WHAT’S THE FUTURE OF THE ORKNEY DIALECT?
Populations are changing, and the various forms of media affect us all. Does this mean that dialect is fated to go the way of the great auk and the cruisie lamp? Can social media help? Could it even become a language – as has happened in Shetland? Dr Tom Rendall and Dr Sarah Jane Gibbon look at a range of views and examples to open up the debate.
The book Gaan Nort, edited by Tom Rendall with a foreword by Liam McArthur, contains interviews across the whole of the North Isles of Orkney about dialect and many other issues, from changes in farming to hopes for the future in transport, and there is a review in Frontiers magazine.
Don’t say “Nu”, say “Now.”
And don’t say “Ku”, say “Cow.”
An’ the bairns aal shouted an’ roared wae laughter,
When I said “efter” instead o’ “after.”
Sheu gaed me the klipe ‘cis I said “Liv,”
Instead o’ the palm o’ me hand,
An’ sheu haaled i’ me gansey an’ gaed me a rive,
When I couldno’ understand!
“Your English is terrible, boy,” sheu roared,
“I just can’t comprehend it.”
Bit I wisno spaekan English,
Though the peur sowl didno’ ken it!
