Scotland's Census
Once every 10 years we have a census, and yesterday was the official census day in Scotland. As a linguist I found this the most interesting question:
My husband and I ticked all the way down in the English and Scots columns, but left Scottish Gaelic blank. That didn't make me feel any shame or a sudden desire to learn Gaelic. As an East coast Scot whose forebears spoke a dialect of Scots rich in words of Scandinavian origin, I feel that Gaelic has very little to do with me. I'm more concerned with the survival of Scots as a living language. Our son, filling in his questionnaire while away at university, reported that he hadn't filled in the Scots column. I think he underestimated his ability to understand Scots, but it's true that our children haven't had the bilingual exposure that was a feature of my childhood, and I regret that.
Lest you think that Scotland lacks linguistic diversity, have a look at the list of community languages in which help can be accessed with completing the census. Gaelic comes first in the list, followed by the rest in alphabetical order:
I puzzled over the language question too. It's not qualified in any way. I use many Scots words as a matter of course but I don't think that makes me a Scots (Lallans) speaker, does it? And I speak a few words and phrases of Gaelic and am forever trying to pick up more (being a Macdonald an' all), but is that enough to qualify as 'speaking Gaelic'? Hardly, except that there is no room for manoeuvre on this questionnaire, and I don't want to be added to the statistics of non-Gaelic speakers as I think that would be misleading. I found the whole census form over-simplistic and frustrating. Although I can appreciate that it must have been a huge headache to draw up.
ReplyDeleteI found the "national identity" options (tick all that apply) very interesting. Scottish? British? Other?
ReplyDeleteAlso, Gaels have campaigned for the English census to list Gaelic as a possible spoken language, given the fact that so many Gaels have gone to England. In the past the official number of Gaelic speakers has only been the number counted by the Scottish census, as the English census didn't give that option. I wonder if that's been changed this time around?
While I'm personally interested in Gaelic, I think Scots is such a beautiful and rich language/dialect, and I hope the younger generation value it.
an interesting perspective into Scotland's ethnic makeup. it would be interesting to see what the percentages are for answers on question 16.
ReplyDeleteSorry Linda but I am going to show my ignorance. What is Scots? A totally separate language form English, or a dialect, or a mixture?
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a diverse list!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting to see your census. We had ours last year, also every ten years, like yourself. The data has been published. Our state has grown by 17% in population. Did your census ask many probing questions?
ReplyDeleteYou added my name to the census, right? I know I dont ACTUALLY live there (YET)....but that is a mere technicality! :)
ReplyDeleteI cannot read any of these! Even if I don't UNDERSTAND it I love to hear the Scottish tongue or brogue or whatever you call it! I loved hearing people talk when I was there and perk up my ears when I hear 'Scottish Speak' on films or anywhere!
ReplyDeleteI always learn something new from your blog, Linda. I know nothing of Scots and Scots Gaelic. I guess I have some research to do. I hope you'll write more on the subject.
ReplyDeleteHi - thanks for having a look at my blog!
ReplyDeleteDo I take it that the mention of beer is a good thing?!
I understand that there have been some issues relating to the 'religion' questions on the census - has this been a real issue "on the streets" or was it just a slow news days in some of the on-line papers?
Cheers - Stewart M - Australia
Sigh. This is where Blogger is frustrating, by not allowing replies to individual comments. You will excuse me, I hope - it's late and I'm tired (just back from yet another school concert - it is all we do at the moment) so I'm going to attempt a composite reply to comments.
ReplyDeleteWe found the language questions singularly frustrating. 'Which of these can you do' in relation to speaking or writing a language is not the same as 'Which of these DO you do'. So I can speak Scots, but it's not the language I speak with my family. And the Scots I (can) speak is not Lallans (Lowland) Scots, but the Doric of the North East. We ticked 'yes' to the Scots questions in a spirit of positive interpretation.
The national identity question was interesting too, as Christine says. We ticked both Scottish and British.
In answer to Breezy Point Mom, I didn't find the census particularly probing. Stewart M, if there has been a furore about the religion questions then I've missed it, but I'm quite happy to be updated by other Scottish bloggers. The section on educational qualificiations was very broad brush - my husband was huffed to find that his MBA came in the same category as a first degree, and my PhD was the same. Made us wonder why we bothered! Our son was annoyed that there was nowhere for him to record that he had Grade 8 viola!
Kristina, if the census included all those whose hearts are in the Highlands then we'd have a huge population! It's a nice thought!
I can see that I've left some questions unanswered, so I'll do a follow-up post tomorrow, in which I will teach you some Scots.
We got huffy about the degree category as well! ;)
ReplyDeleteOh yes, Doric and Lallans are so different. I love the sound of Doric but cannae speak it at all. Although I do have a pair of fur-lined boots which I call my Doric boots ('furryboots' - geddit - groan). And then there' Weegie - definitely a different language!
Thanks for the language tour. I´m ashamed to admit that scots-language is a bit unknown entity for me. Lithuanian in the list too!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting, Linda! We haven't had any census in these last years.
ReplyDeleteWe're all Gaelic speakers here.... I translated part of the census into Gaelic, actually! (I work from home, translating materials into Gaelic - mostly educational of government resources). We have friends from the East coast, and the number of 'What was that?'. 'Pardon', 'Sorry?' we have to say when they're talking!! It's hilarious!
ReplyDeleteThe diversity we have here in such a wee country is fascinating. I was really interested to read your comment on how you feel about Scots/Gaelic:
ReplyDelete"As an East coast Scot whose forebears spoke a dialect of Scots rich in words of Scandinavian origin, I feel that Gaelic has very little to do with me. I'm more concerned with the survival of Scots as a living language."
As for me, I'd say I'm a highlander whose forebears only spoke Gaelic and even though I've lived in Edinburgh for twenty years now, I feel Scots has very little if not nothing to do with me and I'm more concerned with the furtherance of Gaelic. I even did "Scots 1" for a year at Edinburgh Uni as an outside course and still I couldn't relate to it at all.
But that's okay. Even though I don't relate personally, I still find it all so fascinating and I love hearing other people's opinions on this sort of thing, so it's been great reading all this - thank you!