The Position of Ulster Scots
by Michael Montgomery, University of South Carolina
From: Ulster Folk Life Vol. 45, 1999. (Published by Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, Cultra)
Despite the fact that in the 17th century Lowland Scots speech was planted in parts of four Ulster counties (Antrim, Donegal, Down, and Londonderry) and has been there ever since, information on Ulster Scots could be found only in scholarly tomes and academic journals until little more than a decade ago. Today much of the general population in Northern Ireland recognizes the term 'Ulster Scots' and its newer alternative 'Ullans', thanks to a series of developments. Prominent among these were the founding in 1992 of the Ulster Scots Language Society (which seeks to promote the study, appreciation and use of Ulster Scots) and inauguration in 1993 of the Society's publication program (which to date includes the annual journal Ullans, a dictionary, and a grammar). Also of great significance was the following clause in the 1998 Belfast Good Friday Agreement mentioning Ulster Scots (for the first time in an official document):
All participants recognize the importance of respect, understanding and tolerance in relation to linguistic diversity, including in Northern Ireland, the Irish language, Ulster Scots and the languages of the various ethnic communities, all of which are part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland.
However, given the vagueness of this clause, cultural politics in Northern Ireland, and the tendency for seemingly any issue to become polarized in the province, the status of Ulster Scots has proven to be a vexed matter. The main issue, raised so persistently that it often seems the only one to merit attention (particularly by the media), is 'Is Ulster Scots a language or a dialect?' That the Agreement formally recognizes Ulster Scots and that Ulster Scots is expected to play a role in the peace process have become secondary issues. Popular discussion of Ulster Scots, as in letters to newspaper editors, ranges from on the one hand admiring descriptions of it as the language of a century of Rhyming Weaver poetry and of hearth and home for tens of thousands of stalwart rural folk today to on the other as the peculiar pronunciation of Ballymena or even a 'do-it-yourself language for Orangemen' concocted only recently for blatant political purposes.
Scholarly input can help bridge this gap and contribute knowledge to public debate about Ulster Scots. This includes regarding its status, though the first thing that most linguists would say is that the 'language or dialect' question should not preoccupy, much less sidetrack, discourse about Ulster Scots.
For the general public 'language' vs. 'dialect' represents a simple dichotomy, two either-or categories, but for linguists the terms are gradient and overlapping. The line (or, more properly, the gray area) between a 'language' and a 'dialect' differs from one situation to another. The assessment depends on structural characteristics (e.g. how similar are two language varieties in their grammar?), practical or functional criteria (how well can speakers of the two understand one another?), and political, historical, and cultural considerations (who is making the determination?) While Catalonians argue they speak a distinct language with a proud history and literature, elsewhere in Spain Catalan is often referred to as a dialect of Spanish. No two varieties of language are alike in character or circumstance, and even in western Europe the diversity of languages and language relationships is extraordinary. Certainly a variety of speech is not a dialect simply because it lacks a conventional or standard written form. In other words, 'language' and 'dialect' are actually quite relative terms. As a famous Norwegian-born linguist has said,
Laymen naturally assume that these terms ... refer to actual entities that are clearly distinguishable and therefore enumerable [but] they represent a simple dichotomy in a situation that is almost infinitely complex ... The use of these terms has imposed a division in what is often a continuum, giving what appears to be a neat opposition when in fact the edges are extremely ragged and uncertain. |
