Quote Originally Posted by highlander_Daz View Post
Id half disagree with you there Phil, Burns wrote in Lallans which is lowland Scots dialect, how Burn wrote doesnt represent how "scots" speak, I dont know who decided that a borders dialect could suddenly be the "scots language" when the majority of people living north of Stirling speak nothing like that, Im all for preserving the specific way that Burns wrote , but in my view , and its only my opinion which, in the grand scheme of things doesnt really count for much outside my front door . its delusional to suggest a regional dialect that represents only a percentage of how people speak could be presented as the "Scots language" One could suggest that Gàidhlig is the Scots language on that basis, which of course it isnt, as not that many people speak it. just sauce for the goose . happy new year by the way
And a good New Year to you too - and everyone else reading this. Without knowing your background I can't comment on your experience of Scots or Lallans as a language but, as I said, it was the predominant language in south and south-eastern Scotland and would not have been heard in the Highlands as you rightly suggest. It is subject to regional variations such as Doric in the north-east and Ullans in Ulster and nowadays is rarely if ever spoken as a distinct language. It is more usual nowadays to hear it as English interspersed with Scots words but still retains its grammatical differences. You will no doubt tut-tutted when hearing someone say they "have went tae the shops" but this is, in fact correct usage in Scots. Similarly when you hear someone pronounce a word such as "pattern" as "pattren" this again is correct in Scots. I could go on but the point I am trying to make is that Scots or Lallans is not a quaint regional dialect but was once the established language of Scotland both in the royal court and legal system from about the 14th century. Before that the nobility generally spoke French would you believe but thereafter took on the language spoken by the majority of the population. This is not to diminish Gaelic which was widely spoken in the south-west and the western seaboard but the seat of government was in the Scots-speaking areas and this prevailed, just as English has nowadays.