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Doric dialect (Scotland)

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File:WIKITONGUES- David speaking Doric Scots and English.webm
A Doric Scots speaker, recorded in Scotland

Doric, the popular name for Mid Northern Scots<ref>Robert McColl Millar (2007) Northern and insular Scots Edinburgh University Press. p. 3</ref> or Northeast Scots,<ref>Ana Deumert & Wim Vandenbussche (2003) Germanic standardizations: past to present. John Benjamins. p. 385</ref> refers to the Scots language as spoken in the northeast of Scotland. There is an extensive body of literature, mostly poetry, ballads, and songs, written in Doric. In some literary works, Doric is used as the language of conversation while the rest of the work is in Lallans Scots or British English.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A number of 20th and 21st century poets have written poetry in the Doric dialect.

Nomenclature

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The term "Doric" was formerly used to refer to all dialects of Lowland Scots, but during the twentieth century it became increasingly associated with Mid Northern Scots.<ref>McColl Millar. 2007. Northern and Insular Scots. Edinburgh: University Press Ltd. p. 116</ref>

The name possibly originated as a jocular reference to the Doric dialect of the Ancient Greek language. Greek Dorians lived in Laconia, including Sparta, and other more rural areas, and were alleged by the ancient Greeks to have spoken laconically and in a language thought harsher in tone and more phonetically conservative than the Attic spoken in Athens. Doric Greek was used for some of the verses spoken by the chorus in Greek tragedy.

According to The Oxford Companion to English Literature:

Since the Dorians were regarded as uncivilised by the Athenians, “Doric" came to mean “rustic" in English, and was applied particularly to the language of Northumbria and the Lowlands of Scotland and also to the simplest of the three orders in architecture.<ref name=Oxford>Drabble, Margaret (ed.) The Oxford Companion to English Literature (fifth edition, 1985)</ref>

18th-century Scots writers such as Allan Ramsay justified their use of Scots (instead of English) by comparing it to the use of Ancient Greek Doric by Theocritus.<ref name="Mither Tongue">Template:Cite book</ref> English became associated with Attic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Phonology

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Most consonants are usually pronounced much as in other Modern Scots dialects but:

Some vowel realisations differ markedly from those of Central Scots dialects. The vowel numbers are from Aitken.<ref>Aitken A.J. 'How to Pronounce Older Scots' in 'Bards and Makars'. Glasgow University Press 1977</ref> See also Cardinal vowels.

Literature

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Template:More citations needed North East Scots has an extensive body of literature, mostly poetry, ballads and songs. During the Middle Scots period writing from the North East of Scotland adhered to the literary conventions of the time; indications of particular "Doric" pronunciations were very rare. The 18th-century literary revival also brought forth writers from the North East but, again, local dialect features were rare, the extant literary Scots conventions being preferred. In later times, a more deliberately regional literature began to emerge.

In contemporary prose writing, Doric occurs usually as quoted speech, although this is less and less often the case. As is usually the case with marginalised languages, local loyalties prevail in the written form, showing how the variety "deviates" from standard ("British") English as opposed to a general literary Scots "norm". This shows itself in the local media presentation of the language, e.g., Grampian Television & The Aberdeen Press and Journal. These local loyalties, waning knowledge of the older literary tradition and relative distance from the Central Lowlands ensure that the Doric scene has a degree of semi-autonomy.

Doric dialogue was used in a lot of so-called Kailyard literature, a genre that paints a sentimental, melodramatic picture of the old rural life, and is currently unfashionable. This negative association still plagues Doric literature to a degree, as well as Scottish literature in general.

Poets who wrote in the Doric dialect include John M. Caie of Banffshire (1879–1949), Helen B. Cruickshank of Angus (1886–1975), Alexander Fenton (1929–2012), Flora Garry (1900–2000), Sir Alexander Gray (1882–1968), Violet Jacob of Angus (1863–1946), Charles Murray (1864–1941) and J. C. Milne (1897–1962).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

George MacDonald from Huntly used Doric in his novels. A friend of Mark Twain, he is commonly considered one of the fathers of the fantasy genre and an influence on C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.

Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Scots Quair trilogy is set in the Mearns and has been the basis of a successful play and television series. It is very popular throughout Scotland and tells the story of Chris, an independent-minded woman, mainly in a form of English strongly influenced by the rhythms of local speech.

A version of Aesop's Fables has been published in Doric, as well as some sections of the Bible.

The North East has been claimed as the "real home of the ballad"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and, according to Les Wheeler, "91 out of a grand total of (Child's) 305 ballads came from the North East – in fact from Aberdeenshire", which makes the usual name of "Border Ballad" a misnomer put about by Sir Walter Scott.

Contemporary writers in Doric include Sheena Blackhall, a poet who writes in Doric, and Mo Simpson, who writes in the Aberdeen Evening Express and peppers her humour column with "Doricisms" and Doric words. Doric has also featured in stage, radio and television, notably in the sketches and songs of the Aberdeen-based comedy groups Scotland the What? and the Flying Pigs.

Sample text

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Gin I was God by Charles Murray (1864–1941) <ref>Charles Murray (1920) In the Country Places, Constable & Company Limited, p.11.</ref> Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 Doric

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Template:Col-2 Translation

IF I were God, sitting up there above,
Wearied no doubt, now all my work was done,
Deafened by the harps and hymns unending ringing,
Tired of the flocking angels hoarse with singing,
To some cloud edge I'd saunter forth and, faith,
Look over and watch how things were going beneath.
Then if I saw how men I'd made myself
Had started out to poison, shoot and kill [fell],
To steal and rape and fairly make a hell
Of my fine spinning Earth—a whole week's work—
I'd drop my coat again, roll up my shirt,
And, ere they'd time to launch a second ark,
Take back my word and send another flood [spate],
Drown out the whole shebang, wipe the slate,
Admit my mistake, and once I'd cleared the board,
Start everything ["all-thing"] over again, if I were God.

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Recent developments

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In 2006 an Aberdeen hotel decided to use a Doric voice for their lift. Phrases said by the lift include "Gyaun Up" Template:IPA (Going up), "Gyaun Doun" Template:IPA (Going down), "atween fleers een an fower" Template:IPA (between floors one and four).<ref name="urlBBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | North East/N Isles | Hotel lands uplifting Doric voice">Template:Cite news</ref>

Also in 2006, Maureen Watt of the SNP took her Scottish Parliamentary oath in Doric. She said "I want to advance the cause of Doric and show there's a strong and important culture in the North East."<ref name="urlBBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Doric oath as new MSPs sworn in">Template:Cite news</ref> She was required to take an oath in English beforehand. There was some debate as to whether the oath was "gweed Doric" (Template:IPA) or not, and notably it is, to a certain extent, written phonetically and contains certain anglicised forms such as "I" rather than "A", and "and" instead of "an":

"I depone aat I wull be leal and bear ae full alleadgance tae her majesty Queen Elizabeth her airs an ony fa come aifter her anent the law. Sae help me God."

In Disney/Pixar's Brave, the character Young MacGuffin speaks the Doric dialect, and a running joke involves no one else understanding him. This was a choice by the voice actor, Kevin McKidd, a native of Elgin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In autumn 2020, the University of Aberdeen launched a term-long Doric course, offering it to all its undergraduate students.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In August 2012, Gordon Hay, an Aberdeenshire author, successfully completed what is believed to be the first translation of the New Testament into Doric. The project took him six years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

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References

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Sources

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