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Scots language
*** Shopping-Tip: Scots language
{{language
|name=Scots
|familycolor=Indo-European
|states=
Scotland,
Northern Ireland,
Republic of Ireland,
England
|region=
Scottish Lowlands,
Caithness, The
Northern Isles, the
Ulster littoral,
Berwick-upon-Tweed
|speakers=over 1.5 million:
— Scotland: 1.5 million
(General Register Office for Scotland, 1996).
— Northern Ireland: 30,000
(''Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey'', 1999).
— Republic of Ireland: no official figures, but several thousand in eastern
County Donegal.
— England: Several thousand speakers in the counties of
Northumberland and
Cumberland
|fam2=
Germanic languages Germanic
|fam3=
West Germanic languages West Germanic
|fam4=
Anglo-Frisian languages Anglo-Frisian
|fam5=
Anglic languages Anglic
|nation=None.
— Classified as a ''"traditional language"'' by the
Scottish Executive.
— Classified as a ''"regional or minority language"'' under the
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, ratified by the
United Kingdom in
2001.
— Classified as a ''"traditional language"'' by ''The North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) Northern Ireland Order
1999''.
|agency=— Scotland: None,
although the Dictionary of the Scots Language carries great authority (the Scottish Executive's [http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/government/pfbs-00.asp ''Partnership for a Better Scotland''] coalition agreement, 2003, promises "support").
— Ireland (cross-border agency):
Ulster-Scots Agency,
established by the Implementation Agreement following the Good Friday Agreement.
|iso2=sco|iso3=sco}}
'''Scots''' or '''Lallans''' (
English language Eng: ''Lowlands''), sometimes called ''Lowland Scots'' to distinguish it from the
Scottish Gaelic language Gaelic language of the
Scottish highlands Highlands, is a
West Germanic language used in
Scotland, parts of
Northern Ireland, and border areas of the
Republic of Ireland, where it is known in official circles as
Ulster Scots language Ulster Scots or
Ullans but by speakers simply as ''
Scotch'' or ''Scots''.
Native speakers refer to the
language as Scots, '''Braid Scots''' (Eng: ''Broad Scots''), or simply '''Oor ain leid''' (Eng: ''Our own language'').
Origin of the term ''Scots''
Up to the
15th century (and beyond), ''Scottis'' (modern form: ''Scots'') referred to the Scottish Gaelic language (a
Celtic language and tongue of the
ancient Scots, perhaps introduced from
Ireland from the
4th century onwards). Speakers of the
Anglic languages Anglic language now called ''Scots'' would later call Gaelic ''
Erse'' (meaning Irish), and then adopt ''Scottis'' as a name for their own language. It was thus that the language took its name. The first known instance of this was by an unknown man in
1494. In 1559 William Nudrye was granted a monopoly by the court to produce school textbooks, two of which were ''Ane Schort Introduction: Elementary Digestit into Sevin Breve Tables for the Commodius Expeditioun of Thame That are Desirous to Read and Write the Scottis Toung'' and ''Ane Intructioun for Bairnis to be Learnit in Scottis and Latin''.
The Gaelic of modern Scotland is now usually referred to as ''Scottish Gaelic'' or, sometimes, ''Scots Gaelic''. It is still spoken by some in the
Highlands and Islands area Highlands and Islands (especially the
Hebrides), and ''Erse'' is regarded, understandably, as a pejorative.
Origins
:''Main article:
History of the Scots language''
The modern Scots language grew out of the northern form of
Middle English spoken by the people of south-eastern Scotland and northern England.
Old English had been established in this region in the 7th century, but remained largely confined to south-eastern Scotland until the 13th century, which is why in the late 12th century Adam of Dryburgh described his locality as "in the land of the English in the Kingdom of the Scots"
["in terra Anglorum et in regno Scottorum", Adam of Dryburgh, ''De tripartito tabernaculo'', II.210, tr. Keith J. Stringer, "Reform Monasticism and Celtic Scotland", in Edward J. Cowan & R. Andrew McDonald (eds.), ''Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages'', (East Lothian, 2000), p. 133.] and why the early 13th century author of ''
de Situ Albanie'' thought that the
Firth of Forth "divides the kingdoms of the Scots and of the English"
[Alan Orr Anderson A.O. Anderson, ''Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500–1286'', 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922), v.i, pp. cxv–cxix; see also Dauvit Broun, “The Seven Kingdoms in De Situ Albanie: A Record of Pictish political geography or imaginary Map of ancient Alba�, in E.J. Cowan & R. Andrew McDonald (eds.), Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Medieval Era, (Edinburgh, 2000, rev. 2005), pp. 24-42.]
Most of the evidence suggests that English spread into Scotland via the
burgh, proto-urban institutions which were first established by King
David I of Scotland David I. Incoming burghers were mainly English (especially from Northumbria, and the
Earl of Huntingdon Earldom of Huntingdon), Flemish and French. Although the military aristocracy employed French and Gaelic, these small urban communties appear to have been using English as something more than a ''
lingua franca'' by the end of the 13th century. As a consequence of the outcome of the
Scottish Wars of Independence Wars of Independence though, the English-speaking people of Lothian who lived under the King of Scots had to accept Scottish identity. The growth in prestige of English in the 14th century, and the complementary decline of French in Scotland, made English the prestige language of most of eastern Scotland.
Scots, or more accurately, the Middle English language, made its first literary appearance in Scotland in the mid-14th century, when its form differed little from other northern Anglic dialects, and so Scots shared many Northumbrian borrowings from
Old Norse and
Anglo-Norman language Anglo-Norman French. Scots has loan words resulting from contact with Gaelic. Today, these loan words are mainly for geographical and cultural features, such as ''loch'' and ''clan'', but later medieval legal documents written in Scots show a language extremely thick with Gaelic borrowings. Many Scots words have become part of English: ''flit'', 'to move home', ''greed'', ''eerie'', ''cuddle'', ''clan'', ''stob'', 'a post'.Besides
Scottish Gaelic Gaelic influence, later influences include
Dutch language Dutch and
Middle Low German through trade with, and immigration from, the low countries; as well as
Romance languages Romance via ecclesiastical and legal
Latin and French owing to the
Auld Alliance.
Status
Image:LufeGodAbufeAlAndYiNychtbourAsYiSelf JohnKnoxHouse200411 CopyrightKaihsuTai.jpg John Knox House.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|''Lufe God abufe al and yi nychtbour as yi self'' (''Love God above all and your neighbour as yourself'') an example of older Scots on [[John Knox House,
Edinburgh.html" title="Meaning of right|''Lufe God abufe al and yi nychtbour as yi self'' (''Love God above all and your neighbour as yourself'') an example of older Scots on [[John Knox House">thumb|right|''Lufe God abufe al and yi nychtbour as yi self'' (''Love God above all and your neighbour as yourself'') an example of older Scots on [[John Knox House,
Edinburgh">right|''Lufe God abufe al and yi nychtbour as yi self'' (''Love God above all and your neighbour as yourself'') an example of older Scots on [[John Knox House">thumb|right|''Lufe God abufe al and yi nychtbour as yi self'' (''Love God above all and your neighbour as yourself'') an example of older Scots on [[John Knox House,
Edinburgh
Whether the varieties of Scots are
dialects of
Scottish English or constitute a separate
language in their own right is often disputed. Before the
Treaty of Union 1707, when Scotland and England joined to form the
Kingdom of Great Britain, there is ample evidence that Scots was widely held to be a language other than English [http://www.scots-online.org/airticles/eurlang.htm].
The British government now accepts Scots as a
regional language and has recognised it as such under the
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Evidence for its existence as a separate language lies in the extensive body of Scots literature, in independent—if somewhat fluid—
Orthography orthographic conventions and in its former use as the official language of the original Scottish Parliament. Since Scotland retained distinct political, legal, and religious systems after the Union, many Scots terms passed into Scottish English. For instance,
libel and slander, separate in
English law, are bundled together as ''defamation'' in
Scots law.
Since the Union, perceptional and language change (see below) have resulted in Scots being regarded as a group of English dialects or at best a group of dialects closely related to English. There is no institutionalised standard literary form. During the second half of the
20th century, enthusiasts developed regularised cross-dialect forms following on some historical orthographic conventions, but these have had little impact. In the
written Scots language, local loyalties usually prevail, and the written form is usually Standard English adapted to represent the local pronunciation.
No education takes place through the medium of Scots, though English lessons may cover it superficially. This is often not much more than reading some Scots literature and observing local dialect. Much of the material used is often little more than Standard English disguised as Scots, which has upset both proponents of Standard English and [http://news.scotsman.com/archive.cfm?id=150582004 proponents of Scots] alike. One example of the educational establishment's approach to Scots is "''Write a poem in Scots. (It is important not to be worried about spelling in this – write as you hear the sounds in your head.)''" [http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/specialfocus/scots/ideas/index.asp], whereas guidelines for English require teaching pupils to be "''writing fluently and legibly with accurate spelling and punctuation.''" [http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/htmlunrevisedguidelines/Pages/englang/main/elng1003.htm]. On the one hand, this can be seen as revealing the institutionalised disregard for the idea of treating Scots as a language on a par with English. On the other hand, it can be seen as a teaching method to get around the fact that the pupils, the teachers, and the teachers' parents alike have been taught in school that Scots is 'bad spelling', and thus that pupils will self-censor any Scots that they do know. Scots can also be studied at university level. Nowhere in the education system is the objective to produce people able to read, write, and speak Scots as an autonomous alternative to English, thus confirming its ''de facto'' status as a series of local dialects of English.
The use of Scots in the media is scant and is usually reserved for niches where local dialect is deemed acceptable, e.g. comedy,
Burns Night, or representations of traditions and times gone by. Serious use for news, encyclopaedias, documentaries, etc. rarely occurs in Scots, although the
Scottish Parliament website offers some information in it.
Attitudes towards Scots in the media vary widely, as may be seen by contrasting this sober [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/learning/history/stateapart/agreement/culture/ulsterscots1.shtml official BBC Ulster article] with this satirical [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A139033 H2G2 entry].
It is often held that, had Scotland remained independent, Scots would have remained and been regarded as a separate language from English. This has happened in
Spain and
Portugal, where two independent countries developed
Standard language standardised languages,
Portuguese language Portuguese originating from a common Galician-Portuguese language, which itself originated from a common
Iberian Romance Languages Ibero-Romance language shared with Castilian
Spanish language Spanish. On the other hand a situation similar to that of
Swiss German and
German language standard German might have occurred. Equally, the present situation might have occurred, where the social elites and the upwardly mobile adopted
Standard English, causing institutional language shift. A model of
language revival to which many enthusiasts aspire is that of the
Catalan language in areas spanning parts of Spain, France, Andorra and Italy, particularly as regards the situation of Catalan in
Catalonia.
Language change
After the Union of Scotland and England, the issue of language became topical, and foremost was the question of whether Scottish people should speak English or Scots. Gaelic was never considered an option; at the time, it was mostly relegated to the Highlands and Islands. Scots became considered to have a
Substratum substratal relationship to English, as opposed to an
Adstratum adstratal relationship.
On one hand, well-off Scots took to learning English through such activities as those of the Irishman
Thomas Sheridan (father of
Richard Sheridan), who in
1761 gave a series of lectures on English
elocution. Charging a guinea at a time (about £65 in today's money), they were attended by over 300 men, and he was made a freeman of the City of
Edinburgh. Following this, some of the city's intellectuals formed the ''Society for the Promoting the Reading and Speaking of the English Language in Scotland''. This was not universally welcomed, as was illustrated by the summary by F. Pottle,
James Boswell's 20th century biographer, concerning James' view of his father
Alexander Boswell's speech habits: ''He scorned modern literature, spoke broad Scots from the bench, and even in writing took no pains to avoid the Scotticisms which most of his colleagues were coming to regard as vulgar''.
On the other hand, the education system also became increasingly geared to teaching English, though this was initially impaired by the teachers' and students' lack of knowledge of English pronunciation through lack of contact with English speakers. Aspects of English
grammar and
lexis could be accessed through printed texts. By the
1840s the Scottish Education Department's
language policy was that Scots had no value ''"...it is not the language of 'educated' people anywhere, and could not be described as a suitable medium of education or culture"''. Students, of course, reverted to Scots outside the classroom, but the reversion was not complete. What occurred, and has been occurring ever since, is a process of
Language death language attrition, whereby successive generations have adopted more and more features from English. This process has accelerated rapidly since wide-spread access to
mass media in English, and increased population mobility, became available after the
Second World War. It has recently taken on the nature of wholesale
Language shift language shift. These processes are often erroneously referred to as language
Language change change,
Language convergence convergence or
Language merger merger.
A rather more positive take on this is that, rather than reject English culture, the Scots mastered and conquered it, becoming
bilingual and writing some of the greatest works of the time, such as
Adam Smith's ''
Wealth of Nations'', in what was still a foreign language. However, most younger Scots today see a Scottish
Accent (linguistics) accent, that is, Scottish English, as a sufficient marker of their Scottishness, and are generally not interested in retaining bilingualism in a language they consider old-fashioned, parochial, or simply ''uncool''. Residual features of Scots (often regarded as
slang) in the speech of the young urban working class are often derogatorily referred to as ''
Ned (Scottish) Ned speak''.
Literature
Among the earliest Scots literature is
John Barbour Barbour's ''Brus'' (fourteenth century). Whyntoun's ''Kronykil'' and
Blind Harry's ''Wallace'' (fifteenth century). From the fifteenth century, much literature based around the Royal Court in Edinburgh and the
University of St Andrews was produced by writers such as
Robert Henryson Henryson,
William Dunbar Dunbar, Douglas and
David Lyndsay. ''
The Complaynt of Scotland'' was an early printed work in Scots.
After the seventeenth century, anglicisation increased, though Scots was still spoken by the vast majority of the population. At the time, many of the oral ballads from the
Border ballads borders and the North East were written down. Writers of the period were
Robert Sempill,
Robert Sempill the younger,
Francis Sempill, Lady Wardlaw and Lady
Grizel Baillie.
In the eighteenth century, writers such as Ramsay,
Robert Fergusson Fergusson,
Robert Burns Burns and
Sir Walter Scott Scott continued to use Scots. Scott introduced vernacular dialogue to his novels.
Following their example, such well-known authors as
Robert Louis Stevenson, William Alexander,
George MacDonald and
J. M. Barrie J.M. Barrie also wrote in Scots or used it in dialogue.
In the early twentieth century, a renaissance in the use of Scots occurred, its most vocal figure being
Hugh MacDiarmid. Other contemporaries were Douglas Young, Sidney Goodsir Smith,
Robert Garioch and Robert McLellan. However, the revival was largely limited to verse and other literature.
In 1983
William Lorimer W.L. Lorimer's magnificent translation of the New Testament from the original Greek was published.
Highly anglicised Scots is often used in contemporary fiction, for example, the Edinburgh dialect of Scots in ''
Trainspotting (novel) Trainspotting'' by
Irvine Welsh (later made into a motion picture of the same name, though with language allegedly anglicised even more to make it suitable for an international audience).
''But'n'Ben A-Go-Go'' by
Matthew Fitt is a
cyberpunk novel written entirely in what [http://www.scots-online.org/grammar Wir Ain Leid] (Our Own Language) calls "General Scots". Like all cyberpunk work, it contains imaginative
neologisms.
Dialects
There are at least five Scots dialects:
*Northern Scots, spoken north of Dundee, often split into North Northern, Mid Northern—also known as North East Scots and referred to as "the
Doric dialect Doric"—and South Northern.
*Central Scots, spoken from Fife and Perthshire to the Lothians and Wigtownshire, often split into North East and South East Central, West Central and South West Central Scots.
*South Scots or simply "Border Tongue" or "Borders' Dialect" spoken in the
Scottish Borders Border areas.
*Insular Scots, spoken in the
Orkney Islands and
Shetland Islands.
*
Ulster Scots language Ulster Scots, spoken by the descendants of Scottish settlers as well as those of Irish descent in
Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the Irish Republic, and sometimes described by the
neologism "Ullans", a conflation of
Ulster and
Lallans. However, in a recent article, Caroline Macafee, editor of ''The Concise Ulster Dictionary'', stated that Ulster Scots was "clearly a dialect of Central Scots".
As well as the main dialects,
Edinburgh,
Dundee and
Glasgow (see
Glasgow patter) have local variations on an anglicised form of Central Scots. In
Aberdeen, Mid Northern Scots is spoken.
[[Image:Scots Language cartoon from Punch - Project Gutenberg eText 16727.png|thumb|''Wee Donald Angus''. "Please, Sirr, what time wull it be?"
''Literal Gentleman''. "When?"
Cartoon from
Punch (magazine) Punch magazine, August 25th 1920]]
Pronunciation
Many writers now strictly avoid apostrophes where they supposedly represent "missing" English letters. Such letters were never actually missing in Scots. For example, in the twelfth century, Barbour spelt the Scots
cognate of 'taken' as ''tane''. Since there has been no ''k'' in the word for over 700 years, representing its omission with an apostrophe seems pointless. The current spelling is usually ''taen''. The following is more a guide for readers. How the spellings are applied in practice is beyond the scope of such a short description. Phonetics are in
International Phonetic Alphabet IPA.
Consonants
Most consonants are usually pronounced much as in English but:
*'''c''': {{IPA|/k/}} or {{IPA|/s/}}, much as in English.
*'''ch''': {{IPA|/x/}}, also '''gh'''. Medial 'cht' may be {{IPA|/ð/}} in Northern dialects. ''loch'' (Lake), ''nicht'' (night), ''dochter'' (daughter), ''dreich'' (dreary), etc.
*'''ch''': word initial or where it follows 'r' {{IPA|/tʃ/}}. ''airch'' (arch), ''mairch'' (march), etc.
*'''gn''': {{IPA|/n/}}. In Northern dialects {{IPA|/gn/}} may occur.
*'''kn''': {{IPA|/n/}}. In Northern dialects {{IPA|/kn/}} or {{IPA|/tn/}} may occur. ''knap'' (talk), ''knee'', ''knowe'' (knoll), etc.
*'''ng''': is always {{IPA|/Å‹/}}.
*'''nch''': usually {{IPA|/nʃ/}}. ''brainch'' (branch), ''dunch'' (push), etc.
*'''r''': {{IPA|/r/}} or {{IPA|/ɹ/}} is always pronounced.
*'''s''' or '''se''': {{IPA|/s/}} or {{IPA|/z/}}.
*'''t''': may be a glottal stop between vowels or word final. In Ulster dentalised pronunciations may also occur, also for 'd'.
*'''th''': {{IPA|/ð/}} or {{IPA|/θ/}} much as is English. Initial 'th' in ''thing'', ''think'' and ''thank'', etc. may be {{IPA|/h/}}.
*'''wh''': usually {{IPA|/Ê?/}}, older {{IPA|/xÊ?/}}. Northern dialects also have {{IPA|/f/}}.
*'''wr''': {{IPA|/wr/}} more often {{IPA|/r/}} but may be {{IPA|/vr/}} in Northern dialects. ''wrack'' (wreck), ''wrang'' (wrong), ''write'', ''wrocht'' (worked), etc.
*'''z''': {{IPA|/jɪ/}} or {{IPA|/Å‹/}}, may occur in some words as a substitute for the older <{{Unicode|È?}}> (
yogh). For example: ''brulzie'' (broil), ''gaberlunzie'' (a beggar) and the names ''
Menzies'', ''
Finzean'', ''
Culzean'', ''
MacKenzie'' etc. (As a result of the lack of education in Scots, ''MacKenzie'' is now generally pronounced with a /z/ following the perceived realisation of the written form, as more controversially is sometimes ''Menzies''.)
Silent letters
*The word final 'd' in '''nd''' and '''ld''': but often pronounced in derived forms. Sometimes simply 'n' and 'l' or 'n'' and 'l''. ''auld'' (old), ''haund'' (hand), etc.
*'t' in medial '''cht''': ('ch' = {{IPA|/x/}}) and '''st''' and before final '''en'''. ''fochten'' (fought), ''thristle'' (thistle) also 't' in ''aften'' (often), etc.
*'t' in word final '''ct''' and '''pt''' but often pronounced in derived forms. ''respect'', ''accept'', etc.
Vowels
In Scots,
vowel length is usually conditioned by the
Scots vowel length rule. Words which differ only slightly in pronunciation from Scots English are generally spelled as in English. Other words may be spelt the same but differ in pronunciation, for example: ''aunt'', ''swap'', ''want'' and ''wash'' with {{IPA|/a/}}, ''bull'', ''full'' v. and ''pull'' with {{IPA|/ʌ/}}, ''bind'', ''find'' and ''wind'' v., etc. with {{IPA|/ɪ/}}.
*The unstressed vowel {{IPA|/É™/}} may be represented by any vowel letter.
*'''a''': usually {{IPA|/a/}} but in south west and Ulster dialects often {{IPA|/É‘/}}. Note final ''a'' in ''awa'' (away), ''twa'' (two) and ''wha'' (who) may also be {{IPA|/É‘/}} or {{IPA|/É”/}} or {{IPA|/e/}} depending on dialect.
*'''au''', '''aw''' and sometimes '''a''', '''a'''' or '''aa''': {{IPA|/É‘Ë?/}} or {{IPA|/É”Ë?/}} in Southern, Central and Ulster dialects but {{IPA|/aË?/}} in Northern dialects. The cluster 'auld' may also be {{IPA|/ÊŒul/}} in Ulster. ''aw'' (all), ''cauld'' (cold), ''braw'' (handsome), ''faw'' (fall), ''snaw'' (snow), etc.
*'''ae''', '''ai''', '''a'''(consonant)'''e''': {{IPA|/e/}}. Often {{IPA|/É›/}} before {{IPA|/r/}}. In Northern dialects the vowel in the cluster -'ane' is often {{IPA|/i/}}. ''brae'' (slope), ''saip'' (soap), ''hale'' (whole), ''ane'' (one), ''ance'' (once), ''bane'' (bone), etc.
*'''ea''', '''ei''', '''ie''': {{IPA|/iË?/}} or {{IPA|/eË?/}} depending on dialect. {{IPA|/É›/}} may occur before {{IPA|/r/}}. Root final this may be {{IPA|/É™i/}} in Southern dialects. In the far north {{IPA|/É™i/}} may occur. ''deid'' (dead), ''heid'' (head), ''meat'' (food), ''clear'', ''speir'' (enquire), ''sea'', etc.
*'''ee''', '''e'''(Consonant)'''e''': {{IPA|/iË?/}}. Root final this may be {{IPA|/É™i/}} in Southern dialects. ''ee'' (eye), ''een'' (eyes), ''steek'' (shut), ''here'', etc.
*'''e''': {{IPA|/É›/}}. ''bed'', ''het'' (heated), ''yett'' (gate), etc.
*'''eu''': {{IPA|/(j)u/}} or {{IPA|/(j)ʌ/}} depending on dialect. Sometimes erroneously 'oo', 'u(consonant)e', 'u' or 'ui'. ''beuk'' (book), ''ceuk'' (cook), ''eneuch'' (enough), ''leuk'' (look), ''teuk'' (took), etc.
*'''ew''': {{IPA|/ju/}}. In Northern dialects a root final 'ew' may be {{IPA|/jÊŒu/}}. ''few'', ''new'', etc.
*'''i''': {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, but often varies between {{IPA|/ɪ/}} and {{IPA|/ʌ/}} especially after 'w' and 'wh'. {{IPA|/æ/}} also occurs in Ulster before voiceless consonants. ''big'', ''fit'' (foot), ''wid'' (wood), etc.
*'''i'''(consonant)'''e''', '''y'''(consonant)'''e''', '''ey''': {{IPA|/əi/}} or {{IPA|/aɪ/}}. 'ay' is usually {{IPA|/e/}} but {{IPA|/əi/}} in ''ay'' (yes) and ''aye'' (always). In Dundee it is noticeably {{IPA|/ɛ/}}.
*'''o''': {{IPA|/É”/}} but often {{IPA|/o/}}.
*'''oa''': {{IPA|/o/}}.
*'''ow''', '''owe''' (root final), seldom '''ou''': {{IPA|/ÊŒu/}}. Before 'k' vocalisation to {{IPA|/o/}} may occur especially in western and Ulster dialects. ''bowk'' (retch), ''bowe'' (bow), ''howe'' (hollow), ''knowe'' (knoll), ''cowp'' (overturn), ''yowe'' (ewe), etc.
*'''ou''', '''oo''', '''u'''(consonant)'''e''': {{IPA|/u/}}. Root final {{IPA|/ÊŒu/}} may occur in Southern dialects. ''cou'' (cow), ''broun'' (brown), ''hoose'' (house), ''moose'' (mouse) etc.
*'''u''': {{IPA|/ʌ/}}. ''but'', ''cut'', etc.
*'''ui''', also '''u'''(consonant)'''e''', '''oo''': {{IPA|/ø/}} in conservative dialects. In parts of Fife, Dundee and north Antrim {{IPA|/e/}}. In Northern dialects usually {{IPA|/i/}} but {{IPA|/wi/}} after {{IPA|/g/}} and {{IPA|/k/}} and also {{IPA|/u/}} before {{IPA|/r/}} in some areas eg. ''fuird'' (ford). Mid Down and Donegal dialects have {{IPA|/i/}}. In central and north Down dialects {{IPA|/ɪ/}} when short and {{IPA|/e/}} when long. ''buird'' (board), ''buit'' (boot), ''cuit'' (ankle), ''fluir'' (floor), ''guid'' (good), ''schuil'' (school), etc. In central dialects ''uise'' v. and ''uiss'' n. (use) are {{IPA|[jeːz]}} and {{IPA|[jɪs]}}.
Suffixes
*Negative '''na''': {{IPA|/ɑ/, /ɪ/}} or {{IPA|/e/}} depending on dialect. Also 'nae' or 'y' eg. ''canna'' (can't), ''dinna'' (don't) and ''maunna'' (mustn't).
*'''fu''' (ful): {{IPA|/u/, /ɪ/, /ɑ/}} or {{IPA|/e/}} depending on dialect. Also 'fu'', 'fie', 'fy', 'fae' and 'fa'.
*The word ending '''ae''': {{IPA|/ɑ/, /ɪ/}} or {{IPA|/e/}} depending on dialect. Also 'a', 'ow' or 'y', for example: ''arrae'' (arrow), ''barrae'' (barrow) and ''windae'' (window), etc.
Some grammar features
Not all of these are exclusive to Scots and may also occur in other
Anglic languages Anglic varieties.
The definite article
''The'' is used before the names of seasons, days of the week, many nouns, diseases, trades, occupations, sciences and academic subjects. It is also often used in place of the indefinite article and instead of a possessive pronoun: ''the hairst'' (autumn), ''the Wadensday'' (Wednesday), ''awa til the kirk'' (off to church), ''the nou'' (at the moment), ''the day'' (today), ''the haingles'' (influenza), ''the Laitin'' (Latin), ''The deuk ett the bit breid'' (The duck ate a piece of bread), ''the wife'' (my wife) etc.
Nouns
Nouns usually form their plural in -(''e'')''s'' but some irregular plurals occur: ''ee''/''een'' (eye/eyes), ''cauf''/''caur'' (calf/calves), ''horse''/''horse'' (horse/horses), ''cou''/''kye'' (cow/cows), ''shae''/''shuin'' (shoe/shoes).
Nouns of measure and quantity unchanged in the plural: ''fower fit'' (four feet), ''twa mile'' (two miles), ''five pund'' (five pounds), ''three hunderwecht'' (three hundredweight).
Regular plurals include ''laifs'' (loaves), ''leafs'' (leaves), ''shelfs'' (shelves) and ''wifes'' (wives), etc.
Diminutives
Diminutives in -''ie'', ''burnie'' small ''burn'' (brook), ''feardie''/''feartie'' (frightened person, coward), ''gamie'' (gamekeeper), ''kiltie'' (kilted soldier), ''postie'' (postman), ''wifie'' (woman), ''rhodie'' (rhododendron), and also in -''ock'', ''bittock'' (little bit), ''playock'' (toy, plaything), ''sourock'' (sorrel) and Northern –''ag'', ''bairnag'' (little) ''bairn'' (child), ''Cheordag'' (Geordie), -''ockie'', ''hooseockie'' (small house), ''wifeockie'' (little woman), both influenced by the Scottish Gaelic diminutive -''ag'' (-''óg'' in Irish Gaelic).
Modal verbs
The modal verbs ''mey'' (may), ''ocht tae'' (ought to), and ''sall'' (
Shall and will shall), are no longer used much in Scots but occurred historically and are still found in anglicised literary Scots. ''Can'', ''shoud'' (should), and ''will'' are the preferred Scots forms.
Scots employs double modal constructions ''He'll no can come the day'' (He won't be able to come today), ''A micht coud come the morn'' (I may be able to come tomorrow), ''A uised tae coud dae it, but no nou'' (I could do it once, but not now).
Present tense of verbs
The present tense of verbs ends in -''s'' in all persons and numbers except when a single personal pronoun is next to the verb, ''Thay say he's ower wee'', ''Thaim that says he's ower wee'', ''Thir lassies says he's ower wee'' (They say he's too small), etc. ''Thay're comin an aw'' but ''Five o thaim's comin'', ''The lassies? Thay've went'' but ''Ma brakes haes went''. ''Thaim that comes first is serred first'' (Those who come first are served first). ''The trees growes green in the simmer'' (The trees grow green in summer).
''Wis'' 'was' may replace ''war'' 'were', but not conversely: ''You war''/''wis thare''.
Past tense of verbs
The regular past form of the verb is -(''i'')''t'' or -(''e'')''d'', according to the preceding consonant or vowel ''hurtit'', ''skelpit'' (smacked), ''Mendit'', ''kent''/''kenned'' (knew/known), ''cleant''/''cleaned'', ''scrieved'' (scribbled), ''telt''/''tauld'' (told), ''dee'd'' (died). Some verbs have distinctive forms: ''greet''/''grat''/''grutten'' (weep/wept), ''fesh''/''fuish''/''fuishen'' (fetch/fetched), ''lauch''/''leuch''/''lauchen~leuchen'' (laugh/laughed), ''thrash''/''thruish''/''thrashen~thruishen'' (thresh/threshed), ''wash''/''wuish''/''washen~wuishen'' (wash/washed), ''gae''/''gaed''/''gane'' (go/went/gone), ''gie''/''gied''/''gien'' (give/gave/given), ''pit''/''pat''/''pitten'' (put/put/put/), ''git''/''gat''/''gotten'' (get/got/got(ten)), ''ride''/''rade''/''ridden'' (ride/rode/ridden), ''drive''/''drave''/''driven~dreen'' (drive/drove/driven), ''write''/''wrat(e)''/''written'' (write/wrote/written), ''bind''/''band''/''bund'' (bind/bound/bound), ''find''/''fand''/''fund'' (find/found/found), ''fecht''/''focht''/''fochten'' (fight/fought), ''bake''/''bakit~beuk''/''baken'' (bake/baked), ''tak(e)''/''teuk''/''taen'' (take/took/taken), ''chuse''/''chusit''/''chusit'' (choose/chose/chosen).
Word order
Scots prefers the word order ''He turnt oot the licht'' to 'He turned the light out' and ''Gie me it'' to 'Give it to me'.
Certain verbs are often used progressively ''He wis thinkin he wad tell her'', ''He wis wantin tae tell her''.
Verbs of motion may be dropped before an adverb or adverbial phrase of motion ''A'm awa tae ma bed'', ''That's me awa hame'', ''A'll intae the hoose an see him''.
Ordinal numbers
Ordinal numbers ending in -''t'' ''seicont'', ''fowert'', ''fift'', ''saxt''— (second, fourth, fifth, sixth) etc. ''first'', ''Thrid''/''third''— (first, third).
Adverbs
Adverbs are usually of the same form as the verb root or adjective especially after verbs. ''Haein a real guid day'' (Having a really good day). ''She's awfu fauchelt'' (She's awfully tired).
Adverbs are also formed with -''s'', -''lies'', ''lins'', ''gate''(''s'')and ''wey''(''s'') -''wey'', ''whiles'' (at times), ''mebbes'' (perhaps), ''brawlies'' (splendidly), ''geylies'' (pretty well), ''aiblins'' (perhaps), ''airselins'' (backwards), ''hauflins'' (partly), ''hidlins'' (secretly), ''maistlins'' (almost), ''awgates'' (always, everywhere), ''ilkagate'' (everywhere), ''onygate'' (anyhow), ''ilkawey'' (everywhere), ''onywey''(''s'') (anyhow, anywhere), ''endweys'' (straight ahead), ''whit wey'' (how, why).
Subordinate clauses
Verbless subordinate clauses introduced by an and expressing surprise or indignation ''She haed tae walk the hale lenth o the road an her sieven month pregnant'', ''He telt me tae rin an me wi ma sair leg'' (and me with my sore leg).
Negation
Negation occurs by using the adverb ''no'', in the North East ''nae'', as in ''A'm no comin'' (I'm not coming), or by using the suffix -''na'' (pronunciation depending on dialect), as in ''A dinna ken'' (I don't know), ''Thay canna come'' (They can't come), ''We coudna hae telt him'' (We couldn't have told him), and ''A hivna seen her'' (I haven't seen her).
The usage with ''no'' is preferred to that with -''na'' with contractable auxiliary verbs like -''ll'' for ''will'', or in yes no questions with any auxiliary ''He'll no come'' and ''Did he no come?''
Relative pronoun
The relative pronoun is ''that'' ('''at'' is an alternative form borrowed from Norse but can also be arrived at by contraction) for all persons and numbers, but may be left out ''Thare's no mony fowk'' (''that'') ''leeves in that glen'' (There aren't many people who live in that glen). The anglicised forms ''wha'', ''wham'', ''whase'' 'who, whom, whose', and the older ''whilk'' 'which' are literary affectations; ''whilk'' is only used after a statement ''He said he'd tint it, whilk wis no whit we wantit tae hear''. The possessive is formed by adding '''s'' or by using an appropriate pronoun ''The wifie that's hoose gat burnt'', ''the wumman that her dochter gat mairit''; ''the men that thair boat wis tint''.
A third adjective/adverb ''yon''/''yonder'', ''thon''/''thonder'' indicating something at some distance ''D'ye see yon''/''thon hoose ower yonder''/''thonder?'' Also ''thae'' (those) and ''thir'' (these), the plurals of ''this'' and ''that''.
In Northern Scots ''this'' and ''that'' are also used where "these" and "those" would be in Standard English.
Notes
References
* Aitken, A.J. (1977) ''How to Pronounce Older Scots'' in Bards and Makars. Glasgow, Glasgow University Press.
* Aitken, A. J. (1987) ''The Nuttis Schell: Essays on the Scots Language''. Aberdeen, Aberdeen University Press. ISBN 0080345301
* Caldwell, S.J.G. (1974) ''The Pronoun in Early Scots''. Helsinki, Société Néophilique.
* Corbett, John; McClure, Derrick; Stuart-Smith, Jane (Editors)(2003) ''The Edinburgh Companion to Scots''. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0748615962
* Eagle, Andy (2005) ''Wir Ain Leid''. Scots-Online. Available in full at http://www.scots-online.org/airticles/WirAinLeid.pdf
* Jones, Charles (1997) ''The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language''. Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh Press. ISBN 0748607544
* Jones, Charles (1995) ''A Language Suppressed: The pronunciation of the Scots language in the 18th century''. Edinburgh, John Donald. ISBN 0-85976-427-3
* Kingsmore, Rona K. (1995) ''Ulster Scots Speech: A Sociolinguistic Study''. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0817307117
* McClure, J. Derrick (1997) ''Why Scots Matters''. Edinburgh, Saltire Society. ISBN 0854110712
* Niven, Liz; Jackson, Robin (Eds.) (1998) ''The Scots Language: its place in education''. Watergaw Publications. ISBN 0952997851
* Robertson, T.A.; Graham, J.J. (1991) ''Grammar and Use of the Shetland Dialect''. Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd.
* Ross, David; Smith, Gavin D. (Editors)(1999) ''Scots-English, English-Scots Practical Dictionary''. New York, Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0781807794
* Scottish National Dictionary Association (1999) ''Concise Scots Dictionary ''. Edinburgh, Polygon. ISBN 1902930010
* Scottish National Dictionary Association (1999) ''Scots Thesaurus''. Edinburgh, Polygon. ISBN 1902930037
* Warrack, Alexander (Editor)(1911) ''Chambers Scots Dictionary''. Chambers.
* Yound, C.P.L. (2004) ''Scots Grammar''. Scotsgate. Available in full at http://www.scotsgate.com/scotsgate01.pdf
See also
{{InterWiki|code=sco}}
*
Dictionary of the Scots Language
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Scottish literature
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Scottish Corpus of Texts and Speech
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Languages in the United Kingdom
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Scottish English
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Scots language phonology
*
Billy Kay
External links
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The Scots Language Dictionary
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Scots-online
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Dialect Map
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The Scots Language Society
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Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd.
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ScotsteXt—books, poems and texts in Scots
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A Tait Wanchancie.
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SAMPA for Scots
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Scots in Schools
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Scots at University
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Scottish words - illustrated
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Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech -
Multimedia text corpus corpus of Scots and
Scottish English
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BBC Voices, Scots section - The BBC Voices Project is a major though informal look at UK language and speech
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