ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 provides the necessary background and context to the later chapters. The first section provides an overview of Shetland’s geography and a discussion of Shetland’s internal geographic features and their implications for linguistic matters. While dominated by one main island, Shetland forms an archipelago characterized by the maintenance of small, localized populations in geographically remote locations. The chapter outlines Shetland’s history and the main settlement periods. The causes of the population change and the emergence of modern Shetland society are laid out. The main linguistic periods are discussed in relation to political and non-linguistic changes. Turning entirely to linguistic matters, a framework for the local linguistic situation is sketched out using the model for Lowland Scotland involving Scots, Scottish Standard English, and a bipolar range between these poles. The local linguistic situation is further detailed, including poles, functional divisions between the poles, speech ranges between the poles, and variation within the speech ranges. The chapter ends with a discussion of ongoing change and the available evidence for changes to the traditional situation and their potential effects is considered.
