Queen Margaret University logo
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   QMU Repositories
    • eResearch
    • School of Health Sciences
    • CASL
    • View Item
    •   QMU Repositories
    • eResearch
    • School of Health Sciences
    • CASL
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Acquisition of Scottish English Phonology: an overview

    View/Open
    wp-7.pdf (607.7Kb)
    Date
    2006
    Author
    Scobbie, James M.
    Gordeeva, Olga B.
    Matthews, Ben
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Scobbie, J., Gordeeva, O. & Matthews, B. (2006) Acquisition of Scottish English Phonology: an overview, QMU Speech Science Research Centre Working Papers, , , ,
    Abstract
    Scottish English is usually characterized as a language continuum from Broad Scots to Scottish Standard English- (Corbett, McClure & Stuart-Smith, 2003, p.2). A 1996 survey preparatory to the 2001 census by the General Register Office (Scotland) estimated that about 30% of the Scottish population use (Broad) Scots to some extent, rising to 90% in the North East. The linguistic situation on the ground is complicated somewhat by population movement and dialect contact (as well as uncertainty about what constitutes Scots or Scottish Standard English (SSE) in the first place). Scots derives from the Anglian variety of Old English spoken in the 6th century, and varies regionally, whereas SSE is far more homogenous geographically. Scots speakers still tend only to be exposed in childhood to a Scottish English continuum which is rooted in their own local variety of Scots and so are not influenced much by other geographically delimited broad varieties. This continuum is of course just one aspect of sociolinguistic variation and is itself always undergoing language change: large differences should be expected between older more conservative speakers and the young as well as regionally and socio-economically. In the urban setting, local housing variation means that adjacent neighbourhoods may have markedly different linguistic profiles. Even the two ends of the Scots-SSE continuum are largely mutually intelligible, though mastery of SSE will not prepare someone new to Scotland (or indeed nave Scots themselves) for the difficulties they will face in understanding a broad speaker from an unfamiliar area. In general, the closely-related varieties of Scottish English can be thought of as being parallel with - but independent from - the other Englishes of the UK, but with their own national focus, however vague that is. The size, proximity and influence of England, as well as population movements mean, however, that historically and synchronically, the Scottish English continuum is attracted towards its English neighbour.
    URI
    https://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/149
    Collections
    • CASL

    Queen Margaret University: Research Repositories
    Accessibility Statement | Repository Policies | Contact Us | Send Feedback | HTML Sitemap

     

    Browse

    All QMU RepositoriesCommunities & CollectionsBy YearBy PersonBy TitleBy QMU AuthorBy Research CentreThis CollectionBy YearBy PersonBy TitleBy QMU AuthorBy Research Centre

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Queen Margaret University: Research Repositories
    Accessibility Statement | Repository Policies | Contact Us | Send Feedback | HTML Sitemap