The Position of Ulster Scots
by Michael Montgomery, University of South Carolina
According to the Charter, a minority language is one 'traditionally used within the territory of a State by nationals of that State who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the State's population and different from the official languages of that State'. It can be of one of two types: its genetic relation is either distant, if it exists at all, from an official or national language (Spanish vs. Basque; Italian vs. Romansch; English vs. Welsh), or it is quite close, of the same branch of the family (Spanish vs. Asturian; English vs. Scots). The Charter extends the category of minority language from the first type, which has long been recognized, to the second, because the two have similar real-world dimensions, the same political and social relationship to a national language, and the same lack of prestige or even identity.
Within such a European context, Ulster Scots can be seen as a typical minority language. With a history going back to the Early Modern period, it has close kinship with the official language of the nation, but has been completely marginalized in recent times. Its situation parallels that of other European minority languages genetically close to their superordinate counterparts, producing an indistinct boundary between the two. Educational systems have used the idea of the nation-state to deny the value and sometimes the existence of regional cultures, though the latter have many centuries of history or in some cases literature and of course native speakers. |
