Dis project'll be makkin a in-depth grammatical description o Shaetlan, at is fir eenoo tocht tae be endangered. Da grammar'll be maed tae mak fokk understaand da language better, tae gie it mair credibeelity an acceptance, an tae shaa at Shaetlan is a linguistically viable kind o language on its ain.
Hoo important a language variety is tae da identity an sense o plaess o a community canna be underestimated. Da lang an da short o it is at a language is da braeth o da culture an hit hadds ithin it aa da knowledge, history an character o a culture. Hoosumivver, language firbye dat is capital an sud be taen on as a valuable commodity wi da sam value as idder natural resources.
Wharaboots: a archipelago at maks up da boarder atween da Atlantic til da wastert, an da Nort Sea til da aest, pittin it atween Great Britain, Norwa an Faroe.
Capital: Lerwick
Population: aboot 23,000
Estimated number o Shaetlan spaekkers: aboot 30-50% o da population. Da number at's gien by da 2011 census gies da wrang impression an shaas da fact at da census onnli included English an Scots but no Shaetlan. Hoosumivver, maist Shaetlan spaekkers dunna identify demsels as spaekkers o a Scots variety, neider dø dey identify demsels as a Scots population, but reidder as saeperit Shetland fokk wi a saeperit language variety. Widn you ken at dis maks sense historicolinguistically spaekin: Shaetlan can be ergued tae be a braaly saeperit varsity o Scots noo, wi it haein a strong Norn substrate an strong contact fae da Low Germanic languages, hit isna mutually intelligible wi idder varieties o Scots aless fir dem idda plaesses at wis wunt tae spaek Norn (Orkney an Caithness).
Da language is traetend, wi less transmission, wi no as mony fokk waantin tae spaek Shaetlan til dir bairns. An fir aa dat, Shaetlan is nivver bøn kent o as a language tae lairn da bairns wi at da skül, an even noo hit’s traetit as bein “wrang” whin bein øsed idda classroom an ithin skülwark.
Aboot da language naem: Da autonym, or naem fir da language by da spaekkers demsels, is Shaetlan /ˈʃe̞tlən/ fir maist spaekkers. A peerie twartree spaekkers wid refer til da language as Shetlandic, but dis naem is wint tae be devisive.
Hit isna uncommon fir languages an plaesses tae hae da sam or braaly seemlar naems. A ert kent example o a plaess an a language haein da exact sam naem wid be Suomi (Finland) / suomi (Finnish). Idder examples wid be Lao (Laos) / lao (Lao), Kiribati (Kiribati) / kiribati (Gilbertese), Lallans (Lowlands Scotland) / lallans (Lowlands Scots), alang wi a lok o idders. Examples whar da naem fir da plaess an da language is jüst aboot da sam wid be Malta (Malta) / malti (Maltese), Hrvatska (Croatia) / hrvatski (Croatian), València (Valencia, Spain) / valencià (Valencian).
Glottocode: shet1241
Y’ir wint tae see linguistic repression whar naiteral resources is bein exploitit by onn'y a peerie twartree fokk at hadds pooer. Da language o da eens at hadds da pooer is in dat wye seen tae shaa status an wealt, an dat maks fokk idda community win til da wrang assumption at dir ain language is "no sae good as" an it hinders dem comin aheid socially. Dis maks fir da promotion o ee language ower an abün da tidder an a shift awa fae da stigmatised variety, insteid o lattin der be acceptance o da baith o da varieties whar de'r seen as bein languages at can be øsed fir ivrythin an onythin, an languages at can benefit fae een anidder. Da stigmatisation o an shift awa fae een o da varieties leads til a disconnect atween fokk's senses o identity an plaess, an idda end til a loss o baith self-confidence an a want tae self-determine. Hoosumivver, athin communities whar ivry language variety is gotten tae be accepted athin it's ain right, da sense o identity, confidence an resilience is mair laekly tae be stronger, an dat maks fir better education an economy. A example o da latter is Faroe, at's shaan a graet abeelity tae be flexible an ir able tae inventively problem solve til demsels, an fairly trowe da pandemic crisis eenoo. A example o da former wid be Jamaica, at's seen hit's naiteral resources exploitit by a peerie linguistic twartree whar dis is led til a lang-lestin, inset linguistic repression o da maist spokken community language, at itsel is led til graet inequality athin education an economy, an dat maks da educated fokk move awa. Pitten idderwise, communities at's confident linguistically is wint tae hae success firbye wi education an economics, wharas communities at's subjected til linguistic repression is wint tae hae fokk movin awa fir wark an education, an dir economies suffer. Wi aa dat hoo important a language variety is til da welfare o a community canna be underestimated.
Shaetlan is a language variety at's contact is seldom aised trow history. Da main languages pitten in wis da noo extinct Scandinavian Norn, da language at wis eence spokken by Viking settlers, an Scots. Hit's still braaly distinct fae idder varieties o Scots, an da Scandinavian bits o it is still notticeable idda language.
Shetland is been a plaess o contact for hunders o years. Da isles wis inhabited whin Norsemen wis flitten til dem fae da Wast o Norwa fae da hidmaist end o da 8th century. Dey brocht wi dem dir Norse language (Norn) at wis da language spokken apø da isles till weel eftir da Scots tøk ower in 1469. Da shift fae Norn til Scots geed peerie wyes an lestit at least 250 year. Da intense trade contacts atween Shetland an mainland Scotland, an firbye dat wi da plaesses idda Hanseatic League, parteeclarly in connection wi da herrin industry, led til multilingualism apø da isles troo da middle ages an renaissance an intil modren times. Dat wye da language spokken athin Shetland is alwis bidden unique an hit's a massive pairt o wir local identity, an forms a huge pairt o da heritage o Shetland.
Da 20t century is seen a steidy shift fae Shaetlan til English, an dat shift seems tae a gotten quicker idda last generation. Dis shift is affen blemt apø da upsteer idda economics an demographics at da oil industry brocht wi it til da isles, startin idda middle o da 1970s an bein at its height idda middle o da 1980s. Hoosumivver, as yit de ir nae description o da language as it wis afore da oil boom, an dat means at da assumption at da shift gyaan on eenoo is connecit wi da effects o da oil industry is bidden anecdotal an unquantified. Dat bein dat, da aim o dis project is tae mak a comprehensive grammar o baith pre-oil an da language as it is eenoo. Dis'll alloo da documentation an description o Shaetlan at a critical stage, whin hit bein endangered micht be able tae be hindered, if no turnt.