Scottish (Germanic language)

The Scots (vernacular name: Scots, Scottis or Lallans) is a variety of Germanic languages spoken in Scottish Lowlands and parts of Ireland (where it is known as Ulster Scots). It is sometimes referred to as Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic b>, a Celtic language historically spoken in the Highlands, Hebrides and Galloway starting in the 16th century. There is controversy about whether Scottish and English from England are the same language with certain differences or are two different languages. According to a 2010 government survey, 64% of Scots believe they are the same language.

Classification

It is a Germanic language that, along with English, German and Dutch, forms part of the Western branch. Its closest relationship is with English and Frisian, with which it forms the subgroup of Insular Germanic.

There is a discussion about the real status of the language as a dialect of English or as a distinct and autonomous language. Since the union of Scotland with England to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, there has not been a standard language or a common writing standard for all dialects.

Geographic distribution

Map of the Scottish dialects.

Scots is spoken in the Lowlands of Scotland itself, as well as in Northern Ireland and its border areas in the Republic of Ireland.

Official Status

It has no official status in any of the countries where it is spoken. However, the United Kingdom has accepted Scots as a regional language and has recognized it as such under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

The status of this language was also discussed in the Northern Ireland peace negotiations that began in 1998.

Dialects

There are at least five different dialects:

• North ScotsTalked north of Dundee. It is often divided into subdialectos: North, Mid Northern (also known as Northeast Scots and sometimes called Doric) and South Northern.
• Central schools, spoken from Fife and Perthshire to Lothians and Wigtownshire, often divided into Northeast Central and of the southeast, West central and Southwest central.
• South Scotsspoken in the border area between Scotland and England.
• Insular Scots spoken in the Orcadas and Shetland Islands.
• Ulster Scots, spoken in Northern Ireland by the descendants of Scottish immigrants. Sometimes referred to by neologism Ullansas a union between Ulster and Lallans.

Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow all have variants of Central Scots, heavily influenced by English. The Mid Northern dialect is spoken in Aberdeen.

Derived languages

Traditionally, Metis of Anglo-Saxon descent (of Scottish or Orcadian descent) in Canada spoke a creole version of Scots called "bungee".

Sounds

For clarification of phonetic values see AFI

Vowels

In Scottish, vowel length is determined by Aitken's Law. Words that differ from English only slightly in pronunciation are written as English. Other words are spelled the same, but have a different pronunciation, e.g. eg aunt ("aunt"), swap (exchange), want ("want") and wash (" wash") pronounced with /a/, bull ("bull or ox"), full ("fill") and pull ("throw away"). ») with /ʌ/, bind («to tie»), find («to find») and wind («to wind up»), etc with /ɪ/.

The non-centuated vowel/mix/ can be represented by any vowel.
.a normally /a/ but in final position awa ("away"/"absent"), twa ("two"/"two" and wha ("who"/«quien») can also be pronounced / VAT/, /./ or /e/ depending on the dialect.
.au,.aw and at times ≤1⁄4a, ≤1⁄4a or ≤1⁄4aa-index are pronounced in the dialects of the south, central and the Úlster, but /a/ in the north. The group is also able to pronounce / popul/ in the Úlster. aw ("all"/"all" Cauld ("cold"/"cold"), braw ("handsome"/"cop"), faw ("failure"/"fall" snaw ("snow"/“snow”), etc.
.ae,.ai,.a(consonant)e normally /e/. Often /E/ before /r/. In the northern dialects the vowel in the group ≤ane is pronounced often /i/. brae ("slope"/“cuesta”), saip ("soap"/ "jabon"), Hale ("♪"/"full"), Hure ("whore"/"prostituted" ane ("One"/"one" ance ("11"Once" bane ("bone"/“bone”), etc.
.eaΔei and.ie normally /i/ o /e/ depending on the dialect. / interference/ can appear before /r/. At the end of the root you can pronounce /@i/ in the Southern dialects. In the north end it can appear /@i/. deid ("dead"/"dead"), Heid ("head"/"head" meat ("food"/“food”), Clear (clears) speir ("."/"research" Whatever. (“mar”), etc.
.ee and.e(consonant)e normally /i/. At the end of the root can be /ambii/ in the Southern dialects. ee ("eye"Ojo"), een ("eyes"/"eyes" steek ("shut"/"closed"), here (here) etc.
.e normally / audience/. bed (“bed”), het ("heated"/"heated"), yett ("gate"/"door"), etc.
.eu for /(j)u/ or /(j) arising/ depending on the dialect. Sometimes mistakenly ≤1⁄2ouri, ≤1⁄4o(consonante)e pur, ≤1⁄4o or βui. beuk ("book"/"book"), ceuk ("Cook"/quoting, Ineuch ("enough"/"sufficient" leuk ("look"/"look"), teuk ("took"/past the verb take”), etc.
.ew normally /ju/. In the northern dialects at the end of the root θew can be pronounced /j pop/. few(“poco”), new (“new”), etc.
.i normally /I/ but often varies between / flu / e / pop/ especially after θw and θwh. /{/ also appears in the Úlster before deaf consonants. big (“big”), fit ("foot"/“pie”), wid ("wood"/"madera"), etc.
.i(consonant)e,.and(consonant)e and.Hey.أعربية Русский.ay normally as /e/ but /@i/ en ay ("plaster"/"yes" and aye ("Always."/"always").
.or normally as /O/ but often /o/.
.oa normally as /o/.
.ow and.owe, seldom θou normally / pupilsu/. Before ≤2 vowel in /o/ can occur. bowe ("bow"/"inclined" how. ("hollow"/“bone”), knowe ("knoll"/"loma"), Yowe ("ewe"/"oveja"), etc.
.ou,.oo oo and.u(consonant)e normally as /u/. Final root /Vu/ may appear in the Southern dialects. cou ("cow"/“vaca”), bro ("brown"/"brown" hoose ("house"/"house" Moose ("mouse"/"raton"), etc.
.u normally / dining/. but (but) cut (“cut”), etc.
.ui, also θu(consonante)e tax and ≤2/ in the most conservative dialects. In the northern dialects, usually /i/ but /wi/ after /g/ and /k/. In the central dialects, /I/ if it is short vowel and /e/ if it is long. buird ("board"/"tabla"), vulit ("boot"/bota"), Cuit ("ankle"/“pantorrilla”), flow ("floor"/"soil"), guid ("good"/"good"), schuil ("school"/"school"), etc. In the central dialects uise (“use”) and uiss (“use”) are pronounced [je:z] and [jIs].

Consonants

Most consonants are pronounced like English, but:
<c> pronounced /k/ or /s/ as in English.
<ch> pronounced /x/, also <gh>. <cht> media may be pronounced /ç/ in northern dialects. loch ("lake"/«lago»), nicht ("night"/«night»), dochter ("daughter"/«hija»), dreich ("dreary"/"boring"), etc.
<ch> at the beginning of a word or when it follows <r> /tʃ/. airch ("arch"/«arco»), mairch ("march"/«March»), etc.
<kn> /n/. In northern dialects it can be pronounced as /kn/ or /tn/. knap ("talk"/«hablar»), knee («knee»), knowe ("knoll"/“mount”), etc.
<ng> always /ŋ/.
<nch> usually /ntʃ/. brainch ("branch"), dunch ("push"/“push”), etc.
<s> and <se> pronounced /s/ or /z/.
<r> /r/ is always pronounced.
<t> can be a glottal stop between vowels or at the end of a word
<th> /ð/ or /θ/ as in English. In starting position <th> in thing, think and thank, etc. can be pronounced /h/.
<wh> usually as /hw/, formerly /xhw/. Northern dialects also pronounce it as /f/.
<wr> /wr/ more often /r/ but may be pronounced as /vr/ in northern dialects. wrack ("wreck"/naufragio»), wrang ("wrong"/"incorrect"), write ("write"), wrocht ("worked" /past of the verb «to work»), etc.
<z> may appear in older words as a substitute for the older <ȝ> (yogh) /jI/ or /ŋ/. eg. brulzie ("boil"/«cook»), gaberlunzie ("a beggar"/"poor") and the name Menzies, etc.

Silent letters

Word-final <d> in <nd> and <ld> It is not pronounced, but it is in derived words.
Sometimes <n> and <l> or <n'> and <l'>. auld ("old"/«viejo»), haund ("hand"/«hand»), etc.
<t> in <cht> mean (<ch> = /x/) and <st> and before <in> final. fochten ("fought"/past tense of the verb «to fight»), thristle (" thistle") also <t> in aften ("often"/«often»), etc.
<t> at word-final <ct> and <pt> but often pronounced in the derived forms. E.g. respect, accept, etc.

Phonology

Suffixing

The denial <na> It is pronounced /A, I/ or /e/ depending on the dialect. Also <nae> or <y> p. eg canna (can't/can't), dinna (don't/not do) and maunna (mustn't/not have).
<fu> (ful), /u, I, A/ or /e/ depending on the dialect. Also <fu'>, <fie>, <fy>, <fae> and .
The suffix <ae> It is pronounced /A, I/ or /e/ depending on the dialect. Also <a>, <ow> or <y> p. eg arrae ("arrow"/«flecha»), barrae ("barrow"/"castrated pig") and windae ("window"/"window"), etc.

History

Scots is descended from the Anglo-Saxon dialect of Northumbria, with influences from Old Norse from the Viking invasions, from Dutch and Low Saxon through trade and immigration, and from Romance through Church and Legal Latin. It also has influences from the Norman invasions and finally from the French of the Paris region, thanks to the Auld Alliance.

It can be classified into the following periods:

• Anglosajón up to 1100.
• Pre-literary Scotch up to 1375.
• Old Scots until 1450.
• Middle school until 1700.
• Modern Scots from 1700 to the present.

Scots also has borrowings from contact with Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language distinct from Scots still spoken in the Highlands and islands off the west coast of Scotland.

The language has evolved naturally over the years, but some consider the language to have been more faithful to its Anglo-Saxon origins than English: comparing kirk to church (Modern German Kirche), ken with know (Modern German kennen) and nicht with night (Modern German Nacht).

Literature

Robert Burns Statue in Canberra, Australia, on the pedestal can be read in Scots: O wad some power the giftie gie us / to see ourselves as they see us / It wad frae monie a blunder free us / an absurd notion.

Oldest examples of Scottish literature include Barbour's Brus (14th century), Whyntoun's Kronykil (15th century) and Wallace by Blind Harry (15th century). Since the 13th century, most of the literature in Scots has been produced in and around the Edinburgh court and St Andrew's College by authors such as Robert Henryson, William Dunbar, Douglas and Lynsay.

Starting in the 17th century, the influence of English increased, although the majority of the country's inhabitants still spoke Scots. At this time, many ballads from the border area with England and the Northeast were set in writing, all from oral tradition. Some writers from this time are Sempill, Lady Wardlaw and Lady Grizel Baillie.

In the 18th century, writers such as Allan Ramsay, Robert Fergusson, Robert Burns, and Walter Scott continued to use Scots. Scott introduced vernacular dialogue into his novels.

Following his example, such well-known authors as Robert Louis Stevenson, William Alexander, George MacDonald and J. M. Barrie also wrote in Scots or used it in their dialogue.

And for his part, Seton-Watson (Nation and States, pp. 30-31) writes about the Scottish language: arising from the confluence of Saxon and French, although less from the latter, and with a bit more of Celtic and Scandinavian sources than in the south. This language was spoken not only in the east of Scotland, but also in the north of England. Scots, or 'Northern English', was spoken at the Scottish court and by the social elite (who may or may not also speak Gaelic), as well as the general Lowland population. It was the language of the poets Robert Henryson and William Dunbar. It might have developed as a distinct literary language in modern times, if the union of the crowns in 1603 had not led to the dominance of Southern English, through its extension to the court, administration and upper class of Scotland.

At the beginning of the 20th century there was (in a similar way to other minority languages in Europe) a renaissance of Scots, being its most prominent figure Hugh MacDiarmid. Other contemporary authors included Douglas Young, Sidney Goodsir Smith, Robert Garioch, and Robert McLellan.

In 1983, W. L. Lorimer published the Scottish translation of the New Testament from the original Greek.

In contemporary fiction, a Scotsman with many anglicisms is often used. As an example, the use of the Edinburgh Scots dialect in Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, later made into a film with a language even closer to English to make it more accessible to international audiences.

Diachronic evolution of pronunciation

• La b Anglo-Saxone was lost between m and l or did not develop.
• La t finale ct is often mute in romance words, but can be pronounced in deriving words.
• Likewise with the t finale pt.
• La nd Anglo-Saxone is often reduced to /n/.
• La ♪ end is often reduced to /l/.
• La k Anglo-Saxone was pronounced in all cases before n but it is currently recessive.
• La c Anglo-Saxone remained as /k/, perhaps due to influences of the old Nordic.
• La g Anglo-Saxone became /g/.
• La g Anglo-Saxone vocalized behind or resulting in the diptongo /Vu/.
• La s Anglo-Saxone became /S/ especially in contact with front vowels.
• La sc romance remained.
• La sc Anglo-Saxon became /sk/.
• La f Anglo-Saxone was absorbed by the previous vowel.
• La ð (!) Anglo-Saxone at the end of the word was lost in some words.
• La h /x/ Anglo-Saxon remained in Scotch.
• La hw Anglo-Saxone became /xhw/ and later in the so widespread /hw/.
• Several English word endings became /I, i, a, A, e/ o /@/ depending on the dialect.
• Metathesis occurred in many words.
• After a, the l Anglo-Saxone was vocalized in /a:/, in medium-sized Scottish it later evolved to /a/, /A/ u /O/ depending on the dialect.
• After or, the l Anglo-Saxone was vocalized in /ou/ in medium scotch and later evolved to /Vu/.
• After u, the l Anglo-Saxone was vocalized in /u/ in medium Scottish.
• La w before e evolved in /a, A, O/ depending on the dialect.
• La a or æ Anglo-sajones in closed position evolved to /a/ occasionally to /A/ or /O/.
• Ante /n/ and /N/ appeared /a/.
• Ante /x/ y /n/ + consonant the /a/ of the middle Scot became /A/ u /O/.
• Ante /S, s, sn, st/ and /sp/ appeared /E/.
• Ante /r/ + consonant, depending on the dialect, appeared /e/ o /E/.
• La a or æ Anglo-Saxes in open position evolved into /a/ in medium scotch and later in /e/. /E:/ can also appear, especially in the Ulster.
• The ag- and aw- Anglo-Saxes evolved to /a/, /A/ or /O/ depending on the dialect.
• La to Anglo-Saxone became /e/.
• La to anglossajona ante /n/ evolved in /e/ in the central, southern and Ulster varieties and in /i/ in the north.
• La aw Anglo-Saxone evolved into /a:/ in medium scotch and later into /a:/, /A:/ u /O:/.
• La E Anglo-Saxon evolved very soon to /i/ and remained.
• The ea and Hey. Anglo-Saxes evolved to /e/ in medium Scottish, keeping in some dialects and evolving to /i/ in others.
• La I Anglo-Saxone ♪ /i/ of the old scotch evolved to /ei/ in medium scotch and later to /@i/ and /aI/ or /AI/ if they are long.
• The i e and Anglo-Saxes evolved to /I/ but they approach /V/ in some dialects, especially after /w/ and /hw/.
• La or Anglo-Saxone in closed position evolved into /O/ but became /o/ in some dialects.
• In open position or evolved into /o/.
• Ante /m, p, b/ and /f/, or Anglo-Saxone evolved into /a/ or /A/ depending on the dialect.
• La or Anglo-Saxone evolves to /2/ very soon and remained unchanged in the peripheral dialects. In Fife and parts of Perthshire the /2/ evolved in /e/. In the central varieties /2/ became /I/ if it is a short vowel.
• In central varieties the /2/ evolved in /e:/ if it is long.
• In the northern varieties, the /i/ tras /g/ and /k/ evolved in /wi/.

Note:

• In cases where /k/ o /x/ follow a /o/ Anglo-Saxone, depending on the dialect, they evolve in /ju, u, jv/ o /v/.
• La ow Anglo-Saxone evolves to /vu/.
• La u anglosaxone evolves to /v/, for example "but"but" and "cut" (“cut”), but in some words it evolved to /I/.
• La ? Anglo-Saxon remained as /u/ in Scots.
• At the end of the word, the ? Anglo-Saxone evolved to /vu/ in the Southern dialects.
• The I e ♪ Anglo-Saxes evolved in /ui/ in old Scottish and later to /AI, aI/ and /@i/ depending on the dialect.

Grammar

Nouns

Nouns normally form the plural in –(e)s, but there are some irregular plurals: ee/een ("eye/eyes " "eye/eyes"), cauf/caur ("calf/calves" "calf/calves"), horse/horse (horse/horses caballo/caballos), cou/kye (cow/cows vaca/vacas), shae/shuin (shoe/shoes shoe/shoes). Regular plurals include laifs (loaves/slices), shelfs (shelves/estantes) and wifes (wives/wives), etc.

Nouns that are measures or quantities are not modified in the plural: fower fit (four feet/cuatro pies), twa mile (two miles/two miles), five pund (five pounds/cinco libras), three hunderwecht (three hundredweight/tres quintals).

Diminutives

Diminutives are formed in -ie, burnie small burn (brook/arroyo), feardie/feartie (frightened person, coward), gamie (gamekeeper), kiltie (kilted soldier), postie (postman/postman), wifie (woman/mujer), rhodie (rhododendron) and in -ock, bittock (little bit/un poquito), playock (toy, plaything/juguete), sourock (sorrel/sorrel -plant-) and in the north in - ag, bairnag (little/pequeño) bairn (child/niño), Cheordag (Geordie/Jorgito), and -ockie, hooseockie (small house/casita), wifeockie (little woman/mujercita).

Modal verbs

The modal verbs mey (may = may), ocht tae (ought to = should) and sall (shall = formation of future tense) are not normally used in Scots, although they are used in literary Anglicized Scots. Can (can), shoud (should) and will (future formation) are the preferred Scottish forms.

Scots use double modal forms: He'll no can come the day (He won't be able to come today), A micht coud come the morning (I may be able to come tomorrow / Maybe I can come tomorrow), A uised tae coud dae it, but no nou (I could do it once, but not now / I could do it once, but not now).

Verbs: present

The present tense of verbs ends in -s in all persons and numbers except when a single personal pronoun accompanies 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 / They say that he is very 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 / Those who come first are served first). The trees growes green in simmer (The trees grow green in summer).

Wish (was/fui...) can replace war (were/fue...), but not the other way around: You war/wis thare (You were there).

Verbs: past tense

The regular form to form the present perfect is –it or –t(e)d, depending on whether the preceding letter is consonant or vowel: hurtit (to hurt), skelpit (smacked / slapped), mendit (to fix), kent/kenned (knew/known), cleant/cleaned (clean), scrieved (scribbled), telt/tauld (told), dee'd (died). Some verbs have proper forms greet/grat/grutten (weep/wept / cry), fesh/fuish/fuishen (fetch/fetched / grab), lauch/leuch/lauchen (laugh/laughed / laugh), gae/gaed/gane (go/went / go), gie/ gied/gien (give/gave/given / dar), pit/pat/pitten (put/put/put / put), git/gat/gotten (get/got/gotten / obtain).

Word Order

Scots prefer the following order: He turnt oot the licht compared to English He turned the light out and Gie me it in front of the English Give it to me (Dámelo).

Some verbs are often used in progressive forms: He wis thinkin he wad tell her, He wis wantin tae tell her (He was wanting to tell her).

Verbs of motion can be deleted before an adverb or adverbial phrase of motion: A'm awa tae ma bed (I'm going to bed), That's me awa hame (I'm going home), A'll intae the hoose an see him (I'm going home to see him).

Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers end in –t: first (first), seicont (second), fowert (fourth/fourth), fift (fifth/fifth), saxt (sixth/sexto), etc. except for thrid/third (third/third).

Adverbs

Adverbs usually have the same form as the verb root or adjective, especially after verbs: Haein a real guid day (Having a really good day). She She's gey fauchelt (She She's awfully tired / Ella está terribly tired).
Adverbs are also formed with –s, –lies, –lins, –gate(s ) and –wey(s): whiles (at times/sometimes), mebbes (perhaps/quizás), brawlies (splendidly/ splendidly), geylies (pretty well/quizás bien), aiblins (perhaps/quizás), airselins (backwards), hauflins (partly), hidlins (secretly), maistlins (almost), awgates (always, everywhere), ilkagate (everywhere), onygate (anyhow/in any way), ilkawey (everywhere/in all parts), onywey(s) (anyhow, anywhere/in any form, anywhere), endweys (straight ahead), whit wey (how, why).

Subordinate clauses

Subordinate clauses without a verb beginning with and expressing surprise or indignation: She haed tae walk the hale length o the road an her sieven month pregnant (She had to walk the entire length of the road being in a seven-month state), He tell me tae rin an me wi ma sair leg (and me with my sore leg / He told me to run, and I with my bad leg).

Denial

Negation is produced using the adverb no, in NE nae, as in A'm no comin (I&# 39;m not coming/No voy), or using the suffix –na (the pronunciation depends on the dialect), as in A dinna ken (I don't know/No sé), Thay canna come (They can't come/No pueden venir), We coudna hae tell him (We couldn't have told him /We couldn't tell him) and A hivna seen her (I haven't seen her/No havi la vista). The use of no is preferred to –na in contractible auxiliary verbs like –ll (instead of will) and in yes/no questions with any auxiliary verb: He'll no come (He will not come) and Did he no come? (Has he not come? ?)

Relative pronouns

The relative pronoun is that for all persons and numbers, but may be omitted: Thare's no mony fowk (that) leeves in that glen (There aren't many people who live in that glen/No hay mucho gente que viva en ese valle). Anglicized forms wha, wham, whase (who, whom, whose), and the older whilk (which/cual) are literary cheesy, whilk is used only 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 using an appropriate pronoun The wifie that's hoose gat burnt (la mujer whose house burned down), the wumman that her dochter gat mairit (the woman whose daughter he married), the men that thair boat wis tint (the man whose boat was painted).

A third adjective/adverb yon/yonder, thon/thonder indicating something at a distance D'ye see yon/thon hoose ower yonder/thonder? (Have you seen that house over there?)

Also thae (those) and thir (these), the plurals of this (this) and that (that). In Northern Scots this and that are unchanged in the plural.

Vocabulary

Modern vocabulary shows overwhelming influence from English.

Loanwords from Gaelic are mainly geographical and cultural elements such as clan and loch (lake).

Some words have been borrowed from English: filt, greed, eerie, cuddle, clan etc

Writing system

Scots is written using the Latin alphabet.

Many writers today avoid all sorts of apostrophes that would represent "lost" English letters. These letters were never "lost" in scotch. For example, in the s. XII, the writer Barbour used for the English equivalent of taken the spelling tane. Since the word hasn't had a K in 700 years, representing its omission with an apostrophe seems pointless. The most common current spelling is taen.

Sample text

Modern Scots text from The New Testament in Scots (William Laughton Lorimer 1885–1967) Mathew:1:18ff:

This is the storie or the birth or Jesus Christ. His mither Mary wis trystit til Joseph, but afore they war mairriet she wis fund tae be wi bairn bi the Halie Spírit. Her husband Joseph, honest man, hed nae mind tae affront her afore the warld an wis for brakkin aff their tryst hidlinweys; an sae he wis een ettlin tae dae, whan an angel or the Lord kythed til him in a draim an said shel him, “Joseph, son o Dauvit, be nane feared She will beir a son, an the name ye ar tae gíe him is Jesus, for he will sauf his fowk frae their sins. ”

Aa this happent at the wurd spokken bi the Lord throu the Prophet micht be fulfilled: Behaud, the virgin wil bouk an beir a son, an they will caa his name Immanuel – that is, “God wi us”.

Whan he hed waukit frae his sleep, Joseph did as the angel hed bidden him, an tuik his trystit wife hame wi him. But he bedditna wi her or she buir a son; an he caa’d the bairn Jesus.