If Scandinavia was a country, would people view it differently? (move, international)
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Swedish, Norwegian and Danish is in reality not much different than English and Scots English is, actually even closer if we include really thick Scots English like Glaswegian.
Scots English is just a very thick accent with some local words thrown in. It is not a dialect. Scots Gaelic is unrelated to English. Wales, North West England and southern Scotland once all spoke Welsh. Cumbria stretched right into Scotland before the current border was formed. Northern Scotland spoke Gaelic and Old Norse. Variations of Old Norse was spoken in North East England right down to eastern England.
Scots English is just a very thick accent whith some local words thrown in. It is not a dialect.
Still, dialect or accent or whatever, difference between English spoken in England and Scots English, is comparable to the differences between Swedish and modern Norwegian in terms of understanding by their native speakers. Why else would they for example be able to have shows like Big Brother the same in Sweden and Norway, with contestants from both countries, without any translators?
And yes there is Scottish dialects, infact some even calls it language:
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots).[7] It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language historically restricted to most of the Highlands, the Hebrides and Galloway after the Middle Ages.[citation needed]
Because there are no universally accepted criteria for distinguishing languages from dialects, scholars and other interested parties often disagree about the linguistic, historical and social status of Scots.[8] Although a number of paradigms for distinguishing between languages and dialects do exist, these often render contradictory results. Broad Scots is at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum, with Scottish Standard English at the other.[9] Consequently, Scots is generally regarded as one of the ancient varieties of English, yet it has its own distinct dialects.[8] Alternatively, Scots is sometimes treated as a distinct Germanic language, in the way Norwegian is closely linked to, yet distinct from, Danish.[8]
Scotland (Gaelic: Alba, Inglis: Scotland) is a kintra in nor-wast Europe, an is ane o the fower kintras[1] that maks the Unitit Kinrick. It taks up the northren thrid o the Breetish island. Scotland haes til its sooth the laund o Ingland, an is bund bi the German Ocean til the eist an the Atlantic Ocean til the north an wast.
It aforetyms wis a free kinrik, but than Scotland gaed intil a personal union wi Ingland in 1603, whan Jeams VI o Scotland becam Jeams I o Ingland eftir the daith o Elspeth I. This union wis makkit formal on 1 Mey 1707 bi the Treatie o Union. The Scots Pairlament wis gotten rid o on 26 Mairch. The union southert baith kinriks, makkin the Kinrick o Great Breetain, wi a new singil Pairlament haudden in Wastmeinster, Lunnon, but sum pairts o Scotland's institutions, merkit the laund's naitional kirk an skuilin an legal seistems, wis hauden apairt. In 1801, Scotland becam ane o the thrie launds o the Unitit Kinrick, alang wi Ingland an Ireland (nou juist Northren Ireland). Wales is nou seen for uisal as anither laund, awtho it wis juist a principalitie o the kinrik o Ingland in 1707.
What written Scots looks like to you in that link, is what written Norwegian looks like to us.
Still, dialect or accent or whatever, difference between English spoken in England and Scots English, is comparable to the differences between Swedish and modern Norwegian in terms of understanding by their native speakers.
The Scots and English are speaking the same words. With dialects they speak different words. I find understanding many Scots difficult as their "accent" is so thick. They pronounce vowels differently.
There is no Scots dialect. There is Scots Gaelic and heavily accented English with a few local words thrown in. Do not go by Wiki.
Depends on who you ask. Norwegian was just considered an accent/dialect until the day they got independent, and decided that what was formerly just considered as an accent or dialect, is now a language, because of patriotism and national pride. There is people who consider Scots as a language, allthough it does not yet officially have any such status. What I would like to bring up anyway was that the difference between Swedish and Norwegian is comparable to the difference between English and Scots.
And German dialects are much further from eachothers than Swedish, Norwegian and even Danish are, it will be much easier for a Swede to understand what people say anywhere in Norway than it will be for a northern German to understand what people say in Bavaria, Swabia, Switzerland and parts of Austria. This has at least been said to me by many Germans who learnt Swedish, and since I speak some German I can hear that those dialects are very different from the High German taught to me 1 year in school, alot more different than the 3 Scandinavian languages are from eachothers. And yet, none of those German dialects are considered as languages, but Swedish, Norwegian and Danish are all considered as officially seperate languages. The old saying "A language is a dialect with an army and navy" makes very much sense in this case.
This is just to those like John-UK who say that it will be hard to unite Scandinavian countries for the "language issue" that it would be a "plethora of different languages". No it wouldn't. The only major languages that would truly be different is Icelandic and Finnish, the rest are not more different than German dialects are to eachothers, infact much less different. And Germany is not a "plethora of different languages" even if their dialects are more different than our 3 "languages" are.
Still it would be extremely hard if not impossible to unite Scandinavia, but language would probably be the smallest issue, if any.
There is people who consider Scots as a language, allthough it does not yet officially have any such status.
Scots is a regionally recognised language in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Unlike the variant of English spoken there, which is just English with an Scottish accent/dialect.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MagnusPetersson
And German dialects are much further from eachothers than Swedish, Norwegian and even Danish are, it will be much easier for a Swede to understand what people say anywhere in Norway than it will be for a northern German to understand what people say in Bavaria, Swabia, Switzerland and parts of Austria.
I think you are overestimating the differences between German dialects quite a bit.
Still it would be extremely hard if not impossible to unite Scandinavia, but language would probably be the smallest issue, if any.
Language is one of the prime differences between peoples. It would need an official language if it was to hope to work, one that is common to them all. An outside language like English would be the best choice.
Language is one of the prime differences between peoples. It would need an official language if it was to hope to work, one that is common to them all. An outside language like English would be the best choice.
So in your view, Germany is a "plethora of different languages" cause their dialects are more different than our langauges are? Is the UK a plethora of different languages cause it sometimes may be a bit hard for English people to understand what the Scots are saying?
Swedes does not speak English to Norwegians, we speak Swedish to Norwegians, and they speak Norwegian to us. No need for English there.
In Yugoslavia it worked fine with Serbo-Croatian as the official language.
Not to mention that there even are many successful countries where they have official languages that actually are different for real, like Switzerland, Canada and Belgium, where its not just about something that resembles a dialect, but where people actually can't understand the other language unless they learnt it.
So in your view, Germany is a "plethora of different languages"
Germans speak German with slight variations. They can all understand standard German the newsreader speaks. The common language to them all is standard German. That would be difficult to do having so many diverse very different languages.
The British gently cajoled people all over the world to speak English as a common language. It worked.
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