Shaetlan - A young language wi aald røts (herdback)

Dis is da first bilingual grammar o Shaetlan, da language at predaets English ithin Shetland, da maist norderly bit o da UK. Da language is o mixed ancestry, wi Norn an Scots as its main input languages, bit wi a linguistic history shaepit bi closs contact wi da Low Country Germanic languages becis o da intense Hanseatic an fysheen traedes. Shaetlan is bøn braaly stigmatised ower da hindmaist twa hunder year, an is nivver bøn tocht richt fir øse. Noo hit’s ithin a precarious poseetion, wi less an less young fokk takkin til it fae dir aald fokk. Hoosumivver, da backbonn o da language is bidden strong an still shaas da rare Mixed Language forebears, no jüst ithin da vocabulary bit ithin its grammar an aa.

Da grammar tells aboot da language fae a linguistic typological ootlook, and sets it ithin a wirld typological context. He’s a linguistically kantit book, bit is bøn written fir aabody tae read. Da data is maed up o 37.5 ooers o archival recoardeens (yun’s aboot 400,000 wirds); fibye dat de’r mair as 9 year o interviews, participant observation an immersion.

Da book starts wi seeven contributions fae midder tongue spaekers o Shaetlan. He’s dan spleet inti twa pairts: Pairt I tells da historico-linguistic røts ti Shaetlan, tells aboot its status an plaess ithin Shetland daday, shaas da science ahint caain hit a Mixed Language, an offers a orthography at’s bøn pitten tigidder fir da data gaddered fir Da Shaetlan Projict. Pairt II gies a grammatical description o Shaetlan as it stands noo, øsin a gineral typological linguistic framewark an is laid oot laek a conventional typological linguistic grammar.

Da hael book is bilingual apairt fae da bits fae da seeven midder tongue spaekers at ir onnly in Shaetlan, as is onnly richt.

Fir da full Table o Contents, see below.

This is the first bilingual grammar of Shaetlan, the language which pre-dates English in Shetland, the northernmost part of the UK. The language is of a mixed ancestry, with Norn and Scots as its main input languages, but with a linguistic history shaped by intense contact with the Low Country Germanic languages due to the intense Hanseatic and fishing trades. Shaetlan has seen severe stigmatisation over the last few centuries, and has never been formally recognised. It is now in an endangered state, with dwindling intergenerational transmission. However, the structure of the language has remained remarkably resilient and still shows its unique Mixed Language ancestry not only in its vocabulary but also in its grammar.

This grammar describes the language from a linguistic typological perspective, and places it in a global typological context. While it is a linguistically oriented book, it is written to be accessible for the general public. The data consists of 37,5 hours of archival recordings (which represents a corpus of about 400,000 words) as well as more than nine years of interviews, participant observation and immersion.

The book starts with seven contributions by Shaetlan mother tongue speakers. It is then divided into two parts: Part I sets the scene and gives the historico-linguistic background to the formation of Shaetlan, discusses its status and place in society today, shows the data for classifying it as a Mixed Language in its own right, and presents the orthography used for the data in Da Shaetlan Projict. Part II gives a grammatical description of contemporary Shaetlan, using a general typological linguistic framework and structured as a conventional typological linguistic grammar.

The entire book is bilingual, with the exception of the seven introductory contributions by Shaetlan mother tongue speakers, which are in Shaetlan only.

For the full Table of Contents, see below.

International endorsements fir dis book

This is the first typological grammar of Shaetlan, a remarkable mixed language spoken by a resilient bilingual community. The work follows the best scholarly practices in analytic and typologically-oriented description, and puts the language on the map. The grammar is based on close collaboration with mother-tongue speakers as co-authors. It is entertaining and will be accessible to a varied selection of audiences.

Prof. Dr. A.Y. Aikhenvald, CQUniversity Australia

Shaetlan: A young language wi aald røts is the best language book I have ever read. Its scholarliness, depth and datelines on the one hand, and accessibility, simplicity and clarity on the other, make this bilingual community-based publication invaluable for linguists, language learners and local and global language-rights activists.

Dr. Alexander Andrason, University of Cape Town & Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages

‘Shaetlan’ changes the conversation about the language that it describes. Moving quickly beyond the argument that Shaetlan is a “kind” of English or Scots or Norn, the authors definitively establish that it deserves to be discussed as a language in its own right, with its own grammar and phonology, that has interacted in complex ways with all of the above. The authors of this book make the startlingly effective decision to write it in both English and Shaetlan, and it is in fact the ability to read about Shaetlan in Shaetlan that best establishes for the reader that this is a distinct language, most closely allied to Scandinavian languages in its structure and to Scots in its vocabulary. The attention paid to variation within Shaetlan is particularly well-done, and gives a clear sense of a community well aware of the distinctness of its speech and the systematic ways that it differs from the prestige language around it. This book changed how I see Shetland and its language, and I enjoyed the opportunity it presented of learning to read Shaetlan by exposure, too.

Dr. Jackson W. Crawford, https://jacksonwcrawford.com/

This book is nothing short of transformative—a shining example of inclusive linguistics at its finest. Written bilingually and co-authored with members of the Shaetlan-speaking community, it is rigorously grounded in sound linguistic science, yet it remains accessible to non-specialists, welcoming both academics and lay readers alike into the richness of the Shaetlan language. Shaetlan is recognized and respected internationally, and this book is already used in university classrooms as a model for language documentation, description, maintenance, and activism. Shaetlan is not just a language of local significance—it is a language of global importance. This is a book that will inspire scholars, students and activists alike—and it is one I will return to again and again.

Prof. Dr. Michel DeGraff, MIT Boston

This groundbreaking bilingual grammar brings Shaetlan, a typologically unusual contact language, to the attention of linguists and language enthusiasts worldwide. It follows the best scientific practices of typological linguistics in using solid data and up to date analytical methods. Grounded in a close collaboration between linguists and mother tongue speakers, this highly readable and accessible book opens new horizons in language studies.

Prof. Dr. R.M.W Dixon, CQUniversity Australia

This bilingual grammar shows the unique history, status and linguistic characteristics of the Shaetlan language. The study is firmly rooted in the most up-to-date theoretical frameworks and analytical methodologies, yet written to be both accessible and entertaining for the general public.

Prof. Dr. Merja Kytö, Uppsala University

This vigorous and splendidly-illustrated book is in Shaetlan and about Shaetlan, and uses it – thanks to the native speakers who have contributed – to demonstrate the structure, the skilfulness and the spirit of this remarkable language. Grammar, and much more, written with verve and passion!

Prof. Dr. Anthony P. Grant, Edge Hill University

Viveka Velupillai and Roy Mullay with their co-authors have provided an invaluable resource for their community in Shetland and for a wider readership interested in issues of linguistic and cultural diversity. Shetlanders are particularly indebted to the authors in that they have produced a book of the highest academic standards which is accessible to a non-specialist audience. It is obvious from the foregrounding of the co-authors’ mother-tongue narratives that the first-language Shaetlan community is book’s primary audience. This bilingual publication combines linguistic description, anthropological and biographical testimony and a rationale for sustaining Shaetlan as a differentiated language. The detailed description of Shaetlan as a mixed language, rooted in historical and sociological context, serves as the most compelling and coherent appeal to date for languagehood recognition for Shaetlan. The readers of this volume will conclude that this is long overdue.

Prof. Dr. Conchúr Ó Giollagáin, The University of the Highlands and Islands

Velupillai & Mullay’s meticulous work finally establishes Shaetlan as a distinct language with its own legitimate place in the North Atlantic. It presents irrefutable evidence that Shaetlan deserves full recognition and support as a viable medium for education and public affairs. An essential, paradigm-shifting contribution that will resonate far beyond Scotland’s northern isles.

Prof. Dr. Kofi Yakpo, The University of Hong Kong