Can a Part Be more Predisposed to Sustainable Development than the Whole? (The Evidence of the Island Dialects of Scots)

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to determine the extent to which the Ulster and Shetlandic regional varieties of the Scots language correspond in their parameters to the definition of an island resettlement dialect, and also to show that the island nature of the areas to be considered is an important factor that has a favourable effect on the development of the dialects in question, as well as the entire Scots language as a whole. The evidence considered in the work confirms the island character of the areas of Ulster-Scots and Shetlandic and substantiates the conclusion that it is a condition that counteracts the linguistic shift and favours the sustainable development of the idioms in question.