5. The Interpretation of the Data
The final task of this study will be to give a brief interpretation of
the data, including the possible establishment of one or more dialect boundaries.
Although the collected linguistic data, set out in the preceding chapters,
discloses a large variety of answers to many questions, not all of these answers
can also serve as evidence for a division into dialect areas. Many answers do
not particularly reveal local or dialectal words (e.g. the answers to question
27 (chapter 4.3.1). Others denote different phenomena associated with the same
question, like the answers to question 25 (4.2.2) which express various notions
the informants had about "a dangerous patch of sea". The questions we
must consider are those which yielded answers showing an apparent pattern
concerning their distribution and obvious differences in one community or area.
The most striking variations seem to occur in
Gourdon where we come across answers which differ from those given in other
communities in several cases. The names given for the three kinds of fish grey
gurnard, jellyfish, and starfish
(4.9.1, 4.9.2, 4.9.4 and maps 12, 13, 14 in appendix III) are different from the
answers given by all the other informants. The terminology used for the "crab
pot" also demonstrates words in Gourdon which do not occur elsewhere. Splet
is the name for topstick (4.8.1 and
map 7), basher was given once for pot
strop (4.8.4a and map 9), and strop
was used for pot bridle (4.8.4b and map10). Further linguistic variations include
the name bees for ribs
(4.1.3) and stob for end of rainbow
(4.4.3 and map 5). Grunters for the
"taboo" word pig is another
name which was only used in Gourdon (3.4 and map 2). The expressions buckie
mannies and dog in dale for weather phenomena (4.4.4) as well as graith
as a term for snood and tipping together (4.7.4) - although these names were given
incidentally and are thus not strictly comparable - can also serve to mark
Gourdon as linguistically different from the other communities included in this
study. The phonological evidence of the dialect reflex of the original OE vowel
also matches the lexical evidence as this vowel sound shows a marked difference
to the area south of Gourdon.
The linguistic evidence set out above thus
suggests the establishment of a dialect boundary south of Gourdon. This is also
reinforced by the non-linguistic evidence. The nobby
type boat (3.2 and map 1) was only mentioned in Gourdon and might account for
the term bees. The most outstanding
difference of Gourdon, however, is the fact that line fishing was pursued there
commercially a long time after it had been finished elsewhere (cf. 3.3 and 3.5).
Even today, Gourdon seems to be different from the other fishing communities
included in this study as it does not rely as much on tourism as similar small
fishing villages for which tourism has become an important source of income (e.g.
St. Abbs), and it does not have a large trawling fleet either such as the bigger
fishing centres (e.g. Pittenweem, Port Seton or Dunbar). This relative seclusion
and lack of influence from tourists and major industrial fishing methods -
particularly trawling - may be one of the foremost reasons for dialectal
expressions like buckie mannies and dog
in dale which were preserved among conventions and traditions which seem to
have escaped radical change brought about by industry and tourism.
The
establishment of a second dialect boundary within the studied area proves
difficult as there is no other community or area which shows as many significant
variations as Gourdon. However, there are obvious linguistic differences in some
villages and areas concerning a few selected items. For instance, the
terminology for various parts of the creel reveals striking differences in West
Haven. Although the creel shows no technical difference to the ones used in the
other communities, the name for the creel is sunk in West Haven (4.8). The entrance is called rommy
(4.8.2 and map 8), the pot strop is lashing
(4.8.4a and map 9), and the name for the pot bridle is cradle
(4.8.4b and map 10).
The
East Neuk of Fife also shows apparent variations concerning the terminology of
the creel. Nizzle is the name given
for the entrance (4.8.2 and map 8), and the topstick is called (top)spar (4.8.1 and map 7). Other words which are only used in the
East Neuk of Fife include strood for snood
(4.7.4 and map 6), scalder for jellyfish (4.9.4 and map 13), and grumphies for pig (3.4 and
map 2). A further peculiarity of the East Neuk of Fife is the baldie
type boat which was used there but rarely anywhere else (3.3 and map 1).
Some
distinct linguistic features can also be found along the coastline south of the
Firth of Forth, like the answer of deadwood
for kelson (4.1.5 and map 3) and crossfish
for starfish (4.9.5 and map 14). Some answers were only given along the
Berwickshire coast (St. Abbs and Burnmouth), like gandiegow for end of rainbow
(4.4.3 and map 5), strap for pot
strop (4.8.4a and map 9), or mouth
for the door of the creel (4.8.3). The Berwickshire coast also shows
phonological peculiarities concerning the dialect reflex of the OE vowel o¯,
which is realized as /e/ further north, and which is /i:/ in Burnmouth and /i/
in St. Abbs.
Answers
which were uniquely given in Burnmouth mainly concern the terms for the parts of
a rowing-boat, like helm for tiller
(4.1.7), thows for rowlocks
(4.1.8), and mast-stop for maststep
or tabernacle (4.1.6 and map 4). These variations in Burnmouth match
the extralinguistic evidence, as it is the only village on the south-east coast
of Scotland where the coble type boat,
typical for the north-east coast of England, was used in addition to the "Scottish"
yawl. Other lexical differences in
Burnmouth include the answers smooth for calm (4.2.10)
and sneed for snood (4.7.4 and map 6).
Although
another dialect boundary which is as distinct and based on as many linguistic
variations as the one we established south of Gourdon does not emerge from the
data, the limited material we have reveals notable variations in the East Neuk
of Fife and in the area "south of the Forth", with Burnmouth in
particular showing many features which cannot be found in the other communities.
A
very distinct dialect boundary, however, can be established along the
Scottish-English border by comparing the data of this study with the one of
Elmer's survey. This reveals a relatively
large number of distinct features. E.g. swither(s) for jellyfish
is swatters on the north-east coast of
England (4.9.4); crossfish for starfish
(4.9.5) and crooner for grey gurnard (4.9.2) are not used on the north-east coast of England
either. Further words which are only used in Scotland include watter
for barb (4.7.5), pallets and bows
for skin-buoys (4.7.2), palls
for bollards (4.3.2), sheel
for open (a mussel) (4.7.3), thafts
for thofts (4.1.2), gandiegow
for end of rainbow (4.4.3 and map?), mask and mash for mesh
(4.6.4), and mould for spool (4.6.3).
The extralinguistic data also reveal obvious differences between Scotland and
England. E.g. all the traditional Scottish types of boats (fifie, zulu, yawl, baldie) were not employed along the north-east
coast of England where the coble was
the dominating type. A typical Scottish feature also was the traditional
drift-net fishery for herring (3.1). Today, fishing with a drift-net is banned
in Scotland, whereas it is still allowed in England (3.3).
All
in all, the data shows that the political boundary between Scotland and England
also marks a strong dialect boundary. Burnmouth could be treated as a special
case as it shows a mixture of Scottish and English features. The names for parts
of a rowing-boat, as well as the occurence of the coble, indicate common features with the north-east coast of
England. However, many words are also typically Scottish and cannot be found in
England. Even the yawl, typical for
the Scottish east coast, was used in addition to the coble, typical for the English north-east coast.
/
from Gourdon to Catterline with /i:/ north of it and /e/ south of it. Along
the Berwickshire coast it is /i:/ in Burnmouth and /i/ in St. Abbs (Mather
1969, p.12 ff). Cf. also chapter 1.2 and map 15 in appendix III.