Dis ony o youse ken the Scots leid?

[Snesgamer]

Been learning individual words up to now. It's not as easy as it looks or sounds on paper - oftentimes the trouble is that it's TOO close to English (i.e. you're left wondering if the Scots equivalent is the same as English, etc.).

[Darkislander]

No bad there mucker. G'on yersel.

[slohairt]

Goamins, ma freend!

Pour1Malt is ah member here wha posts in Scots. A mesel learnt ah bit o Scots in university whan A lived in Ireland. (Scots or Ulster Scots/Ullans is spoken in Northren Ireland an Coonty Donegal in the Republic) It wis ah fairly staundart furm the schuil uised. A dinnae ken whither it wis truelins authentic or juist cleckit for makkin studies easier, but the wabsteid www.scots-online.org is written in ah verra seemilar style an is ah guid resource.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

The only problem with written broad Scots is that it is isn't easy to follow-- most people simply won't take the time. When spoken it is fairly easy to understand, the odd word being the exception, due to the context of the conversation.

As someone who has earned a respectable living as a writer since 1967 I'd suggest that if you have something to say (especially on this forum) use plain English. Writing in dialect or accent merely slows down your narrative flow, and lessens your credibility.

[beloitpiper]

Going with what McMillan said, for a long time Scots didn't have standardized spelling. In fact, most of the time it's wasn't written at all. Except on a few occasions (Robert Burns) it was exclusively spoken language. That is what makes it so difficult to write. Nowadays, the Ulster-Scots Agency (Tha Boord O' Ulster-Scots) is working to standardize the spelling, but it's still a good ways away.

[Highland Logan]

Going with what McMillan said, for a long time Scots didn't have standardized spelling. In fact, most of the time it's wasn't written at all. Except on a few occasions (Robert Burns) it was exclusively spoken language. That is what makes it so difficult to write. Nowadays, the Ulster-Scots Agency (Tha Boord O' Ulster-Scots) is working to standardize the spelling, but it's still a good ways away.

Ulster-Scots should be a dead give away, but if not.. they are trying to promote the use of the Ulster-Scots language (Ireland). It may be close to Scots, but I imagine it well be still quite different.

Frank

[Southern Breeze]

I've never had trouble reading Pour1Malts posts in spite of never studied the ah, language. Being a prolific reader probably helps.

[beloitpiper]

Ulster-Scots should be a dead give away, but if not.. they are trying to promote the use of the Ulster-Scots language (Ireland). It may be close to Scots, but I imagine it well be still quite different.

Frank

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Scotsdialects.png

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I've never had trouble reading Pour1Malts posts in spite of never studied the ah, language. Being a prolific reader probably helps.

Well, as both a prolific reader, and writer, and one-time editor, I find Pour1Malts stuff, at times, almost unreadable (Sorry Pour1Malt, and I hope you don't take it too personally). People in Scotland may speak like that, but they are educated in Standard English, the same as "rap artists" (oxymoron) are educated in Standard English, but choose to speak in the patois of the ghetto.

While it may seem "quaint" to write in accent, it really does little to convey the message.

[gilmore]

There are those who would say that Scots is not an accent, but a dialect, and there are those who would say that Scot is neither an accent nor a dialect, but a language.

And there is, or was, Max Weinreich, who said, "A language is a dialect with an army and a navy."