ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 lays out the aims, scope, and structure of the book. The overall aim is to present an analysis of one of the lesser-known varieties of English in Britain, namely the Shetland dialect. Owing to its remote location and traditional society, Shetland is one of the few places where a traditional dialect may still be heard and studied in Britain. The goal of this volume is to provide an accessible, comprehensive account of the traditional Shetland dialect, with key sections of the book based on a recently completed project on the phonology of the dialect. The focus of the book is the conservative, traditional dialect spoken by older, rural individuals, which is highly distinctive and regionally diverse across Shetland. Previous research on Shetland speech is reviewed to set the scene for subsequent chapters. Work on Shetland’s linguistic history, local speech in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and current linguistic change is covered. The structure of the book and its eight chapters is also outlined.
