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Re: derbfine vs. tanisty




Poster: EoganOg@aol.com

In a message dated 3/23/99 4:33:04 AM Eastern Standard Time, cosby@erols.com
writes:

> I wondered if the words that I'd posted were 'proper' terminology for
>  the Scottish lowands for the late 1200's. 

In the mid-1100's, King David I granted much land in the south to Anglo-Norman
nobles, so the language of the nobility was largely Norman French, although
their household and retainers would have been speaking English....  The
Royalty of Scotland was definitely shifting away from Gaelic at this point....

By the early 1300s the language of the south was almost dominantly Inglis
(Scots English), except for Galloway, which still retained a strong Gaelic
culture due to its proximity to Ireland. But all of the written correspondance
was done predominantly in Latin or French still.  It was not until the later
1300s that written correspondance was done in the vernacular (which was
Inglis, not Gaelic).

So, are Scots Gaelic words proper vernacular for late 1200s Lowlands speakers?
No.  In fact, they would have shied away from them due to cultural biases.
This in one reason why Gaelic as a language had such little influence on the
Scots (Inglis) tongue.  To get an idea of the type of language a Scots Lowland
speaker of the turn of the 14th century would have used, take a look at John
Barbour's _The Bruce_, written in 1375.  This is probably the closest thing
surviving.  But note that all ppaers of state would have been Latin or Norman
French.

Aye,
Eogan Og, Albanach

"We arra peepul!"
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