8. Are Scottish national identities reflected in the syntax of Scottish newspapers?
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Sanna Hillberg
Abstract
This article explores possible correlation of Scottish linguistic identity and the use of relative clauses and modal verbs in Scottish newspapers. Earlier studies have reported that these two syntactic features are used differently in Scots and Standard English. The primary databases are the Corpus of Scottish English Online Press News (see Hillberg 2015) and the Scotland Census 2011. The results indicate that use of relativizers and modal verbs in Scottish newspaper articles mainly follows the Standard English rules. Some non-standard Scots features occur, but they are rare. Recent surveys show that the clear majority of Scottish people identify themselves as ‘Scottish’ not ‘British’. Although Scots language has a strong footing especially in the Scottish Lowlands, it is seems that English marks the Scottish linguistic identity in news writing.
Abstract
This article explores possible correlation of Scottish linguistic identity and the use of relative clauses and modal verbs in Scottish newspapers. Earlier studies have reported that these two syntactic features are used differently in Scots and Standard English. The primary databases are the Corpus of Scottish English Online Press News (see Hillberg 2015) and the Scotland Census 2011. The results indicate that use of relativizers and modal verbs in Scottish newspaper articles mainly follows the Standard English rules. Some non-standard Scots features occur, but they are rare. Recent surveys show that the clear majority of Scottish people identify themselves as ‘Scottish’ not ‘British’. Although Scots language has a strong footing especially in the Scottish Lowlands, it is seems that English marks the Scottish linguistic identity in news writing.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- List of figures and tables ix
- 1. Introduction 1
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I. Enregisterment
- 2. Northern English and enregisterment 17
- 3. Dickens and northern English: stereotyping and ‘authenticity’ reconsidered 41
- 4. The linguistic landscape of north-east England 61
- 5. Lenition and T-to-R are differently salient: the representation of competing realisations of /t/ in Liverpool English dialect literature 83
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II. Phonology
- 6. External and internal factors in a levelling process: Prevocalic (r) in Carlisle English 111
- 7. Scouse NURSE and northern happy: vowel change in Liverpool English 135
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III. Syntax and discourse features
- 8. Are Scottish national identities reflected in the syntax of Scottish newspapers? 169
- 9. Final but in northern Englishes 191
-
IV. Sociolinguistics
- 10. Education, class and vernacular awareness on Tyneside 215
- 11. Changing domains of dialect use: A real-time study of Shetland schoolchildren 245
-
V. Language and corpus
- 12. New perspectives on Scottish Standard English: Introducing the Scottish component of the International Corpus of English 273
- Index 303
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- List of figures and tables ix
- 1. Introduction 1
-
I. Enregisterment
- 2. Northern English and enregisterment 17
- 3. Dickens and northern English: stereotyping and ‘authenticity’ reconsidered 41
- 4. The linguistic landscape of north-east England 61
- 5. Lenition and T-to-R are differently salient: the representation of competing realisations of /t/ in Liverpool English dialect literature 83
-
II. Phonology
- 6. External and internal factors in a levelling process: Prevocalic (r) in Carlisle English 111
- 7. Scouse NURSE and northern happy: vowel change in Liverpool English 135
-
III. Syntax and discourse features
- 8. Are Scottish national identities reflected in the syntax of Scottish newspapers? 169
- 9. Final but in northern Englishes 191
-
IV. Sociolinguistics
- 10. Education, class and vernacular awareness on Tyneside 215
- 11. Changing domains of dialect use: A real-time study of Shetland schoolchildren 245
-
V. Language and corpus
- 12. New perspectives on Scottish Standard English: Introducing the Scottish component of the International Corpus of English 273
- Index 303
