Nancy Dorian

Who is Nancy Dorian?

Nancy C. Dorian is an American linguist who has carried out research into the death of the East Sutherland dialect of Scottish Gaelic for over 40 years, particularly in the villages of Brora, Golspie and Embo. Noting that arguments were made about what happens when a language begins to die out, she decided to study a declining language until it had no remaining speakers and examine the evolution of its grammar, phonology, and other linguistic features. The language in question, East Sutherland Gaelic, is an isolated dialect, with substantial differences from other dialects of Scots Gaelic, preserved in three small communities of Scottish fisherfolk. In the early years of the study there were 200+ speakers, including one parrot. As of 2014 there are three living speakers, as well as Dorian herself.

She also studied young people who could speak Gaelic but didn't speak it often and noted their ability to quickly return to fluency with effort.

Nancy Dorian received her Ph.D from the University of Michigan and is a former professor in linguistics and anthropology at Bryn Mawr College. Working for the Linguistic Survey of Scotland in 1963, there was little expectation at the time of finding Gaelic locally spoken but Dorian found over 200 Gaelic speakers. Her study into the decline of Gaelic in East Sutherland is considered an important and detailed study of language death.