Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1964, Page 35

Dialect Research in Orkney and Shetland after Jakobsen 43
One clear division in the table is between those dialects
which differentiate fat/faut and these which do not. This
division is, in general, between a Mainland and South Isles
type versus a North Isles type, with Birsay, at the western
extremity of Mainland, going with the North lsles. Deer»
ness, at the eastern extremity, is aligned with the Mainland/
South Isles type. Orphir and Rackwick show 12*vowel
systems, but South Ronaldsay does not, for the [e] of »met«
is, in fact, the same as in »beat« (or, to give an exact
minimal pair, as in »mate«). Phonically, the quality of
Rackwick and North Ronaldsay [e'[ in »bait« corresponds
to the Bigton, (i. e. Shetland, Mainland) type, whereas the
others correspond to the Shetland North Isles type.
The structural position of vowel and 1 can now be brie*
fly noticed. Here, as was suggested previously, distribution
is albimportant. The following table will suggest that, for
both Orkney and Shetland, the distribution of [i] and [e]
over the vocabulary can reveal a distinct pattering into
North and South types. It should be noticed that, for
Orkney, North Ronaldsay, in spite of its actual geograp>=
hical position, is to be included in the south type, and
Deerness (East Mainland) in the north type. In Shetland,
Fair Isle must be included in the north type.