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Scots: The Mither Tongue Paperback – March 1, 2006

by Billy Kay (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 147 ratings
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In this revised edition of a classic of contemporary Scottish culture, Billy Kay vigorously renews the social, cultural, and political debate on Scotland’s linguistic future. He compares Scottish with other European lesser-used languages, and celebrates its survival in its various dialects, literature, and song.
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  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Mainstream Publishing
  4. Publication date
    March 1, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    6.1 x 0.68 x 9.1 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1845960521
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1845960520
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mainstream Publishing (March 1, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1845960521
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1845960520
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 0.68 x 9.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 147 ratings

About the author

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Billy Kay

Billy Kay

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Billy Kay is a Scottish Writer and Broadcaster who specialises in the history, language and culture of his native land.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
147 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Gold Country
5.0 out of 5 stars Great discussion of Scots language, but...
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2022
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The best way to enjoy and understand this great work is to follow along on an audible version to get the full flavor of this wonderful language. Get 'em both!
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m_armintor
5.0 out of 5 stars priceless and popularly written resource
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2022
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Very readable and great introduction for the novice.
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Anne Green
5.0 out of 5 stars Scotland's dialects
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2011
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This is a great book for Scots, their descendants, or anyone who has visited Scotland and wondered why there are so many different "languages". As always, Billy Kay does an incredible job, comparing and contrasting the dialects by geographical regions. He does not omit the finer differences within these regions, e.g. within a 50 mile radius of Glasgow there are numerous variations, each having quite different words for the same subject. He tells of people who feel that speaking Scots is wrong, many believe it is slang. Depending on the geographical area, the dialect can be musical and a delight to the ear, others may sound coarse and grating. This is a book that should be passed around to spread the word.
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Multitasker
4.0 out of 5 stars Probably best for UK readers, but still mostly accessible to the rest of us
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2020
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The author seems to address an audience primarily of people of Scotland and somewhat to the rest of the UK; for it seems necessary for the reader to have a much greater familiarity with British expected pronunciation of various "phonetic" spellings, with which I struggled as an American. I also pursued language and linguistics in college so prefer something closer to IPA for phonological insight. \oo\, especially is confusing as a native English speaker of a distant dialect.

The author also uses dialect and language interchangeably at times—or so it seems—confusing the very issue at hand of whether Scots qualifies as a separate language. It could indeed be that the author wrote "dialect" or "language" with precision accuracy, implying, for example, Scottish English as a dialect of English. Unfortunately the discursive milieu is already terribly muddy, so it can be difficult ascertain, especially when I spread my reading over multiple sessions. These are the only real issues I had with the book and they are positional. Not being a member of the apparent main audience I feel left unable to decide weather to award that 5th star or not.

I found it interesting that my Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas relatives' dialects kept coming to mind, especially older generations' (I'm 51). It dawned on me that many turns of phrases I don't remember ever hearing on BBC et al but I heard growing up. The dialects of the Southern Plains have been heavily influenced by Scots, Gaelic, and German immigrants, and as a linguistics nerd I knew extant speech patterns thereabouts must descend from those immigrants' accents. It was fun to finally get, later in the book, more descriptive phonological illustrations that provided some clues to the dialects I can fall into somewhat when I visit those states (I was born there but lived 95% of my life in Central California where I'm 3rd generation. I'm likely not being very clear since I'm not even sure what I want to say—sorry. Although this book did not live up to my linguistic curiosity's hopes, it was a good read and stoked rather than quenched my desire to find more linguistically precise analyses of Scots dialects vis-a-vis American dialects; so if anybody has reading suggestions I'd love the leads—academic papers are notoriously difficult to discover.

==== THE REST IS PHILOSOPHIZING ON LINGUISTICS AND POLITICS, NOT ON THIS BOOK====

Now for my comments on Scots and English survival, directed at the author and anyone else considering the fate of English, various dialects of English, and minority languages in anglophone contexts, e.g. Scots.

Language change is normal and English became how it is because of contact with other languages, particularly during the era in which English practitioners lived in occupied territory. During the Nordic and Dutch incursions and Norman occupations, English speakers had little support for their language. Old English, with its complex Germanic inflections, simplified even while absorbing enormous quantities of vocabulary. As the author states, Scotland enjoyed more independence from other states, allowing Scots to develop differently. It just so happens that linguistic contact influences were similar, notwithstanding that the influential dialect of Old French was not Norman, and therefore Scots and English evolved along more similar paths than might otherwise have occurred. For that last three hundred years the tables have been turned and Scots has survived with minimal administrative support under English occupation.

English now evolves under the enormous pressure of being the latest global lingua franca in nearly every arena, including and most importantly the Internet. Affairs of State and Trade are conducted by the well educated, conservative influence on a language. The Internet, however, brings together persons from all corners of the globe whether English is a native, second, or foreign language to them. Native English monoglots are heavily outnumbered by native and secondary bi- or multi-lingual speakers. Already the majority of posts in English have "grammatical errors" consistent with the other languages those posters speak. What little is left of verb morphology is simplifying with the near disuse of the subjunctive mood and the mergers of various past and future tense structures. Irregular plurals and participles have diminished and will likely vanish over the next generation or two except in local dialects. After a couple hundred years of increased productivity of the -ly suffix for adverbs, the phenomenon seems to be in retrograde. East Asian language syntaxes have a substantial influence on word order acceptability on the Internet, often being similar enough but stricter than recent English.

But these are only examples. The evolution of World English is not under the control of any primarily monoglot-English countries. Already Internet English is different and changes a little bit more every year. Memes and abbreviations become the norm. Much of what used to be nerdspeak has become part of Internet English. East and South Asians in particular have growing influence on the evolution of World English.

That's fine. World English is its own phenomenon. It will develop along its own path to support its several billions of practitioners. English in Oxford will likely remain on its Oxford path. Glaswegian English that of Glasgow. San Francisco. Melbourne of Melbourne. In fact local dialects will probably begin to diverge yet more, as some in the US have begun to do now that television and radio are no longer the province of a few powers and their prescriptions. Modern English will continue to evolve into yet more distinct dialects and some will achieve that elusively definition of separate languagehood.

Thus it is my call to attention of would-be saviors of endangered languages: INVEST NOW in your languages, including Scots. World English's ascension will likely shift the weight away from your region's or nation's standards of English. For languages fairly related to English, especially Scots and various English creoles, distinction from the globally dominant form of English will likely increase, making them EASIER, not harder, to save. The endangered language SHOULD sustain less pressure to go extinct—if practitioners wish. But if a language is endangered—and with 1.5 million native speakers I'm not so sure Scots is in all that bad of a position—speakers need to put some effort into maintaining their language in every aspect of life. These languages will need to survive the enormous pressures of the next generation or two, a diachronic bottleneck analogous to a Darwinistic disaster. Save it! Unless you're currently quite young, you will not see the fruits of your labor; but neither did the instigators of medieval cathedrals ever see their work completed.
5 people found this helpful
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andrew menzie
5.0 out of 5 stars Passionately written and delivered
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2022
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Well-researched and presented. Illuminating.
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steven russell kenison
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2017
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Michael Akard
5.0 out of 5 stars A Valuable Socio-Linguistic Study
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2020
“Because Scots does not have a recognised standard spoken form today, many believe that the various dialects spoken in Scotland are dialects of English. They are in fact dialects of Scots and form an unbroken continuum with the language which was the national tongue of the Middle Ages” (p. 173).

During a visit to Edinburgh last year, I was very interested to see that the large signs outside the Parliament building (across the street from Holyrood Palace) were bilingual in English and Gaelic. Inside the building, I asked an employee about it, hoping I could practice my extremely limited Gaelic. He apologetically explained that, “Nobody here actually speaks it. We just know that it is a language used in some parts of the country.” Despite the relatively small number of Gaelic speakers in Scotland, the Scottish government has spent a significant amount of money encouraging and promoting this rare minority language, even to the extent of producing official signage and tourist literature in Gaelic. In contrast, the language which is spoken and used on a daily basis by most Scottish nationals receives much less support and recognition. In this book, Kay argues that Scots, the language of 1.5 million people in Scotland, should receive at least equal status with English and Gaelic.

Kay likens the position of the Scots language in the United Kingdom to that of Catalan as spoken in Spain and Occitan as spoken in France. He begins the book by identifying a major social problem, which is that Scots is not officially recognized as an actual language, but is often dismissed as merely a sub-standard variety of English with funny pronunciation and lots of regional slang. Kay presents a brief history of Scots, explaining how and when the Anglo-Saxon language spoken in Britain separated into English in the south and Scots in the north, each with its own subsequent history and linguistic influences. He goes on to describe some of the historic literature written in Scots, as well as the linguistic confusion that arose when England and Scotland united under a single government under King James the Sixth/First. He also provides examples of modern literature and dramatic works in Scots, as well as of efforts to incorporate the language more fully in some public schools. Near the end, he describes the major dialects of Scots, and he concludes by insisting that Scottish people need to stop being embarrassed about using their native language.

This persuasive, scholarly book includes a call for political change, and the intended audience is the people of Scotland. As an American, I was unfamiliar with many of the literary, cultural, and geographical references, and I wish the author had included a map showing the towns and regions he discussed. Nevertheless, the work is well-written, well-researched, and worth reading by linguists, politicians, and anyone who has interest in minority languages.
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Top reviews from other countries

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STEFANOS2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting but not convincing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2023
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So many quotes in old English/Scots. The more I read it the less convinced I was that we should return to a way of speaking that was used 100s of years ago as opposed to "standard" English.
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Flossy
5.0 out of 5 stars Libro de idioma escoces
Reviewed in Spain on March 7, 2021
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E libro en escoces, le historia de idioma de escocia.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Ye Ken whit a mean
Reviewed in France on February 9, 2016
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Entertaining, informative, and very readable. Inspired me to speak and write in my own tongue. I Will return to it again and again.
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Christopher donohue
5.0 out of 5 stars Tak tent, or it's dint! (Use it or lose it!)
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2015
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This is a remarkable work by Mr Kay. His obvious passion for his native tongue falls off every page of this wonderful piece of work. As a fellow Scot who remembers the efforts, and the inflicted corporal punishments, of the Educational Establishment of post WWII Scotland (Glasgow, in my case) to stamp out our natural way of speaking. In recent times there has been a sea change in attitudes, as Scots slowly realise what was being attempted was nothing less than Cultural and Linguistic genocide. I believe that my last sentence was, in no way, an extreme view of the efforts to make Scots a Region of the UK, rather than the Nation that it is. Well, I remember (in recent past) a miscreant in the High Court being fined for Contempt of Court for the crime of replying, Aye! when asked to plead Guilty or not. To his eternal credit he payed the fine and became a 'cause celebre' for the 'Mither Tongue'. That he, ultimately, was successful is cause for celebration. This book could find itself a recommended text for each and every Scottish schoolchild. I've re-read it and have bought a Scots Thesaurus. This man Kay could be contagious, in a most positive way.
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Riamh
4.0 out of 5 stars Très intéressant
Reviewed in France on April 25, 2013
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Pour comprendre l'histoire du Scots dans la société d'aujourd'hui. Je regrette seulement le manque de références citées directement dans l'ouvrage (des notes de bas de pages pour spécifier les sources, chapitres d'ouvrages etc, ça aurait été bien utile!), il faut se débrouiller avec la bibliographie fournie à la fin...
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