18th-Century Representations of Scottish English, Scottish Gaelic and Scots in Outlander

Walter Scott, David Hume, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Stevenson, Alexander Fleming, Mary Stuart Queen of Scots; these are just some of the great Scottish historical and cultural figures that marked my academic career and that made my interest for Scotland flourish. Nonetheless, it was the Scottish language that captivated me the most; discovering that Scottish Gaelic has officially acquired the title of endangered language on UNESCO's list of imperilled languages intensified my curiosity. Therefore, this dissertation is aimed at identifying the representation of Scottish English, Scottish Gaelic and Scots in the media, paying particular attention to the TV series Outlander. The first chapter contains an overview of the main languages spoken in Scotland, namely Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Scottish English; their differences are discussed in terms of social context, geographical location, origin and classification. The second chapter will include the description of the source of the investigation, in this case, the TV series “Outlander”, a filmic adaptation of Diana Gabaldon's historical time-travel book series of the same name. Furthermore, the sociohistorical context will be outlined in order to understand the background of the series. Ultimately, the third chapter will address the analysis of Scotticisms and Gaelicisms that can be found in the 16 episodes of the first season of Outlander, thus including their meaning and etymology, while also distinguishing them as either borrowings or instances of code-mixing.