next month so I'll try to remember to bring it up at
the meeting I'm going to there.

when we were in Scotland recently, my wife was listening to Radio
Scotland and she thought the newsreaders were English!! It took me
a while to realise they weren't - is the BBC still teaching Scots to
sound like English private school attendees?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Craig Cockburn, Digital Equipment Co. Ltd, Reading, England.     Suas
  Internet: cockburn@edieng.enet.dec.com                           leis
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