Modern Scots comprises the varieties of Scots traditionally spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster, from 1700.
Throughout its history, Modern Scots has been undergoing a process of language attrition, whereby successive generations of speakers have adopted more and more features from English, largely from the colloquial register.Robert McColl Millar (2018), Modern Scots: An Analytical Survey, Edinburgh University Press, p. 135 This process of language contact or dialectisation under EnglishRobert McColl Millar (2018), Modern Scots: An Analytical Survey, Edinburgh University Press, p. 1 has accelerated rapidly since widespread access to mass media in English, and increased population mobility became available after the Second World War."A Brief History of Scots in Corbett, John; McClure, Derrick; Stuart-Smith, Jane (Editors)(2003) The Edinburgh Companion to Scots. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. . p. 15 It has recently taken on the nature of wholesale language shift towards Scottish English, sometimes also termed language change, convergence or merger.
By the end of the twentieth century, Scots was at an advanced stage of language death over much of Lowland Scotland.Macafee C. "Studying Scots Vocabulary in Corbett, John; McClure, Derrick; Stuart-Smith, Jane (Editors)(2003) The Edinburgh Companion to Scots. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. . p. 51 Residual features of Scots are often simply regarded today as slang, especially by people from outwith Scotland, but even by many Scots.
Dialects
The varieties of Modern Scots are generally divided into five dialect groups:Mairi Robinson (editor-in-chief), The Concise Scots Dictionary, Aberdeen University Press, 1985 p.xxxi Insular Scots – spoken in Orkney and Shetland. Northern Scots – Spoken north of the Firth of Tay. North Northern – spoken in Caithness, Easter Ross and the Black Isle. Mid Northern (also called North EastMairi Robinson (editor-in-chief), The Concise Scots Dictionary, Aberdeen University Press, 1985 and popularly known as the Doric) – spoken in Moray, Buchan, Aberdeenshire and Nairn . South Northern – spoken in east Angus and the Mearns. Central Scots – spoken in the Central Lowlands and South west Scotland. North East Central – spoken north of the Forth, in south east Perthshire and west Angus. South East Central – spoken in the Lothians, Peeblesshire and Berwickshire West Central – spoken in Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Ayrshire, on the Isle of Bute and to the southern extremity of Kintyre. South West Central – spoken in west Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire. Southern Scots – spoken in mid and east Dumfriesshire and the Scottish Borders counties Selkirkshire and Roxburghshire, in particular the valleys of the Annan, the Esk, the Liddel Water, the Teviot and the Yarrow Water. It is also known as the "border tongue" or "border Scots". Ulster Scots – spoken primarily by the descendants of Scottish settlers in Ulster, particularly counties Antrim, Down and Donegal. Also known as "Ullans".
The southern extent of Scots may be identified by the range of a number of pronunciation features which set Scots apart from neighbouring English dialects. Like many languages across borders there is a dialect continuum between Scots and the Northumbrian dialect, both descending from early northern Middle English. The Scots pronunciation of contrasts with in Northern English. The Scots realisation reaches as far south as the mouth of the north Esk in north Cumbria, crossing Cumbria and skirting the foot of the Cheviots before reaching the east coast at Bamburgh some 12 miles north of Alnwick. The Scots –English / cognate group (-might, -enough, etc.) can be found in a small portion of north Cumbria with the southern limit stretching from Bewcastle to Longtown and Gretna. The Scots pronunciation of wh as becomes English south of Carlisle but remains in Northumberland, but Northumberland realises r as , often called the burr, which is not a Scots realisation. The greater part of the valley of the Esk and the whole of Liddesdale have been considered to be northern English dialects by some, Scots by others. From the nineteenth century onwards influence from the South through education and increased mobility have caused Scots features to retreat northwards so that for all practical purposes the political and linguistic boundaries may be considered to coincide.
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 by a minority. Due to their being roughly near the border between the two dialects, places like Dundee and Perth can contain elements and influences of both Northern and Central Scots.
Phonology
Consonants Labial Dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar GlottalNasal Stop Fricative Approximant median lateral Trill
Vowels Vowel length is usually conditioned by the Scottish Vowel Length Rule.
AitkenAitken A.J. 'How to Pronounce Older Scots' in 'Bards and Makars'. Glasgow University Press 1977 IPA Notes 1 short long 2 3 With the exception of North Northern dialectsSND Introduction this vowel has generally merged with vowels 2, 4 or 8.In northern varieties the realisation may be after and , and in the far north may occur in all environments.Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.455 4 5 6 7 Merges with vowels 1 and 8 in central dialects and vowel 2 in northern dialects. in parts of Fife, Dundee and north Antrim.Usually in northern dialects, but after and .Mid Down and Donegal dialects have .In central and north Down dialects, merger with vowel 15 occurs when short and with vowel 8 when long. 8 Always long in many varieties. 8a 9 10 11 Always long in many varieties.Final vowel 11 may be in Southern dialects.Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.456 12 Always long in many varieties. 13 Vocalisation to may occur before , especially in western and Ulster dialects. 14 15 Always short.Often varies between and especially after 'w' and 'wh'.SND:U 4 (2)(ii) () occurs in much of Ulster except Donegal which usually has .Gregg, Robert (1972) "The Scotch–Irish dialect boundaries in Ulster" in Martyn Wakelin ed. Patterns in the Folk Speech of the British Isles, London: Athlone, 109–139. 16 17 Usually , often in south west and Ulster dialects,SND:A but in Northern dialects. 18 Some mergers with vowel 5. 19 Always short.
Orthography Words which differ only slightly in pronunciation from Scottish 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 , bull, full v. and pull with , bind, find and wind v., etc. with .
Alphabet Letter Details A Vowel 17 Vowel 4 in a(consonant)e. In Northern dialects the vowel in the cluster 'ane' is often Grant, William; Dixon, James Main (1921) Manual of Modern Scots. Cambridge, University Press. p.44 and after and dark the realisation may occur.Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.461 Vowel 12 for final a in (away), (two) and (who), but may also be , , or depending on dialect The unstressed vowel B C or D Silent in word final nd and ld,Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.502-503 but often pronounced in derived forms. Sometimes simply n and l or n and l e.g. auld (old) and haund (hand) etc. E Vowel 16.SND:E bed, (heated), (gate), etc. Vowel 2 in e(consonant)e The unstressed vowel F G or H I Vowel 15. E.g. big, (foot), (wood), etc. Vowels 1, 8a and 10 in i(consonant)eSND:I 3 The unstressed vowel J K L In many dialects in all contexts; clear in Insular and Southern and certain Gaelic-influenced varieties initially, after front vowels and dental and labial consonants; clear in South West Central and Ross-shire in all contexts. M N O Vowel 18.SND:O Vowel 5. Often spelled phonetically oa in dialect spellings such as (box), (corn), (God), (job) and (on) etc. The unstressed vowel P Q R or is pronounced in all positions,Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.510-511 i.e. rhotically S or T May be between vowels or word final Silent in medial cht ('ch' = ) and st, and before final en,Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.509 e.g. (fought), (thistle) and also the 't' in (often) etc. Silent in word final ct and pt, but often pronounced in derived forms e.g. respect and accept etc. U Vowel 19SND:U but, cut, etc. Vowel 7 occurs in u(consonant)e, especially before nasals, and sometimes for u alone Vowel 6 in u(consonant)e in some words The unstressed vowel V W X Y Vowels 1, 8a and 10 in y(consonant)e Z or , may occur in some words as a substitute for the older <> (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 following the perceived realisation of the written form, as more controversially is sometimes Menzies.)
Consonant digraphs ch: Usually .Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.499 (fjord or lake), (night), (daughter), (dreary), etc. word initial or where it follows 'r'. (arch), (march), etc. usually where it follows 'n'.Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.500 (branch), (push), etc. gh: . gn: . In Northern dialects may occur.Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.501 kn: . In Northern dialects or may occur. (talk), knee, (knoll), etc. ng: .Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.510 sh: . th: or . Initial 'th' in thing, think and thank, etc. may be .Johnston, Paul (1997) Regional Variation in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.507 wh: . wr: ; more often realised as but may be in Northern dialects: (wreck), (wrong), write, (worked), etc.
Vowel digraphs ae (generally in final positions): Vowel 4. Also occurs for vowel 7 in dae (do), tae (too) and shae (shoe). In Southern Scots and many central and Ulster varieties ae, ane and ance may be realised , and often written yae, yin and yince in dialect writing. ai: Vowel 8 in initial and medial positions. Often before . The merger of vowel 8 with 4 has resulted in the digraph ai occurring in some words with vowel 4 and a(consonant)e occurring in some words with vowel 8, e.g. (soap), (whole), (one), (once), (bone), etc. and word final (slope) and day etc. Long vowel 7 is often written ai in dialect writing for central and north Down dialects. ay (generally in final positions): Vowel 8. Usually but in (yes) and (always). In Dundee it is noticeably .