Shetlandic is the traditional language of the Shetland Islands.
In Shetlandic, it is called Shaetlan, that is, simply 'Shetland'.
In English it is otherwise known as The Shetland Dialect,
or, along with Orcadian, as Insular Scots.
Nomenclature and related issues.
On this website the name Shetlandic is preferred, for the
following reasons:
The term 'The Shetland Dialect' presents a number of problems.
In contrast to the native term Shaetlan it is three words
rather than one, and this quickly becomes cumbersome when it is
used frequently, with the result that it is often shortened to
'Shetland Dialect', 'the dialect', or simply to 'dialect'. The
resultant shifts in connotation can be seen in the following phrases:
1. 'spaekin Shaetlan'
2. 'speaking The Shetland Dialect'
3. 'speaking Shetland Dialect'
4. 'speaking dialect'
1. The first phrase, in Shetlandic, is what Shetlanders would
naturally say when describing how they speak. The phrase 'spaekin
Shaetlan' includes connotations of accent, grammar and vocabulary,
and is used in contrast to 'spaekin English' or 'spaekin proper',
reflecting the prejudice that standard English is a more 'proper'
form of speech than Shaetlan. (This does not, however,
necessarily mean 'better' - in most circumstances, 'spaekin proper'
would be seen as undesirable affectation.)
2. The second phrase, 'speaking The Shetland Dialect', is how
this concept would normally be translated into English. The term
The Shetland Dialect is more or less equivalent to Shaetlan,
in that it includes connotations of accent, grammar and vocabulary.
It does, however, introduce the word dialect which raises
several questions. First of all, the implied distinction between
'language' and 'dialect' is absent in the Shetlandic designation
of Shaetlan, and this means that a concept is introduced
into the English translation of Shaetlan which does not
exist in the Shetlandic term. Whereas the focus of the term Shaetlan
is on the fact that this is how Shetlanders speak, without any
reference to the relationship of this speech to other forms of
speech, the force of the term dialect is to represent that
speech as a version of something else and ultimately to define
it in terms of its relationship to that something else. As Shetlanders
normally write in English rather than Shetlandic, this concept
is thus inevitably present when they write or read about their
own speech, but absent when they speak about their own speech.
The increasing acceptance of this - essentially external - appraisal
of Shetlandic can perhaps be seen in the increasing use of terms
including the word 'dialect' to describe it, even when speaking
Shetlandic, where formerly it would simply have been described
as 'Shaetlan'.
In context, 'the dialect', with the but without Shetland,
can usually be taken to be equivalent to 'the Shetland Dialect'.
3. When the definite article the is omitted, leaving just
Shetland Dialect - another practice which appears to be
increasing in Shetland publications - the connotation is again
subtly altered. Whereas The Shetland Dialect refers to
a fairly established and definable entity - as described, for
example, in Grammar and Usage of The Shetland Dialect by
Graham and Robertston - the term Shetland Dialect has a
more amorphous connotation, and one has the feeling that the idea
of 'speaking Shetland Dialect' might cover variations of speech
which would not traditionally be perceived as Shaetlan.
Also, the lack of the definite article arguably switches emphasis
from Shetlandic as an entity, to emphasis on the variation (both
from standard English and from each other) of speech forms found
in Shetland.
4. When both the and Shetland are omitted from the
phrase, and it becomes 'speaking dialect', it has become so amorphous
as to be practically meaningless. Everyone who speaks, speaks
a dialect of some sort, irrespective of how closely or otherwise
that dialect is related to the dialect which provides the basis
for the dominant written and spoken language of the country (which,
in the case of Shetland, is standard English). To write or talk
about 'speaking dialect' means little more than 'speaking language'
or even 'speaking speech.' Insofar as 'speaking dialect' has a
connotation which these terms lack, it can mean only 'speaking
some form of language other than the standard' - which is rather
like describing a breed of dog as 'not a poodle.'
There is always a problem of definition with the use of the word
'dialect', in that it tends to be contrasted with 'language',
as if 'speaking dialect' were a different sort of mental, or even
physical, activity from speaking the standard variety. It can
be seen how the translation of Shaetlan first into The
Shetland Dialect, and then subsequently into Shetland Dialect
and then just dialect, reflects an accompanying shift in
the presentation and perception of the speech which is so described.
From Shaetlan, which has only a regional connotation, we
have a progressive shift to dialect, which has only a connotation
of non-standardness. The concept of Shetlandic as the language
of a place has been subtly altered, by stages, to a concept of
Shetlandic as a language characterised by its variation from a
standard.
The introduction of the word 'dialect' creates another, corollary
problem. If Shetlandic is a dialect, what is it a dialect of?
Most Shetlanders, and many linguists, would assume that it is
a dialect of English; but Scots enthusiasts, and some linguists
(depending on whether they are prepared to recognise the word
'Scots' as a meaningful term) regard it as a dialect of Scots.
In Shetland, however, Scotland is traditionally regarded as a
different place from Shetland, and in Shetlandic 'spaekin Shaetlan'
and 'spaekin Scottie' are mutually exclusive concepts. Again,
we have a situation where external descriptions of Shetlandic
introduce concepts which are alien to how it is traditionally
perceived by its native speakers.
The term Insular Scots, while useful in certain circumstances,
is not useful as a general term to describe Shetlandic. Firstly,
because of the traditional perception of Shetlandic as being different
from Scots, it is an external definition which does not reflect
native concepts. An invented term such as Shetland Scots would
present similar problems. Secondly, it includes Orcadian; and
although Shetlandic and Orcadian are much more alike than either
is to any form of Mainland Scots, and could probably be dealt
with as a single entity were there a reason to do so, the relative
lack of communication between Orkney and Shetland makes this impractical.
It would also be possible to refer to Shetlandic as Shetland English,
as Swedish scholar Bengt Oreström does in his A Corpus
of Shetland English. This, however, creates several problems.
Firstly, Shetlanders do not regard their native tongue as English
- though they may regard it as a dialect of English - but rather
contrast it with English, just as they do not regard it as Scots.
Secondly, this term could equally mean standard English as spoken
by a Shetlander - that is, with a Shetland accent, and perhaps
some characteristics of Shetlandic grammar - as opposed to Shetlandic.
The particular type of confusion which arises here is best illustrated
from the example of Scots. Some writers do not wish to use the
term 'Scots'; or, even if they do, are reluctant to contrast it
with 'English', of which they regard it as a variety. Thus David
Crystal, in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language,
refers to Scots sometimes as Scots - e.g. 'This dialect area ('Geordie')
extends throughout Northumberland, and shares several features
with southern Scots' (p. 326); 'Scots has received far more lexicographical
description than other regional British varieties' (p. 328) -
and sometimes as English - e.g. 'The traditional distinctiveness
of the English language in Scotland is for many people identified
with the writing of Robert Burns...' (p. 351.) In other places
he contrasts Standard English and Scots: 'In this example, the
grammar corresponds to Standard English, including the use of
may (which is not used in Scots...).' Although the use
of the word English as an umbrella term for all related regional
varieties, including creoles and pidgins, is justifiable in certain
contexts, it here creates potential confusion between Scots and
Scottish Standard English, which is a distinctive version of English
in its own right.
This potential for confusion could be illustrated almost ad
infinitum. In English Phonology and Phonological Theory,
Roger Lass gives examples of the long/short vowel dichotomy which
occurs in most types of English, and then comments in a footnote:
'This refers to (relatively) standard dialect types, e.g. RP and
the like in Britain, most U.S. dialects, and 'Anglicised' Scots.
Scots proper is excluded, as its vowel system is not dichotomous...'
(p. 4). Here, it is not clear exactly what is meant by 'Anglicised'
Scots - it would appear that, in contradistinction to writers
who describe all forms of English-related speech in Scotland as
English, Lass is describing them all - presumably including Scottish
Standard English - as Scots.
The difficulties which arise from this practice can be seen in
another footnote (p. 139) where Lass comments that 'this unrounding
(i.e. of Middle English /O/)
is much more widespread in Scotland: cf. names like Tam,
Rab, etc., and spellings in earlier Scots like aff, aft,
bannet, gat, labster, parritch, pat, saft, stap, tap (all
from Fergusson 1851).' The problem here is that most of the spellings
cited represent pronunciations in forms of contemporary Scots
- at least aff, aft, labster, saft and tap
in the North East, for example - which raises the question of
what, if these are judged to be earlier Scots, is meant by current
Scots. Much of the confusion could be avoided if the term Scottish
Standard English (SSE) were used for standard English as spoken
by Scots, and Scots for forms of language which exhibit characteristic
features such as the sound changes shown above, while recognising
that the speech of many Scots does not conform to either paradigm.
Similarly, it is better to use a term which does not include the
word 'English' to describe traditional Shetlandic, and to restrict
the term 'Shetlandic' to the traditional variety of the language.
Related to this is the question of how far Shetlandic and English
form a linguistic continuum - an argument which is sometimes used
against the use of terms other than English to describe varieties
distinct from the standard, such as Scots and Shetlandic. It is
possible to distinguish different meanings of 'continuum' in this
context:
a) A dialect continuum, where varieties are likely to be more
distinct the further they are apart. For example, Scots is more
distinct from the English of Kent than it is from the English
of Northumbria.
b) A continuum of speech within a given area, where some sectors
of society may speak a distinct local variety; others standard
English; and others something in between.
c) A continuum in the speech of individuals, who may speak a distinct
local variety, standard English, or something in between depending
on the circumstances or who they are talking to.
There is not, then, simply a continuum between Scots or Shetlandic
and English, but a variable continuum operating differently in
different areas, social sectors and individuals. In Shetland,
the social continuum - which forms the basis of much of the modern
study of language variety - is of relatively small importance,
as very few native Shetlanders spoke standard English until recently,
and the switch to standard English in Lerwick appears to be predominantly
geographically rather than socially determined. Anglicisation
of traditional Shetlandic also tends to be associated with the
town of Lerwick - an urban/rural rather than social distinction
- and more generally with the loss of vocabulary in successive
generations. Insofar as individuals tend to 'code change' - which
may result in anything from slightly modified Shetlandic, through
English with Shetlandic features (usually syntactic), to standard
English - it is likely to be in order to make themselves understood
to non-Shetlanders rather than as a mark of social affectation.
An important point here is that, in order for there to be a continuum,
there must be something at either end. The following examples
- of what the parking attendant said - illustrate this:
i. I've booked all those who were wrongly parked.
ii. I'v booked aa those at wir wrongly parked
iii. I'v bookit aw thae wha wur wrangly parkit
iv. I'v booked aa dem at wis wrangly parked
v. I'v beukit aa thaim at wis wrang parkit
vi. I'm bookit aa dem at wis wrang parkit.
i. Standard English
ii. English with some features which could be either Scots or Shetlandic
iii. A hybrid language with Scots morphology and English syntax, such as is often seen in literary Scots writing.
iv. Anglicised Shetlandic, such as might conceivably be heard from some speakers in Shetland today (though I cannot cite actual examples.)
v. Traditional colloquial Scots.
vi. Traditional colloquial Shetlandic.
There are various forms of language here, all of which might be
regarded as being in a continuum with standard English. However,
because standard English is codified and Scots and Shetlandic
are not (that is, although such codification exists - e.g. in
Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect - most Scots
and Shetlandic speakers are unaware of it, and it is commonly
rejected by linguists and writers who nevertheless accept the
codification of standard English) such features are normally seen
only in respect of their divergence from standard English. Thus,
whereas it would be easy to identify features in any of the above
examples which are Scots and/or Shetlandic features as opposed
to features of standard English, it would not be so easy to identify
features which are features of standard (or, indeed, other non-standard)
English as opposed to Scots or Shetlandic, because the concepts
of 'Scots' and 'Shetlandic' are relatively undefined, and it is
therefore difficult to say categorically that a feature such as
'those', or the relative use of 'wha', is 'not Scots' or 'not
Shetlandic'. The inevitable result is that everything is measured
against the yardstick of standard English.
For this reason, this website adopts the form of Shetlandic described
in Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect - which is
simply a formal documentation of Shetlandic as spoken by most
people in rural communities - as a baseline with which other features
can be compared.
Arguably, the word Shetlandic also has connotations which
are not present in the native term Shaetlan. Specifically,
being formed by analogy with Icelandic, it looks like the
designation of a language rather than a dialect. It may be because
of this that - although it has been used sporadically for a long
time - it has never become widely popular in the Shetland press.
Perhaps it is felt that to use a term which does not contain the
word 'dialect' would be pretentious.
Related to this is the fact that the concept of what Shaetlan
itself consists of is becoming less clear. The traditional concept
of Shaetlan was sufficiently ingrained in the population
not to require definition. In more recent times, deterioration
of some of the traditional features of Shetlandic (such as the
distinction between the formal and familiar second person singular
pronouns you and du) has made this identification
less certain, and the adoption of standard English by young people
in the town of Lerwick has made the traditional perception of
Shetlandic as the speech of Shetlanders in general less obvious.
It may be that this uncertainty as to the scope and significance
of Shetlandic - with perhaps a corollary uncertainty as to the
scope and meaning of the Shetland identity, along with an acceptance
of modern academic and literary emphases on variety in language
- leads to a tendency to use less rather than more precise terms
to describe it.
So why not just use the word Shetland - which is what Shaetlan
means - and use terms like 'speaking Shetland' when writing in
English? There are at least two, closely related, reasons why
this would not be practical. The first is that Shetland
used in an English sentence lacks the traditional connotations
which Shaetlan used in this way has in a Shetlandic sentence.
Secondly, use of the name of a place for the language of that
place is not normal in standard English. For both of these reasons
- as is so often the case - a literal translation would not be
a good one.
It can be seen how consideration of the issue of nomenclature
is important, in that it is closely related to issues of how Shetlandic
is perceived by Shetlanders and others, and to questions of how
far concepts can be lost or distorted - as is the case with all
languages - by translation to standard English.
Because of these considerations, this website uses the term Shetlandic
as being the most neutral translation of the native term Shaetlan,
and as referring to the traditional Shetlandic on which the website
concentrates. The following terms may also be used:
'Contemporary Shetlandic' here means Shetlandic as spoken today,
in its various forms, but excluding standard English.
'Modern Shetlandic' here means Shetlandic which is recognisably
the same language as contemporary Shetlandic, whether contemporary
or not. It would include, for example, the work of George Stewart
(1825-1911) James Stout Angus (1830-1923) Basil R. Anderson (1861-1888)
and J.J. Haldane Burgess (1862-1927), as well as early verses
such as The Unst Lay; Helya's Night Prayer; Minnie o Shirva's
Cradle Sang; and the narrative of King Orfeo. It does
not include verses such as The Hildina Ballad, The Unst Boat
Song and the refrain of King Orfeo, which are essentially
Norn; nor The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry, which is in
a form of literary Scots noticeably different from Shetlandic.(1)
'Traditional Shetlandic' here means Shetlandic as described in
Grammar and Usage of the Shetland Dialect, as opposed to
more Anglicised forms of contemporary Shetland dialect.
The word 'dialect' is here used of regional dialects of Shetlandic
- e.g. The Burra Dialect, The Whalsay Dialect.
(1) These poems can be found in A Shetland Anthology, edited
by John J. Graham and Lawrence I. Graham, Shetland Publishing
Company, 1998; ISBN 0 906736 19 6