Fisher Speak: Variation and Change in the Lexis of Scottish Fishing Communities
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Aberdeen
Department Name: Sch of Language and Literature
Abstract
By 2050, little will remain of the highly distinctive dialects of the Scottish fishing communities. Although the process will be dramatic, in essence what is happening in these communities is a form of language death.
Fisher speak: variation and change in the lexis of Scottish fishing communities will record and preserve as much as possible of this diversity, providing an in-depth analysis of the ways in which the vocabulary employed in these communities has changed in the past and, most vitally, in the present. It will catalogue the ways in which a dying way of life, heavily embedded in the history and culture of the neighbourhoods studied, affected the local language and the linguistic ways in which its coming absence are already making themselves known.
In order to provide a workable sample of coastal communities which is still representative, both major fishing centres and smaller settlements will be surveyed. The lexical use of Eyemouth (Berwickshire), the East Neuk of Fife (in particular, Anstruther), Peterhead (Aberdeenshire), Lossiemouth and Hopeman (Moray) and Wick (Caithness) will be considered in diachronic and synchronic depth.
Lasting thirty-six months, Fisher speak will be carried out by the Principal Investigator, Robert McColl Millar, and a Research Assistant (to be appointed). It will involve interaction with the most accomplished speakers over what lexis is being lost in each locale, and recruitment of speakers across the age and gender spectrum for both pilot and main studies. Particular attention will be paid at all age levels to the extent to which present and past employment in the fishing trade affects both passive and active knowledge of particular lexical items. At the same time, both project members will assemble and analyse prior discussions and exemplifications of the dialects in question, whether local, regional or national, whether written or recorded. This will produce a broad and deep historical corpus for the dialects studied.
New methodologies for studying lexical variation and change / previously not as fully covered as phonological or syntactic change / will be developed, deriving insights from both the questionnaire-based dialectological tradition, as used by Macafee in her study of traditional dialect lexical attrition in the East End of Glasgow, and the developing Mind-Mapping techniques of the Survey of Regional English (SURE) group. Particular attention will be given to the problems caused by the comparison of change in real time and change in apparent time, to potential differences in rates of change between words and phrases associated with the fishing trade and the seaborne life (including the tabu-avoidance language so common in the North Sea world) and local dialect words and phrases with no such association. Although the questionnaire will inevitably alter from place to place, care will be taken / and 'native experts' will be consulted / to achieve as high a degree of coincidence as possible.
The project will result in the production of two books: a scholarly monograph dealing with the nature of lexical variation and change over place and time and the problems associated with the development of methodologies to assess this nature, and a work on the fisher dialects of Scotland and their lexis intended for a wider audience. Both project members will also produce peer-reviewed journal articles for audiences in the UK and overseas.
As important, however, will be the community outreach plans for the project. Although elements of the corpus collected will be placed in central archives in Scotland and elsewhere, considerable interaction with the fishing communities, their organisation, museums and cultural centres over collected materials is also planned.
Fisher speak: variation and change in the lexis of Scottish fishing communities will record and preserve as much as possible of this diversity, providing an in-depth analysis of the ways in which the vocabulary employed in these communities has changed in the past and, most vitally, in the present. It will catalogue the ways in which a dying way of life, heavily embedded in the history and culture of the neighbourhoods studied, affected the local language and the linguistic ways in which its coming absence are already making themselves known.
In order to provide a workable sample of coastal communities which is still representative, both major fishing centres and smaller settlements will be surveyed. The lexical use of Eyemouth (Berwickshire), the East Neuk of Fife (in particular, Anstruther), Peterhead (Aberdeenshire), Lossiemouth and Hopeman (Moray) and Wick (Caithness) will be considered in diachronic and synchronic depth.
Lasting thirty-six months, Fisher speak will be carried out by the Principal Investigator, Robert McColl Millar, and a Research Assistant (to be appointed). It will involve interaction with the most accomplished speakers over what lexis is being lost in each locale, and recruitment of speakers across the age and gender spectrum for both pilot and main studies. Particular attention will be paid at all age levels to the extent to which present and past employment in the fishing trade affects both passive and active knowledge of particular lexical items. At the same time, both project members will assemble and analyse prior discussions and exemplifications of the dialects in question, whether local, regional or national, whether written or recorded. This will produce a broad and deep historical corpus for the dialects studied.
New methodologies for studying lexical variation and change / previously not as fully covered as phonological or syntactic change / will be developed, deriving insights from both the questionnaire-based dialectological tradition, as used by Macafee in her study of traditional dialect lexical attrition in the East End of Glasgow, and the developing Mind-Mapping techniques of the Survey of Regional English (SURE) group. Particular attention will be given to the problems caused by the comparison of change in real time and change in apparent time, to potential differences in rates of change between words and phrases associated with the fishing trade and the seaborne life (including the tabu-avoidance language so common in the North Sea world) and local dialect words and phrases with no such association. Although the questionnaire will inevitably alter from place to place, care will be taken / and 'native experts' will be consulted / to achieve as high a degree of coincidence as possible.
The project will result in the production of two books: a scholarly monograph dealing with the nature of lexical variation and change over place and time and the problems associated with the development of methodologies to assess this nature, and a work on the fisher dialects of Scotland and their lexis intended for a wider audience. Both project members will also produce peer-reviewed journal articles for audiences in the UK and overseas.
As important, however, will be the community outreach plans for the project. Although elements of the corpus collected will be placed in central archives in Scotland and elsewhere, considerable interaction with the fishing communities, their organisation, museums and cultural centres over collected materials is also planned.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Robert Millar (Principal Investigator) | |
| Michael Hornsby (Researcher) |
Publications
Lawson, Robert
(2014)
Sociolinguistics in Scotland
McColl Millar R
(2016)
Current Trends in Historical Sociolinguistics
Millar R
(2014)
Sociolinguistics in Scotland
Millar Robert McColl
(2014)
Lexical Variation and Attrition in the Scottish Fishing Communities
Robert Millar (Co-Author)
(2012)
Terms for fish in the dialects of Scotland?s east coast fishing communities: evidence for lexical attrition
in Scottish Language
| Description | The Scottish fishing communities have remained until recent times, socially and,to a degree, inguistically discrete from their landward neighbours. Has the decline (in many places collapse) of the fishing industry led to a similar decline in knowledge of local lexis (both associated with fishing and not)? The findings of this project are naturally complex, but the following major issues are particularly noteworthy: 1. Lexis associated with fishing is primarily confined to those generations in any community for whom fishing was a common occupation. 2. Where fishing continues (as in Peterhead) younger people often have a considerable knowledge of fishing lexis. Where it has ceased or is moribund, such transfer to the younger generation is limited. 3. Local words and phrases connected to the weather and coastal flora and fauna continue to be used by all age groups, but are particularly well known among those who have taken part in the fishing trade. 4. A sense of local identity and difference from near and distant neighbours is strong throughout the communities, but is strongest among those connected to fishing (and therefore the home port) directly. 5. Taboo avoidance words (such as _cold iron_ for 'salmon') are still known in most communities. Young people occasionally do not know that the word is related to onboard taboo avoidance, however. 6. Although there is evidence of a general decline in knowledge of local lexis, in particular in relation to fishing trade specific vocabulary, some younger informants (female in particular) displayed a patchy but impressive knowledge of these terms. Many of these informants had a connection to the heritage trade. 7. Further evidence suggested that some informants' knowledge of elements of the fishing trade, such as how and where herring gutting took place, is based not on first hand experience, but rather through seeing photographs or museum exhibits. 8. While much that is linguistically local is likely to continue to be used, there can be little doubt that regional koineisation of language, homogenisation into regional speech varieties rather than local dialects, is well underway. |
| Exploitation Route | Community outreach in fishing communities -- both those which were studied and others. This can be carried out across all age groups, with both children and the old, for a variety of reasons, finding the process both educational and empowering. Local studies of culture and language, such as those often carried out under the aegis of local libraries or museums. |
| Sectors | Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| Description | The research has been given some prominence in local and Scottish newspapers over the last few years. This has led to connections being made to the local fishing communities, which we hope to activate fully in the next year. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2012 |
| Sector | Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |