A Short Story in the Scots Language - the Original American as originally spoken

Now only heard in Scotland, King James the VI spoke this way at Royal Court when he brought Shakespeare down with him from Scotland to take up the new British crown in 1603. This is NOT English but British - the modern "English" can't pronounce it!
Since then it has been butchered by television but the way it is spoken here is truer to the actual spelling and therefore much less ambiguous than the modern idiom we hear so much of on the media.
For an explanation video please see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwMdXrDMiMU

Category:

Education

Tags:

• short story
• Scots Language
• Scottish Language
• American Language
• William Shakespeare
• yt:quality=high
• yt:stretch=16:9

[Szaam]

It seems to a very strongly adapted dialect of English to me, with a heavy Gaelic influence, rather than an individual language.

[kensho123456]

@Szaam You do know, of course, that your neck of the woods was originally a part of Scotland, don't you? Your teachers probably neglected to mention it as too dialectical :-).

[H2Zman]

It's funny that I can read scots but can only understand it a little. It took me until halfway in to realize it was scots and not scottish gaelic or something like that.

[ZlorfikF17]

This is what english sounded like to me before I became fluent

[politrix]

Dunno if I would consider this a separate language. It sounded alien to me for about 30 seconds, but after adjusting to it, I didn't have too much trouble understanding it.

[baddave62]

I understand a few words per sentence, but I find it mainly unintelligible. But then I understand Scouse only a little bit better.

[kensho123456]

@naegling3 Scots and English sound similar in the same way Portuguese and Spanish sound similar. What I hope interests people however is how Scots has sustained itself almost unchanged in the face of an English focused media such that one can still hear traces of the authentic speech that would have been around when America was being formed. Sadly, due to media influence, many Engish people mistakenly believe "British" is just another word for "English".

[naegling3]

kind of disappear. But linguists can't even agree on the matter...

[naegling3]

I have trouble understanding this at all... but I know what you mean. It all depends on what you ear is used to hearing. For instance I have trouble understanding this. But I will understand regional american english better than you. Like gullah and spanglish. Both of us would have an awful time trying to understand "tok pisin". So when speaking such a geographically diverse language the lines that separate "language" and "accent" and "dialect"

[MarvellousMuffin]

@Szaam

It's actually not very influenced by Gaelic, you'd be surprised how far apart they are. I speak Scottish English with Scots loan words, and I'm learning Scottish Gaelic, and it's nothing like the stuff I know. You'd think being a native it'd be a bit easier for me, but really, that language is tough. Harder for me to learn than German and Russian. Scots is more influenced by old Germanic words, I'd say. Take the word Bairn, for example.

[kensho123456]

@LibertyLuvr1969 You sound a pretty amazing person...thank you for your kind words.

[kensho123456]

@LibertyLuvr1969 My focus is historical therefore am talking not so much about what it "is" but what it [British] "was".and with that proviso I agree with your analysis in terms of the varied roots of the language...it's usually referred to in text books as "Middle Englsh" but my assertion is that is it is more accurately described as "British" (parly for al the reasons you cite)