With all the todo about not learning English in Scotland lately [via Taccuino di traduzione, Transblawg, & Languagehat], I came across this Lallans site: the Scots Leid Associe:
The Scots Leid Associe wis foondit in 1972 an ettles tae fordle Scots in leeteratur, drama, the media, eddication an in ilka day uiss. Akis Scots wis ance the state langage o Scotland, it's a vailid pairt o wir heirskip an the associe taks tent tae the fact that it shoud can tak its steid as a langage o Scotland, alang wi Gaelic an Inglis.
We need more language associations, everywhere. I seem to remember that the Scottish Court was using Lallans back in the 14th century at least. Seems those pesky Anglians had conquered the British kingdom of Goddodin.
Posted by jim at January 10, 2004 10:54 AM | TrackBackISTR that a couple of years ago, a colleague from Northern Ireland showed me a government job ad written in Ulster Scots. This turned out to have been a counterattack to Irish ads in Irish, but it was amusing to see.
Posted by: MM on January 10, 2004 11:01 AMAs a part-time Glaswegian I can certify that the accent is as impenetrable as it is charming.
You may be interested in Andrea Ruf's Yi canny talk right
Why do I find such cognitive dissonance in the fact that a book called Yi canny talk right is written in German? (I assume the title is from Tom Leonard's sequence "Unrelated Incidents"; I quoted the relevant poem myself a while back.)
Posted by: language hat on January 10, 2004 12:22 PMMM: I love it!
Miladus: I once listened to a young Glaswegian for about ten minutes before I realized he was speaking English. All the fookens should've tipped me off.
LH: A poet I look forward to reading. I enjoyed the videos of his views on language on the link provided in your entry.
Posted by: jim on January 10, 2004 01:50 PM"The Ulster-Scots Agency, or Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch as it is known in Ullans, is a relatively new but important body that aims to promote the Ulster-Scots language and culture within the island of Ireland and beyond.
"The Agency is part of the North/South Language Body (Tha Boord o Leid); one of six new cross-border bodies born out of the Belfast Agreement, on Good Friday, 10 April, 1998.
"This body comprises two agencies, The Ulster-Scots Agency and Foras na Gaeilge, the agency responsible for the development of the Irish (Gaelic) language."
Lots more here:
http://www.ulsterscotsagency.com/home.asp