Comments on: Shock! A Linguistics Post!

By: rightwingprof

rightwingprof — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 11:52:43 +0000

that [mutual intelligibility] would make Scandinavian a single language

I’m assuming you’re talking about continental Scandinavian (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian), and although if you can read one, you can read them all (Swedish is a bit different, and probably would require a dictionary, if Danish or Norwegian were your strong language), the pronunciation is wildly different. It would take a Norwegian some exposure before he could understand the Danes.

By: Assistant Village Idiot

Assistant Village Idiot — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 06:26:14 +0000

Thank you for making the proper distinction for the proper reason. The definitions are indeed subject to politics, and mutual intelligibility is a more objective standard.

Of course, that would make Scandinavian a single language, which none of them could bear…

By: Patrick Joubert Conlon

Patrick Joubert Conlon — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:41:54 +0000

Burns wrote in the patois spoken in the southwest (Dumfriesshire to Ayreshire) - Scots English with some Scots words thrown in. It just looks different from English because his spelling was phonetic.

Dearieme, the educated Scots pronounce “r”s and diphthongs perfectly unlike their neighbors to the south.

By: dearieme

dearieme — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:18:11 +0000

“To me the educated Scots pronounce English perfectly.” Indeed we do; handsome of you to say so. But we may well have spoken Scots in the playground when we were bairns.

By: Scots-Irish Yank

Scots-Irish Yank — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:30:33 +0000

The language that Robert Burns used- wee cowrin’ timrous beastie- is that Scots or Scots English?

By: Patrick Joubert Conlon

Patrick Joubert Conlon — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:18:55 +0000

When I lived in Scotland 40 years ago, the only Scots I heard was old folks talking in small villages of Kirkcudbrightshire where I was living with a friend and his family. Of course many place names are Scots. But, in those days (it’s probably changed now) even the working classes in cities mixed a few Scots words in with Scots English - i.e. kirk instead of church.

When I first arrived in Scotland I had a hard time understanding the working class folks. I had travelled from Switzerland by train through Germany and France so was used to people yakking away in languages I could not understand. Then by ferry to Dover and train to London. The train from London to Scotland was filled with Scottish soccer fans returning from a match. By now I was exhausted and kept dozing off. When I’d awake, I sometimes thought that I was back in Germany or France because I could not understand what the Scots were saying. When my friend met me at the station in Dumfries, I was very relieved to be able to understand his family. They were highly educated and spoke the most beautiful English. To me the educated Scots pronounce English perfectly.