sae vs so

Shaetlan has two words that can both translate to Standard English 'so': the conjunction so (pronounced /so/) and the adverb sae (pronounced /se/). They don't mean the same but are often confused.

Adverbs are used as modifiers of different kinds. The little word sae indicates degree or extent:

– A'm needin a grain o clith at's sae lang [gesture]. ('I need a bit of cloth that's this long [gesture]')

– A'm nivver seen sae mony touries! ('I've never seen that many tourists!')

– Hit's no sae ill. ('It's not that bad')

Conjunctions are small words that connect entities (words, phrases or entire clauses). Some conjunctions build a clause into another clause and make them into an element of that other clause. Those kinds of conjunctions are called subordinate conjunctions. The little word so is used to create subordinate clauses:

– I cam airly so (at) I wid hae time. ('I came early so (that) I would have time)

– I wis fantin so I aksed if de wir ony sassermaet. ('I was starving so I asked if there was any sassermaet')

It can also be used as a kind of a soothing interjection:

– So so!

To "correct" sae to so would be misguided. These two words have different functions in Shaetlan. To always use sae for all functions would also be misguided: that would be a pattern replication of Standard English that would import the Standard English grammar and mask the more nuanced Shaetlan grammar.