Re: USAGE: Scots

Thomas Leigh scripsit:

> Actually, the Devil speaks Scots as well. Though there's an appendix
> containing an excerpt from Matthew 4 (Is that how you cite a Biblical
> passage? I don't know) from a draft of the work, in which he does speak
> English.
Ah.  I was merely repeating remarks made in the press (and the Net).
Citation form for chapter 4 of Matthew is Matt. 4 (though it is certainly
not incorrect to give the name in full), and for a specific verse or
verses, 2 Peter 1:3 or Gal. 7:24-27.

> > IIRC, there are twelve different varieties of Scots in use for various
> > different people.
>
> Really?! I don't remember that! I shall have to look at it again, more
> closely.
It's mentioned in _The Story of English_, which is where I first heard
of the Lorimer translation.

> It's usually spelled "at" these days, though pronounced like "ut", i.e. with
> a schwa. You do sometimes see it written in full as "what". I've never seen
> the spelling "ut", though.
I made it up.

> Most of Burns' Scots is very anglicised. I assume to make it more palatable
> and/or comprehensible to an educated, English-speaking audience?
I think it's clear he thought of Scots (for literary purposes) as
consisting of phonological and lexical elements only: grammatical
deviations from Standard English were simply errors to be corrected.

The following motion was made in the Scottish Parliament on 2 June 2000:

# At the Pairliament awns at, bi owersettin the New Testament inti Scots,
# William L Lorimer tuik on the wechtie darg o makin Scots prose anew, an
# leukit at abuin a hunner an echtie owersettins in mair nor twentie leids;
# taks tent at his wark shaws the braidth, pouer an virr at Scots prose haes
# in't, an is baith a byordnar owersettin an a byordnar accomplishment,
# as weil's addin wurthilie til oor leiterarie an linguistic heritage;
# an commens Canongate Books for reprentin this efter 14 year, bi popular
# deman.

I do not know whether it passed.

Grammatically, I note "more nor" and "14 year" for Std.E. "more than"
and "14 years", both again common enough in the dialects.  "At" is used
several times, as well as "till" for "to" (Norse influence?) in "inti(l)
Scots" and "til oor ... heritage".

--
John Cowan                              <jcowan@...>
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