Genealogical classification
Scots belongs to the Germanic family of languages, and is usually classified as Ingwaeonic, that is, belonging to the Germanic subgroup that includes English, Scots and Frisian.
Area and Varieties
Scots is spoken in the lowlands of Scotland, which covers most of the south and east of the country including Shetland and the Orkneys, and in Northern Ireland. Pronunciation varies, sometimes dramatically, between dialects, and the Orkney and Shetland varieties are often treated as separate languages from the mainland variety, due to major differences in grammar and dialect.
History
Scots originated in the form of Old Northumbrian, a Norse-influenced form of Anglo-Saxon which was spoken in the east of Britain from the River Humber to the River Forth. It became the official language of the law courts in Scotland, but after the move of the Scots-speaking monarchy to London gave way to English, which is now the only official language of Scotland.
Scots has a large number of words derived from the vocabularies of languages it has been in contact with historically, including English, French, Gaelic, Latin, Flemish, Lowlands Saxon and Norse.
Number of Speakers
No census has ever been carried out for Scots, but informed estimates of the number of speakers usually range from 1.5 to 2 million.
Status
Scots has no official status whatsoever.
Education
Scots is seldom taught: Scots-speaking children are educated in English, any teaching of Scots being at the discretion of the teacher. Several Scottish universities offer Scots as an option on English courses, where it is taught passively through literature and linguistic studies, as students are not expected to be able to speak Scots.
Media
Scots has a large body of literature, represented in Middle Scots by such writers as Henryson, Dunbar and Montgomerie, and in Modern Scots by Ramsay, Fergusson, Burns and their successors. This literature is mainly poetry, but there are also many short stories and a few novels completely in Scots. There are also many novels by Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir James Barrie and others in which the narrative is in English but much of the dialogue in Scots.
No complete Bible is available in Scots, but the New Testament has been translated directly from the Greek, and the Psalms from Hebrew.
Scots has proved popular in theatre, but television programmes in Scots are virtually non-existent. Popular programmes such as Rab C. Nesbitt and Chewin’ the Fat are in English with noticeable Scots influences.
Miscellaneous
Scots is also known as Lallans and the Doric.
“Lallans” (also written “Lallan”, “Lawland” and “Lawlands”) is Scots for “Lowlands”, and the term has particularly been applied to self-conciously literary Scots such as became popular in the 20th century, often written with little feeling for the structure and idiom of the language.
“The Doric” was intended to portray Scots as a rustic form of language, the name being taken from Doria, which the Greeks considered a particularly rustic area of their country. Nowadays it has been adopted mainly to signify the distinctive dialect of Scots spoken in the north east of Scotland, particularly Aberdeenshire.
Scots as spoken in certain other areas are also given special names: “Ullans” in Northern Ireland (a conflation of “Ulster” and “Lallans”), “Orcadian” in the Orkneys and “Shetlandic” in Shetland.
Vowels in Scots are not comprehensively diphthongised as in English: vowel sounds can be clearly divided into pure vowels and diphthongs.
Scots consonants are pronounced as in English, but Scots also has the sound of “ch” as in loch, and distinguishes the sound of “w” from “wh”. It also has a clear “r”, usually pronounced as one or two flaps of the tip of the tongue, which does not significantly affect the sound of the preceding vowel. The letter “t” is often sounded as a glottal stop.
Scots uses -s, though occasionally -n, to signify a plural.
An -s is used on verbs in the present tense, this ending being suppressed only when immediately following one of the pronouns “I”, “ye/you”, “we” or “they”. For example, “we aye kens” (“we always know”) becomes “we ken” (“we know”). Due to the influence of English in education, this distinctive feature of Scots grammar is often regarded as uneducated, and is avoided by many writers and speakers.
Scots uses -ed or -it to signify the past participle, and -in for the present participle.
A continuous tense can be formed in Scots by repetition of the verb, sometimes with variations, plus the present perticiple ending. For example, “nid-noddin” (nodding off to sleep), “loup-loup-lowpin” (leaping and
leaping).
Some well-known expressions in Scots are:
Ca canny! (Be careful)
Whit like? (How are you?)
The morn’s mornin. (Tomorrow morning.)
Whaur ye gaun? (Where are you going?)
Come awa ben! (Come in!)
No bad, (Quite good.)
Nane the waur. (None the worse.)
No weel. (Unwell.)
I howp ye’v enjoyed oor wee bit crack anent the leid!
Author: Sandy Fleming
Samples
Dialect: The Scottish Borders.
Author: John Buchan. (From the short story “Streams of Water in the South”)
| Bi this time an on-ding o rain wis comin up frae the watter, an I bade the man com indoors to the fire. He followed me, as biddable as a sheep, draggin his legs like yin far gone in seekness. I set him bi the fire, an put whisky at his elbow, but he wadna touch it. “I’ve nae need o it,” said he, “I’m fine an warm;” an he sits starin at the fire, aye comin ower again an again, “The Solloway, the Solloway. It’s a guid name an a muckle watter.” But sune I gaed to my bed, bein heavy wi sleep, for I had travelled for twae days.” |
By this time a downpour of rain was coming up from the water and I bid him come indoors to the fire. He followed me, as obedient as a sheep, dragging his legs like one far gone in illness. I set him by the fire, and put whisky at his elbow, but he wouldn’t touch it. “I’ve no need of it,” said he, “I’m nice and warm;” and he sat staring at the fire, always starting up again and again, “The Solloway, the Solloway. It’s a good name an a great body of water.” But soon I went to bed, being heavy with sleep, because I had travelled for two days.” |
Further information: http://www.lowlands-l.net (Click on “Resources” and on “Links” or “Offline Material”.)
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