I had been warned that the Orkney dialect was “difficult,” but it is perfectly comprehensible to any Canadian, and extremely pleasing to the ear. The intonation pattern, in particular, reminds me of Canadian speech in the Atlantic Provinces. Though the consonants are different, its vowel and diphthong s only a short shift away. The “Canadian rising” that Americans find so amusing is taken a step further. Similarly, the Orcadian pitch pattern is only slightly different from what you would hear in Canada’s northernmost regions. Except for some peculiarities of vocabulary, I never had any difficulty understanding Orcadians, while I often had to work a bit to understand people in Glasgow, and many of the dialects of England are practically Martian to me. Sometimes, the announcements in the London Underground were complete gibberish. But when I eavesdropped on the conversation of two elderly Orkney farmers, whose speech was obviously unvarnished Orcadian, it was no challenge. Orcadians are soft-spoken, sparing in their words, and not rapid speakers. They are not arm wavers or finger pointers. Even teenagers staggering out of the pubs are not keen on shouting.
The old Orcadian dialect is not, of course, the only form of English spoken here. There is much pressure from schools and media to replace it with Standard Scots. The presence of several thousand newcomers from all over the British Isles also influences speech, as does Orcadians travelling to other places and returning home. Many of the newcomers believe the dialect represents backwardness and stupidity. Some native Orcadians have absorbed this attitude, and either tone it down for outsiders, or abandon it alltogether in favour of what they feel is more prestigeous speech.
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