University of Glasgow's new research project Speak for Yersel looks to crowd source how Scots is used in the 21st century
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ACADEMICS at the University of Glasgow are calling on people across Scotland to tell them how they speak Scots.
Different types of Scots is spoken all across Scotland, from Shetland to Stranraer and everywhere in between.
The University of Glasgow's new research project Speak for Yersel, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, aims to find out more about the different types of Scots spoken across modern day Scotland.
The researchers are asking to public to take part, by joining the Speak for Yersel website.
Users will be asked to complete a number of interactive resources on the website, to tell the project team about words, sounds and sentences they use, which will help them create a record of Scots as it is used in the 21st century.
Professor Jennifer Smith, a Professor of Sociolinguistics based at the University’s School of Critical Studies, said: “Lots of people say ‘Oh I don’t speak Scots’. But just because you don’t sound like Robert Burns, doesn’t mean you’re not speaking Scots.
“We sometimes have an idea that Scots was something that was spoken centuries ago and now it has largely disappeared. But step out on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow or Union Street in Aberdeen and you’ll hear people sounding distinctly Scottish.
“We know intuitively that people across Scotland sound very different, so here we want to capture those differences, providing a record of how Scots is spoken in the 21st century.”
Scots comes in many different colours - the Scots spoken in Aberdeen is very different to that spoken in Glasgow, but it is all Scots. Speak for Yersel project is not interested in how Scots should be, but what it actually is today.
Mary Robinson, Research Assistant on the Speak for Yersel project, said: “Scots is not just a subject you learn in school: it's a living language that's spoken by millions of people in Scotland, whether or not they realise it.
“There is no wrong way to speak Scots. These surveys aren't a test to determine if you're a 'real' Scots speaker or not, or if your speech is 'Scots enough' or not. Instead, it recognises that there are as many valid ways to speak Scots are there are Scots speakers.”
The Speak for Yersel project will also allow academics to capture changes in the language, by comparing speakers across the generations.
The project also offers up the opportunity to study Scots in the classroom in an engaging and fun way. The resource contains a number of activities that will really make pupils think about how they and others sound.
Bruce Eunson, Scots Language Co-ordinator for Education Scotland, said: “It’s been fantastic working with the University of Glasgow on this new Scots language resource. Digital resources such as “Speak for Yersel” are invaluable for both modern education settings, as well as for promoting use of Scots language in education.
“By giving children and young people across Scotland the opportunity to interact with the resource and to be the voices and responders to the data collected, it puts the learner at the centre of the experience and creates opportunities for them to not only be part of the process but to also shape the output of the resource.
“The more this unique platform is used, the more we will all learn about how Scots is used in classrooms and what children and young people have to say about the language, thus providing invaluable feedback and knowledge on this important aspect of modern education and Scottish culture.
"The academics at University of Glasgow have been brilliant to work with on this project and I look forward to promoting this for use in classrooms all over the country.”
