Edinburgh probably isn't very representative of the lot. Bring on the Glaswegians and Aberdeen Dorics! My classmate from Aberdeen claims clearly that he's *bilingual* in Doric [Scots] and English, as do most natives of Aberdeen. I think there are lots of native Scots speakers who realise Scots is different enough from English that it has become a different language, and it's our job to promote their awareness of a Scots Wikipedia.
However, for those in Edinburgh who aren't sure whether they're speaking Scots or just Scottish English, I agree that pushing them to contribute or read a Scots Wikipedia isn't the best of ideas.
(Re geonotices) Geonotices are opt-out rather than opt-in. However, geolocation often isn't very good in the UK, and it's possible that your IP is tagged to the wrong place all the time.
On 29 September 2011 22:17, Brian McNeil brian.mcneil@wikinewsie.orgwrote:
On Wed, 2011-09-28 at 13:53 +0100, Harry Burt wrote:
On Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 1:45 PM, HJ Mitchell hjmitchell@ymail.com
wrote:
The same could be said of Welsh, or Latin, or a handful of other
languages
with a dedicated Wikipedia. I'm on the fence as to the usefulness of
these
projects, but I thought I'd just point out that there are a few of
them. ;)
Harry (HJ Mitchell)
Oh, sure. But Scots is the most marginal case of the lot, I think, which is why I was reminded of it by the original post.
I'm going to chime in here onHarry's post, as-opposed to getting further down the rabbit hole on this discussion.
I live in Edinburgh. I am surrounded by people who speak Scots. They don't even know they do so. If you mention Scots as a language to them, they *might* think of the poetry of Rabbie Burns. If they're smart, they may say they speak a Scottish dialect of English.
Personally, I would say the difference between Scots and British English is more than the difference between Brit.Eng and U.S.Eng, but less than the difference back to Shakespearean English.
I'd go as far as saying you can only call it a distinct language if you're one of the people south of the border who demanded subtitles for Rab C. Nesbitt.
Whether or not the sco language code is justified, is a point I'll defer to linguists on. As I say, Burns is the best-known example of it, and I've no passion to glorify the poetic musings of an ex-tax collector.
Brian McNeil.
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Brian_McNeil - Accredited Reporter. Facts don't cease to be facts, but news ceases to be news.
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