Community / Shaetlan receives full recognition as a language
SHAETLAN has finally been recognised as a language in its own right.
The recognition comes after the local language was given its own ISO code by SIL Global, the organisation that handles the international Ethnologue database has been tasked with the handling of international language ISO codes.
There are more than 7,000 languages in 242 countries recognised in the database, and Shaetlan is now one of them.
The language received widespread recognition within the global academic world after linguist Prof. Dr Viveka Velupillai and local Shaetlan mother tongue speaker Roy Mullay published their well-received book Shaetlan: A young language wi aald røts, earlier this year.
Photo: Shetland News
A submission for recognition by Velupillai and Mullay, supported by many local speakers and the academic community, has now been adopted.
Velupillai, who is a professor for linguistics at Giessen University in Germany but has been living in Shetland for the last seven years, said she was over the moon at the news.
“I was absolutely thrilled to receive the news this morning (Wednesday) that Shaetlan has been granted its own ISO 639-3 code as of today,” she said.
“This opens up a number of possibilities for Shaetlan. It will now be included in major databases as a language in its own right, as well as in formal lists of minority languages. It also opens up many new possibilities for digital tools.
“But mainly, it gives, at long last, formal international recognition to Shaetlan as a language in its own right, one that should be given the same respect and treatment as any other language.”
Dr Velupillai added: “This has come about thanks to the joint efforts of Da Shaetlan Projict, Shaetlan mother tongue speakers and a large number of my colleagues at universities across the world.
“We are extremely grateful for their unfailing support throughout this journey. They are too many to list here, but our very special thanks goes to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Peter Bakker at Aarhus University in Denmark.”
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