Airticles tagged “Opinion”
Braw lads an soor plooms: on the mairch in Galashiels
Aboot the first thing that happens whan we get tae the mairch is that we get pit in chairge. Weel, kind o. Yin o the organisers comes joggin taewarts us across the gress, asks if we’ll be stewards. Me, ah cry aff; ah’m here tae write aboot the mairch, no tae rin it, an ah’m gey shuir ah’ll no hae onything positive tae say bi the fínish. Ah’v no been …
Effeirin tae the formal: Laitinate lendwirds in Scots
This is a bit follae-up tae my post frae afore, ‘Tap 10 wirds the Scots language haes gien the warld’. Ane o the wirds ben yon piece wis convene, at I notit wis no sae meikle a innovation o Scots as it wis a borraein frae aither Laitin or French at appeared in Scots aroond echty year afore it did in English.
Daein it yersel
Onybody keekin roond the door yestreen an seein me laid oot on ma back on the fluir, heid ablo the computer desk, could be forgien for thinkin tae theirsel, ‘O Goad, she’s deid!’ But than they wad hear the sweirin an ken it wis juist me lyin amang the stourie taigle o wires ahint the prenter tryin wi baith haunds tae wrassle oot yet anither o ma crushed, manky cairds grippit like a vice atween the machine rowers.
Anent hou I cam tae be slitterin aboot wi the prenter in the first place, I hae tae gae back a week or twa. Ye see, it haed come tae me that I micht hae a shottie at makkin ma ain Yuil cairds!
Hou tae forder human skeels
Afore the simmer, I writ in ma afore gane airticle anent hou there is specific skeels that us humans haes that ither species disnae. But hou can we forder thir capacities? Mony human skeels appear tae hae developit in the situation in prehistoric East Africae whaur, acqueesh 135,000-90,000 year syne, there wis several drochts. Thir drochts wis brithert wi a chynge in material cultur. Archaeologists thinks this suggests some o the maist important intellectual skeels developit by wir species, like spikkin an abstract thocht, kythed at this time.
This mebbes appluised a richt muckle cousie for humanity. It turnt oot the early humans wis gittin a inlat for intellectual capacities tae develop.
It’s no you, it’s me: or, sorry Gaelic, but Scots still haes issues tae wirk throu
Syne we’r aw on the subject nou o whit mis-uisses o the leid a Scots spikker is or isnae alloued tae feel affrontit bi — whither it’s sneistie Disney-Pixar memes or the Diet Scots on American telly programmes — can ah lat ye in on wan o ma ain wee wirry-carles? Ye’ll hiv heard it yersel, nae dout; yon thocht-terminatin cliché that signifies maximum woke wi minimum ettlin, thirls sympathy for the cause wi sweirtness tae hear anither wird aboot it, an it gangs like this:
“Oh, one of my friends is a Gaelic speaker, and he…”
Weel… ay. Yin o the tapmaist kenmerks o oor mansplainy times is that there’s naither need nor prerogative tae haud tae the maiter at haund, especially gin ye ken naething aboot it an hiv nae interest in learnin. We mebbes dinnae aw ken awfu muckle aboot the Scots leid, but we’v aw got a freend or twa that spiks Gaelic, or is ettlin tae — an sae maist o us hiv got a hale wheen o richt-on opinions on the subject. Hou important the leid is, hou necessar that we aw fecht tae preserve it an pass it ontae oor bairnfowk. Mun, juist staundin here sayin aw this maks ye feel like Martin Luther King oot on the steps o the Capitol…