We'r Needin tae Talk Aboot Wir Language | Michael Dempster | TEDxInverness
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ธ.ค. 2015
- Auditory neuroscientist Michael Dempster delivers a gripping presentation on how the mind reacts when we talk freely with the language we grew up with.
This talk is delivered using the language which Miachael grew up with, Scots.
He tells of some of the difficulties the Scots language has faced in the past and gives some insight into its future.
Michael is an Auditory Neuroscientist who gained his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Glasgow for his work exploring neural processing fundamental to language and music perception. He is also a first-language Scots speaker.
He has taught modern Scots to people from outwith Scotland and to people from Scotland who want to learn more about their own ways of speaking. Over the past year he has been working on his forthcoming book “Mind yer language? - How we talk English an how we talk Scots.”
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx
My left ear really enjoyed this.
right ear for me lol
Both ears for me
I was worried for a sec that my headphone cable was damaged, I started trouble shooting then I saw that comment.
@@johanfagerstromjarlenfors That wid be baith lugs en..
Saw this comment, took off my over-ears, checked the R/L and turned them around. Such a weirdly useful observation.
Never lose track of your mother tongue. Scots is a beautiful language, deeply rooted in the land and its people.
+ProblemBoy Official Scots and Ulster Scots IS english.
Actually many "Scots" writers continued to refer to their language as well after that period ended. William Dunbar for one. I think its quite ambiguous as to whether it really became a separate language and of it did, its clear that in large part it has merged back into English of the global modern variety.
Oh please. The sames the case for Gloucestershire and Scouse and Wenglish. They are all equally valid language varuetues.
Scots clearly IS English. Its just not Modern English.
omg ye ripped the words right out my mouth. Speaking of which... is American actually English?
Scots should be taught in school to Scots and non Scots folk. Keep that language alive and healthy, and let it to grow to reattain the prestige it deserves! Great video and presentation. Thanks!
Naww, we should not be teaching lies.
Scots meant Gaels, a Scot was a Gael.
The North Northumbrian foreigners oppressed and assaulted Gaelic for centuries before any official English ban.
The fact the language was called Inglis (English) first should be bloody offensive to the English when they see Scots claiming the language as their own.
Scots (Inglis/ English) is Native to Nortumbria and is their language to teach as their own.
And,
It was always a dialect until the 1800s and remains a dialect, semi-language.
The ancestors of the Scots language, the Angles had a long legacy or bigotry, barbarism and hate for Scots people and we're the longest-running abusers of the Scots/ Gael language.
@@angeloduncan7019 Scottish Gaellic should also be preserved and expanded, just such an uphill battle it seems.
There is something mesmerizing about being able to understand a language you don’t speak perfectly fine. Scots is a beautiful language
I agree. All of our Scottish languages are splendidly spectacular languages. The 44 people who dislikeddownvoted this video oppose our Scottish national identity.
Scots English isn't a different language.
Scots Gaelic is.
So is Irish Gaelic.
Scots English, used in this video, is actually a dialect.
(But none the less beautiful for a' that. ❤️💙❤️)
@@KittyStarlight
It depends on who you ask, but many linguist regard Lowland Scots (what you are calling Scots English) as a language rather than a dialect due to how it developed. It is much like how Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes can understand each other to some extent yet their languages are considered separate. Modern English and Lowland Scots developed around the same time from the same language much like how Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish developed from Old Norse. Lowland Scots and Modern English diverged independently from Early Middle English (1150-1300). There are not really any set agreed upon criteria that distinguishes a dialect from a language, which is why there is controversy about what Scots actually is.
Scottish Standard English is different from Lowland Scots. Lowland Scots was used in the video, not Scots English (Scottish Standard English).
@@jordvn.exe_ All right. Thank you.
Apparently I was not aware of all the differences and distinctions, but it sounds like, as far as "language" versus "dialect", the distinctions as considered these days are apparently rather hazy.
(Way back when, I believe that most people thought that the differences were perfectly well known, so apparently something has changed in the modern time period. Not sure what exactly but you don't seem to be thinking of these things in the way in which to my knowledge they had been traditionally thought of for many, many years.)
I would like you to be aware that (1) I only said, "Scots English" to let beginners or people who are very, very new to this sort of thing know that what I was talking about is a form of English, I know perfectly well that it isn't ever called "Scots English", there is no such term, and (2) what I was actually primarily thinking of was Highland Scots, not Lowland Scots, although they are similar in many ways, and I do not actually know precisely where the speaker in the video is from.
Scots Gaelic, Highland Scots, and Lowland Scots are three separate things.
Irish Gaelic is another separate thing.
So is English as spoken in the various different parts of Ireland.
As far as, the differences regarding what exactly *are* Scots Gaelic, Highland Scots, and Lowland Scots.
If you want to get picky about it, I suppose you could call them three separate languages, but that actually wasn't my point, I simply meant that people should be aware that the video is about one of the ways in which people in Scotland speak English, it is not a variation of Gaelic, which is the *real* ancient language and original native tongue of both Scotland and Ireland, with variations between the two countries of course.
Highland Scots and Lowland Scots do use several words that come from the Gaelic language.
In my opinion, it is Gaelic that is the actual real separate language, while the others I have mentioned are dialects.
This exact same opinion has been held by many others for hundreds of years. It isn't just my personal opinion.
I was not previously aware that there are people who consider Lowland Scots a separate language, but if they do so then I think that they had better start considering Highland Scots to be a separate language also.
There is of course absolutely no such expression as "Scots English", which is a manner of speaking which I invented on the spur of the moment, to try to convey to beginners in these topics that it's Gaelic which is really the actual separate language.
If you know as much about these things as you seem to, then the comment wasn't even intended for you.
I only thought that perhaps some people present might be unaware that the speaker in the video wasn't actually speaking Scots Gaelic, since they were referring to what he is telling us about as another language.
I am not familiar with this modern custom of dialects being called "languages".
In America, where I'm from, we have many dialects, including the Appalachian dialect which is itself derived from Scots and Irish dialects, and these dialects are certainly not thought of as any type or types of separate languages.
I hope I have by now made my original point much more clear.
Thank you for your time in reading this.
@@jordvn.exe_ Diverged independently from, but did not develop indepently from, so that's another point.
Generally speaking, any variant or variation of English which isn't the standard form in whatever country you may happen to be talking about is traditionally considered a dialect.
Modern linguists may have come up with other research in recent years.
I love how what I assume the word "to know" in Scots is "kennt" or something of that sort is much more similar to the German "kennen" than anything in modern English. This ain't no dialect, but it's own language that developed from Old English alongside its brother Modern English
its ken so even more similar
I could watch this a million times. My family is Scots. I loved hearing my Grandad when I was a wee one. I love hearing my mother in law from Glasgow. A part of my soul comes to rest. Finally home, at peace. A lullaby sung through the ages to generation upon generation. A warm wind hinting of seasons to change. Stillness with whispers of all that has ever been.
Thank you
I grew up with German & Scots (spoken by my granny). I pretty much had to unlearn Scots in school to speak "proper English". It's funny when you're the only native speaker sitting in a classroom and they demand you drop your native dialect.
Ah wisnae allowed tae speak Scots at hame, tho that's whit ma Fifer mither an' grandparents spoke. So Ah grew up hearing it, but speaking "properly", like ma Embra freens. Noo Ah speak how Ah like, except fur work, when Ah hae tae talk "properly". Fowk still gie me funny looks when Ah yase words like baffies or oxters, but Ah'll no' be stopped fae speakin' ma mither tongue!
Freedom for the Scots language!
I wonder if the Scots language will now become more popular because of the separatist movement in Scotland. Any thoughts?
Sorry for typing this in English -- I don't know Scots.
The Separatist movement is why it's considered a language. When my grandmother grew up in Arbroath everyone was Unionist, and Scots was considered a bastard dialect of the King's English.
Many languages are like this. As several others have pointed out, if you had a computer group the languages of Europe it's likely that the Bokmal Norwegian/Nynorsk Norwegian/Danish/Swedish would all be together, the Czechoslovaks would reappear, Yugoslavia would reunite, etc.
The line between dialect and language is more of a mass delusion then a linguistic reality.
I really enjoyed that. Always be proud of your heritage!
Me tae. Grew up thinkin a wis jist common an spoke slang. No oany mair
I
I've the word baffies, so cute! :D
As a scot who immigrated to Australia when I was six, I can totally relate. It's like I'm constantly talking through a filter, how I want to speak vs how i was supposed to speak. The lack of understanding the accent (language) lead to me getting made fun off, or "What?" . I love speakng to another scot though, I can let loose at a normal pace :)
Scots is very beautiful and musical and strong sounding, the best combination ever.
Grew up just outside Glasgow and even my parents did the whole "these words are bad that's not how we speak" so I grew up speaking what I thought was English (but turns out is this Attic thing I've never heard of til now).
I'm 18 now and trying to get back in touch with Scots but I'm so far gone that I can't speak it without sounding fake and ridiculous, and all because some twat hundreds of years ago thought their language was better than ours.
There is a Scots language website with all kinds of Scots files. Scotslanguage is the main part of the website name.
I am someone from the middle east learning this beautiful language of yours, so keep it up.
You'll be 21 now since you posted this but I hope Scots is coming back to you. I'm awa to turn 33 and only gitin it back noo. Still sounds awkward clattering aff ma tongue bit trynae gie it a shot.
Scots are essentially bilingual. We cam unnerstaund a' whits spoke arroond us bit wur nae gid at spikin oot when we hud it telt tae us we were spikin coarse or we sounded "uneducated."
Best wishes in your reclamation of the mither tongue
@@BoraCM Is there any rel difference between a language and a dialect other than perception? Because I'm sure Scots isn't very mutually intelligible to most English speakers
@@micayahritchie7158 I know, I really can't understand him. Sounds like he's dropping a lot of f bombs.
This is what Danish sounds like to swedes
And he didn't need a patato
Andreas Niklasson ..
I speak Arabic and English.
I've watched some Swedish movies and I think that the Swedish language is the nearest to English after Scottish.
Fars mezan Actually Frisian is closest to English.
Andreas Niklasson don,t are off some opinion like you. Danish are a almost easy to understand
lol I had the same idea. The way he says "hand" is basically Danish.
Dads from glasgow, and moved down to england before i was born (for work) but spoke scots to me as i was growing up, less so when i started speaking back to him in this middle class rp accent, the words id used before (didnt find out what ‘armpits’ were til i was 6, they were always just oxters). but having now moved back to glasgow it makes me so happy hearing words i’ve long learnt not to say :)
Absolutely brilliant Michael. Ye cannae beat an educated Scotsman!
Yes! Perfect comment.
The modern world was invented by Scots. Arthur Herman wrote a book aboot it.
As I Yorkshire child when we moved to London in 1970 one of the teachers said that I spoke with a Yorkshire accent because I was lazy.
Hope you're back in Yorkshire now. Seems a much better place than London anyway. I'm not English put have particular affinity for the North-East for a few reasons.
Northern Irish here, understand him completely
I don’t know why, but this made me angry at the injustice & just so sad for Scotland 🏴
If you think this is bad, wait til you learn what happened to the Scottish Gaelic language and about the Highland Clearances! It's much worse!
@@realitywins9020 What happened to them?
@@tiffanyzamora6605 ethnic cleansing
I grew up bi-lingual with English and Scots in my daily life. I'd talk Scots with my dad and sister and English with my mum even though she understands Scots fine and even uses some of it without realising. Talking with relatives is the only chance I get to use it now since I don't live in Scotland anymore. I'd imagine it's gonna get even harder to use it if I go further afield unless I start teaching it to people.
Anybody else join language exchange websites and put "Other" in the list of ones you know like I do?
Anyone who thinks, on the basis of being able to understand this video, that Scots is just a dialect - bear in mind the speaker is deliberately speaking as clearly as possible, and dipping in and out of English / Scots, as necessary. There are no universally accepted criteria for distinguishing between a language and a dialect ("a language is a dialect with an army and navy" is a common one). What makes Scots a good candidate for being a distinct language, in my opinion, is that there is a very clear physical boundary between Scots-speaking Britain, and English-speaking Britain. The Anglo-Scottish border is rural and very sparsely populated, so whereas there are continuities between all the dialects in England, there is a natural break between English and Scots. Add in the different political histories (Scotland was never conquered by the Romans or the Normans, and was an independent country until 1707), and modern-day Scotland's devolved sovereignty, and it seems reasonable to think of Scots as one of the languages of the Scots people.
Plus, Scots SOUNDS like a different language. Southern American English and Cockney English are polar ends of the English dialects, but the differences between them are far less than that of Scots and any English.
Scots is definitely influenced more so by old norse /Danish than English
Aye, if you get two doric speakers conversing naturally, most people in Scotland would have difficulty understanding!!
You mean except the whole of the North-East, where the dialect is often a blend of Northern English and Scottish dialects? I have Geordie friends who always get mistaken for Scots when they go abroad.
It's not All English though, it's mixed:
Words like lassie, loch, bonnie are Gaelic.
Words like houre, wee are French.
Words like hoose, moose, toon is viking or Norse.
Ye, yer ect.....is old English and obviously they use modern English.
Absolutely amazing. It went from how prejudice almost destroyed a language to how we process words in the mind. That was just beautiful. :)
Aye, they never told the true history. The Scots spoke Gaelic only, the Angles spoke Inglis. When the church came into Scotland, they started in the south and attacked Gaelic for generations. Nobles were forced to learn English to trade and build alliances and evidence shows the English courts and the lowland peoples oppressed Gaelic for generations before any Gaelic ban. The fake message that it was English and English armies that patrolled the mid-lands and Highlands is false, thousands of lowlanders with Angle/ English ancestry were the ones who built the hundreds of keeps across Scotland and helped cull the Gaels. With the Semi-Scots lowlands growing in numbers, they and trade pushed north, Gaelic was attacked in many ways before any ban by Lowland peoples and the church. Scots was only a dialect until the last couple of hundred years where it has vastly changed adopting new words to give it any ability to be a language, but the key point to note is the Native Angles people through their hatred for Gaels and prejudice nearly eradicated Gaelic, replacing it with there own language. A Scot is a Gael, Scots means Gaels and this hatred is why even today they assault Gaelic by stating Scots (Inglis) is the mother tongue 😂 Scots is a Germanic foreign language spread by hate, bigotry and the oppression of the real mother tongue. The existence of Scots is offensive to many who consider themselves Gaels/ Scots.
Beautifully said, the most powerful emotion of memories and love I've heard spoken. Especially at 10.01 or so, I felt such awe of this man's intelligence and expression of humanity
I'm Irish and speak a little of the oldest Gaelic language in the world and I found this fascinating. Never heard of an 'Auditory neuroscientist'. Pity I didn't hear of this when I was younger because this is what I would have studied... Thank you for a great presentation Michael.
You have similar English varieties in Ireland. Have you heard of yola?
@@robmcrob2091Sadly Yola and Fingalian are extinct. But Yola continues in the form of the very distinct south Wexford accent. But Gaeilge is flourishing again in my English speaking areas with the growth of gaelscoileanna (Irish speaking schools)
This is wonderful. I am not even a native English speaker and still I could understand and - more importantly - as a speaker of something that is somewhere in a continuum between language and dialect I could relate.
What's your native tongue
Czech and Slovak are generally even closer to each other than this is to English. This would be like a heavy Eastern Slovak dialect vs standard Czech.
In Poland, we have a group of people south of Poland ("Górale" which means "mountain-folk" in English), they are located in the area of south-eastern Poland (near Silesia), and they speak their own really strange variation of Polish, use some words which are completely different from standard Polish, and they talk in a "lispy" accent (the grammar is slightly different too), which is quite difficult to understand sometimes. However, this "góralski" dialect is in turn somewhat different from an even different dialect which is spoken in Silesia, "śląski", which has a lot of lexical influence from the German language during WWII. For example, instead of using the word "narzędzia" ("work-tools") like in Standard Polish, the Silesians would say "Werkzeug" (same as in German), or "Bild" (German for "Picture") instead of Polish word "zdjęcie" or "obraz". But the Silesian pronunciation itself is very similar to the Góralski dialect. Just giving you a bit of Polish "linguistic topography". :)
The difference between a language and a dialect (or a leid and a byleid in Scots) is usually based on politics more than linguistics.
+Torbjørn Oskarsson
Correct. In fact, some linguists actually consider Standard British English and Standard American English to be two separate LANGUAGES, despite the high level of mutual intelligibility. :) Like, you hear some people say, "I speak AMERICAN", instead of "I speak AMERICAN ENGLISH!".
Dae they hae stannart orthographies the day?
+der Glotzer
you asking me?
Never thought id be randomly linked to this video and enjoy it so much as it applies heavily to my Norwegian "dialect".
lovely and enjoyable immersion into Scots! Didn't realise how much I've learned here!
Wow. Powerful talk. Thank you!
This was wonderfully enlightening. Thank you.
Fascinatin. Am a therapist an in ma professional register thirs a bit fur 'able to practice in a language other than English'. Bit it loups frae Russian tae Serbo Croat!! Onywey a fun a wey o pittin Scots. Whiles the admin folk cannae unnerstan it an pit it doon as Gaelic, an ave tae pit them richt. Re the brain --a the mair important we git tae exercise they wuirds, an keep the lichts flashin or wad they no fair dry up an dee!
Of all the things England has robbed from the Scots, (and there have been many) Your language has been the most significant. I'm an English man, resident in Scotland for 24 years.
Brilliant, and so true.
Student of language all my life.
Love that he's speaking clearly to me.
I am an american and I can hardly understand a word this man is saying but i love it.
This is beautiful. Found myself trying to undress...
I don't no what it is that makes me feel like this about the Scots language but I've always found it very charming and pleasurable to listen to.
Love how it sounds
My favourite language ❤🏴
40 years ago I spent 5 years in Aberdeenshire. I loved hearing what I'm afraid we termed the local dialect. I apologize. May be we should call English a dialect of Scots. But to hear how our neurons fire up with so much involvement when our mother tongue is used was just beautiful. But I must have heard a lot of Scots spoken as there weren't many words I didn't understand. Thank you for this talk.
I love this so much.
So touching and fascinating!
A wonderful presentation! A great deal of American English comes from the Scots leid via the Scots-Irish immigrants of the 17th and 18th centuries. When I read Scots I notice many of the differences between our language and that of the English.
Absolutely brilliant.
I live in London an ah've been here ower thirty years. Bit when ah'm oan ma ain I think and talk tae masel in Glesga-ese. The rest ae the time I'm biligual. Fact. Scots is the language I was broat up wi.
Daniel Mackay but isn't that just English spelt as though it's being said with a thick Scottish accent? What is actually different, in syntax or grammar, beyond a different way of saying it?
I hear his voice and am reminded of my great grandparents who came to Canada in 1912. I knew my great aunt Sadie (my great grandma’s sister), and she often used Scots words more readily than English. I’m wanting to go to Scotland and learn.
We'd luv ti hae ye! 🏴
This was really, really great. Thank you
this language is to english what galician is to portuguese.....a different but highly mutually intelligible language.
+Gedais Bathlette would you happen to know if danish/norwegian/swedish share a similar relationship?
HammarHeart I'm not to sure about those languages but I've heard something similar about danish and norwegian.
***** yeah I saw an interview on youtube where a brazilian and galician guy were talking to each in their own languages with virtually no problems as far as them understanding eachother. In fact the brazilian guy said that he understood galician better than the portuguese of portugal! When I heard the scots language for the first time I understood about 90-95% percent of it except the words and sayings that were uniquely scots, also the words that are cognates are often pronounced very differently. In my opinion the differences between scots and english aren't huge but they're definitely more than enough for me to understand why people consider it to be a different language from english.
This language is to Old English as Norwegian is to Old Norse. Probably more Gaelic loan words in Scots than English, though.
They are related, IIRC. With English being mutated by French after the Normans invaded. The same goes for Frisian, which is very similar to middle English I think, with Dutch influence.
This talk is gold. Alba go bragh
Alba gu brath (at least in modern Gaidhlig).
💙🤍 ... my native language is Spanish, and I love English ... and now I love Scots too ... I had the privilege of visiting Scotland (Edinburgh, the Lowlands, Loch Ness ... etc ... ) ... it was just mesmerizing ... there was something in the air that captivated me and still hunts me ... ... ... too much magic maybe ...
That was brilliant. He is right!
It is of utmost interest. I'm learning danish and although I understood English, it sounded at times so much like Danish. This most likely because of the influence of old norse while viking settled in Great Britain. It is just fantastic to hear it still today.
Watching with English subtitles is quite interesting.
He's so cute, and I love this language! My grandma was Scottish. Youngest of 13 from Stewarton. I can't wait until the day I can visit Scotland and trace my roots. 😊
Brilliant!!
Thank you 😘
Well said Sir
Wonderful!
Ah wis brocht up in rural Perthshire bit then goat a career in semiconductor engineerin. Ah hid tae learn staunart Inglish itherwise a guid wheen o fowk, maistly Inglish ur Yanks, cidnae mak oot whi' Ah wis sayin. Bit noo Ahm retireit an back in rural Scoatlin - naw Perthshire mind bit Angus, ma Scoats his cam back tae me. Whiles, when Ah workit in semiconductors, a wid be sair trachled wi whit seemit an ower complex problem bit then Ah wid ofin ging ower it, in ma heid in Scots, an mair times than naucht it geid me the wie forrat.
Nice one Chic!
qué?
@@lpinkfloyd Translation for LPinkFloyd: I was brought up in rural Perthshire but then got a career in semiconductor engineering. I had to learn standard English, otherwise a good bit of people, mostly English or Americans, couldn't make out what I was saying. But now, I'm retired and back in rural Scotland, not Perthshire, but Angus, my Scots has come back to me. Back when I worked in semiconductors, I would be confused with what seemed an over-complex problem, but then I would often go over it in my head in Scots, and more times than not, it guided me the way forward.
Brilliant!
As an Arabic speaker from Saudi Arabia, if you want me to compare the difficulty of the Scottish dialect to an Arabic dielect, I will put it with the Moroccan Arabic.
This mean that I can understand what you are talking about and can recognize all the words with a different pronunciation, except that I can't know the exact meaning of the unique Scottish words which seems foreign for my language; Canadian English.
however, as more as I listen to the Scottish dialect, I believe that I will develop the sense to "decode the dialect", so I will understand all the words (which are pronounced differently, and which are completely new) easily; as I can with the Moroccan Arabic.
Thanks for reading.
Love this accent!
As someone who has always thought the same about how I talk up here thanks for this.
Excellent!
Love your accent it’s one of the most gorgeous ask anyone
I love the way Scots sounds.
My ears enjoyed this
This speaker is speaking mostly in English for an English-speaking audience. He gives examples of Scots to make his point, and purposely enunciates slowly and clearly. Try listening to two Scots speakers conversing before claiming you can understand Scots.
This is exactly why people think Scots is a dialect because all their experience with it is Scottish English not broad Scots
@@nutyyyy This is exactly what I keep trying to tell people! They mostly just hear people speaking English with a Scottish accent and a few Scots words peppered in here and there, not full-on Scots.
Honestly as an american it's still a challenge to understand
You could say the same for someone from Cornwall, or Yorkshire, or the North East. Their accents are so thick that they can be difficult to understand for people who aren't from there. But they're STILL speaking English. Scots simply is a dialect of English. Its like 99% the same words, but some of them are spoken in a different accent. When its written down, its the same. Even if its written down phonetically, its still very easy for any English speaker to read. I mean, I could write a Yorkshire accent down phonetically, and throw in a few dialect words, but that doesn't make it a language.
Ey up lad, wist tha bahn? Its nitherin’ out theer, doont forgit thy coaht! On yer weeh back, cud yer pop t' shop an' grab sum spogs f't bairn?
@@monkeymox2544 Setting aside that there is no firm distinction between a language and a dialect, "99% the same words" is not even close. It does not look the same written down. Yorkshire does not have a 912-page dictionary of its language in continual publication. From what you write, I very much doubt you have ever heard tried to navigate a conversion with two natural Doric speakers, though watching you attempt it would be amusing. :)
I'm quite enjoying hearing this. Something so close to English that I can mostly understand it. this is probably what it will feel like when you're learning a language and you're almost able to understand the speech but not quite yet.
As a German who speaks English as a foreign language quite fluently I still understood about 90% of what he said.
Aye cause eh wis speaking mere clearly
Div ee Ken noo, helmut
@@grahamfleming8139 ay a ken ya wee fud
@@ryanbell4952 still ma karate, judo and various other martial arts will probably level ye doon tae size ye muckle fud.
@@grahamfleming8139 hahahaha
Thank god for this accent
I hear a lot of words that I associate with the Doric dialect in Aberdeen, the North East of Scotland. Nice to hear
One of the first things I learned as a linguistics student at UCL was that "a language is a dialect with an army & a navy" (tongue in check explanation by our lecturer). Nowadays I think celebrity culture affects linguistic development nearly as much.
When you realize that English was really related to Dutch, Frisian and Saxon languages.
I think English is mostly comprised of German. And our fancier words from Latin, Greek, Spanish, French and probably more. So is English actually a dialect of German and these other languages. Ah dinnae ken.
Yup. English is actually classified as a Germanic language. Scots is, too (but Scottish Gaelic is Celtic). Scots is a language. People who disagree have some political axe to grind.
@@dougcortes6567 Scots is related to Middle English.
I agree. And from Middle English, Early Modern English developed, as did Scots. There is no real Language Border between Modern English and Scots, and they are mutually intelligible, to a degree and to certain people. As typical, the closer geographically one is to the other, the higher degree of intelligibility. Thus, an English speaker from western North America, without exposure otherwise, would likely understand less than 20% of a conversation between two Scots speakers.
For example, I am a native North American English speaker, and I speak Spanish fluently. I understand A LOT more Portuguese than 20 percent and am not around it all that much. And the closer in Iberia one moves from say Madrid to Lisbon, the more a local Castilian speaker would understand Portuguese. And before even crossing the border into Portugal, most local Spaniards would fully understand nearby Portuguese speakers.
Calling something a “language” is just some people agreeing on calling it that. What some would call a language, some others would call a dialect. This is just the way languages have always worked, for the most part, and until fairly recently. Radio, TV, then Internet has caused a great deal of standardization, as has closing off national borders another recent phenomenon. But historically it was all just a continuum - at least in Europe and between the major language groups: Germanic, Slavic, Romance, and Celtic. I haven’t looked as much into other areas. And at one end of the continuum people generally can’t understand much of anything spoken by people at the opposite end. They might even say it’s a different language, or someone else might just say it’s a different dialect.
I’m not particularly hung up on all of it, but it is really fascinating!
@@dougcortes6567 You would be a great language instructor.
I am born a Canadian. Father is Scots mother is French Canadian...I fully agree and have been trying to hone my ear and speak with the folks proper. something about a sense of home would think
This is really interesting to watch. When he speaks scots, Its like trying to read books in older forms of english, you can mostly understand it, but its very distinct, although in this case its a different language (although i guess middle and old english are also different languages) and its easy to tell when he switches between them, plus he's very deliberately pronouncing things, so i doubt i could follow a real conversation.
I'm definitely having a harder time as an american english speaker, but i can mostly judge based on context clues, which is more than i can do for most other languages.
Its a tale as old as time, native languages, hybridized languages, and accents often get portrayed as "wrong" by the powers that be (in america that is arguably AAVE/ebonics) and it changes or erodes this things over time.
“There is nocht tua nations vndir the firmament that ar mair contrar and different fra vthirs, nor is inglis men and scottis men, quoubeit that thai be vtht in ane ile, and nychbours, and of ane langage” - The Compleynt of Scotland 1549.
'firmament' ew
Damn i never knew scots sounded so beautifully muffled. Bravo Ted!
As a Cajun who. Has had my people's native language beat out of us, that'd be French, in my family, I couldn't agree more. I never learned French and it makes me sad that I haven't. It's was killed in the 1800s and it's hard to bring back. Protect your language. I'm also Scottish and Irish and miss Gaelic I'd both kinds and value scots.
GrantJBratcher I'm about 60-70% Scottish-Irish, and I recently found out that my grandfather belongs to the Ross clan in the Highlands. I have known some Irish and Welsh for a while, but now I'm trying to find stuff for Scots and Scottish Gaelic so they don't die out like the Crowmarty dialect near where my grandfather's from.
Eh j'peux t'aider là !
You should take a trip up to modern day Acadia, which is now comprised of the Maritimes and eastern bits of Québec. The Acadians still speak French! The same french as their Cajun brethren down south!
It's beautiful land, over there, too, I hear. I've never been back east, myself, sadly.
fascinating
Was struggling at the beginning, adapted, and when I had finished listening went back to the beginning and understood. Languages and Dialects are brilliant and should be celebrated, not destroyed. Austrian schools still sometimes teach children not to use their regional dialects and only speak High German. Brrrrr
I've never had to focus so hard on trying to understand a language.... wow
😂😂😂😂 shut up, so you never have listened to German, French, Spanish haha what a load of 💩 The fact that if you tried to concentrate and understood words, that's evidence that it's a dialect and not a language. To learn a language you have to attend lessons as you won't be able to understand any words.
My left ear enjoyed this a lot
This is the second time I have watched this video. I was born and raised in Scotland but live in England now. I do genuinely feel that I cannot fully express myself communicating to people here in a way that I could in Scotland. Telling my English wife to shut up when she is nagging me does not have the same impact as saying to her 'hawd yer wheesht w'min yer dae'n ma box in'
For us in the north of Ireland it's "Houl yer whisht"
🤣
It's funny how i'm not even fluent in english, but i understand this guy better than i understand the old folks from the town i was born in, talking in presentation tone really does wonders
wow!
Wow....had to hang on to every word to grasp some of this for this Yankee! Love the Scottish accent since it's part of my ancestry...get weak at the knees when I hear it along with the sound of bagpipes! Also have Irish blood in me as well as English! Thanks for this highly interesting, informative video even if it did bend my ear a bit! lol
been looking into scots trying to find what it actually sounds like but now ive realised that my scottish flatmate has been speaking it to me for like a year now. I just assumed that her accent was weirdly thick and her grammar was a bit off coz of a regional slang, weird to find out its just a completely different language.
I love the Scots language and accent. I have been doing some research and I am trying to self-teach because this culture is part of my heritage. From what I understand this language does have a Nordic influence, but I don't rely or believe too much on what other people have written or researched as it all gets very confusing and blurry. For instance, I am curious to know how much Scottish is influenced by Welch and vice versa.... At any rate, I have found a good one or two websites to refer to, but I would love to correspond with someone who is a Native Scots speaker. Thank you for posting.
Germanic language is germanic. Scots is a germanic language. Welsh is a celtic brythonic language. Scottish Gaelic is a celtic goidelic language just like Irish Gaelic.
Another reason Scotland is its own nation.
Scotland has multiple language
@@adamender9092 Tá cinnte
Should Switzerland be split in three, Belgium in two, Spain in at least five, China in ten, maybe even over a hundred, India in twenty two?
Ah yes that's a reason for a free lombardia and I doubt any one wants to separate from Italia there
@@theromanshogunate5716 except that pesky Northern League.
Luuuurrrv it.
I think I'm in love.
This gives native English speakers the rare privilege of listening a different but mutually intelligible language. Something Scandinavians, Iberians, Slavs etc take for granted 😊
This is een o the best things ah'v sein aa wik.
Ah wis brocht up in a pairt o Embra whaur wi spikt Scots, an' ma faimlie wer aa frae Aiberdeenshir, but ah wis sent tae the skweil in a pairt whaur naebody kent it, sae no eenlie wis ah tocht that ma lied wis wrang bey the teichers, but bey the ither pupils as weil. This is sae important.
Summat ah hivnae spottit in ither generations is a puckle o the weys fowk lik tae taak the pish. Whin thir's a person sumeen is spikking about that they dinnae lik or they think they're glaikit or 'scummy' they pit on a stranger accent or they uise Scots wirds tae highlicht that. This is whey.
I understood more of it spoken than written
+Andreas Niklasson yeah, chances are, if it's pronounced the same as in English it's spelled differently, and if it is spelled the same it's pronounced differently.
And then there are all of the Danish and Saxon words. :P
The shire the place ta be loon 👍
@@andreasniklasson4037 spelled the rather latin way,probably why it's less intelligible written.
@@andreasniklasson4037 for me it was the opposite.
I’m an English speaker and understood pretty much everything this gentleman said in his talk. I think the Scots language is fascinating and Scottish people should be allowed to keep that as a part of their heritage. It’s similar enough to English that code switching isn’t problematic. What’s even more interesting is that as someone of Bangladeshi origin, the comparison of English and Scots is akin to standard Bengali and Sylheti. To me I speak and understand both and see them as the same language with a different cultural tint- perhaps in the same way Scottish people see Scots do with English.
Scots sounds like such a very robust, brave, strong, vibrant language. It just exudes masculinity and toughness--like the Scots themselves.
Germanic languages are always strong and vibrant when romance languages have not polluted it. Scots is more germanic than modern english. Since English has been too influenced by French etc.
It's affa true that ye canna escape the language ye heard when ye was sma'. Ma mither wis Scotch through & through, but her mither wis English, & after 60 years in Scotland she still spoke the English she wis brought up to. Ma mither too, spoke her mither's tongue, though she freely used works like 'driech', 'ashet', trauchle' & 'fash'. And me too! Ye widna ken Ah wis brought up & eddicated in Aiberdeen. It's an affa shame. I wish I could open ma mouth & people would ken immediately I wis frae north o' the border, but it disna work that wye...
At the skweel the gurls used to say I talked 'pan-loaf'. Too true.
But---reverting to the standard English I'm (sadly enough) more comfortable in--sn't 'dialect' a heavily loaded word, implying as Michael points out, something inferior, bastardized? Can't we just stay that the Scots/Scottish/Scotch language is one of a group of languages, of which the southern English one has become dominant? All no doubt descended from what we know as old English. Just as (perhaps) Gaelic, Erse, Welsh & Breton are members of a group descended from an ur-Celtic now vanished? Or to put it more succinctly, all variants (of equal value) of the same tongue?
Yes, "dialect" has carried those connotations.
In Canadian English the word dialect doesn't have that association. For a bastardized association we would say slang or made up terms like "hillbilly talk."
Heh.. that lad's awfy "pan-loaf" - he's fair doin ma heid! Lost all the ability to speak with the words of my childhood, but when my mum was alive, I had to translate for my wife - couldn't understand most of what she said! :D
A leid is naethin mair nor a dialect wi an army
I'm Scottish and this made me really sad. I don't speak Gaelic nor Scots. And I thought up to the age of around 15 that what he is speaking is just how some people speak and it's not Scots. Never been told what or how Scots sounded. In school, it's just a dialect that isn't worth studying. As he said a dialect to me in school is something not worth learning. I wish I spoke it and I wish I could study Scots and Gaelic in school. I live really close to Inverness and I don't speak either. I rarely hear Scots.
This! I had no idea we had our own languages, i'd have much rather studied Gaelic than french.
Wow so what do you speak? Just straight up English? I'm on the East Coast and don't know anybody that doesn't speak Scots. We all have 2 voices, our "normal" Scots speaking voices and then the "phone voice" in which only English is spoken.
I could see a point about Gaelic and Irish being dialects of the same language, but Welsh is nothing like Gaelic or Irish. Welsh is closer to Breton and Cornish, but those are three very different languages.
Well, yeah of course Welsh is closer to Breton and Cornish, they're all brythonic languages.
Welsh developed from the Celtic spoken by Latin speakers who switched languages in the post Roman period. Goidelic from the non Latin influenced Celtic.
There was no such thing as Brythonic or Goidelic until the Romans arrived with Latin and it influenced the direction of Celtic dialects.
Will Buras Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx are Goidelic languages and Welsh, Breton and Cornish are Brythonic. Just two branches that aren't very closely related, but still Celtic. Goidelic is further north in Ireland, Isle of Man and Scotland and Brythonic is further south in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany.
Oh really? I'm interested to know more about that. What references do you have?
I think you may be oversimplifying a bit. It wasn't all Adam Smith. Scotland has slowly moved more and more towards standard English since the Acts of Union. Scottish aristocrats were (and are) even educated in the South of England, where they came (and come) out speaking posh and sounding indistinguishable from the English aristocracy.
Take pride in your heritage
I understand this although I live in Manchester. Be proud of the Scots lied. Even so dw i'n dysgu Cymraeg achos mae e'n Cymru yn agos i fi
I feel deeply connected to the Scots language and heritage as it's a part of my ancestry. I'm a 5th generation US American so I've never spoken it, and it's sad to learn that Scots and Gaelic are fading into disuse. I hope it is protected for generations to come.
almost sounds like west Frisian language in Netherlands, certainly closer to Frisian language than standard English does.
Ash Mckinlay That makes sense. Scots kept a lot of the Germanic words that English lost when the French invaded in 1066.
Det viel moin ok oal op ja, as je ut accent bedoelde
@@Glenssuos Actually, English does have the word "forstand" which is a cognate with German verstehen, Dutch verstaan, Danish forsta (sorry I don't have that character here) etc.. Wouldn't that count?
Talorc MacAllan the ‘ie’ sounds as in heim and rolling ‘r’ sounds are useful when speaking Dutch, sounds the English struggle to pronounce
@@sekritdinos7221 That makes no sense. English taking French loan words is probably because the elite spoke French and when the elite started speaking English some loanwords got injected into the English language. Also it was not the French that invaded it was Normans. Mind you they never formed any substantial majority in England. They were the elite who ruled over the English, Welsh and Cornish.
Happens same here down in and around Glasgow. People refer to Scots as "slang" and it's been shunned upon. I still speak it wae ma pals n that but a speak English as that's in the newspapers telly n songs.