Ulster Scots language: Encyclopedia II - Ulster Scots language - Legal status

Ulster Scots language - Legal status

Ulster Scots is defined in legislation (The North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) Northern Ireland Order 1999) as: the variety of the Scots language which has traditionally been used in parts of Northern Ireland and in Donegal in Ireland [1].

The declaration made by the United Kingdom Government regarding the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages reads as follows: The United Kingdom declares, in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Charter that it recognises that Scots and Ulster Scots meet the Charter's definition of a regional or minority language for the purposes of Part II of the Charter [2].

There is some debate as to whether this declaration recognises Ulster Scots as a separate language. Some argue that since the word "language" is in the singular, the charter recognises a single language given two names on a jurisdictional basis. Opponents of this view point out that the word "meet" is in the plural, and that the singular word "language" occurs as part of the phrase "definition of a ... language". Although would ...it recognises that Scots and Ulster Scots meets the Charter's definition... be considered correct English? However, the question would then arise of whether the charter declaration, which is not legally enforceable and was based on consultation with activists rather than academic linguists or a representative sample of ordinary speakers, amounts to a breach of the implemenation bodies legislation cited above, which has the status of a bilateral international treaty with the Irish Republic and may not be amended unilaterally. In any case, if Ulster Scots is structurally a form of Lowland Scots, even a right to separate development might not justify the act, since the gain in linguistic diversity effected thereby might be more than offset by the loss of speakers. What is certain is that in academic and popular use the word "Scots" includes "Ulster Scots" and that the charter declaration represents a departure in terminology through positing a divide.

DCAL [4] describes Ulster Scots as a Germanic language and the local variety of the Scots language.

The Good Friday Agreement (which does not refer to Ulster Scots as a "language") also recognises Ulster Scots as "part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland", and the Implementation Agreement established the cross-border Ulster-Scots Agency (Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch), whose mission statement is to promote the study, conservation, development and use of Ulster Scots as a living language; to encourage and develop the full range of its attendant culture; and to promote an understanding of the history of the Ulster-Scots people. It will be noted that this is slightly different from the organisation's legal remit to promote Ulster Scots as a "variety of the Scots language".

http://www.Ullans.pro.ie is a website promoting Ullans to the Gaelic community of Ireland.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Legal status", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki