Talk:Scottish Borders

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[edit] Gaelic name for the region

It also should be noted that even though there is a Gaelic name for the region, it has never been spoken in the area, and the traditional language of the area is Scots and its dialects.

Perhaps, but isn't, uh, English, the language spoken there now? My understanding was that genuine Scots is now only spoken in a few remote rural areas, and that most Scottish people speak a kind of Scots inflected form of standard English. john k 17:45, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Maybe, but the point i think he/she is trying to make is that Gaelic has Never been spoken here, if you were to speak to someone in Gaelic there they would have no idea what you were saying. i dont see any point in having the Gaelic name listed, you might as well have the french or japanese name, probley the same amount of people would understand that --retro_junkies 11:52, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

As you well know by now, and as place name evidence and history clearly shows, Gaelic was spoken in the Borders. How immune to facts and reason are you? siarach 16:46, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

I would have though that the more salient question would be whether or not the area had a Gaelic name (as opposed to a translation of the modern name) and did it refer to the same (or largely similar) area? I would think it unlikely that the historic area of 'The Borders' bore much relation to the current boundaries - although I'm fully prepared to admit that this is based on a gut feeling rather than any actual evidence. --Worm 12:30, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

I see someone has removed the Gaelic again, so I await a revert war..... Worm (t | c) 13:38, 5 September 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Featured article status

Is anyone able to help me get this to featured article status?? There are several reasons why this should be a featured article:

  • It has been the setting for several battles between England and Scotland.
  • It has many notable places of interest
  • It has a fairly epic history.

Does anyone agree with my suggestions for this, and if so, how can we make this into a featured article?? This talk page is under-used for now. --SunStar Net 11:52, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Some information on economic / industrial activity would be helpful.The Boy that time forgot 22:43, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

I'd say the history was more than "fairly epic" --retro_junkies 11:52, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 3/4 languages

"Since Roman times, there has been evidence of three/four main languages in the area: Brythonic, Anglo-Saxon, English and Lowland Scots."

In other words 2 languages as Anglo-Saxon, Lowland Scots and English (as in English English) are all one and the same in this context - it makes no sense to regard the different historical stages of a single language as seperate when discussing the number of lanugages spoken in an area. Certainly Anglo-Saxon, as the direct ancestor to both Lowland Scots and English, should not be counted seperately. siarach 12:49, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Languages again...

Since Roman times, there has been evidence of two main languages in the area: Brythonic and Anglo-Saxon,the latter of which developed into its modern forms of English and Lowland Scots. The local varieties of the latter displays some similarities with the dialects of Northumberland and Tyneside, although they preserved more older words and grammar better than their neighbours to the south.

I'm not questioning the content, but rather the grammar.

Using 'the latter' twice in sucession seems over the top to me, and the second sentence is pretty ropey to be honest. I don't want to do a direct edit becuase I'm not even clear on the exact meaning to be conveyed, but I would be inclined to go with something like:

Since Roman times, there has been evidence of two main languages in the area: Brythonic and Anglo-Saxon,the latter of which developed into its modern forms of English and Lowland Scots. The local varieties of Lowland Scots display some similarities with the dialects of Northumberland and Tyneside, but have preserved older words and grammar better than their neighbours to the south.

I left in 'neighbours to the south', although I'm not sure it's necessary. --Worm 01:12, 12 January 2007 (UTC)