Geographical Varieties Of English Scotland

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2,7, RWTH Aachen University, course: Geographical varieties of English, language: English, abstract: This paper deals with the topic ''Scotland'' and is written behind the background of geographi-cal varieties of English. Thus we focus on the main topics historical development and present day language situation in Scotland, linguistic issues and sociolinguistic characteristics. In order to point out what differences between Standard English and Scottish English exist we take a closer look on the multicultural history of Scotland, which reflects in the many different dialects that used to be spoken in Scotland. French, Roman and Celtic influences made the Scottish language so versatile. This reflects not only in its vocabulary, but also in its grammar and phonology. Another important point is the geographical division of Scotland that also exerts influence on the Scottish language, because people on the mainland and the islands use to speak different languages. Finally we want to show that today there are only slight differ-ences between Scottish English and English English that mainly consider the prestige of the languages and the function of identification, but that there used to be differences in the past that are important to the Scots as individual and independent nation.

Seminar paper from the year 2023 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2,0, http://www.uni-jena.de/ (Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: Wahlpflichtmodul 1 Sociolinguistics, language: English, abstract: As Scotland was heavily impacted by the settling of various social groups and religions over time, the language landscape dispersed and brought up many exciting dialects over time. This paper will give an overview of the development of the significant regional dialects in both historical and contemporary Scotland, as well as linguistic variations and their importance for today’s Scots. By the end of this paper the following research question should be answered: 'How has history shaped the contemporary Scottish Language, what are key differences to Standard British English, and how does this affect the linguistic identity and prestige in Scotland today?' The research objective of this study is to give a very rough overview of the Scottish language in general, as well as a cultural insight into its importance. It can already be said that Scotland is a fascinating region to conduct sociolinguistic studies. Its history underlies many influxes of social groups in different time periods, which still contribute to developing the currently existing dialects. This study cannot provide a final summary of Scottish dialectology since this field is so vast that the essay must be seen as an introduction to delve deeper into the Scottish language. Before starting with the historical overview, it must be mentioned that the dates and years of historical events may vary from source to source. Therefore, this study underlies some degree of historical inaccuracy, which will not affect the fundamental understanding of the unravelling of Scottish dialectology. The provided time slots will be tied to the respective source used.

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2, University of Würzburg (Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: Sociolinguistics, language: English, abstract: This seminar paper is about linguistic variations Scottish English has in contrast to Standard English concerning pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary as well as it deals with the history of Scottish English and attitudes which Scottish English perceives from society.

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0, University of Potsdam (Institut für Anglistik/ Amerikanistik), course: Scots and the other languages of Scotland, language: English, abstract: When people think of Scotland the images they have in mind are usually very restricted. Most of us combine the country with the myth of Nessie, the Clans and their tartan culture, the good whisky, the Highlands and the famous Highland Games. All these existing images of Scotland make up a large part of the country’s culture but Scotland is more than that. Only the minority of us might think of Scotland as a country with a long and problematic history and just some are regarding the fact that it has still not gained its entire independence. It is a country full of contrasts and difficulties which you cannot only become aware of when you consider the geographical situation but also the social, political and cultural circumstances. A today’s problem resulting from Scotland’s long history is the question of Scottish identity, and accompanied by that the language problem. Language is an element of culture and people express through their language and speaking behaviour identities and attitudes. In Scotland the situation is quite difficult. As part of the United Kingdom the official language spoken in Scotland is Standard English but depending on the area you are visiting, you can also find speakers of other varieties such as Scots or Gaelic or even dialects. However, these varieties are said to be non- standardised languages and therefore are not officially used in Scotland. That leads to the problem that speakers of these varieties have the feeling not to be part of the speaker community and consequently they cannot identify themselves with these. The issue that now has to be surveyed, is the question what types of languages are existing in Scotland and how do these language varieties influence the identities and attitudes of Scots. For that reason I have planned to concentrate on one of Scotland’s languages and would like to write my paper about the Scots and their tongue. In the first part I will deal with the Scots, their nation and their development. The main focus in my work will be the re-flection on Modern Scots, the problematic of the Scots’ status and its varieties. I am going to discuss if it is a distinct language, an accent or a dialect and will also look at the different varieties of Scots inside and outside of Scotland to give an overview of existing forms.

The first book-length exploration of 'standard Englishes' with contributions by the leading experts on each major variety of English discussed.

This volume gives a detailed overview of the varieties of English spoken on the British Isles, including lesser-known varieties such as those spoken in Orkney and Shetland and the Channel Islands. The chapters, written by widely acclaimed specialists, provide concise and comprehensive information on the phonological, morphological and syntactic characteristics of each variety discussed. The articles are followed by exercises and study questions. The exercises are geared towards students and can be used for classroom assignments as well as for self study in preparation for exams. Instructors can use the exercises, sound samples and interactive maps to enhance their classroom presentations and to highlight important language features.

The publication in the past ten years of linguistic atlases of England and Scotland has not only advanced our knowledge of the lexical and morphological variety inherent in the English language, but has made it possible to establish a number of methodological principles for the study of language both in its contemporary distribution and in its historical evolution. The essays in this volume, by contributors to the linguistic atlases and other dialectologists, describe some of the problems that bedevil the study of dialect and the methodological solutions employed to minimise them. They also survey the contributions that linguistic cartography can make to the study of English and of language in general. The considerations it embodies are of major importance for the student of language and, in addition, the book is an invaluable companion to the Atlases.