Re: dialectal diversity in English

Robert B Wilson scripsit:

> i consider scots to be about as far from my dialect as most west
> virginian dialects are (actually, i sometimes think scots is closer...),
> so if scots is a separate language...
Well, Scotland had an army and a navy, and a separate written tradition,
including substantial grammatical differences from English.  (There is also,
of course, Scottish Standard English, which is English with a Scots accent.)

Here's a familiar text, directly translated from the original:

Ane heigh-lilt o David's.

1. THE LORD is my herd, nae want sal fa' me:
2. He louts me till lie amang green howes; he airts me atowre by the lown watirs:
3. He waukens my wa'-gaen saul; he weises me roun, for his ain name's sake, intil
   right roddins.
4. Na! tho' I gang thro' the deadmirk-dail; e'en thar, sal I dread nae skaithin:
   for yersel are nar-by me; yer stok an yer stay haud me baith fou cheerie.
5. My buird ye hae hansell'd in face o my faes;
   ye hae drookit my head wi oyle; my bicker is fou an skailin.
6. E'en sae, sal gude-guidin an gude-gree gang wi me, ilk day o my livin; an evir
   mair syne, i' the LORD'S ain howff, at lang last, sal I mak bydan.
                --P. Hately Waddell (1871)
--
Deshil Holles eamus.  Deshil Holles eamus.  Deshil Holles eamus.
Send us, bright one, light one, Horhorn, quickening, and wombfruit. (3x)
Hoopsa, boyaboy, hoopsa!  Hoopsa, boyaboy, hoopsa!  Hoopsa, boyaboy, hoopsa!
  -- Joyce, _Ulysses_, "Oxen of the Sun"       jcowan@reutershealth.com