Rendall, Thomas

UHI Thesis - pdf download summary Perceptions of the Social and Cultural Factors which have influenced the use of dialect in Orkney Rendall, Thomas DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (AWARDED BY OU/ABERDEEN) Award date: 2013 Awarding institution: The Open University Link URL to thesis in UHI Research Database General rights and useage policy Copyright,IP and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the UHI Research Database are retained by the author, users must recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement, or without prior permission from the author. Users may download and print one copy of any thesis from the UHI Research Database for the not-for-profit purpose of private study or research on the condition that: 1) The full text is not changed in any way 2) If citing, a bibliographic link is made to the metadata record on the the UHI Research Database 3) You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain 4) You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the UHI Research Database Take down policy If you believe that any data within this document represents a breach of copyright, confidence or data protection please contact us at [email protected] providing details; we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 23. Sep. 2021 Thomas Rendall B.A. (Hons.), B.Sc. (Hons.) Perceptions of the Social and Cultural Factors which have influenced the use of dialect in Orkney Doctor of Philosophy The Open University University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) April 2013 Abstract of thesis This thesis examines the social and cultural factors which have influenced the use of dialect in Orkney. Orcadians could be said to be bi-dialectal speaking an Orcadian- influenced Scottish Standard English including Norse-derived lexical items spoken within a diglossic speech situation. The main factors on which the research questions were based featured the effects of migration on the language and dialect of the islands; the attitudes of the local population on the use of dialect in a variety of situations; the consequences of greater demographic movement within Orkney and how this might have shaped the way people interact within the community. Through interviews with people from 13 different locations along with the completion of 100 questionnaires, a comprehensive range of information has been gathered. The thesis provides a contribution to the literature on the use of dialect in Orkney in an area which has hitherto been generally overlooked and certainly not covered from a social and cultural perspective. i Acknowledgements Embarking on an academic study of this magnitude – at PhD level – is an experience that requires a number of personal qualities such as commitment, determination and dedication. There is a strong reliance on the co-operation of other people within the institution along with the community interest as a whole. At each stage of the process there are potential pitfalls and elements of doubt and lack of confidence. Sometimes it might be difficult to appreciate the direction to follow and the motivation to continue is occasionally in a perilous state. There are a number of people who must be identified as important contributors to this thesis. The informants who agreed to be interviewed and recorded and the people who provided responses for the questionnaire must be acknowledged. Without the input of those people it would not have been possible to write four of the chapters of the thesis. The development of the thesis and the supervision of the work was carried out by Dr Donna Heddle and Professor Kenneth MacKinnon. It was Professor MacKinnon who provided the original stimulus following a small-scale survey as part of a B.Sc degree when he was in the role of tutor with the Open University. Dr Heddle was the driving force behind the original research proposal and the subsequent administrative activities leading up to acceptance as a Doctoral student. Both Dr Heddle and Prof. MacKinnon have had the patience, fortitude and understanding over the past 5 years and have offered guidance, advice and counsel at various stages through to completion of the thesis. ii I will always be indebted to Dr Sarah Jane Gibbon for her friendship, encouragement and steadfast approach. As she had recently completed her PhD, Dr Gibbon was able to advise on the need to stay focused and the possible areas of concern in connection with the collation of data and the presentation of the findings. She ensured that I did not lose sight of the ultimate goal which is to finalise this study. The University of the Highlands and Islands and Orkney College have provided me with the resources and the materials to undertake the fieldwork. I was fortunate in obtaining a Studentship from the UHI Millenium Institute which enabled me to undertake much of the fieldwork in Orkney, Shetland and the Faroe Islands. Colleagues and friends in Orkney and beyond were important to the success of the studies. Their thoughts and occasional critiques often gave me new perspectives and made me approach the work in a realistic manner. Family and friends are also worthy of consideration and the understanding and the calming influence of my wife Lillian along with practical advice on layout and reading of texts has been crucial in the way in which I approached the work over the years. It is vital to retain a modicum of reality in such circumstances. Support from other members of the family and assistance from friends provided me with helpful information on the avenues that I might explore. I would like to dedicate the thesis to the memory of my parents William and Barbara Rendall – or Willo and Barrie as they were known. Their willingness to support me in iii the early stages of my academic studies – when I studied for my first Open University degree whilst living on Sanday – was the springboard for future study culminating in the work for this thesis. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract of thesis i Acknowledgements ii Table of contents v List of tables xii List of diagrams xiv List of appendices xiv Preface xv Map of Orkney xviii Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Aims and Objectives 3 1.2 Research Questions 5 1.3 Historical Context 7 1.4 Attitude Survey 13 1.5 Observation 14 1.6 Summary of Chapter One 14 Chapter Two: Review of the key concepts and research literature 2.1 Introduction 17 2.2 The Sociology of Language 17 2.2.1 Conceptualising languages and dialects 17 2.2.2 Diglossia 21 2.2.3 Code-switching 24 v 2.2.4 Language maintenance and shift 26 2.3 Language in Orkney and Shetland 34 2.3.1 The origins and development of the Orkney dialect 34 2.3.2 Prior studies on Orkney dialect 36 2.3.3 A near analogue: Shetland 37 2.3.4 The Scots/Scottish Standard English continuum: its relevance to Orkney 44 2.4 Classical Sociolinguistics 48 2.4.1 Social Network Theory 51 2.4.2 Eckert: Communities of Practice 54 2.4.3 Discussion 56 2.5 Anthropology, Ethnography and other relevant studies 57 2.6 Social Psychology of Language 61 2.6.1 Attitudes 61 2.6.2 Accommodation Theory 63 2.6.3 Some other relevant research 67 2.6.3.1 Löw Wiebach: Research in Pitmedden, Aberdeenshire 67 2.6.3.2 Watson 68 2.6.3.3 White Settlers 68 2.7 Summary of Chapter Two 69 vi Chapter Three: The sociolinguistic history of Orkney: insights from folkloreand from research 3.1 Introduction 73 3.2 Walter Traill Dennison and John Firth 76 3.3 Hugh Marwick and Michael Barnes 77 3.4 Gregor Lamb 82 3.5 Robert McColl Millar 86 3.6 Paul Johnston 89 3.7 Klaske van Leyden 90 3.8 Dave Gray, Robbie Fraser and Sigurd Towrie 93 3.9 Robert Rendall 96 3.10 Christina M Costie 98 3.11 Graeme Davis 102 3.12 Michael Lange 104 3.13 Summary of Chapter Three 107 Chapter Four: Research methodology, research design and methods 4.1 Introduction 111 4.1.1 Quantitative approaches 111 4.1.2 Qualitative and ethnographic approaches 112 4.1.3 Rationale for combining quantitative and qualitative approaches 115 4.2 Research design: the survey of language use and attitudes 116 4.2.1 Questionnaire Design 116 vii 4.2.2 Research sites 117 4.2.3 Survey participants 118 4.3 Research design: the semi-structured interviews 120 4.3.1 Interviews with family members 123 4.3.2 Individual interviews 124 4.3.3 Extended interviews 125 4.4 Research ethics 126 4.4.1 Consent 126 4.4.2 Anonymity 126 4.4.3 Storage of the corpus data 126 4.5 The fieldwork and the interview process 126 4.5.1 The role of the researcher 126 4.5.2 The recording of the interviews 128 4.5.3 Generic issues 128 4.6 Analysis of the data 129 4.6.1 Analysis of the survey data 129 4.6.2 Transcriptions and analysis of the interview data 129 Chapter Five: Interviews with individuals in different island and parish settings 5.1 Introduction 132 5.2 The Islands 133 5.2.1 Sanday 133 5.2.2 Westray 139 5.2.3 North Ronaldsay 145 viii 5.2.4 Shapinsay 147 5.3 The Towns 152 5.3.1 Kirkwall 152 5.3.2 Stromness 157 5.4 West Mainland 160 5.4.1 Harray 160 5.4.2 Sandwick 164 5.5 East Mainland 167 5.5.1 Tankerness 167 5.5.2 Holm 170 5.5.3 South Ronaldsay 174 5.6 The main themes 177 5.7 Summary of Chapter Five 182 Chapter Six: The themes emerging from the extended interviews 6.1 School days and the early years 186 6.2 Work and post-secondary education 192 6.3 Community life and social activities 198 6.4 The effects of tourism and migration

Load more