I sprag enff Kyðness - The language of Caithness

 

 

Ud enlgarynn Nirda-iriynd sprag tinmyd Nirn ynnda stitinn eg Oirsgey til i
enkduidf jenrzidf id trsomys enff Nirn voirtskafjys tinud aiil edan oidasy eg i eesandys ising. Ekdur i dufad til eedanje “oirtinloen” id “Niryngstin” oynrzoirsysyd poirtilmir sprag sysbrusgig:

 

 

Orkney was settled (or conquered, depending on whom you ask) by Vikings and quickly became an earldom under the Norwegian crown. Orkney was an important part of the Norwegian empire for over 500 years, and these five centuries have had a lasting effect on the islands and the islanders. Despite belonging to Scotland for the past 500+ years, culturally, Orkney in some ways resembles Norway more than Scotland. Bagpipes and the kilt are not part of Orcadian identity, and the Gaelic language has never been spoken in Orkney within historic memory.

 

 

Oirtinloed enda enmyaienlwg ynri idudadad eg syskit, esnisjymaig i syskit enff ir eesandys. Oirsgey ys syskitig kdanvafjys til stintiendurg enda fageedansy eg i kuledir ising, oft utdrutinmae simplwtinlig som ud kuledrig iszid vag wekopg Niryng til koptidlig Oirsgey:

 

 

because the language survived longest in the far North, there has been a general tendency to apply Norn solely to the Orkney and Shetland situation – although some have also wanted to include north-eastern Caithness (cf. Thorsen 1954:230-38), an area intimately linked with the Norse Earldom of Orkney.

 

 

Riyffenud koniktnigys gigyr som sprag som undurolinnig, folk intin enff oirtinloud kuledir som il enff ud ierkt lwenlid vag i wekopgys ynir kolonizmae i eesandys vag i nit id dult zidfurys. Weirrir, iys nirywie enff kolonizedan ed dagnissyd ratzir nusidunilwg vag sorin eesandoer (Jakobsen):

 

 

The Norn spoken towards the middle of the century and later can hardly have been of much account. The difference between it and the dialect of the oldest people of the present generation probably consisted in little more than the fact that the former contained a greater sprinkling of Norn words which the younger people did not understand. Moreover, the persons mentioned had probably a certain reputation because they could recite fragments of songs, rhymes and modes of expression, etc. in Norn, things that others had forgotten.

 

 

 

I folk enff Oirsgey ertinud in ir eesandys iel syskit rit poin Niryng id Tinenin (Canada). I tvo rilafjnigys enda neet netisenrilwg kopzefsatdi enff oir loskudunmae som ernig konikdunmae. Eg i dalys nenratiynys, Oirsgey ä ud syskitig rilafjnig rit tinenin, id etdu ä ud syskitig rilafjnig rit Niryng. Ekdur, poin koniktnigys iel sorin rikdanoiritinli utdrusgig. Ynir ynnda etdu in tinri til i eesandys op myngbotys?

 

 

Wekopg ziroeys.

Ynir ynnda etdu in myft Oirsgey til fagoyndan i weldys enff tinenin? Wekopg ziroeys eg enmyn rin nenmi:

 

 

Scots is the name for the language of lowland Scotland. It is a Germanic language, closely related to English. It developed from the northern Old English (or Old Northumbrian) that was introduced into south-east Scotland (south of the Forth) from the 7th century AD onwards, as the kingdom of Northumbria expanded northwards. It was reinforced later by northern English that had been exposed to strong Norse influence after the Norse (Danes and Norwegians) occupied what is now Yorkshire and Cumbria. It started to be more widely spoken in eastern Scotland, north of the Forth, in the 12th century; by the early 15th century it was well established as the language of the Scottish court and parliament; and by the end of the middle ages (that is by about 1500) it had superseded Gaelic in almost all the southern and eastern lowlands. It was introduced into the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland) in the later middle ages, and by the 18th century it had superseded the local Norse language (Norn), which, however, has left its strong mark on the Scots spoken in those islands.

 

 

I tysnur enff i wekopg doeneneys daenud durg poin rilafjnigys, id poin enda airukedred enlwt ud koloneal rinkt kontinuum in grips vag oai til weai. Dumae pognig ud ierkt faggmysgig rimyn Niryng id tinenin ymdin edan oynr-daetinig i etnografik eweid, i fenkt in i folk enff Oirsgey sysdank ir koniktnigys til i tvo dumynrys rit gigyr lwkdanmikdanvafjys tinud ynesin os yitin ovan ur i eesandoer dagnig irdalve id ir oirt eg i ynlyd (From Starafjall to Starling Hill An investigation of the formation and development of Old Norse place-names in Orkney, B. Sandnes, 2010):

 

 

There are a number of uncertain elements regarding the use of Norn and Scots as spoken languages. Although Orkney was bilingual for ca. 500 years, we do not know to what extent individuals mastered both languages throughout the period. The language shift was gradual, probably on the individual level as well as geographically. We have seen that the language shift seems to have been completed by 1700 in the central parts of Mainland, whereas all sources point to the survival of Norn well into the 18th century in West Mainland.

 

 

I durmini Nirn sysbrusgigd vag sysoirg log til oynrskriafn i stintienstin enff Setsasy id Oirsgey iriynys vag i enlgarynn Nirda endjektiv nidfemynoenn "Niryngstin, Nirda  id/oir i koidasnupinig subaimirivi nidfemynoenud  "Niryngstin sprag, Nirda sprag". Eg ud prot dad inrfag, Nirn ymdyn idfyn nissdane stintienvstin stitinn neet sysdakt eg i Nirgarynn edmys rin idfgad ilys enff primanienud som kynlir. Id i durmini ä oksom pi gigyr sysbrusgigd.

 

Rin ynlir i sprag oynrvonensy mynssai eg i fer Nird, inr ä pi ud enmywd oynrzagssnud til opzedun Nirn mynlwg til i Oirsgey id Setsasy sidunriomjop – obynl sorin enr og eklwgnmae til edlwdun Nird-oaiig tinitag, ud endaud itimadulwg lwntid rit i Nirda oerldoenen enff Oirsgey.

 

 

 

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Vikings in the Nor’ Wast - The Roots of Orkney’s Identity in Norway and Canada
MICHAEL A. LANGE - SCANDINAVIAN-CANADIAN STUDIES VOLUME 17, 2006-2007.

 

 

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