As the Assembly is closing for the guts of two weeks we will miss Jim Shannon's Ulster Scots lessons for a wee while so we may savour this week's. Today he is talking about rural dwellings.
Word of the day is heirskeip which means heritage.
This bes a gyely straight forrit question an' hit shudnae tak' ap owre mich tim' the day. Hit cums doon tae a matther o' common wit. Fairmin bes a big pairt o' oor cultur an' heirskeip an' a baag pairt o' the economic balance i Norlin Airlan theday, bit nae matther aboot the historical ties hit hes, hoo monie fairther tae sinn - an' noo tae dauchter, generations hae pleyed this role , hit bes, aa hit's hairt, a business. A gyley haird wrocht bit fulfillin' joab o' waark.
Jim has changed his Ulster Scots for the word a, to aa instead of aa' as he used in previous weeks - presumably the apostrophe was to denote the ommission of a third a, which would surely prove excessive in any language/dialect.
Showing posts with label Ulster Scots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ulster Scots. Show all posts
Friday, July 6, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
You Learn Something New... Part 5
"Lairnin' Ulster Scots is Fun with Jim Shannon" normally features on the Friday blog when the Assembly grinds to a halt, but since I'm off work tomorrow, it's been moved forward a day.
This week Jim is talking about the Transformation Fund, which is the money required to support the development of professionalism in childcare and early education. I'm sure you'll agree that it's a fascinating topic to read about in English, well it's all the more exciting in Ulster Scots.
The reason for the speechmarks for the first paragraph is that the DUP MLA starts off 'quoting' an official document which I presume he translated.
Word of the day has to be "kent". Ken, as we learnt last week means 'know'. Adding a 't' to the end transforms it into the academically splendid 'cognitive'. Thus 'no kent' is clearly non-cognitive - it's all very logical.
Here's this week's homework - see how you get on:
"It micht be that tha benefits o' investin in weancare an afore schuill larning cud be a muckle better investmunt in larning than bein din at aa' later stage, gien that aa' lerge pert o' baith kent an no kent skills show themsels afore weans stert schuill."
This wus takin' frae aa' paper oan tha benefits o' early weancare in comparisin tae coast facter an is plain tae see that tae stert aa' wean aff oan tha richt fut is maist diffinently mony weel spent.
I was whinging last week about Jim's inconsistencies last week, which is admittedly a reflection of my ignorance rather than a short-coming in the dialect/language*, but fortunately I have the good news that help is at hand.
For today as the Ulster Scots Academy Consultation was discussed at the Committee for Culture, Arts, and Leisure, it emerged that there are plans to establish a permanent base in one of the local universities [they haven't decided which one yet], with outreach centres for the places where they speak the lingo [they didn't say where that was] and, best of all an Ulster Scots dictionary.
That puts an end to any suspicion that the allocation of £14 million (which was mirrored by an equal payment to Irish) from the GFA was a waste of tax payers' money then.
*delete according to whether you prefer hurling or shinty
This week Jim is talking about the Transformation Fund, which is the money required to support the development of professionalism in childcare and early education. I'm sure you'll agree that it's a fascinating topic to read about in English, well it's all the more exciting in Ulster Scots.
The reason for the speechmarks for the first paragraph is that the DUP MLA starts off 'quoting' an official document which I presume he translated.
Word of the day has to be "kent". Ken, as we learnt last week means 'know'. Adding a 't' to the end transforms it into the academically splendid 'cognitive'. Thus 'no kent' is clearly non-cognitive - it's all very logical.
Here's this week's homework - see how you get on:
"It micht be that tha benefits o' investin in weancare an afore schuill larning cud be a muckle better investmunt in larning than bein din at aa' later stage, gien that aa' lerge pert o' baith kent an no kent skills show themsels afore weans stert schuill."
This wus takin' frae aa' paper oan tha benefits o' early weancare in comparisin tae coast facter an is plain tae see that tae stert aa' wean aff oan tha richt fut is maist diffinently mony weel spent.
I was whinging last week about Jim's inconsistencies last week, which is admittedly a reflection of my ignorance rather than a short-coming in the dialect/language*, but fortunately I have the good news that help is at hand.
For today as the Ulster Scots Academy Consultation was discussed at the Committee for Culture, Arts, and Leisure, it emerged that there are plans to establish a permanent base in one of the local universities [they haven't decided which one yet], with outreach centres for the places where they speak the lingo [they didn't say where that was] and, best of all an Ulster Scots dictionary.
That puts an end to any suspicion that the allocation of £14 million (which was mirrored by an equal payment to Irish) from the GFA was a waste of tax payers' money then.
*delete according to whether you prefer hurling or shinty
Friday, June 22, 2007
You Learn Something New Part 4
Continuing our 'Learning Ulster Scots is Fun with Jim Shannon' series, this week we find out the DUP man's opinion on the new Libraries Bill:
Efter 25 yeirs o' gye bad unner fundin' an no bei' leuked aboot, hit's lang past the ti' at this 'Semmlie saen hoo important hit bes tae hae a library system at hes eneuch staff an catter in onie forrit an' richt thinkin' society. Tae knaw quhar ye ir heided a boadie furst hes tae ken quhar yin hes bein an this bes sae in Norlin Airlan es we see at the library isnae onie a place ferlearnin' bit bes aboot the celebration o' heirskeip an' history forebye. The Libraries Bill - quhair yin authority - at hes the input o' members o' the Depairtment o' Cultur' Airts an by tim' wul bae accountable an airted onie aa the bes' provision o' service to ivryboadie in the communiuty.
Did you noticed that last week he referred to Northern Ireland but this week its Norlin Airlan? I suppose it's a living, breathing language and from week to week new words are going to spring up.
Also, seeeing the word 'ken' got me thinking of Irvine Welsh (pictured above), who writes in a phonetic Edinburgh dialect - is that Ulster-Scots or just Scots-Scots? Is the author of Trainspotting and Marabou Stork Nightmare (which is the superior book in my humble opinion) the greatest living exponent of Ulster-Scots?
Staying with Ulster-Scots, questions tabled to ministers often illuminate a subject more than the answers do, and such is the case with Nelson McCausland's (North Belfast DUP MLA) recent query to the Minister for Education. He asked Catriona Ruane to itemise the total expenditure by her department in relation to Ulster-Scots in the year 2003-04, which amounted to £69.95!
Well I got a private briefing from a Department insider and can now reveal the extent of their purchases:
15 tartan scarfs
4 tartan pencil cases
1 bag from a set of bagpipes
Friday, June 15, 2007
You Learn Something New Part 3
This week's installment of the 'Ulster Scots is fun' with the DUP's Jim Shannon is a little more advanced than usual. In fact, novices amongst you may need help in figuring out the proverb at the start, but not to worry, I'll provide the answer at the end.
Setting aside the debate over whether it is a dialect or a language, fair play to Jim for introducing his speeches with a smidgen of Ulster Scots - it definitely adds a bit of life and colour to proceedings, and his delivery is easy on the ear.
Anyway, as per usual, see how you get on deciphering this week's passage taken from Jim's address to the Assembly, which was on industrial rates:
As tha oul Proaverb saes, frae mickle sterts cum muckle things.
We er startin fae tha beginnin - aa' fresh slaet efter tha years o' neglect fae oor direct rool Givermunt en yeers ' heertacke an bluidshed fae wi-in.
It micht seem aa' moanumentil erdeael - tae tak Northern Ireland tae tha place whor it shid be, tae study it baith socially an economically, tae paint aa' new warl pictur o' Nth Ireland. Moving ut fae aa' war-torn state, tae tha real pictur o' aa' bonnie kintry, rich wi cultur, fu' o' warem foulk an ready tae step oot untae tha warl stage - aa' moanumentil er dael indded - but this sterts wi' mickle things aa' beleev that yin major-er muckle step tae be takkin is that o' studing oor economy by encouraging growth fae wi in.
The proverb: From small beginnings come great things.
Purely on a grammatical point, I presume the apostrophes are there to indicate that letters have been omitted, as is the case in English. If so, is Jim speaking in informal Ulster Scots, and is there a formal variety?
If any Ulster Scots aficionados are out there, please let me know - it’s just to satisfy my own sad curiosity. Mind you, since the unionist benches are such sticklers for insisting on formal attire, it may well be feasible that they could take umbrage with Jim for speaking informal Ulster-Scots.
Setting aside the debate over whether it is a dialect or a language, fair play to Jim for introducing his speeches with a smidgen of Ulster Scots - it definitely adds a bit of life and colour to proceedings, and his delivery is easy on the ear.
Anyway, as per usual, see how you get on deciphering this week's passage taken from Jim's address to the Assembly, which was on industrial rates:
As tha oul Proaverb saes, frae mickle sterts cum muckle things.
We er startin fae tha beginnin - aa' fresh slaet efter tha years o' neglect fae oor direct rool Givermunt en yeers ' heertacke an bluidshed fae wi-in.
It micht seem aa' moanumentil erdeael - tae tak Northern Ireland tae tha place whor it shid be, tae study it baith socially an economically, tae paint aa' new warl pictur o' Nth Ireland. Moving ut fae aa' war-torn state, tae tha real pictur o' aa' bonnie kintry, rich wi cultur, fu' o' warem foulk an ready tae step oot untae tha warl stage - aa' moanumentil er dael indded - but this sterts wi' mickle things aa' beleev that yin major-er muckle step tae be takkin is that o' studing oor economy by encouraging growth fae wi in.
The proverb: From small beginnings come great things.
Purely on a grammatical point, I presume the apostrophes are there to indicate that letters have been omitted, as is the case in English. If so, is Jim speaking in informal Ulster Scots, and is there a formal variety?
If any Ulster Scots aficionados are out there, please let me know - it’s just to satisfy my own sad curiosity. Mind you, since the unionist benches are such sticklers for insisting on formal attire, it may well be feasible that they could take umbrage with Jim for speaking informal Ulster-Scots.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
You Learn Something New Every Day Part 2
The DUP’s Jim Shannon again addressed the Assembly in his native tongue of Ulster Scots, adding much-welcomed colour to the proceedings. Many people think they can’t speak Ulster Scots, but as we have seen from Jim's previous speeches you may surprised at how much you’ll understand.
See how you get on translating his latest Ulster Scots address, this time on the closure of post offices on Tuesday:
Hit wusnae sae lang sine at we met in this chammer an’ taaked aboot the ill daeins agin oor Poastal Service an hoo needfu’ hit wus tae houl oantae es monie poast offices es cud bae kep’. Well the situation bes the saime noo – gif hit isnae a baager hannlin – bit thair bes a bag differ.
Instead o’ a “Pretend ‘Semmelie” es yin member cried hit in the las’ debate aboot this issue in Janwerry aa the tim’ o’ the Transitional ‘Semmelie, we ir noo a devolved ‘Semmlie at bes fit tae maak a differ an’ pley a baag pairt no onie tae houl oantae oor Poast Offaices bit tae mak’ thaim betther.
See how you get on translating his latest Ulster Scots address, this time on the closure of post offices on Tuesday:
Hit wusnae sae lang sine at we met in this chammer an’ taaked aboot the ill daeins agin oor Poastal Service an hoo needfu’ hit wus tae houl oantae es monie poast offices es cud bae kep’. Well the situation bes the saime noo – gif hit isnae a baager hannlin – bit thair bes a bag differ.
Instead o’ a “Pretend ‘Semmelie” es yin member cried hit in the las’ debate aboot this issue in Janwerry aa the tim’ o’ the Transitional ‘Semmelie, we ir noo a devolved ‘Semmlie at bes fit tae maak a differ an’ pley a baag pairt no onie tae houl oantae oor Poast Offaices bit tae mak’ thaim betther.
Friday, May 18, 2007
You Learn Something New Every Day
When leafing through Hansard, the official transctript of the Assembly's proceedings, for last Monday I stumbled across a smattering of Ulster-Scots.
It was spoken by Jim Shannon who is a Strangford based DUP MLA, during a discussion of development of the rail network. It opened my eyes to the fact that, although my pronunciation may be a little askew, I could understand his speech perfectly well. This surprised me because in a 1999 survey only two per cent claimed to have a grasp of it - maybe people are underestimating their linguistic abilities.
See how you get on:
"Ivery yeer Translink Bus an Rael tak heer an ther 75 million trevellers, they hae £100 million turniver an provide tae the Province iver 3,500 joabs.
"We hae no sae lang ago haud improvements tae tha Benger line alang wi Bilfast- Antrim Bleach Green line which is bein re-apened tae provide journeys intae oor capitol.
"Thees figures speek weel o' tha system but they dinnae paint aa richt pictur o- whut we hae richt noo. Hense tha ammendment an they daenae pit fort what shud be ther an what cud be in place."
It was spoken by Jim Shannon who is a Strangford based DUP MLA, during a discussion of development of the rail network. It opened my eyes to the fact that, although my pronunciation may be a little askew, I could understand his speech perfectly well. This surprised me because in a 1999 survey only two per cent claimed to have a grasp of it - maybe people are underestimating their linguistic abilities.
See how you get on:
"Ivery yeer Translink Bus an Rael tak heer an ther 75 million trevellers, they hae £100 million turniver an provide tae the Province iver 3,500 joabs.
"We hae no sae lang ago haud improvements tae tha Benger line alang wi Bilfast- Antrim Bleach Green line which is bein re-apened tae provide journeys intae oor capitol.
"Thees figures speek weel o' tha system but they dinnae paint aa richt pictur o- whut we hae richt noo. Hense tha ammendment an they daenae pit fort what shud be ther an what cud be in place."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
