Dialect or Language?

Question 1

Give examples of what goes into a social definition of a language.

Answer 1

Political status of variety
History of the variety
It’s use in literature, law and government
Dictionaries (Codification)
Ultimately: WHAT PEOPLE THINK IT IS.

This still doesn’t account for all languages*

Question 2

Give some reasons why Scots should be seen as a language in its own right.

Answer 2

Scandi languages example
It has a distinctive sound system, grammar and vocabulary
It has a long orthographic and literary tradition from the middle ages to the present day
It has its own dialects within

Question 3

Explain the diglossia in Scotland between Scots and SSE.

Answer 3

High variety (SSE) in contact with low variety (Scots).
High influences low, so the low becomes more like the high
Gap between the two is ‘filled’ with a continuous range of speech forms which are neither high nor low

Question 4

Give some reasons why Scots is a dialect.

Answer 4

Descends from Old English, like present day English. Only separated for 800 years, as opposed to German and English: 1500 years
Not completely incomprehensible to speakers of RP English
No significant syntactic differences - easy to translate word for word

SOCIAL FACTORS: No meaningful official status in Scotland
No role in administration in Scotland