Shetland Language
Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia
Contents |
History
The Shetland Dialect is a rich mixture of Norse and Scottish.
From the time of the Viking invasion about 900AD, until the islands were handed over to Scotland as part of a wedding dowry in 1469, the language spoken was called Norn, which was almost the same as Norwegian.
After the handover to Scotland, there was little change until the early 1600's when Scotland decided that the Norse laws which governed the islands were to be outlawed and replaced by Scottish Law
From this point on the Scottish language was used in all legal matters, and in the church.
As the Scottish invasion of the land grabbing Earls continued, and trade links with Scotland were set up, the Scottish language infiltrated more and more into everyday use.
By the early 18th century most Shetlanders were bi-lingual,and as time went by and the links with Scotland grew stronger, Norn slipped slowly into the past. Although many words have survived in slightly altered form this is due in many cases to the similarity to Scottish words which were also derived from a Viking influence.
The Shetland Dialect of today is being used less and less as the multicultural nature of the isles has made the adoption of the Queens English essential for the ease of communication.
The Shetland Dictionary Project, has been set up in the hope of preserving as much of the rich linguistic history of the isles as possible. Please feel free to add/edit the dictionary.
Pronounciation
Grammar
Local Variations
Many dialect words are spelled differently in the various parishes. It is important that these differences are recorded. In The Shetland Dictionary Project, if you have a different spelling to the one already there, add your spelling with any variation of description, and a note of which district the variant version is from.
Adding To The Dictionary
If you are not sure how to edit a dictionary page then post details of the word you wish to add on the Shetlopedia.com forum Shetland Dictionary Project
