I'm not sure if this is a prank or not, but if it is, it's a bloody brilliant one. Apart from the spelling, I see no difference between standard English and this example of Scots. This isn't to say that I believe Scots to not be a language in and of itself, but it is to say that this must be a very poor example of Scots.
Leiteratur is leiterally "an acquent wi letters" (frae the Latin littera meanin "the ae written chairacter (letter)"). The term haes maistly come til identifee a collection o texts. The wird "leiteratur" as a common noon can refer til onie kin o writin, sic as essays; "Leiteratur" as a proper noon refers til a hail bodie o leiterar wark, global or anent the ae cultur. Monie a time there's confusion on the actual defineition o leiteratur an Leiteratur. The wird "leiteratur" can be baith singular an plural, juist like "Literatur". Sayin that, "leiteraturs" is plural forby. Houaniver "Leiteratur", wi emphasis on uppercase L, is a subset o the mair wide-reengin "leiteratur". "Leiteratur" is uised for onie written wark o byordinar intellectual calibre, whiles "leiteratur" can be oniething written. Sae, "War and Peace" bi Tolstoy is "Leiteratur" (singular) as weel as "leiteratur" (singular), but Dickens's wark is pairt o "Leiteratur" (plural) as weel as "leiteratur" (plural). Mairanower a Harry Potter novel will be thocht on as "leiteratur" (singular) but nae as "Leiteratur" (singular) sith maist fowk wadna deem the beuks as intellectual or meaninfu eneuch at an academic level. Likewice the Harry Potter collection bi J. K. Rowling will be thocht on as "leiteratur" (plural) but nae as "Leiteratur" (plural). What is intellectual an meaninfu is subjective an aften controversial or dubious, but it daesna interfere wi the defineition abuin.Leiteratur - Wikipedia
Now if this is not a paragraph written in English, I must have been speaking Scots all my life. Apart from the non-standard spelling, I can't tell the difference between the two languages. And if spelling is the only thing that differentiates the two from each other, Chaucer and Shakespeare must have been writing in totally different languages.
So just in case I am showcasing my ignorance, can someone tell me how the above paragraph is not written in English?
1 comments:
Frankly, I'll go you one farther. I'm a Scot, but Scots is not a language. It's a dialect, and to use your example, Shakespeare and Chaucer were certainly writing in different dialects. The other thing that complicates things is that Scots has taken on a lot of English words, becoming more English in the process, but its always had such a root in English that I think its best considered a dialect. Gaelic's a whole nother thing though.
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