The emergence of Scottish Standard English : the evidence of the correspondence of 2nd Earl Fife 1764-1789
This investigation into the origins of Scottish Standard English in the eighteenth century is conducted using the correspondence of James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife, to his factor William Rose over a 26 year period in the late eighteenth century, supported by biographical and historical linguistic data. The presence in Fife's writing of contemporaneously identified Scotticisms has been used as an indication of Fife's use of Scots language. A linguistic analysis of the Scotticisms found in Fife's writing showed no restriction in the use of any linguistic category. A quantitative investigation as to which extralinguistic factors of influence promoted the use of Scotticisms showed that the topic of Fife's communication was the greatest influence on his of Scotticisms but that purpose also played a part in determining his Scots language use. Fife's use of Scotticisms was also influenced by his social networks, with an increase in Scots lexicon in letters from Scotland and an increase in Scots syntax when there was no social pressure present to maintain Standard English. A qualitative analysis of Fife's use of Scotticisms showed that he employed Scots variants for pragmatic purposes. Referring to theories of second language
Cruickshank, Janet
Standard language ; English language ; Scots language
The emergence of Scottish Standard English : the evidence of the correspondence of 2nd Earl Fife 1764-1789. This investigation into the origins of Scottish Standard English in the eighteenth century is conducted using the correspondence of James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife, to his factor William Rose over a 26 year period in the late eighteenth century, supported by biographical and historical linguistic data. The presence in Fife's writing of contemporaneously identified Scotticisms has been used as an indication of Fife's use of Scots language. A linguistic analysis of the Scotticisms found in Fife's writing showed no restriction in the use of any linguistic category. A quantitative investigation as to which extralinguistic factors of influence promoted the use of Scotticisms showed that the topic of Fife's communication was the greatest influence on his of Scotticisms but that purpose also played a part in determining his Scots language use. Fife's use of Scotticisms was also influenced by his social networks, with an increase in Scots lexicon in letters from Scotland and an increase in Scots syntax when there was no social pressure present to maintain Standard English. A qualitative analysis of Fife's use of Scotticisms showed that he employed Scots variants for pragmatic purposes. Referring to theories of second language
emergence scottish standard_english evidence correspondence earl investigation origins scottish standard english eighteenth_century conduct use correspondence james earl fife factor william support biographical historical linguistic data presence fife write identify use indication fife use scots language linguistic_analysis find fife write show restriction use linguistic category quantitative investigation extralinguistic factor_influence promote use show topic fife communication great_influence purpose also play_part determine scots language_use fife use also influence social_network increase scots lexicon letter scotland increase scots syntax social_pressure present maintain standard_english qualitative_analysis fife use show employed scots variant pragmatic purpose theory second_language