25-506: The Scottish National Dictionary Association (SNDA) was founded in 1929 to foster and encourage the Scots language, in particular by producing a standard dictionary of modern Scots. This primary aim was fulfilled in 1976 with the completion of the 10-volume Scottish National Dictionary (SND), covering the language from 1700 to 1976. Material for SND is drawn from a wide variety of written and oral sources of Lowland Scots from Shetland to Ulster. SND
50-615: A computer database of language, the British National Corpus . When completed her projects as a lexicographer, she did not hesitate to pursue further with enthusiasm another interest of her, the adult education in communities, with special attention to deprived areas and disadvantaged learners. She went back to college to train in Adult Education and obtaining a certificate in Community Education. Her wide involvement in
75-480: A concise publication would have been a daunting one to anyone, with the need to account for sound changes over time, regional dialects and countless variations of spelling. Mairi Robinson's team addressed all these needs compiling a much useful introduction and notes, making easy to cross-reference words to their sources, providing etymology , chronology and their geographical range. The aim was to be all-inclusive, and accessible to every reader who require agile access to
100-537: A new edition in 1997, within the Chamber series, with the name of Chamber 21st century dictionary . Comments and reviews of both editions in the press included "inside, all is well. The clarity of thought and usage associated with Scotland shines from every page, the typography and layout is as clear and as elegant as the definitions", and "The importance of this single volume with its wealth of etymological, regional and grammatical information should never be underestimated and
125-577: A well known landmark of the Old city of Edinburgh, displaying all her recently published works. This project, together with her commitment to the diffusion of the Scots language, made her a well-known public figure in the community that also put her under the spotlight, appearing on television on Russel Harty 's chat show. Having experienced first-hand the transition from card catalogs to new technology, she became involved in Computer science , and helped to develop
150-649: A wide range of smaller Scots dictionaries, including the Scots Thesaurus (1990). The Association also established an ongoing Word Collection in order to create a constantly updated resource on modern Scots. In 2001, the SNDA was a partner with the University of Dundee in a major digitisation project to create the online Dictionary of the Scots Language (DSL). The DSL project digitised the complete first edition texts of both
175-683: The Scottish National Dictionary and the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue to create a free online resource, which was published in 2004. In 2002, when the related Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue Project reached completion, a new organisation, Scottish Language Dictionaries (SLD) was formed to further Scottish lexicography. Building on the work of The Scottish National Dictionary Association and
200-527: The 1960s she joined the University of Edinburgh where she studied Classics , and where she met her future husband, David Robinson, professor of Greek philosophy . They were both on a university trip to Pompei and they married five years later. She became involved soon in lexicography , joining the editing team of the Scottish National Dictionary . Soon after, she was to lead her own team in
225-507: The Edinburgh Festival in 1977. When her daughter Nicola met him, he presented her his signature with the inscription "Happy Birthday to us". She also had one son, John, and her daughter Nicola married the composer Alan Charlton. She separated from her husband in 1984. She was a spirited character, always with a ready smile. Mairi was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in May 2020, and
250-640: The 1985 publication for the Concise Scots dictionary. She was Scots language consultant for the complete edition of Sir Walter Scott 's novels. She was committed to adult learning . Her work has been a noteworthy contribution to the Scots language and to the confidence of the Scottish people about their language. She was born in Dennistoun , Glasgow, in 1945, daughter of the Rev. John Mcnicol and Elma Kennedy. When she
275-642: The Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue, in 2021, Scottish Language Dictionaries became an SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation) and changed its name to Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL). It is a registered charity in Scotland with the OSCR number SC032910. DSL also undertakes a wide programme of educational work throughout Scotland, with people of all ages and abilities.. Scottish National Dictionary The Scottish National Dictionary ( SND )
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#1732844389527300-534: The SND up-to-date with a New Supplement, published online in 2005 as part of the Dictionary of the Scots Language . Mairi Robinson Mairi Robinson (née Macnicol) (21 January 1945 to 17 June 2020) was best known for her dedication towards the study of the Scottish language and Scottish lexicography . She worked on the later stages of the Scottish National Dictionary and became the editor-in-chief where she oversaw
325-507: The Scot language. The difficulty to achieve conciseness was overcome by including only words for which three quotations could be found. The pronunciation was given according to the extensive phonetic system developed by A.J. Aitken, accompanied by a resourceful table that allowed to recreate the sound of a word in Early, Middle and Modern Scots, all in one handy volume. The dictionary was published again in
350-764: The community includes posts in Stirling , Craigmillar , Home-Start-Leith, North-east Edinburgh, and she was manager of the Ace Cornton education centre. Her interests, ranging in a wide variety of subjects, included Scottish History , Architecture, Archaeology , Geography and Music. She was a member of the Scottish Society for Northern Studies , the Scottish Local History Forum, the Damned Rebel Bitches Scottish Women's History Group, and she
375-590: The creation of a much wanted abridged version, the Concise Scots Dictionary, to be published in 1985. Subsequently, she was the language consultant for the significant complete edition of Sir Walter Scott 's Waverley novels, in 30 volumes, published by the Edinburgh University Press . It goes back to this time the gratifying photograph of her in front of the windows of the James Thin bookshop,
400-589: The mid-twentieth century were thoroughly investigated, as were historical records, both published and unpublished, of Parliament, Town Councils, Kirk Sessions and Presbyteries and Law Courts. More ephemeral sources such as domestic memoirs, household account books, diaries, letters and the like were also read for the dictionary, as well as a wide range of local and national newspapers and magazines, which often shed light on regional vocabulary and culture. Perhaps because Scots has often been perceived as inappropriate for formal situations (including formal written text) during
425-402: The need for a concise edition had already been expressed by Denton Fox, some twenty years prior to the publication of the Concise Scots Dictionary. The latter also drew from the equally majestic Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue , covering the language from the 12th century to 1700, that at the time was still incomplete in its publication. The endeavor of covering such a wide time period in
450-450: The number and range of written sources and expanded the coverage of oral material. He improved the layout and clarity of the entries, revealing the healthy position of modern Scots usage in spite of centuries of neglect. Murison was therefore instrumental in encouraging the study of modern Scots and fostering respect for it as a language. He was responsible for the completion of Volume III, and for overall control of Volumes IV to X. In 1985,
475-531: The one-volume Concise Scots Dictionary based on the SND and DOST was published (editor-in-chief Mairi Robinson ). From 2001 to 2004, a team at Dundee University, led by Dr Victor Skretkowicz and lexicographer, Susan Rennie, digitised the full text of all ten volumes and made them freely available as part of the online Dictionary of the Scots Language . An award from the Heritage Lottery Fund brought
500-411: The period from 1700 to the present day, many words and expressions that were in regular everyday use did not appear in print. In order to redress this imbalance and fully appreciate the linguistic oral heritage of Scots, field-workers for the dictionary collected personal quotations across the country. David Murison became editor of the dictionary in 1946, after William Grant's death. He greatly increased
525-497: Was looked after at home until her peaceful death. In 1966 she was already working as an editor and senior editor in the team led by David Murison of the Scottish National Dictionary, whose editor was A.J. Aitken . From 1973 to 1985, she was editor-in-chief of the Concise Scots Dictionary. While the Scottish National Dictionary was one valuable source, covering in ten volumes the Scots language from 1700 onward,
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#1732844389527550-409: Was produced under the editorial direction of William Grant (from 1929 to 1946), and of David Murison (from 1946 to 1976). After the Scottish National Dictionary was completed, with its Supplement, in 1976. The Association went on to produce the Concise Scots Dictionary (1985) under the leadership of Mairi Robinson . In 1986 Iseabail Macleod became editorial director, and the SNDA went on to produce
575-558: Was published by the Scottish National Dictionary Association (SNDA) from 1931 to 1976 and documents the Modern (Lowland) Scots language . The original editor, William Grant, was the driving force behind the collection of Scots vocabulary. A wide range of sources were used by the editorial team in order to represent the full spectrum of Scottish vocabulary and cultural life. Literary sources of words and phrases up to
600-702: Was secretary of the Conference of Scottish Medievalists. With her brisk and attentive ear she was bound to be interested in Music, and this was plentiful in her life as she sang as an alto voice in the Sine Nomine Choir, Edinburgh University Opera Club, and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, as well as being a regular concert attender. She happened to share her birthday date with the famous opera singer Plácido Domingo , whom she had listened to performing Carmen at
625-505: Was three she embarked on a long journey to Australia, as her father had a job as a lecturer at Ormond College of the University of Melbourne . As a result of her father's death, she returned to Edinburgh with her mother in 1952., where she attended Liberton Primary School , and then the George Watson's Ladies' College . She was a brilliant pupil and very academically inclined, well ahead of her peers, so that she became Dux at 16. In
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