Shetland dialect

Shetland dialect (also variously known as Shetlandic;broad or auld Shetland or Shaetlan; and referred to as Modern Shetlandic Scots (MSS) by some linguists) is a dialect of Insular Scots spoken in Shetland, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. It is derived from the Scots dialects brought to Shetland from the end of the fifteenth century by Lowland Scots, mainly from Fife and Lothian, with a degree of Norse influence from the Norn language, which is an extinct North Germanic language spoken on the islands until the late 18th century.

Shetland dialect
Shetlandic, Shetland, Modern Shetlandic Scots
Shætlan
Christine De Luca speaking Shetland dialect
Pronunciation	[ˈʃe̞tlənd̥]
Native to	United Kingdom
Region	Scotland
Ethnicity	Scottish people
Native speakers	3,500 ("used at home") (2011) 11,000 ("can speak")
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic North Sea Germanic Anglo-Frisian Anglic Scots Insular Scots Shetland dialect
Early forms	Proto-Indo-European Proto-Germanic Proto-West Germanic Proto-English Northumbrian Old English Early Middle English Early Scots Middle Scots Modern Scots with significant Norn substrata
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	(scz is proposed)
Glottolog	shet1241  Shetland Scots
Linguasphere	52-ABA-aad
IETF	sco-u-sd-gbzet
Shetland in Scotland
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Consequently, Shetland dialect contains many words of Norn origin. Many of them, if they are not place-names, refer to e.g. seasons, weather, plants, animals, places, food, materials, tools, colours, parts of boats.

Like Doric in North East Scotland, Shetland dialect retains a high degree of autonomy owing to geography and isolation from southern dialects. It has a large amount of unique vocabulary but, as there are no standard criteria for distinguishing languages from dialects, whether Shetland dialect is a separate language from Scots is much debated.

Phonology

"Shetland dialect speakers generally have a rather slow delivery, pitched low and with a somewhat level intonation".

Consonants

By and large, consonants are pronounced much as in other Modern Scots varieties. Exceptions are: The dental fricatives /ð/ and /θ/ may be realised as alveolar plosives [d] and [t] respectively, for example [tɪŋ] and [ˈmɪdər] rather than [θɪŋ], or debuccalised [hɪŋ] and [hɪn], (thing) and [ˈmɪðər] mither (mother) as in Central Scots. The qu in quick, queen and queer may be realised [xʍ] rather than [kw], initial /tʃ/ ch may be realised [ʃ] and the initial cluster wr may be realised [wr] or [wər].

Vowels

The underlying vowel phonemes of Shetland dialect based on McColl Millar (2007) and Johnston P. (1997). The actual allophones may differ from place to place.

Aitken	1l	1s	8a	10	2	11	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
	/ae/	/əi/			/i/	/iː/^1	/e/^2	/e/	/ɔ/	/u/	/y, ø/^3	/eː/^4	/oe/	/ɑː/	/ʌu/	/ju/	/ɪ/^5	/ɛ/^6	/a~æ/^7	/ɔ/	/ʌ/

1. Vowel 11 occurs stem final.
2. Vowel 3 is often retracted or diphthongised or may sometimes be realised [i].
3. Vowel 7 may be realised [u] before /r/ and [ju] before /k/ and /x/.
4. Vowel 8 is generally merged with vowel 4, often realised [ɛ] or [æː] before /r/. The realisation in the cluster ane may be [i] as in Mid Northern Scots.
5. Vowel 15 may be realised [ɛ̈~ë] or diphthongised to [əi] before /x/.
6. Vowel 16 may be realised [e] or [æ].
7. Vowel 17 often merges with vowel 12 before /nd/ and /l r/.

Vowel length is by and large determined by the Scottish Vowel Length Rule, although there are a few exceptions.

Orthography

To some extent a bewildering variety of spellings have been used to represent the varied pronunciation of the Shetland dialect varieties. Latterly the use of the apologetic apostrophe to represent 'missing' English letters has been avoided. On the whole the literary conventions of Modern Scots are applied, if not consistently, the main differences being:

• The /d/ and /t/ realisation of what is usually /ð/ and /θ/ in other Scots dialects are often written d and t rather than th; "thing" and "there" written "ting" and "dere".
• The /xʍ/ realisation of the qu in quick, queen and queer is often written wh; "queer" is written "wheer".
• The /ʃ/ realisation of initial ch, usually /tʃ/ in other Scots dialects, is often written sh; "chair" is written "shair".
• The letters j and k are used rather than y and c, influenced by Norse spelling. The letter j is often used to render the semivowel /j/ of the letter y, especially for the palatalised consonants in words such as Yule in English— rendered Yuil in Scots— which becomes written Jøl in Shetland dialect (for the additional change of the Scots ui to ø in this word, see below).
• Literary Scots au and aw (vowel 12 and sometimes vowel 17) are often represented by aa in written Shetland dialect.
• Literary Scots ui and eu (vowel 7) are often represented by ü, ö, or ø influenced by Norse spelling.

Grammar

The grammatical structure of Shetland dialect generally follows that of Modern Scots, with traces of Norse (Norn) and those features shared with Standard English.

Articles

The definite article the is pronounced [də] often written da in dialect writing. As is usual in Scots, Shetland dialect puts an article where Standard English would not:

gyaan ta da kirk/da scole in da Simmer-- 'go to church/school in summer' da denner is ready 'dinner is ready' hae da caald 'have a cold'

Nouns

Nouns in Shetland dialect have grammatical gender beside natural gender. Some nouns which are clearly considered neuter in English are masculine or feminine, such as spade (m), sun (m), mön (f), kirk (f). This can also apply to dummy constructions, e.g. what time is he? In a study comparing pre-oil Shetland dialect usage from oral history recordings and contemporary speech from interviews, the gender system in Shetland dialect was found to be a stable feature of modern dialect usage, and is not tied to use alongside "traditional lexical items".

The plural of nouns is usually formed by adding -s, as in Standard English. There are a few irregular plurals, such as kye, 'cows' or een, 'eyes'.

Pronouns

Shetland dialect also distinguishes between personal pronouns used by parents when speaking to children, old persons speaking to younger ones, or between familiar friends or equals and those used in formal situations and when speaking to superiors. (See T–V distinction)

The familiar forms are thoo (thou), pronounced [duː], often written du in dialect writing; thee, pronounced [di(ː)], often written dee in dialect writing; thy, pronounced [daɪ], often written dy in dialect writing; and thine, pronounced [daɪn], often written dine in dialect writing; contrasting with the formal forms you, you, your and yours, respectively.

The familiar du takes the singular form of the verb: Du is, du hes ('you are, you have').

As is usual in Scots, the relative pronoun is that, also meaning who and which, pronounced [dat] or [ət], often written dat or 'at in dialect writing, as in da dog at bet me... – 'the dog that bit me...'

Verbs

As is usual in Scots, the past tense of weak verbs is formed by either adding -ed, -it, or -t, as in spoot, spootit (move quickly).

The auxiliary verb ta be 'to be', is used where Standard English would use 'to have':I'm written for 'I have written'.

Ta hae 'to have', is used as an auxiliary with the modal verbs coud ('could'), hed ('had'), micht ('might'), most ('must'), sood ('should'), and wid ('would') and then reduced to [ə], often written a in dialect writing:Du sood a telt me, 'you should have told me'.

As is usual in Scots, auxiliary and monosyllabic verbs can be made negative by adding -na:widna, 'would not'. Otherwise, the Scots negative has no where standard English has 'not'.

References

1. United Kingdom census (2011). "Table KS206SC – Scots: Can speak Scots". National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
2. "Change Request Documentation: 2024-007". SIL.
3. The Linguasphere Register (PDF). November 2012. p. 414.
4. The use of Shetlandic for the language occurs in, for example, James John Haldane Burgess (1892) Rasmie's Büddie: poems in the Shetlandic, Alexander Gardner; James Inkster (1922) Mansie's Röd: Sketches in the Shetlandic; T. & J. Manson; Jack Renwick (1963) Rainbow Bridge. (A collection of poems in English & Shetlandic.), Shetland Times; Jack Renwick, Liam O'Neill, Hayddir Johnson (2007) The harp of twilight: an anthology of poems in English and Shetlandic, Unst Writers Group.
5. "Modern Shetlandic Scots language and alphabet". www.omniglot.com. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
6. Catford J.C. (1957) Vowel-Systems of Scots Dialects, Transactions of the Philological Society. p.115
7. http://www.scotslanguage.com/Scots_Dialects_uid117/Insular_uid118/Shetland_uid675 The Main Dialects of Scots: Shetland
8. http://www.scotslanguage.com/Scots_Dialects_uid117/Insular_uid118/Orkney_uid1243 The Main Dialects of Scots: Orkney.
9. http://www.scotslanguage.com/Scots_Dialects_uid117/Insular_uid118/Insular_uid3422 The Main Dialects of Scots: Insular.
10. Price, Glanville (1984) The Languages of Britain. London: Edward Arnold. p.203 ISBN 978-0-7131-6452-7
11. Barnes, Michael (1984) Orkney and Shetland Norn. Language in the British Isles. Ed. Peter Trudgill. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.29 states that a paper by Gunnel Melchers "lists the following areas of vocabulary as being particularly rich in Norn words: types of wind and weather; flowers and plants; animals; seasons and holidays; food; tools; materials and colours; movement; whims, ludicrous behaviour, unbalanced states of mind, qualities." But, as published, the paper he cites (The Norn Element in Shetland Dialect Today – A Case of Never-Accepted Language Death, in Ejerhed, E. and I. Henrysson (eds.) Tvåspråkighet. Föredrag från tredje Nordiska Tvåspråkighetssymposiet 4-5 juni 1980. Acta Universitatis Umensis. Umeå Studies in the Humanities 36. 254-261) does not include such a list.
12. ""Modern Shetlandic Scots"". Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Shetlopedia. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
13. Graham, John J. 1993. The Shetland Dictionary 3rd ed. (1st ed. 1979, 2nd ed. 1984). Lerwick: The Shetland Times. xxii
14. SND Introduction - Phonetic Description of Scottish Language and Dialects. p.xl.
15. SND Introduction - Phonetic Description of Scottish Language and Dialects. p. xl.
16. McColl Millar. 2007. Northern and Insular Scots. Edinburgh: University Press Ltd. p. 33.
17. McColl Millar. 2007. Northern and Insular Scots. Edinburgh: University Press Ltd. p. 48.
18. McColl Millar. 2007. Northern and Insular Scots. Edinburgh: University Press Ltd. p. 37.
19. Johnston P. Regional Variation in Jones C. (1997) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh p. 485.
20. McColl Millar. 2007. Northern and Insular Scots. Edinburgh: University Press Ltd. p. 35.
21. Johnston P. Regional Variation in Jones C. (1997) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh p. 469.
22. McColl Millar. 2007. Northern and Insular Scots. Edinburgh: University Press Ltd. p. 45.
23. McColl Millar. 2007. Northern and Insular Scots. Edinburgh: University Press Ltd. p. 39.
24. Johnston P. Regional Variation in Jones C. (1997) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh p. 469.
25. Johnston P. Regional Variation in Jones C. (1997) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh p. 485.
26. Melchers, Gunnel (1991) Norn-Scots: a complicated language contact situation in Shetland. Language Contact in the British Isles: Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on Language Contact in Europe, Douglas, Isle of Man, 1988. Ed. P. Sture Ureland and George Broderick. Linguistische Arbeiten 238. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer. p. 468.
27. Graham, J.J. (1993) The Shetland Dictionary, Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd. p. xxiv.
28. Graham, J.J. (1993) The Shetland Dictionary, Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd. p. xxiv-xxv.
29. Graham, J.J. (1993) The Shetland Dictionary, Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd. p. xix.
30. Robertson, T.A. & Graham, J.J. (1991) Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect, Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd. p. vii.
31. Robertson, T.A. & Graham, J.J. (1991) Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect, Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd. p. 1.
32. Grant, William; Dixon, James Main (1921) Manual of Modern Scots. Cambridge, University Press. p. 78.
33. Robertson, T.A. & Graham, J.J. (1991) Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect, Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd. p. 2.
34. Velupillai, Viveka (24 September 2019). "Gendered inanimates in Shetland dialect - comparing pre-oil and contemporary speech". English World-Wide. 40 (3). John Benjamins Publishing Company: 269–298. doi:10.1075/eww.00032.vel. eISSN 1569-9730. ISSN 0172-8865.
35. Robertson, T.A. & Graham, J.J. (1991) Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect, Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd. p. 3.
36. Grant, William; Dixon, James Main (1921) Manual of Modern Scots. Cambridge, University Press. p. 79.
37. SND: Du
38. Robertson, T.A. & Graham, J.J. (1991) Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect, Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd. p. 4.
39. Grant, William; Dixon, James Main (1921) Manual of Modern Scots. Cambridge, University Press. p. 96-97.
40. Grant, William; Dixon, James Main (1921) Manual of Modern Scots. Cambridge, University Press. p. 102.
41. SND: Dat
42. Robertson, T.A. & Graham, J.J. (1991) Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect, Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd. p. 5.
43. Robertson, T.A. & Graham, J.J. (1991) Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect, Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd. p. 9.
44. Grant, William; Dixon, James Main (1921) Manual of Modern Scots. Cambridge, University Press. p. 113.
45. Robertson, T.A. & Graham, J.J. (1991) Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect, Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd. p. 11.
46. Robertson, T.A. & Graham, J.J. (1991) Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect, Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd. p. 11.
47. Robertson, T.A. & Graham, J.J. (1991) Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect, Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd. p. 10.
48. Grant, William; Dixon, James Main (1921) Manual of Modern Scots. Cambridge, University Press. p. 115.

Bibliography

• Haldane Burgess, J.J. 1913. Rasmie's Büddie: Poems in the Shetlandic ("Fancy, laek da mirrie-dancers, Lichts da sombre sky o Life.") Lerwick: T. & J. Manson.
• Knooihuizen, Remco. 2009. "Shetland Scots as a new dialect: phonetic and phonological considerations" in English Language and Linguistics Vol. 13, Issue 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

External links

• I Hear Dee - Shaetlan on the global map (English version)
• Introduction to modern Scots: Insular Scots Archived 27 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine
• Shetland ForWirds - Promoting Shetland Dialect
• McColl Millar's internet extension to 'Northern and Insular Scots' 2007, with recordings of regional dialect variants of the Shetland Islands
• Example of Shetland speech on the British Library website
• Example of Shetland speech on Youtube