Transcribing your accent

[lethearen]

**GEEK ALERT**

Ok, so I'm a big Dungeons & Dragons fan. Over the years, I've noticed that almost every people I've played with has given dwarves a Scottish accent. And several friends of mine have independently said the same thing.

I recently started reading a comic strip called "Order of the Stick," which is a D&D parody. They, of course, have a dware in cast. And they transcribe his speech in the comic to impart a Scottish accent. Later on in the series (episode 305), the character is writing a letter. Another character reads it and points out that the dwarf didn't have to actually write the letter with an accent.

I started thinking... and I've seen several posts here that have been written in Scots, which I as a "Huhmerican" have to actually say out loud half the time in order to be able to understand it.

I recently read a story by Sir Walter Scott (as in yesterday) entitled "Wandering Willie's Tale". The entire story is written in Scots, which made for slow reading for me Again I had to speak most of it. And even then some didn't make sense. Good story nonetheless. In the anthology, there are a few other stories that were originally in French or some other language, and they were translated into standard English... this one story written in Scots? Nope. No "translation"

No real point in this post. Just idle musings regarding the nature of our "common" language ith:

[beloitpiper]

No real point in this post. Just idle musings regarding the nature of our "common" language ith:

Scots and English are different languages. Both developed parallel to each other from the Anglo-Saxon root. So Scots isn't simply "writing with an accent," it's a living language.

[Tobus]

I always like to read things that are written in the same manner that someone would use when speaking. Unless it's a technical paper, book report, or other sort of piece that needs to be "proper", it adds some character and personality to any story.

Of course, some things I've seen written in Scots are so hard to read, I just can't make out what they're trying to say! That's taking it a little too far.

So Scots isn't simply "writing with an accent," it's a living language.

Is it officially classified by linguists as a separate language, or is it just considered a different dialect of English? I've never seen it officially referred to as a unique language that's totally separate from English, although I admit I've not studied the subject in any depth.

[Richard]

http://www.scotslanguage.com/books/view/2

[auld argonian]

As I read my little pocket Robby Burns I keep a sort of "cheat sheet" in the back of the book that gives the 18th Century Scots to 21st Century American English translation in the back of the book.

I'm often given to using "Chicago-isms" like "waddaya" and "dohsguys" only because they seem to convey the correct tone for some circumstances. Sometimes you find that our locals really can't understand what you're talking about unless you resort to the "dese, dem and dohs" usages.

Best

AA

[lethearen]

I didn't realise it was considered a completely separate tongue. Thanks for correcting me!

[auld argonian]

Separate tongue? Check this out:

http://sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page


Best

AA

[McClef]

Perhaps it's because John Rhys Davies (a Welshman!) gave Gimli a Scots accent in Lord of the Rings!

[pdcorlis]

I really enjoy reading Scots and I miss P1M who's posts were always a hoot.

Now if I remember correctly from the last time this topic came around, Scots is a spoken language with no formally agreed upon rules or conventions for its written form. Do I have that right?

[Jock Scot]

I really enjoy reading Scots and I miss P1M who's posts were always a hoot.

Now if I remember correctly from the last time this topic came around, Scots is a spoken language with no formally agreed upon rules or conventions for its written form. Do I have that right?

Perhaps the academics may know the answer, but this local has never even thought about it, so I have no idea!