Da airliest keneen o fokk bidin in Shetland wid be idda shall mideen o Wast Voe daetit tae 4200-3600 BC. Dis settlin fokk wis fisher/hunter-gadderers an we dunna ken whin dey cam tae Shetland or whar fae, nidder dø we hae ony wye o kennin whit languages dey spak. Da Indo-European languages haedna wun tae dis plaesses at yun time.

At ee point aroon aboot 3700-3600 BC de’r evidence o fairmin lifestyle in Wast Voe, as dey fan da banes o de’r kye, sheep an goats idda middeens. Firbye dat de’r fun da brucks o lemm. Da tombs, tools an lemm is laek dat at’s fun idda wast o Scotland, bit no wi whit’s fun ithin Orkney an Caithness. In dat wye hit looks laek dis neolithic fairmers cam tae Shetland straicht fae da wast o Scotland, an no trowe Orkney. Dey laekli cam in waves reidder as in wan muckle colonisin settlement. Hit wis dis settlers at brocht da kye an sheep tae Shetland at’s da ancestors o da Shetland breeds o kye an sheep at we hae noo. Da horse wid onli start shaain up in Shetland aboot 1,000-1,500 year efter.

Da fisher/hunter-gadderers (at wis ithin Shaetlan whin da fairmin fokk cam) seem tae a taen on da new wyes an blendit in wi dis new fokk. Whit languages dis fokk spak you canna ken, bit da Indo-European languages still widna win i dis pairt o da wirld till at laest 2,500 year laetter.

We’ll ging aheid aboot 4,000 year tae 4-500 AD. Bi noo aa o Europe is bøn settled bi spaekers o aa kind o Indo-European languages fir 1,500 year or mair. W’ir seen da Greek an Roman Empires come an ging. An aboot 400 AD de’r a lok o fokk flittin aa aroon Europe.

Bi noo da hale o da British an Irish mainlands wis settled bi spaekers o aa kind o Celtic languages. Idda nort o Scotland we hae da Picts. Da Picts spak a language at’s bidden unken fir lang, bit we tink noo at it wis laekli Celtic an fae da sam branch as Welsh.

Aroon aboot 4-500 AD, maebbi even as airly as aboot 300 AD, da Picts settle dem in Shetland. At da sam time, whit Roman troops is left in Britain moves oot an maks deals wi mercenaries fae aa dis Germanic tribes tae come an act as paecekeepers. Da raison wis tae keep doon apø da Celtic tribes at wis traetenin da Roman settlements. Da hindmaist Roman legion gings fae Britain idda year 407, an at da sam time mercenaries at spak varieties o da Nort Sea Germanic languages flit tae Britain: da Jutes cam fae Jutland in whit’s noo da nort o Denmark; da Angles cam fae da Nort Sea area o whit’s noo da Nort o Germany an da Nederlands, an da Frisians cam fae da Nort Sea area o whit’s noo da Nederlands an da nort o Belgium.

Da varieties o da Nort Sea Germanic languages dis tribes spak wis distinct bit understaandable atween een anidder. Dey settled dem in saeparate plaesses o da British mainland: da Jutes gied tae whit’s noo Kent idda sooth-aest o England; da Frisians gød jüst tae da nort o dat, an braali shün cam tae blend in we dir neebirin Germanic tribes; da Saxons gød tae whit’s noo da sooth an sooth-wast o England; an da Angles gød tae twa big areas: Mercia, at’s noo da middle an aest o England, an Northumbria, at’s noo da nort o England an da sooth o Scotland.

Dis main plaesses is relevant tae da linguistics: hit wis da languages o dis fower main tribes at wid come tae be Aald English. Bit Aald English wis nivver ee single language at wis aa da sam. Mairsae, hit wis ey fower distinct dialects: da Kentish Aald English (spokken bi da descendants o da Jutish settlers), da Wast Saxon Aald English (spokken bi da descendants o da Saxon settlers) da Mercian Aald English (spokken bi da descendants o da Angles at settled dem in Mercia) an da Northumbrian Aald English (spokken bi da descendants o da Angles at settled dem in Northumbria). We dunna hae muckle idda wye o traeces o Kentish Aald English left. We hae a braa grain o material ithin West Saxon Aald English, fur dat wis da language o King Alfred an he commissioned a lok o translations fae Latin tae da language o da fokk, i.e. his language an da language spokken ithin his kingdom. So maist o wir information aboot Aald English is fae da Wast Saxon variety. We dunna hae muckle left o Mercian Aald English, bit we dø hae a grain left o Northumbrian English.

Dis fower varieties o Aald English wid be braali established bi aboot 600 AD, an at dat time spaekers o Gaelic startit flittin fae Ireland tae da wast o Scotland. Wi dis, twa varieties o Gaelic cam tae be: Irish an Scottish Gaelic. Dis means at Scottish Gaelic an Northumbrian English established demsels at aboot da sam time in Scotland. Baith o dem cam at peerie wyes: Scottish Gaelic cam fae da wast, an Northumbrian Aald English expandit fae da sooth-aest gyaan tae da nort an middle.

So dan – bi aboot 800 AD we ken aboot dis main linguistic groups ithin da British Isles: Gaels in Ireland an da nort-wast o Scotland. Picts idda nort o Scotland, Orkney an Shetland. Northumbrian Aald English idda middle an sooth o Scotland. Mercian Aald English idda nort, middle an aest o England. Welsh in Wales an Cornish in Cornwall. Wast Saxon Aald English idda sooth o England. An finally Kentish Aald English in da soot-aest o England.

An noo da Norse expansion starts.

Shetland wis first settled bi spaekers o Wast Norse aboot 790. We dunna ken fir definite whit happent wi da Pictish fokk at wis aareidy bidin in Shetland at yun time. Very little is left o dir language: da tree plaess naems Yell, Unst an Fetlar is tocht tae be pre-Norse, bit idder as dat de’r herdly onythin linguistic left o da population aforehaand.

Spaekers o Wast Norse colonised Faroe an Iceland firbye, an raided an colonised da Scottish Wastern Isles an Ireland an aa. At aboot da sam time spaekers o da Aest Norse raided an dan colonised da aest cosst o England. Bi 900 da Danelaw area wis grown tae tak in nearly aa o da aest an nort o England, and pushed English Mercia tae da wast. Northumbria bed independent o da Danelaw. Da land rule o da Danelaw brocht a lok o Aest Norse influence apø da language o da plaess.

Danadays Shetland wi aaned bi da Norwegian king an da dominant language ithin baith Shetland an Orkney wis Wast Norse, at wid come tae be Norn. At da sam time da Northumbrian Aald English wid come tae be Scots, an Mercian Aald English wid come tae be English.

Norn wid end up bein spokken fir aboot 1,000 year in Shetland. Idda middle ages spaekers o Scots wid start movin tae Shetland graeter numbers. Whin Shetland wis pawned tae Scotland in 1469 da language o administration cam tae be, Scots, an efter a start Shetland cam tae be a bilingual plaess wi Scots an Norn. Da twa languages wid be spokken alangside een anidder fir anidder 250 years or sae. At da sam time de wir a lok o Hanseatic trade as weel as a lok o trade wi da Dutch fisheen fleet. Dis means at Shetlanders widda haed lang an closs keneen wi spaekers o Middle Dutch an Middle Low German. Dat wye Shetland wis a multilingual plaess: mair an mair spaekers wid be bilingual ithin Scots an Norn, an at da sam time wid be fairly wint wi Dutch an Low German. Dis wis da linguistic seteen at wid shaep modren Shaetlan.

Da hindmaist spaeker (or “minder”) o Norn died in 1850. An wi dat Norn wis slockit.

English cam tae hae mair an mair influence in Scotland wi da Union o da Croons in 1603. James I haed da Bible translatit intae English (no Scots) in 1611. So bit bi bit hit wid be English, no Scots, at wid be promotit ithin Scotland. Efter a start dis wid spreid tae Shetland an aa. In 1709 da Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge wis established, an dey set aboot establishin sküls whar da language o instruction wis English. Dis established an promotit English ower Scots even mair. Bi 1827 de wir a skül a ivvri parish o Shetland, an wi dat cam da tinkeen at English wis a mair valuable language as Shaetlan.

Dis isna justified linguistically. Shaetlan is bøn shaepit bi its rich history intae a unique language wi a unique structure. Hit’s ivvri bit as valuable as ony idder language idda wirld, an ivvri bit as complex an sophisticated as ony idder language idda wirld. Baith da vocabulary an grammar is a mixter o Norn, Scots, English, Dutch an Low German. Shaetlan is grown an cheinged wi da history o Shetland, an hit really shaas da sowl o da plaess. Pitten simply, hit’s da braeth o da culture o Shetland.

Shetland is noo a bilingual community in English an Shaetlan. Dis diversity is a asset an sud be a raison tae be prood. Hit sud firbye dat be celebratit an promotit, giein baith da twa languages equal spaess ithin aa pairts o society, espeecially as a language o instruction in sküls.