Scots Leid Scottish Grammar 1

Wir Ain Leid
An Innin tae Modren Scots

Wir Ain Leid
Everyday speech in lowland Scotland varies from speaker to speaker.

This is often referred to as a speech continuum. This continuum
ranges from Traditional Scots, often called Braid Scots or Scotch, the
Doric, the Buchan Claik or the Moray Claik and Lallans (Lowlands)
to Scottish Standard English (p.98) Thus many people in Scotland
have access to the features of two linguistic systems and are able to
range from one to the other according to the demands of the
situation in which they find themselves. Such decisions are usually
based on stylistic and contextual factors, the use of Scots being far
more likely among the working-class and older rural people,
especially those whose exposure to the anglicizing endeavours of
the Scottish education system has not been longer than necessary.
This book concentrates wholly on the Traditional Scots end of this

speech continuum. This includes archaic, and some obsolete
vocabulary which has been replaced by standard English
equivalents. Such vocabulary is still used in literary Scots.
Traditional Scots has no equivalent of 'RP'. Scots is spoken in various

dialects. The Scots orthography used here is based o regularised 18th an
19th century literary practices1, and can, on the whole, be read and
pronounced in any Scots dialect with the possible exception of Insular
Scots. The information on pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired. Lack
of time, space and technology hindered me providing an adequate guide
to pronunciation for each word. Both the Ten Volume Scottish National
Dictionary and the Concise Scots Dictionary from SLD Ltd. provide
phonetic pronunciations.
If you intend using this book to learn to speak Scots, choose the
dialect (p.26) you wish to learn - all dialects are equally valid.
1
See Eagle (2006) Aw Ae Wey Written Scots in Scotland and Ulster. Available
at http://www.scots-online.org/airticles/AwAeWey.pdf
1 www.scots-online.org
Wir Ain Leid
What is Scots?
The Emergence of Scots
The first language known to have been spoken in Scotland was

Pictish. The Picts occupied Scotland north of the Forth. What little
evidence there is, such as place names with the elements "Aber-",
"Lhan-" and "Pit-", indicate that Pictish was a Brythonic language
related to the modern Celtic language Welsh. Around 300 A.D. the
Picts got their name from the Romans who called them Picti. This
referred to their supposed habit of painting their faces with blue
woad. Picti means the painted people. At the time south west
Scotland (Strathclyde) was occupied by another Brythonic tribe
(Britons) speaking Cumbric, also related to modern Welsh. South
east Scotland was part of a Northumbrian kingdom based on the
Lothians. Those people, who spoke nglisc or Old English as it is
now usually called, were the descendants of the Angles who had
settled in the north of England. By 500 A.D. a tribe of people from
Northern Ireland called the Scoti had began to settle in Argyle.
These new immigrants spoke Gaelic another Celtic language, and
they called their new kingdom Dalriada. By 900 A.D. the Scoti of
Dalriada had absorbed and integrated the original Pictish
inhabitants and formed the kingdom of Alba north of the Forth and
Clyde. Shortly afterwards the British kingdom of Strathclyde became
part of the kingdom of Alba. It wasn't long after 970 A.D. that the
Northumbrian kingdom also became part of the kingdom of Alba,
creating the borders of modern Scotland that have hardly changed
since.
One of the conditions to the annexation of the Northumbrian

kingdom was that the Northumbrians were allowed to use their own
language and laws. Scotland's political centre of gravity moved from
the west Highlands into Central Scotland. Soon a situation had
emerged where the Royal household was only Scots in name. They
too were speaking nglisc. At this time nglisc speakers called
Gaelic Scottis. After the Norman invasion of England in 1066 King
David I of Scotland (1124-53) granted lands to many Norman
2 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
noblemen who held lands in the Midlands and northern England.

Most of the lower rank people accompanying those Norman
noblemen spoke a variety of what they called Inglis, a variety heavily
influenced by the Anglo-Scandinavian of the Danelaw. This would
explain much of the Scandinavian vocabulary of Modern Scots that
can not be ascribed to the Norse influence in The Northern Isles and
Caithness. The variety of Inglis resulting from the speech of recent
incomers and the natives of the south east Scotland soon gained in
prestige, and by 1290 A.D. Inglis had spread up the east coast to
the Moray Firth and taken hold south of the Clyde. Only Galloway,
South Ayrshire and the Highlands to the north and west remained
Gaelic speaking. The wars of independence in the eleventh century
soon separated the two divisions of Northumbrian Inglis north and
south of the Cheviots. During the following centuries the Inglis
developed separately north and south of the border. In the twelfth
century extensive trade took place between the eastern seaboard of
Scotland and the Low Countries. Trading colonies were established
in Low Countries and similarly many traders and craftspeople from
the Low Countries settled in Scotland. They too enriched the
vocabulary of Scots with Dutch and Low Saxon loans. Later on the
Auld Alliance with France further influenced the Inglis of Scotland
with the addition of more Norman and central French vocabulary.
Meanwhile the Gaelic had also been adding vocabulary to the Inglis
of Scotland. Many terms for topographical features are of Gaelic
extraction although little more was passed on due to the low regard
held for things Gaelic. The great language of learning in middle
ages Europe was Latin, this too influenced the Inglis of Scotland
especially in the realms of literature and law.
The Inglis (Early northern Middle English) spoken in Northumbria

and Scotland were very much the same but the emergence of the
two competing Political entities of England and Scotland caused a
shift in their population's centre of gravity. In Scotland the
population looked to their capital Edinburgh and to the Inglis
spoken in the Lothians as a model for a national standard, both
spoken and written. In Northumbria the population looked to the
emerging standard language of the east Midlands and later the
Wir Ain Leid
speech of London. The early Middle English varieties in the south

and north were noticeably different, reflecting the patterns of
settlement by different Anglo-Saxon tribes and Scandinavian
influence. Those varieties did share a considerable amount of
common vocabulary but later divergent pronunciation shifts further
increased the difference between the Northern and Southern
varieties. The emerging standard from the South soon began
replacing the Northumbrian in the north east of England reducing it
to a mere dialect. Meanwhile the Inglis of Scotland had began
developing into a fully fledged national vernacular being used as a
vehicle for both literature and legal documentation. Although early
Scottish literature, in Inglis, such as Barbour's Brus (c.1375),
Whyntoun's Kronykil and Blind Harry's Wallace (c.1478) may more
accurately be described as early northern Middle English, scholars of
Scots refer to the language of the period as Early Scots.

Wir Ain Leid
The Relationship of Scots to Other Germanic Languages
By the end of the fifteenth century the Inglis language of Scotland

had become a national language and was being called Scottis to
distinguish it from the language of England. The following period in
the development of Scottis, known as Middle Scots, brought forth an
abundance of literature based around the Royal Court in Edinburgh
and the University of St. Andrews. Master pieces by writers such as
Henrysoun (1450-c.1505), Dunbar (c.1460-c.1530), Douglas
(1476-1522), and Lynsay (c.1486-1555) saw the introduction of a
great many French and Latin words into Scots. At the same time the
spellings employed by these writers indicated many pronunciation
changes that were probably due to natural developments in the
language. By the end of the seventeenth century the continued
Wir Ain Leid
influence of English writers like Chaucer and later Elizabethan

English literature, started to have an effect on the spelling of Scots.
The Development of English and Scots
The period after the seventeenth century ushered in and saw the
gradual decline of modern Scots as a national language. During the
ongoing struggles of the reformation the reformers failed to
introduce a Scots translation of the Bible, instead taking the English
version which was already available. The written Languages, of
course, posed no insurmountable problems of intelligibility for an
educated readership but the spoken word remained as different as
ever. After The union of the crowns in 1603 the Scottish court
moved to London, further increasing the Status of English in
Scotland. Finally the union of the English and Scottish parliaments in
1707 dealt the death knell to Scots as the official language of
Scotland. Standard English increasingly became the language of
politics, education, religion and prestige. Elocution lessons were in

Wir Ain Leid
great demand among the aristocracy, who were the first to

endeavour to adopt the southern tongue in both speech and writing
by eradicating Scotticisms (Scots words and grammar features).
They were of course closely followed by the middle classes and then
generally by anyone who desired to be upwardly mobile. Modern
Scots of course continued to be used as the vernacular of the vast
majority of the Scottish population and the centuries old ballads in
the vernacular continued to be immensely popular among all
sections of society, even though the population was being
increasingly educated in English. It was also during this period that
many of the ballads of the Borders and the North East, that had
been orally handed down the centuries came to be written down.
Writers like Sempill, Lady Wardlaw and Lady Grizel Baillie helped
keep the vernacular alive as a literary medium until the eighteenth
century revival of interest in Scots and Scottish literature.
In the eighteenth century not all the Scots intelligentsia accepted the
marginalisation of Scots. Some writers, among them Ramsay (1686-
1758), Fergusson (1750-1774), Burns (1759-1796) and Scott
(1771-1832) continued to use Scots. Scott introduced vernacular
dialogue to his novels, to great effect. This eighteenth century
revival of Scots literature was based largely on current colloquial
Scots, although the spelling were becoming increasingly anglicised,
and apostrophes substituted for some apparently missing letters,
some spellings based on the standard written Scots of the sixteenth
century court continued to be used. The revival of the eighteenth
century continued into the nineteenth century, with the publication
of Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language
(1808). Scots was once again being regarded as the national
language by the intelligentsia, although use of it for any purpose
other than literary was frowned upon. Writers such as Galt (1779-
1839), Macdonald (1824-1905), Stevenson (1850-1894), Barrie
(1860-1937) and Crockett (1859-1914) followed the lead set by
Scott by using Scots dialogue in their novels. This pan-dialect
literary Scots continued to be used through the 19th century but
later in the period indications of different dialectal pronunciations
began to make an increasing appearance in written Scots.
Wir Ain Leid
By the twentieth century Scots had become the language of the so

called lower classes used only informally and more or less
condemned to the pub and playground. Consequently knowledge of
the 18th and 19th century written tradition began to wane and the
effects of education in standard English led many writers to
increasingly use the English sound-to-letter correspondences to
represent their dialects pronunciation and even more apostrophes
to indicate supposedly missing letters, thus adding to the
misconception that Scots is a debased form of English. The Scots
revival of the twentieth century produced a resurge in the interest in
Scots with the publication of reference and dictionary works such as
Warrack's Scots Dialect Dictionary and the 10 volume Scottish
National Dictionary. In the 1920's. A renaissance in the use of Scots
led by Hugh MacDiarmid was not just literary but also political - for
a nation to regain its soul it must also regain its language.
MacDiarmid found himself among many contemporaries writing
both prose and poetry. Among them Douglas Young, Sidney Goodsir
Smith, Robert Garioch and Robert Mclellan. Many of these writers
were accused of artificially reinventing a language because they
recoursed to Scots Dictionaries and older literary works to increase
and developed their already substantial native Scots vocabularies.
On the other hand recourse to dictionaries and other literary works
by writers using German, French or English who wished to expand
their vocabularies was considered an enlightening and educational
experience - a touch of discrimination perhaps? These attempts to
have Scots hold its own continued after the Second World War, even
though the ever expanding reach of the mass media, especially
radio and then television, which was as good as completely
presented in Standard English, gave the whole population access to
a spoken English on which they could then model their speech.
Scots was now considered the language of the tartan variety show or
the country bumpkin. Mainstream Scotland spoke English or more
correctly Standard Scottish English, which itself retained many
grammatical traits of the older Scottish tongue.

Wir Ain Leid
Literature:
Grlach, Manfred (2002) A Textual History of Scots Heidelberg: C. Winter.

Jones, Charles ed. (1997) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh
University Press.
Kay, Billy (1986, 1993) Scots: The Mither Tongue, Edinburgh: Mainstream,
republished with revisions, Darvel: Alloway Publishing.
McArthur, Tom ed. (1992) The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford
University Press. Various articles by A. J. Aitken. Abridged edition, 1996.
Wir Ain Leid
Language or Dialect?
Popular culture usually thinks of a dialect as a substandard, low

status, often rustic form of a language, usually associated with the
peasantry, the working class or other parts of the community
lacking in prestige. Dialects often being thought of as being some
kind of erroneous deviation from the norm - an aberration of the
'proper' or standard form of language.
The fact is that all speakers of any language are all speakers of at
least one dialect - standard English for example is as much an
English dialect as is any other form of English. No dialect is in any
way linguistically superior to any other.
Linguistically speaking dialects are usually regarded as dialects of a
language, that is, subdivisions of a particular language
The Parisian dialect of French

The Lancashire dialect of English
The Bavarian dialect of German
Language
"A language is a collection of mutually intelligible dialects" - A

definition which conveniently characterises a dialect as a subpart of
a language, and provides a criteria for distinguishing between one
language and another. Another criterion for distinguishing
languages from dialects is the Ausbausprache - Abstandsprache -
Dachsprache framework developed by the linguist Heinz Kloss.
Under the terms of that framework Kloss considered Scots to be a
Halbsprache (half language). Ausbau referring to a variety having its
own standardized form which is used autonomously with respect to
other related languages. The Abstand refers to the distance between
the languages as regards mutual intelligibility. A Dachsprache is
usually a standard language which 'roofs' different dialects in a
dialect continuum.
Take for example, the Scandinavian languages, Norwegian, Swedish
and Danish. These are usually assumed to be different languages.
Speakers of these three languages can, with little effort, understand

Wir Ain Leid
and communicate with one another. These languages have little

Abstand and are mutually intelligible.
Take for example German, assumed to be a single language. There
are varieties of German which are not understood by speakers of
other varieties.
What does the above prove? One thing for certain - 'language' is not
a particularly linguistic notion at all. The reason why Norwegian,
Swedish, Danish and German are thought of as single languages has
as much to do with political, geographical, historical, sociological
and cultural reasons, as with linguistic ones.
There for the term 'language' is relatively 'unscientific'. Linguists
usually refer to 'varieties of language'. There for Norwegian Swedish
and Danish could be referred to as varieties of Scandinavian.
Accents
Accent refers to a variety which is phonetically or phonologically

(pronunciation) different from other varieties.
Dialects
A dialects is a variety which is grammatically (and perhaps lexically

different) as well as phonologically different from other varieties.
Dialects and accents frequently merge into each other without any
discrete break.
Geographic Dialect Continua
A dialect continuum is a chain of mutual intelligibility across

geographical space. Adjacent dialects are usually intelligible but
dialects which are further apart may not be mutually intelligible.
An example of such a dialect continuum is the Romance dialect
continuum stretching across the Iberian peninsula through France
and parts of Belgium down to the southern tip of Italy. From one
place to another across this area there would be some linguistic
differences distinguishing one place from the another. Some times
the differences would be greater some times less, but with distance
Wir Ain Leid
they would be cumulative. The further apart the places the greater
the differences would become. As the distance increases between
places communication becomes increasingly more difficult and
eventually impossible. In places far apart the 'dialects' spoken are
mutually unintelligible, though all across the dialect continuum a
chain of mutual intelligibility exists.
In this example the continuum includes Portuguese, Spanish,
Catalan, French and Italian. Where did one language end and the
other begin?
Europe has many other dialect continua. The west Germanic
language continuum includes Frisian, Dutch (Flemish), Low Saxon,
German and Swiss German. The varieties spoken in Ostend in
Belgium and Zrich in Switzerland are not mutually intelligible but
are linked by a dialect continuum. Low Saxon is often regarded as a
dialect of Dutch on the Netherlands and a dialect of German in
Germany. The same 'language' a dialect of two different ones? Low
Saxon is in fact a marginalised language not a dialect of either
Dutch or German.
Another dialect continuum is the north Slavic dialect continuum
including Czech, Slovak, Polish, Ukrainian and Russian
As elsewhere in Europe a language continuum exists in the British
Isles. Stretching from Cornwall to Shetland. Beat Glauser's research
into the Scots/English linguistic border showed that the
phonological an lexical borders where almost identical. One of the
most marked borders in a European language continuum. This of
course has to do with historical and social factors. Before the union
of 1707 people in Scotland looked to court Scots as their linguistic
standard whereas in England people looked to London. After the
Union people in Scotland continued using Scots as an expression of
their identity. To a large extent it seems as if English stops at the
border and Scots Begins.
Autonomy and Heteronomy
Some varieties spoken in the west Germanic dialect continuum are

considered to be dialects of Dutch while others are considered to be
dialects of German. This is due to the relationship these dialects
bear to their respective Dach or standard languages Dutch and
Wir Ain Leid
German. This is simply because people in the Netherlands usually

believe they are speaking Dutch, that they read and write Dutch and
that the standardising influences on their dialect will be towards
Dutch, and on the whole they will look towards Dutch as the
standard language which normally corresponds to their vernacular.
Similarly with the dialects in Germany.
Since heteronomy and autonomy are the result of political and
cultural rather than purely linguistic factors they are subject to
change. For example, until 1650 part of what is now southern
Sweden was part of Denmark. The dialects spoken here were then
considered to be dialects of Danish. As a result of war and conquest
this area became part of Sweden. Forty or fifty years later these
dialects were considered dialects of Swedish although no linguistic
change had taken place. These dialects had become heteronomous
with respect to standard Swedish rather than Danish.
Until the beginning of the 19th century the official language used in
Norway was Danish. It was only with the reemergance of Norway as
an independent nation that a distinct, autonomous standard
Norwegian was developed - with two orthographies - Bokml and
Nynorsk.
It was only in the 1920s that what we now call Afrikaans became an
independent language with the acquisition of its own name,
orthography and standardised grammar. Before that is was
considered a form of Dutch.
Scots was definitely an autonomous Ausbau variety before 1707

with its own 'standardised' orthography and grammar. At the time
no language in Europe was as standardised as they are today. The
orthographic variation of the time was no different than in
contemporary England. It was the result of English becoming the
official language which eventually caused Scots speakers to think of
English as the standard or Dachsprache to which their vernacular
was heteronomous. Scots did not cease to be spoken in 1707.
The Scandinavian Languages Norwegian, Swedish and Danish are
considered languages because they have distinct, codified,
standardised forms, with their own orthographies, grammar books,
Wir Ain Leid
and literatures; that correspond to three separate nation states.

Many Scots who speak English do so with a Scottish accent. Their
grammar and lexis is standard English, sometimes with traces of
Scots grammar and lexis. This is obviously a dialect of English -
usually called Scottish Standard English (p.98).
Is Scots a Dialect or a Language?
Product information taken from the packaging of a Philips energy

saving lamp, in Danish, Norwegian, Czech and Slovak.
Kan ikke brukes i forbindelse med dimme utstyr eller

elektronisk av og p mekanismer. Ikke egnet til bruk i helt
lukkede armaturer.
Kan ikke bruges i forbindelse med lysdmper og elektronisk

tnd-sluk-ur. Ikke egnet til helt lukkede armaturer.
Nevhodn pre stmievanie, elektronick spnanie, pre

fotobunky casov spnanie a senzory snmania intenzity svetla.
Nevhodn prevdzkovat v plne uzavretch svietidlch.
Nevhodn pro stmvn, elektronick spnn, fotobunky.

Caso zarzeni a stmvac cidla. Nevhodn k pouit do
hermeticky uzavrench svtidel.
Which is the language, which the dialect?
Arguments put forward in order to define Scots as a language are:

Scots has at least five dialect groups and some of these are further
subdivided. The dialects of Scots are, with their differing
pronunciation, grammar, lexis and accents, mutually intelligible to
Scots speakers. English speakers often find (broad) Scots dialects
unintelligible.
An extensive literature in Scots reaching back at least 600 years,
latterly without a standard written form resulting from the fact that
hardly any education takes place through the medium of Scots. Even
Wir Ain Leid
so Scots grammars have been published over the years so

codification or Ausbau is not completely lacking here. Most people
consider Scotland to be a Nation, and not a peripheral region of
Britain/England.
Scots is also officially recognised.
From the Scottish Education Department's Scots Language Factsheet

(12.08.99) dealing with the Scottish Executive's Policy on the Scots
Language:
"The Scottish Executive considers the Scots language to

be an important part of Scotland's distinctive linguistic
and cultural heritage..."
"The UK Government announced on 4 June 1998 its

decision to sign the Council of Europe Charter for
Regional or Minority Languages. This came into effect as
of the 1 July 2001. The Scots language will be covered by
Part II of the Charter. By applying Part II of the Charter to
Scots the Government will be recognising the distinctive
nature and cultural value of the language."
"The Consultative Steering Group Report (Section 3.3

53-64 'Language') has recommended that the normal
working language of the Parliament should be English but
the CSG Report recognised the strong historical and
cultural arguments for facilitating the use of Gaelic and
Scots in the Parliament"
"This involves teachers in valuing pupils' spoken
language.... This makes children aware of the richness of
the language and helps them value the Scots they may
use at home or with their peers."
And the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement Approved by

referendum on 22 May 1998:
"Rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity.

Wir Ain Leid
Economic, Social and Cultural Issues
3. All participants recognise the importance of respect,

understanding and tolerance in relation to linguistic diversity,
including in Northern Ireland, the Irish language, Ulster-Scots and
the languages of the various ethnic communities, all of which are
part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland."
And the agreement between the government of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the government of Ireland
establishing implementation bodies:
"Annex 2, DEFINITIONS, Part 5, Language

1.7 "Ullans" is to be understood as the variety of the Scots
language traditionally found in parts of Northern Ireland
and Donegal. "Ulster-Scots cultural issues" relate to the
cultural traditions of the part of the population of
Northern Ireland and the border counties which is of
Scottish ancestry and the influence of their cultural
traditions on others, both within the island of Ireland and
in the rest of the world."
"Annex 1, Part 5, Language
Ulster Scots
- promotion of greater awareness and use of Ullans and
of Ulster Scots cultural issues, both within Northern
Ireland and throughout the island."
At the end of the day there is no 'scientific' way to prove whether

Scots is a language or a dialect. It boils down to a body's personal
opinions and prejudices. We could argue about this until the cows
come home - or in Scots: Till the kye comes hame.

Wir Ain Leid
Written Scots
The way Scots is written has gone through many changes since the
emergence of Scots as a national language during the period
leading up to the fifteenth century. Now that Scots is no longer an
officially used national language there is of course no officially
sanctioned authority to decide which is the 'right' way to spell Scots
words. Scots Dictionaries usually record a variation of spellings in
common use. This results in writers using a mixture of spellings
reflecting historical, regional, accidental and idiosyncratic variants.
Since the Scots Revival of the early twentieth century various
attempts have been made by Scots writers to harmonise their
orthography. The first of these was the Scots Style Sheet of 1947.
The Scots Language Society's (SLS) Lallans Magazine founded in
1973 publishes both poetry and prose in Scots and has through the
years contributed to, and to a certain extent led the debate on the
development of Scots orthography, by frequently publishing articles
on both orthography and grammar.
In 1977 the Association for Scottish Literary and Linguistic Studies

and The Scots Language Society jointly sponsored the short lived
Scots Language Planning Committee to look into the possibility of a
standard orthography for modern Scots.
In 1985 a number of Scots writers met at the School of Scottish

Studies in Edinburgh and using their consensus as a basis, the Scots
Language Society published their Recommendations For Writers In
Scots in Lallans 24. The SLS also published an extensive list of
recommended spellings in Lallans No's. 39-43.
The Concise English-Scots Dictionary (1993) and the Scots School

Dictionary (1996), both published by the Scottish Language
Dictionaries Ltd. (SLD Ltd.) in also included recommendations for a
(more) standardised spelling. On the whole the SLD Ltd. (SNDA)
agreed with the recommendations published by the SLS. Their main
objection was to spellings based on historic rules of Scots
Wir Ain Leid
orthography. The SNDA's objective is to encourage the use of Scots

more widely in the community, subsequently the SNDA contended
that historical spellings were often unfamiliar to modern readers
and they would make the language seem more difficult
On November the 10th 1996 The SLS and Scots Language Resource
Centre (SLRC) hosted a public meeting at the A.K. Bell library in
Perth, with the aim of setting up a standing body to look into, and
develop a 'standard' Scots orthography. Although fraught with
difficulty this endeavour was taken up and the Scots Spelling
Committee duly established.
Off course an orthography needs to be selected for use in this book.

The purpose of any orthographic system is to represent the spoken
word. There is no reason why Scots orthography should model itself
on English forms - recourse to traditional forms gives the written
language historic continuity - although with Scots, it is sensible to
take the English influence that has occurred since the demise of
Scots as an official national language into consideration - especially
because most people in Scotland have English as their first language
of literacy. This makes the written form easier to learn. Finally, an
increasing number of writers using Scots are basing their
orthography on models very similar to that used here.
The orthography presented here is intended to be read and

pronounced in any Scots dialect (polymorphemic), with the possible
exception of Insular Scots. On the whole the spellings used can be
found in the Concise Scots Dictionary (CSD) published by SLD Ltd.
The chapter Scots Spelling (p.103) explains the orthographic

conventions used when choosing among, or adapting the spelling
variants in the Concise Scots Dictionary. Conventions used follow
the spellings in the Scots School Dictionary (SSD) in so far as they
are consistent or cross-dialect. The SSD is also published by SLD
Ltd.
Base forms of words are usually spelled phonemically - not in a

one-letter to one-sound manner but in a more graphemically
Wir Ain Leid
economic manner. In this system position, environment and overt

markers enable the same letter or cluster of letters to perform
several distinct functions. Several letters or letter clusters may also
represent the same sound.
Compounds and derivatives tend to be spelled morphemically, the

established grapheme bases are usually retained regardless of the
phonemic alterations involved. The assumption being that the
reader knows the phonemic alterations that accompany the
formation of derivatives and inflections. This may be a hindrance to
learning Scots pronunciation from the spellings, but Scots spelling
is geared for the convenience of native speakers, not for the learner.
Wir Ain Leid
Pronunciation
The pronunciations of the spellings used are presented according to

their dialect pronunciations. All dialects of Scots are easily
understood by other Scots speakers. There is no such thing as a
right or wrong dialect - all are equally valid. A standard written
language is only necessary to avoid confusion and
misunderstanding because with the written word, the signals and
indicators that are relied upon in verbal face to face communication
are missing . If all dialects of Scots were regularly heard on radio
and television we would be as acquainted with them as we now are
with Scouse, Brummy and Cockney. Unfortunately for us most
programming decisions are made in London, by English speakers,
for an English speaking audience.
IPA phonetic symbols are used. The transcriptions are broad,
capturing only enough aspects of a pronunciation to show how
words differ from one another or where the pronunciation differs
significantly between dialects. For narrower transcriptions consult
the literature mentioned on the relevant pages.
The IPA phonetic symbols are presented thus: Phonemes /x/ and
words [r:z] (ruise). /:/ indicates that the preceding vowel is long.
/'/ indicates that the following syllable is stressed. //represents a
glottal stop.
Graphemes (letter strings) are often represented thus: <ui>.
Pronunciation examples are given in one or more of the following
languages: Scottish Standard English, German or French. Scottish
Standard English (p.98) is English spoken with a Scottish accent.
Consonants
Consonants usually have the same phonetic values in Scots, as in

English.
IPA Sounds: IPA Sounds:

like like
/b/ bat /s/ sip

Wir Ain Leid
/d/ dog // ship

/d/ jam /t/ tip
/f/ fat /t/ chin
/g/ good // thin
/h/ hat // the
/j/ yet /v/ van
/k/ kit /w/ witch
/l/ lot // which
/m/ mat /x/ loch
/n/ not /z/ zip
// sing // vision
/p/ pet
/r/ rat, is usually trilled (rolled) in Scots.
The <x> in the prefix ex is usually /gz/ between unstressed and

stressed vowels. Otherwise /ks/.
Many speakers substitute a glottal stop // for /t/ and sometimes

/k/ and /p/, between two vowels.
Vowels
The Scottish Vowel-Length Rule
The SVLR is most developed in the central Scots dialects, in

peripheral dialects not all vowels are affected.
The following vowels are usually short:
IPA Sounds like:
//* Eng. above, Ger. Nase

// Eng. pity, Ger. Sitte
// Eng. but
// Eng. pen, Ger. msten
/a/ Eng. flat, Ger. Mann
// Southern Eng. fat
Wir Ain Leid
The following vowels are usually long:

In stressed syllables before /v/, //, /z/, // and /r/.
Before another vowel and
Before a morpheme** boundary.
/e/ Eng. aim, Ger. sehr, Fr. t

/i/ Eng. feet, Ger. Sie
/o/ Eng. toad, Ger. Boot
/u/ Eng. food, Ger. kulant
// Fr. peu, Ger. schn
/y/ Ger. ber, Fr. mur
The following vowels are usually long in most dialects:
// Eng. awful (also /o/)

// Eng. cot, Ger. Post
*In unstressed positions.

**A morpheme is the smallest meaningful part into which a word
can be divided, i.e. inflexions, prefixes and suffixes etc.
Diphthongs
/a/ Eng. bite and Eng. buy, Ger. weit

/i/ Eng. bite and Eng. buy, Ger. weit
/u/ Eng. cow, Ger. Haus
/oi/ Eng. boy, Ger. Heu
/ju/ Eng. you, Ger. Jugend
/a/ usually occurs in long environments.

/i/ usually occurs in short environments.
Word Stress
In Scots the root syllable of native words is usually stressed, This

root syllable is usually the first syllable of a word so there is often a
tendency to stress the first syllable of foreign words, although many
Wir Ain Leid
romance words retain their original stress.
adverteese massacre
apryle (April) mischief
consequence Polis (Police)
discord novelle
illustratit soiree
Many words have stressed (emphatic) and unstressed forms,

especially pronouns, adverbs and some verbs. These are not usually
indicated in writing. Some common spelling variations reflect the
use of stressed an unstressed forms. These are indicated where they
most commonly occur.
The Alphabet
The Scots alphabet now consists of the same letters as the English
alphabet, but in older and middle Scots the additional letters <>
(thorn) equivalent to the modern <th> // (eth) as in the and <>
(yogh) representing a sound similar to the <gn> // in the French
Bretagne and <y> /j/ as in the modern word year. These are of
course now obsolete. (Still occurs as <z> in many words and is
pronounced /j/ as in capercailzie and /j/ or // as in senzie and
Menzies.)
The Scots letters originally had Scots pronunciations, the education

system has unfortunately all but eradicated the Scots
pronunciations. The Scots pronunciations were / are:
A ah [a] N enn [n]

B bae [be:] O oa [o:]
C sae [se:] P pae [pe:]
D dee [di:] Q quee [kwi:]
E ai [e:] R err [r]
F eff [f] S ess [s]
G jae [de:] T tae [te:]
H itch [t] U ou [u:]
Wir Ain Leid
I ee, ey [i:, a] V vowe [vu]

J jye [da] W dooble-ou, ['dubl'u:,
oulou 'ulu:]
K kye, kae [ka, ke:] X ex [ks, eks]
L ell [l] Y wye [wa]
M emm [m] Z (i)zed [()dzd]
Silent Letters
Some letters in Scots words are not pronounced.
The <t> after medial <ch> /x/, in medial <st> and before final
<en>.
cuisten cast (ppt.) lichtnin lightning

fochten fought listen listen
frichten frighten tichten tighten
kirsten christen saften soften
The <t> in <ct> and <pt>.

These are often written <ck> and although the <t> is often
pronounced in derived forms.
act act attempt attempt

contact contact corrupt corrupt
fact fact tempt tempt
Note the following exceptions:
cep except crap crept

empy empty disjaskit dejected
perfit perfect
In many words a <d> after <n> and <l> may be silent.
auld old sinder separate

cauld cold laund land (a tenement)
haund hand roond round
Wir Ain Leid
hunder hundred mynd remember
Connected Speech
Words are of course written as separate units but in everyday

speech there is a difference in the pronunciation of words in
isolation and in connected speech. The changes are usually regular
an predictable. This usually involves:
Deletion - or the loss of sounds similar to the silent letters

explained above.
Assimilation- where a sound changes to become like a
neighbouring
sound.
Reduction - here vowels are reduced to // or //. This occurs in
Scots much the same as it does in English.
Syntax and Morphology
The grammatical structure of Scots sentences can usually be

extrapolated from the examples given in each section. Where
necessary further explanation is included. The changes in word
form due to tense etc. are explained in the appropriate sections.
Little effort is made to explain the differences between Scots and
English. These should be apparent from the examples given.
Punctuation and Use of Capital letters
Standard English usage is followed.
Other aspects of spelling, especially irregular changes due to

inflexions and tense changes, are dealt with in the appropriate
sections.
Wir Ain Leid
The Pronunciation of Scots Dialects
Dialect Map

Wir Ain Leid
The main dialect divisions of Scots are:
Southern Scots (S) along the Scots side of the Border. (p.29)
Central Scots (CS), subdivided into:
South East Central Scots (SEC) (p.35).
North East Central Scots (NEC) (p.40).
West Central Scots (WC) (p.45).
South West Central Scots (SWC) (p.50).
Ulster Scots (U) in the north of Ireland (p.55).
Northern Scots (NS), subdivided into:
South Northern Scots (SN) (p.61).
Mid Northern Scots (MN) (p.66).
North Northern Scots (NN) (p.72).
Insular Scots (IS) in the Orkney and Shetland Islands (p.78).
Urban Scots refers to the dialects of Scots spoken in and around
towns and cities especially Aberdeen Scots (p.84), Dundee Scots
(p.85), Edinburgh Scots (p.87) and Glasgow Scots (p.89).
Although the Belfast Dialect (p.91) cannot be considered Scots it
does include a number of features of Ulster Scots origin.
Gidhealtachd (p.93) the Gaelic for the Highlands and Islands to the
west - were of course until recently on the whole Gaelic speaking. In
areas along the highland line Gaelic influenced Scots can be heard.
The southern extent of Scots can be identified on the basis of

features which differentiate Scots from neighbouring English
dialects, such as the pronunciation of come, the pronunciation /x/
where English cognates have /f/ or //, the Scots pronunciation of
<wh> as // as against English /w/ and where r becomes the
Northumbrian burr. Beat Glauser has also shown that most of the
vocabulary of what are now considered Scots words have all but
disappeared on the English side, while they are still in every day use
on the Scottish side. For practical purposes the linguistic and
political borders are almost identical.
Dialects of course gradually pass into each other so that a mixture

of dialects occurs where one dialect merges into another. A whole
series of maps would be necessary to represent the distribution of
Wir Ain Leid
sounds accurately.
Only the main dialect differences between the areas mentioned are
illustrated. The descriptions make no claim to be exhaustive. Many
works have been written about and in local dialects. The local public
library is a good source of such writings.
Literature:
Aitken, A. J. (1981) "The Scottish Vowel Length Rule" in Michael Benskin and M. L.
Samuels eds. So Meny People, Longages and Tonges, Edinburgh.
Glauser, Beat (1974) The Scottish-English Linguistic Border. Lexical Aspects, Bern:
Francke.
Grant, William and James Main Dixon (1921) Manual of Modern Scots, Cambridge
University Press.
Jones, Charles ed. (1997) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh
University Press.
Mather, James Y. and H. H. Speitel (1986) The Linguistic Atlas of Scotland volume 3 ,
London: Croom Helm.
Murray, James (1870-72, 1873) The Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland,
London: Philological Society .
Purves, David (1997, revised 2002) A Scots Grammar. Scots Grammar and Usage
Edinburgh: The Saltire Society.
Wilson, James (1926) The Dialects of Central Scotland, London: Oxford University
Press.

Wir Ain Leid
Southern Scots
Southern Scots or Border Scots as it is also known - apart for a

stretch of land between Carlisle an Gretna where the Cumbrian and
Scots dialect mix - is substantially different from the dialects of
English spoken south of the Border. Beat Glauser's research into the
dialects on both sides of the border pointed out that the linguistic
and political borders were practically identical. Southern Scots is
also known as the 'yowe and mey' dialect ('you and me').
Consonants
Consonants usually have the same phonetic values in Scots (p.20),

as in English. <C> = Consonant.
 /b/ <d> /d/

<f, ph> /f/ <g> /g/
<h> /h/ <j, dg(e)> /d/
<c, k, ck> /k/ <l> /l/
<m> /m/ <n> /n/
 /p/ <r> /r/
<s, c, ce, se, ss> /s/
<t> /t/ <v> /v/
<w> /w/ <x> /ks/
<y> /j/ <z, s, se> /z/
A final <d> may be pronounced /t/ in words like cupbuird

and orchard, and // in words like curmud, daud and fud.
<f> may be pronounced /v/ in a few words such as cauf, staff
and sheaf.
<f> may be pronounced // in a few words such as ledder,
pouder, shouder and sowder.
A final <t> may be pronounced /d/ after <l>, <m>, <n>,
<ng> or a vowel in a monosyllable e.g. telt and selt.
The <w> in the cluster <tw> may be vocalised in words like
twilt, twin and twinty giving [tolt], [ton] and ['tunti].
A /j/ (<y>) before /i/ may be elided in words like year.
Wir Ain Leid
Scots Spellings Pronunciation in words like:

IPA
<ch> medial and final /x/ bocht, loch, nicht
<ch> initial /t/ chap, chield, chirl, chowk
<nch> usually /n/ brainch, clinch, dunch hainch,
inch, French
<tch> usually /t/ fleetch, wratch
<dge> usually /d/1 begrudge, cadge, cruldge
fadge
<g> occasionally /d/1 breinge, gigot

<ld> medial and final /ld/2 auld, bield, cauld, elder, fauld
<nd> usually /nd/3 daunder, find, haund, saund,
sindry
<ng> usually // finger, hing, ingan, single
<nk> usually /k/ bink, hank
<qu> usually /kw/ acquent, quair, queen
<sh> usually // creash, sheep
<sh> occasionally // fushion, pushion
<th> usually // graith, thole, thrawn
<th> usually // blether, thaim, thair
<wh> usually //4 wha, whan, wheech, wheel
Vowels and Diphthongs
unstressed vowels // aboot, the, oxter, duntit,

bannock, smeddum
<a> initial in // ahint, awa etc.
<a> usually /a/ aff, lang, mak, wash, watch
<a> final in /a/ awa, twa, wha
<au> usually /a/5 auld, haud, haund, saul,
saund, slauchter
<aw> usually final /a/ aw, blaw, caw, draw, faw, gaw,
gnaw, haw, slaw, snaw, staw
<aw> occasionally /a/ awn, awfu, bawbee, bawsant
<ai> initial /e/6 aith, aiple, braid, craitur,
and medial fain, gaither, graith, haimer,
Wir Ain Leid
laim
<ae> usually /e/ brae, frae7, gae, sae, tae n.,
wae
<aCe> /e/ face, gate, hame8, Pace
<ai, ae> Initial in /je/9 ae, aik, ait, aith
<ai, except in /j/ in aiblins, ale, ane, ance
aCe>
<ae> except //10 adae, dae, shae, tae v.
<ay> usually /e/ day, gray, lay
<ea> usually /i/11 beast, cheap, deave, east,
heap, hear, meat, ream
<ee> usually /i/ eetem, freet, jeely keep,
meet, teeth, weel, weet
<ee, ea>final /i/ dee, dree, free, knee, sea, see,
tea
<ei, ie> usually /i/ bield, beir, chield, deid, eild,
heid, meidae, peir, scrieve,
shielin, spreid, teir, threid
<ei> before /x/ /i/ dreich, heich, skeich
<e> usually //12 bed, ebb, esh, fecht, gled,
gless, seck, wecht
 usually //13 drink, in, inch, licht,
lift, pit, rin, simmer, sin,
stibble
 after /w/ and // whin, whisper, whit, wid,
wind,
//often wir, wird, wirm, wittins
<o(a)> usually /o/14 boat, boss, box, coal, cod,
common, hoast, on, rock
<och> often /ux/dochter, thocht
<oo> usually /u/ aboot, coont, droop, hoose,
moose, oot, scoor, soond
<ou> usually /u/ broun, bouk, coum, couer,
doun, dout, poupit, thoum
<oo, final /u/ allou, brou, cou, dou, fou,
ou> hou, nou, oo, sou, you,
<uCe> usually /u/ dule, hure
Wir Ain Leid
 usually // bund, burn, drunken, fund,

grund, truff, unce, wund
<ui> usually //10 abuin, abuise, bluid, bruit,
buird, cuil, cuit, duin, fluir,
fruit, fuird, guid, luif, luim,
muin, muir, muisic, ruise,
schuil, shuir, spuin, uise, uiss,
Yuil
<eu> usually /j/15 beuch, beuk, eneuch, heuk,
leuch, leuk, neuk, sheuch,
teuch, teug
<ew> usually /ju/ dew, few, new, spew
<iCe , usually /i/ advice, bide, byle, fine, fire,
yCe> ile, rive, tyne, wice, wyte
<ey> usually /i/ eyntment, eyster, fley
<y(e)> final in /a/ cry, kye etc.
<oi> usually /oi/ Boid, noise
<oy> usually /oi/ foy, ploy
<ow> initial and medial /u/ bowt, cowp, cowt, gowd,
gowf, lowp, owsen
<owe> final /u/ flowe, glowe, growe, howe,
knowe, lowe, rowe, towe
Suffixes
<ae> usually // Americae, arrae, barrae,

nairae, swallae, windae
<ie> diminutive // grannie, laddie, lassie,
shoppie, wifie
<fu> usually /f/ awfu, carefu, mensefu
<na> negative /n/ dinna, haesna, maunna,
winna, wisna
<y, ie> adverbial and //16 reekie, sairy, stany, stourie

adjectival
<ly> adverbial /l/16 brawly, feckly, fully, geyly
likely, uncoly
Footnotes
Wir Ain Leid
1 This may be pronounced // after <n>.

2 To the west simplification of <ld> to /l/ occurs finally and
when the next word begins with a consonant.
3 To the west simplification of <nd> to /n/ occurs in all
positions.
4 Some older speakers pronounce wh /xw/. It may be
pronounced /h/ in words like whurl and wheezle.
5 <au> before /x/ is usually /ux/ as in sauch and slauchter.
6 The older // may occur in some areas. <ai> before <ch>
may be /iu/ as in daich and laich.
7 The <f> in frae is often pronounced //.
8 Initial /h/ before /e/ is often pronounced /(h)j/ in words
like hame, hale and hairse.
9 In Teviotdale /j/ occurs.
10 The pronunciation // (Ger. Gtter) or // (Ger. zwlf, Fr.
oeuf) also occurs, including dis, disna, dinna. This is subject
to the Scots Vowel Length Rule.
The South East Central Scots pronunciation of the <ui>
spelling are now very prevalent in this dialect.

IPA
<a> final /e:/ in dae, shae, tae v.
<ui> initial short /j/ uiss
<ui> medial short // abuin, bluid, bruit, duin, fruit,
luif, luim, muin, spuin, Yuil
<ui> initial long /je:/ uise
<ui> medial long /e:/ abuise, buird, fluir, fuird, muir,
muisic, ruise, shuir
 medial // in dis, disna, dinna
11 The pronunciation /e/ may occur in some words.
12 The pronunciation // also occurs.
13 Before /x/, /i/ may occur. The pronunciation // also
occurs. In North Roxburghshire /i/ may occur before /g/
and //.
14 Initial <o> may be pronounced /w/ in words like open,
Wir Ain Leid
orchard, ort and even hope. In words like coal the older /u/
may occur.
15 The pronunciations // (Ger.Gtter) or /iu/ also occur.
16 The pronunciation /e/ (Eng. aim, Ger. Sehr, Fr. t) also
occurs.
Literature:
Glauser, Beat (1974) The Scottish-English Linguistic Border. Lexical Aspects, Bern:
Francke.
Johnston, Paul (1997) "Regional variation" in Charles Jones ed. The Edinburgh History
of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, 443-513.
Mather, James Y. and H. H. Speitel (1986) The Linguistic Atlas of Scotland volume 3,
London: Croom Helm.
Murray, James (1870-72, 1873) The Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland,
London: Philological Society.
Watson, George (1923) The Roxburghshire Word-Book, Cambridge University Press.
Wettstein, P. (1942) The Phonology of a Berwickshire Dialect, Zurich: Bienne.
Zai, Rudolph (1942) The Phonology of the Morebattle Dialect, Lucerne: Rber.

Wir Ain Leid
South East Central Scots
This is the dialect on which the standard written Scots of the

Universities, Court and Royal Household was based. Though, since
then, some changes in pronunciation have occurred.
Consonants
Consonants usually have the same phonetic values (p.20) in Scots,

 /b/ <d> /d/

<f, ph> /f/ <g> /g/
<h> /h/ <j, dg(e)> /d/
<c, k,ck> /k/ <l> /l/
<m> /m/ <n> /n/
 /p/ <r> /r/
<t> /t/ <v> /v/
<w> /w/ <x> /ks/
<y> /j/ <z, s, se> /z/
In West Lothian <tw> may be realised /kw/ in words like

atween, twa, twal and twinty.

IPA
<ch> initial /t/1 chap, chield, chirl, chowk
<nch> usually /n/ brainch, clinch, dunch, hainch,
inch, French
<dge> usually /d/ begrudge, cadge, cruldge,
fadge
<g> occasionally /d/ breinge, gigot
<ld> finally when the /l/ auld, bield, cauld, fauld
next word begins
Wir Ain Leid
with a consonant
<ld> otherwise /ld/ elder
<nd> usually /n/ daunder, find, haund, saund,
sindry
<wh> usually // wha, whan, wheech, wheel

bannock, smeddum
<a> initial in // awa, ahint etc.
<a> usually /a/2 aff, lang, mak, wash, watch
<a> final in /e/ awa, twa, wha
<au> usually /o/2 auld, haud, haund, saul,
saund
slauchter
<aw> usually final /o/2 aw, blaw, caw, draw, faw, gaw,
gnaw , haw, slaw, snaw, staw
<aw> occasional /o/2 awn, awfu, bawbee, bawsant
<ai> initial and /e/4 aiple, aik, aith, braid, craitur,
medial fain, gaither, graith, haimer,
laim
<aCe> /e/4 face, gate, hame, Pace
<aiC> except in /j/ aiblins, ale, ane, ance
<ae> final /e/ adae, brae, dae, f(r)ae, gae,
sae, shae, tae v., tae n., wae
<ae> except /je/ ae
heap, hear, meat, ream, sea,
tea
Wir Ain Leid
<ee> usually /i/ dee, dree, eetem, freet, jeely,

keep, meet, teeth, weel, weet
<ei, ie> usually /i/ beir, bield, chield, deid, eild,
<e> usually // bed, ebb, esh, fecht, gled,
gless, seck, wecht
 usually //6 dis, disna, dinna, drink,
in, inch, lift, licht, pit, rin,
simmer, sin, stibble
wind,
// often wir, wird, wirm, wittins
common, dochter, hoast, on,
rock, thocht
<ou> usually /u/ allou, bouk, broun, couer,
coum, doun, dout, poupit,
thoum
<ui> medial short // abuin, bluid, bruit, cuil, cuit,
duin, fruit, guid, luif, luim,
muin, schuil, spuin, Yuil
<ui> medial long /e:/ abuise, buird, fluir, fuird,
muir, muisic, ruise, shuir
<eu> usually /ju/ beuch, beuk, eneuch, heuk,
teuch, teug
<iCe, yCe> /i/8 advice, bide, byle, fine, fire,
Wir Ain Leid
ile, rive, tyne, wice, wyte

<ey> usually eyntment, eyster, fley
/i/8
<y(e)> final in cry, kye etc.
/i/8
<oi> usually /oi/Boid, noise
<oy> usually /oi/foy, ploy
<ow> initial and medial /u/bowt, cowp, cowt, gowd,
gowf, lowp, owsen
Suffixes
<ae> usually /e/ Americae, arrae, barrae,

<ie> diminutive /e/9 grannie, laddie, lassie,
shoppie, wifie
<fu> usually /fe/10 awfu, carefu, mensefu
<na> negative /ne/9 dinna, haesna, maunna,
winna, wisna
<y, ie> adverbial and /e/9 reekie, sairy, stany, stourie
adjectival
<ly> adverbial /le/9 brawly, fully, feckly, geyly
likely, uncoly
Footnotes
1 In Churnside // may occur.

2 The pronunciation // may also occur, especially before
<n(d)> and <ng>. In words like watter /e/ may occur.
3 The pronunciation /o/ or // may also occur.
4 Initial /e/ may become /j/ in words like aik, ait, and aith.
This may also occur after /h/ in words like hairse, hame and
hale resulting in /(h)j/.
6 The pronunciation // may occur before /l/, /kl/ and /tl/.
7 To the south east before /x/ the realisation /ux/ may occur
in words like dochter and thocht.
8 The diphthong /a/ also occurs.
Wir Ain Leid
9 The pronunciations /n/, // and /l/ also occur.

10 The pronunciation /f/ also occurs.
Literature:
London: Croom Helm.
Wilson, James (1926) The Dialects of Central Scotland, London: Oxford University
Press.
Wir Ain Leid
North East Central Scots
Consonants

 /b/ <d> /d/

<f, ph> /f/ <g> /g/
<h> /h/ <j, dg(e)> /d/
<c, k, ck> /k/ <l> /l/
<m> /m/ <n> /n/
 /p/ <r> /r/
<t> /t/ <v> /v/
<w> /w/ <x> /ks/
<y> /j/ <z, s, se> /z/
<l> may be pronounced /j/ in words such as blue, laik and

plou giving [bju:], [jek] and [pju:] etc.
In Perthshire <tw> may be realised /tw/ in words like atween,
twa, twal, twinty and twist.

IPA
inch, French
fadge
<ld> medial between /l/ auld, bield, cauld, elder, fauld
vowels and final often
<nd> medial between /n/ daunder, find, haund, saund,
vowels and final sindry
Wir Ain Leid


bannock, smeddum
<a> final in /o/ awa, twa, wha
<au> usually /o/1 auld, haud, haund, slauchter,
saul, saund
<aw> occasionally /o/1 awn, awfu, bawbee, bawsant
<ai> initial and /e/ aiblins, aik, aiple, ait, aith,
medial braid, craitur, fain, gaither,
graith, haimer, laim
<aCe> /e/ ale, ane, ance, face, gate,
hame, Pace
<ae> usually /e/ ae, brae, f(r)ae, gae, sae,
tae n., wae
<ae> except in /e/2 adae, dae, shae, tae v.
<ea> usually /e/ beast, cheap, deave, east,
tea
keep, meet, weel, weet, teeth,
<ei> usually /e/ beir, deid, eild, heid, meidae,
peir, spreid, teir, threid
<ie> medial /i/ bield, chield, scrieve, shielin
Wir Ain Leid

gless, seck, wecht
 usually //3 drink, in, inch, licht,
lift, pit, rin, simmer, sin,
stibble
 after <w> and // wid, whin, whisper, whit,
wind,
/ / often wir, wird, wirm, wittins
<o(a)> usually /o/ boat, boss, box, coal, cod,
rock, thocht
thoum
<uCe> /u/ dule, hure
<ui> initial short /j/2 uiss
<ui> medial short //2 abuin, bluid, bruit, cuil, cuit,
duin, fruit, guid, luif, luim,
muin, schuil, spuin, Yuil
<ui> initial long /je:/2 uise
<ui> medial long /je:/2 abuise, buird, fluir, fuird,
<eu> usually /(j)/ beuch, beuk, eneuch, heuk,
teuch, teug
<ey> usually /i/4 eyntment, eyster, fley
<y(e)> final in /i/4 cry, kye etc.
Wir Ain Leid
gowf, lowp owsen,

Suffixes
<ae> usually /e/5 Americae, arrae, barrae,

<ie> diminutive /e/6 grannie, laddie, lassie,
shoppie, wifie
<fu> usually /fe/ awfu, carefu, mensefu
<na> negative /ne/ dinna, haesna, maunna, winna
wisna
<y, ie> adverbial and /e/6 reekie, sairy, stany, stourie
adjectival
<ly> adverbial /le/6 brawly, feckly, fully, likely,
geyly, uncoly
Footnotes
1 The pronunciation // may also occur, especially before

<n(d)>.
2 In western parts of Fife older speakers still pronounce ui //
and towards Perthshire /y/. To the east older speakers
pronounce ui /e/ e.g. buit, duin, guid, guiss, luif, luim,
schuil, shuil, truith as with dae, dis, disna, dinna.
3 Towards the Highland line the pronunciation // may occur.
It may also occur before /l/, /kl/ and /tl/ in other areas.
5 The pronunciation /i/ also occurs, especially to the west.
6 In East Perthshire if the preceding vowel is /i/ or /i/, or the
preceding consonant is /b, d, , g, v, / or /z/, the
pronunciation is /i/, otherwise //.
Literature:
Wir Ain Leid
London: Croom Helm.
Wilson, James (1916) Lowland Scotch as Spoken in the Lower Strathearn District of
Perthshire, Oxford University Press.
Wilson, James (1926) The Dialects of Central Scotland, London: Oxford
University Press.

Wir Ain Leid
West Central Scots
This is the dialect in which the famous bard Robert Burns wrote.
Consonants

 /b/ <d> /d/

<f, ph> /f/ <g> /g/
<h> /h/ <j, dg(e)> /d/
<c, k, ck> /k/ <l> /l/
<m> /m/ <n> /n/
 /p/ <r> /r/
<t> /t/ <v> /v/
<w> /w/ <x> /ks/
<y> /j/ <z, s, se> /z/
<l> may be pronounced /j/ in words such as blue, laik and

plou giving [bju:], [jek] and [pju:] etc.

IPA
<ch> initial /t/ chap, chield, chirl chowk,
inch, French
fadge
<g> occasionally /d/ breinge, gigot,
<ld> finally when the /l/ auld, bield, cauld, fauld
next word begins with a consonant
<ld> medial /ld/ elder
<nd> usually /n/ daunder, find, haund, saund,
Wir Ain Leid
sindry
<th> usually // blether, thaim, thir

bannock, smeddum
<a> usually /a/ aff, mak, lang, wash, watch
<a> final in /o/1 awa, twa, wha
<au> usually /o/1,2 auld, haud, haund, saul,
saund, slauchter
<aw> occasional /o/1 awn, awfu, bawbee, bawsant
<ai> initial and /e/ aik, aiple, ait, aith, braid,
medial craitur, fain ,haimer,
gaither, graith, laim
<aCe, aCe> /e/ face, gate, hame, Pace
<ai> except in /j/ aiblins, ale, ane, ance
<ae> usually /e/ adae, brae, dae, f(r)ae, gae,
sae, shae, tae v., tae n., wae,
<ae> except /je/ ae
tea
<ei, ie> usually /i/3 bield, beir, chield, deid, eild,
Wir Ain Leid

gless, seck, wecht
 usually //4 dis, disna, dinna, drink, in,
inch, licht, lift, pit, rin,
simmer, sin, stibble
wind,
// often wir, wird, wirm, wittins
rock, thocht
thoum
<ui> medial short // abuin, bluid, bruit, cuil, cuit,
duin, guid, fruit, muin, luif,
luim, schuil, spuin, Yuil
<eu> usually /j/6 beuch, beuk, eneuch, heuk,
teuch, teug
<y(e)> final /i/7 in cry, kye etc.
Wir Ain Leid

<ow> initial and medial /u/8 bowt, cowp, cowt, gowd,
gowf, lowp, owsen
Suffixes

<ie> diminutive /e/ grannie, laddie, lassie,
shoppie, wifie
winna, wisna
<y, ie> adverbial and /e/ reekie, sairy, stany, stourie
adjectival
<ly, lie> adverbial /le/ brawly, feckly, fully, geyly,
likely, uncoly
Footnotes
1 The pronunciation // also occurs. In and around

Campbeltown /a/ occurs.
2 In and around Campbeltown the cluster <auld> may be
pronounced /ul(d)/.
4 The pronunciation // may occur before /l/, /kl/ and /tl/
and in other words along the Highland line.
5 The pronunciation // occurs in words like body, mony,
stamack, maun and parritch.
6 In and around Campbeltown // occurs.
7 The diphthong /a/ also occurs. In and around Campbeltown
/e/ occurs before /k/.
8 The diphthong <ow> may also be vocalised to /o:/
especially before /k/ e.g. bowk, gowpen, howk and snowk.
9 The pronunciation /ne/ is spreading from the east.

Wir Ain Leid
Literature:
London: Croom Helm.
Wilson, James (1923) The Dialect of Robert Burns as Spoken in Central Ayrshire,
Oxford University Press.
Wir Ain Leid
South West Central Scots
Consonants

 /b/ <d> /d/

<f, ph> /f/ <g> /g/
<h> /h/ <j, dg(e)> /d/
<c, k, ck> /k/ <l> /l/
<m> /m/ <n> /n/
 /p/ <r> /r/
<t> /t/ <v> /v/
<w> /w/ <x> /ks/
<y> /j/ <z, s, se> /z/
/g/ and /k/ are often /gj/ and /kj/ before /a, , e, , i, y/ e.g.
girn, git, caird, ken and kirk etc.

IPA
inch, French
fadge
<ld> finally when a /l/ auld, bield, cauld, fauld
consonant begins the next word
<ld> medial /ld/ elder
<nd> usually /n/ baund, daunder, find, haund,
sindry
<nk> occasionally /k/ bink, hank
Wir Ain Leid


bannock, smeddum
<a> usually /a/1 aff, mak, lang, wash, watch
<a> final in // awa, twa, wha
saund, slauchter
<aw> usually final /a/2 aw ,blaw, caw, draw, faw, gaw,
<aw> occasional /a/2 awn, awfu, bawbee, bawsant
<ai> initial and /e/ aik, aiple, ait, aith, braid,
medial craitur, fain, gaither, graith,
haimer, laim
<aCe, usually /e/ face, gate, hame, Pace
aCe>
<aiC> except in /j/ aiblins, ale, ane, ance
<ae> usually /e/ brae, f(r)ae, gae, sae, tae n.,
wae
<ae> except /je/ ae
<ae> except in /y:/3 adae, dae, shae, tae v.
tea
Wir Ain Leid

gless, seck, wecht
 usually // drink, in, inch, licht, lift,
pit, rin, simmer, sin, stibble
wind, and // often wird, wir, wirm, wittins
<oa> usually /o/ boat, coal, hoast
<o> usually // boss, box, cod, common,
dochter, loch, on, rock,
thocht
<oo> usually /y/5 aboot, coont, droop, hoose,
<ou> usually /y/5 allou, broun, bouk, couer,
thoum
<uCe> usually /y/5 dule, hure
<ui> usually /y/3 abuin, abuise, bluid, bruit,
Yuil
teuch, teug
<iCe, usually /i/6 advice, bide, byle, fine, fire,
<y(e)> final in /i/6 cry, kye etc.
gowf, lowp, owsen
Wir Ain Leid

Suffixes

shoppie, wifie
<na> negative /ne/ dinna, haesna, maunna,
winna, wisna,
adjectival
<ly> adverbial /le/ brawly, feckly, fully, geyly
likely, uncoly
Footnotes
1 The pronunciation // also occurs.

2 TThe pronunciations // and // are now very prevelant. In
Nithsdale /o/ also occurs.
3 In many areas the traditional /y/ has been replaced by the
characteristic Central Scots pronunciations. This includes
dis, disna and dinna.

IPA
<ae> final /e/ in adae, dae, shae, tae v.
<ui> medial short // abuin, bluid, bruit, duin,
fruit, luif, luim, muin,
spuin, Yuil
<ui> medial long /e:/ abuise, buird, fuird, fluir,
muir, muisic ruise, shuir,
Wir Ain Leid
4 The pronunciation /e/ also occurs, especially in

Wigtownshire.
5 The pronunciation /u/ is now very prevalent.
In phrases beginning with in the, on the, at the and o the, the two
words are contracted into 'ee e' [i e] or simply 'ee' [i].
Ee e toun. Ee e mornin.
In the Town. In the morning.
Wrang ee heid. Ee back ee dyke.

In the morning. At the back of the stone wall.
Literature:
London: Croom Helm.
Milroy, James (1982) "Some connections between Galloway and Ulster speech",
Scottish Language 1, 23-29.
Riach, W. A. D. (1979,1980,1982) "A dialect study of comparative areas in Galloway",
Scottish Literary Journal Supplement 9, 1-16; Supplement 12, 43-60; Scottish
Language 1, 13-22.

Wir Ain Leid
Ulster Scots
Ulster is the only area outwith Scotland where Scots has survived as
a spoken language. Scots in Ulster has been under the same
linguistic pressure as Scots in Scotland. Wholescale Scots migration
to Ulster started in the early seventeenth century. Scots settled in
the northern half of the Ards Peninsula spreading at first through
Newtonards and Comber and then across the northern half of Down.
Scots also settled from Island Magee to Glenarm and in the west as
far as Antrim town and in the North at Ballymoney. Ulster Scots is on
the whole a variant of West Central Scots. Ulster Scots is spoken by
both Protestants and Catholics.
Ulster Scots is subdivided into:
Western Ulster Scots in County Derry and Donegal

Central Ulster Scots in County Antrim
Eastern Ulster Scots in County Down and The Ards
Consonants

 /b/ <d> /d/

<f, ph> /f/ <g> /g/
<h> /h/ <j, dg(e)> /d/
<c, k, ck> /k/ <l> /l/
<m> /m/ <n> /n/
 /p/ <r> /r/
<t> /t/ <v> /v/
<w> /w/ <x> /ks/
<y> /j/ <z, s, se> /z/
In some areas an Irish substrate may lead to a /d/ <d>

before <r> being pronounced interdentally, almost like 'dh'. A
Wir Ain Leid
/t/ <t> may also be pronounced interdentally like 'tth'. In

other areas it may be glottalised between vowels and finally in
words like beast and juist etc. The pronunciation of /f/ may
be a bilabial // and /v/ as // like the in Spanish
habana.

IPA
<ch> medial and /x/ bocht, loch, nicht
final
inch, French
<dge> usually /d/ begrudge, cadge,
cruldge, fadge
<ld> final /l/ auld, bield, cauld, fauld
sindry
<th> usually //1 blether, thaim, thair

bannock, smeddum
<a> central and /a,/2 aff, mak, lang, wash, watch
western usually
<a> eastern usually /,/2 aff, mak, lang, wash, watch

Wir Ain Leid
<a> western final in /a:/ awa, twa, wha

<a> eastern and // awa, twa, wha
central final in //
<au> usually /:/ haund, saund, slauchter
<au> before <ld> /u/3 auld, bauld, cauld, fauld,
scauld
<aw> final /:/ aw, blaw, caw, draw,
eastern // faw, gaw, haw, gnaw, slaw,
and central snaw, staw
<aw> occasional /:/ awn, awfu,
eastern // bawbee, bawsant
and central
<aw> final /a:/ aw, blaw, caw, draw, faw, gaw,
western gnaw, haw, slaw, snaw, staw
<aw> occasional /a:/ awn, awfu, bawbee, bawsant
western
<ai> initial and /e/4 aik, aiple, ait, aith, braid,
medial craitur, fain, gaither,
<aCe> C=consonant /e/4 face, gate, hame, Pace
<ai, except in /j/5 aiblins, ale, ane, ance
aCe>
<ae> usually /e/ brae, f(r)ae gae, sae, tae n.,
wae
<ae> except /je/5 ae
<ae> final A, B in /e:/ adae, dae, shae, tae v.
<ae> final C in /i:/ adae, dae, shae, tae v.
<ea> usually /e/6 beast, cheap, deave, east,
tea
Wir Ain Leid
<ei> before /x/ /i/7 dreich, heich, skeich

<e> usually /:/ bed, ebb, esh, fecht, gled,
gless, wecht, seck
 usually // drink, in, inch, licht,
//8 lift, pit, rin, simmer, sin,
stibble
 after /w/ // whin, whisper, whit, wid,
and // often wind, wir, wird, wirm, wittins
 medial A in // dis, disna, dinna
 medial B in /e:/ dis, disna, dinna
 medial C in /i:/ dis, disna, dinna
common, dochter, hoast,
on, rock, thocht
<oo> usually /u/10 aboot, coont, droop, hoose,
<ou> usually /u/10 allou, broun, bouk, couer,
thoum
<uCe> usually /u/10 dule, hure
<ui> initial /ju/ in uiss, uise
<ui> medial short A // abuin, bluid, bruit, duin, fruit,
luif, luim, muin, spuin, Yuil
<ui> medial long A /e:/4 abuise, buird, fluir, fuird,
<ui> B usually /e:/4 abuise, buird, fluir, fuird,
<ui> C usually /i:/ abuise, buird, fluir, fuird,
<eu> usually /(j)/ beuch, beuk, eneuch, heuk,
teuch, teug
yCe> ile, rive, tyne
<iCe, after /w/ /a/12 while, white, wice, wine, wyte
Wir Ain Leid
yCe> and //
<ey> usually /i/11 eyntment, eyster, fley,
<(e)y> after /w/ /a/12 wey, whey, why
and //
<y(e)> final in /i/11 cry, kye
gowf, lowp, owsen
Suffixes
<ae> usually /e/14 Americae, arrae, barrae,

shoppie, wifie
<fu> usually /fu/ awfu, carefu, mensefu
<na> negative /ne/ dinna, haesna, maunna,
winna, wisna
adjectival
<ly> adverbial /le/ brawly, feckly, fully, geyly,
likely, uncoly
Footnotes
A Mid Antrim, North Ards and parts of Co. Down

B North Antrim and points in north east Londonderry
C Co. Donegal, Mid Ards and west of Strangford Lough Co.
Down
1 Medial <th> // may also be unpronounced. A <th> before

<er> is often pronounced interdentally, almost like 'tth'.
2 // also occurs after /k/ or before /k/, /g/ and //.
3 To the west traditional // or // also occur.
Wir Ain Leid
4 /:/ may occur before <r>.

5 Often //. /e/ also occurs in Donegal.
6 In a few words /i/ occurs e.g. deave. /:/ may occur before
<r>.
7 Note the following with /e:/, bleize, elieven, screich and
sieven.
8 Often // before voiceless sounds or clusters containing
them (/p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /s/, //, //, /t/ and /x/).
The pronunciation // also occurs, especially in Donegal.
9 In words spelled with <o> the pronunciation // also occurs
especially before <ch>.
10 The pronunciation /y/ also occurs.
11 The pronunciations /e/ and /i/ may also occur.
12 The pronunciations /e/ may also occur.
14 Depending on stress // and // also occur.
Literature:
Fenton, James (1995, 2000) The Hamely Tongue. A Personal Record of Ulster-Scots in
County Antrim, 2nd edn. Ullans Press.
Gregg, Robert (1958,1959) "Notes on the phonology of a County Antrim Scotch-Irish
dialect", Orbis 7:2, 392-406; 8:2, 400-424.
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.
Macafee, Caroline ed. (1996) A Concise Ulster Dictionary, Oxford University Press.
London: Croom Helm.
Milroy, James (1982) "Some connections between Galloway and Ulster speech",
Scottish Language 1, 23-29.
Patterson, William (1880) A Glossary of Words in Use in the Counties of Antrim and
Down, London: English Dialect Society.
Traynor, Michael (1953) The English Dialect of Donegal. A Glossary, Dublin:
Royal Irish Academy.

Wir Ain Leid
South Northern Scots
Consonants

 /b/ <d> /d/

<f, ph> /f/ <g> /g/
<h> /h/ <j, dg(e)> /d/
<c, k, ck> /k/ <l> /l/
<m> /m/ <n> /n/
 /p/ <r> /r/
<t> /t/ <v> /v/
<w> /w/ <x> /ks/
<y> /j/ <z, s, se> /z/

IPA
<nch> usually /n/ brainch, clinch, dunch,
hainch, inch, French
<dge> usually /d/ begrudge, cadge,
cruldge, fadge
<gn> usually /gn/ gnap, gnaw
<kn> usually /tn/ knap, knee, knot, knowe
<ld> usually /l/ auld, bield, cauld, elder, fauld
<nd> usually /n/ baund, daunder, haund, find,
sindry
Wir Ain Leid

<wh> interrogatives /f/ wha, whan, whaur, whit
<wh> all other words // whaup, wheech, wheen, whin

bannock, smeddum
<au> usually /a/ auld, haud, haund,
saul, saund, slauchter
<aw> usually final /a/ aw, blaw, caw, draw, faw,
gnaw, gaw, haw, slaw, snaw,
staw
<aw> occasional /a/ awn, awfu, bawbee, bawsant
<ai> initial and /e/ aiblins, aik, aiple, ait, aith,
<aCe> usually /e/ alane, ale, ane, ance, bane,
face, gane, gate, hame, mane,
nane, Pace, stane
tae n., wae
<ae> except in //1 adae, dae, shae, tae v.
tea
<ei, ie> usually /i/ bield, beir, chield, deid, eild,
heid, scrieve, shielin, spreid,
meidae, peir, teir, threid
Wir Ain Leid

gless, seck, wecht
 usually // drink, in, inch, licht, lift, pit,
rin, simmer, sin, stibble
 after <w> // whin, whisper, whit, wid,
and <wh> often wind, wir, wird, wirm, wittins
common, on, dochter, hoast,
rock, thocht
coum, doun, dout,
poupit, thoum
Yuil
teuch, teug
<y(e)>final in /i/3 cry, kye etc.
<ow> initial and /u/ bowt, cowp, cowt, gowd,
medial gowf, lowp, owsen
Wir Ain Leid
Suffixes

<ie> diminutive /i/4 grannie, laddie, lassie,
shoppie, wifie
winna, wisna,
<y, ie> adverbial and /i/4 reekie, sairy, stany, stourie
adjectival
<ly> adverbial /li/4 brawly, fully, feckly, geyly,
likely, uncoly
Footnotes
1 The traditional // prevails inland including dis, disna,

dinna, along the coast /e/ is common but both of these have
often been replaced by the characteristic Central Scots
pronunciations.

IPA
<ae> final /e/ in adae, dae, shae, tae v.
<ui> medial short // abuin, bruit, bluid, duin,
fruit, luif, luim, muin, spuin,
Yuil
2 In the North some words may be pronounced with /e/, to

the south the tendency is much stronger.
3 The pronunciation /a/ also occurs.
4 If the preceding vowel is /i/ or /i/, or the preceding
Wir Ain Leid
consonant is /b, d, , g, v, / or /z/, the pronunciation is

/i/, otherwise //. /e/ may also occur.
Literature:
Adams, David (1996) "The Angus and Mearns Dialect" in Bothy Nichts And Bothy Days,
Edinburgh: John Donald, 77-87.
Gray, Walter (1992) Parliamo Aberbrothock, Arbroath: Herald Press.
London: Croom Helm.
Wir Ain Leid
Mid Northern Scots
This dialect is also referred to as 'North East Scots', 'the Doric' or

'the Moray Claik' and 'the Buchan Claik'. The name Doric comes
from the Greek for 'rural' or 'rustic'. The term was originally used to
describe Scots in general but now just tends to refer to the Mid
Northern Scots dialect.
Consonants

 /b/ <d> /d/

<f, ph> /f/ <g> /g/
<h> /h/ <j, dg(e)> /d/
<c, k, ck> /k/ <l> /l/
<m> /m/ <n> /n/
 /p/ <r> /r/
<t> /t/ <v> /v/
<w> /w/ <x> /ks/
<y> /j/ <z, s, se> /z/
Reversal of /d/ and /l/ may occur in words like warld [wardl]
and field [fidl] etc.
Initial <f> (/f/) is often pronounced /fj/ in words like fact,
fauch and ferm etc.
Initial <g> (/g/) is often pronounced /gj/ in words like gang
and gie etc. In Buchan this may be pronounced /dj/.
In Avoch and Cromarty initial <h> may be elided, wrong
insertion of /h/ may also occur.
Before <nt>, <a>, <ai> and <e> may be pronounced // in
words like want, kent, pent and enter.
In Moray and Upper Banff /r/ may be elided before /s/ in
words such as first, hairst, hirsle, hirst, horse and purse.
On the Moray Firth coast <v> may be pronounced /w/ in
words such as nervish, raivel, vailyie, veesion, veesit and verra.
Wir Ain Leid

IPA
<ch> medial and final /x/1 bocht, loch, nicht
inch, French
fadge
<gn> initial /gn/ gnap, gnaw
<kn> initial /kn/ knap, knee, knot, knowe
<ld> usually /l/ auld, bield, cauld, elder, fauld
<nd> usually /n/ baund, daunder, haund, find,
sindry
<th> usually //2 blether, thaim, thair,
<wh> usually /f/3 wha, whan, wheech, wheel
<wr> initial often /vr/ wrack, wrang, wricht, write

bannock,
smeddum
saund, slauchter
<aw> usually final /a/5 aw, blaw, caw, draw, faw, gaw,
Wir Ain Leid

<ai> initial and /e/6,7 aiblins, aik, aiple, ait, aith,
<aCe> /e/6,7 ale, gate, face, hame, Pace
<ane> initial and /i/8 alane, ane, ance, bane, gane,
medial mane, nane, stane
<ae> usually /e/ ae, brae, f(r)ae gae, sae,
tae n., wae
<ae> except in /i/ dae, adae, shae, tae v.
<ea> usually /i/6,9 beast, cheap, deave, east,
heap, hear, meat, ream sea,
tea
<ee> usually /i/6 dee, dree, eetem, freet, jeely,
<ei, ie> usually /i/6 beir, bield, chield, deid, eild,
gless seck, wecht
 usually //11 drink, in, inch, licht, lift, pit,
rin, simmer, sin, stibble
 after /w/ // whin, whisper, whit, wid,
wind,
and // often wir, wird, wirm, wittins
<o(a)> usually //11 boat, boss, box, coal, cod,
rock, thocht
<ou> usually /u/11 allou, bouk, broun, coum,
couer, doun, dout, poupit,
thoum
<uCe> /u/ dule, hure
Wir Ain Leid

<ui> usually /i/12 abuin, abuise, bluid, bruit,
buird, duin, fluir, fruit, fuird,
luif, luim, muin, muir, muisic,
ruise, shuir, spuin, uiss, uise,
Yuil
<ui> after /g/ and /k/ /wi/ cuil, cuit, guid, schuil
teuch, teug
<ew> usually /ju/13 dew, few, new, spew
<y(e)> final in /i/ cry, kye etc.
<oi> usually /oi/ noise, Boid
<oy> usually /oi/ ploy, foy
gowf, lowp, owsen
Suffixes
<ae> usually //15 Americae, arrae, barrae,

shoppie, wifie
<fu> usually /f/17 awfu, carefu, mensefu
winna, wisna
adjectival
<ly> adverbial /li/16 brawly, feckly, fully, geyly,
likely, uncoly
Footnotes
Wir Ain Leid
1 Medial and final <cht> is sometimes pronounced // (Eng.

thaw) in words like dochter, micht and nocht etc.
2 Often /d/ before <er>, especially in Buchan.
3 The pronunciation /w/ may occur in some words.
4 In Buchan fishing villages // before <m>, <n> and <ng>.
5 In Buchan, in words without English cognates in <-al(l)>, the
<w> may be pronounced /v/, often having /j/ before the
preceding vowel, giving [ja:v] (awe), [bl(j)a:v] (blaw), [gnja:v]
(gnaw), [lja:v] (law) and [snja:v] (snaw) etc.
6 In some areas the pronunciation /i/ (Eng. bite, Ger. weit)
occurs, usually after /w/ and a dark /l/. This may also occur
after other consonants e.g. cheenge, claes, coal11, coat11,
gape, great, heeze, plate, quean, sieven, speak, squeal,
swee, sweit, wade, waik, wait, wale, wame, weave, and wheat
etc. Before /k/ the pronunciation // may occur e.g. speak
and week.
7 A /k/ before <ae, aCe, ai> often produces a yod-glide +
/a/, /kja/ in words like caird, cake and curn. Similarly with
<naC-> /nja/ in words like naig, nakit and naiter.
8 Moray and Nairn usually have /e/.
9 Some words may have /e/. Coastal dialects, Moray and Nairn
usually have /e/.
10 In coastal villages /ei/ may occur.
11 Initial /k/ may be pronounced /kw/ as in kintra [kwntr],
coal [kwil]6, coat [kwit]6 and coud [kwd]. Compare <ui>
after /g/ and /k/ above.
12 In Moray and Nairn before /r/ the pronunciation is usually
/(j)u:/.
13 Also in words like beauty and duty.
14 In Buchan /i/ may occur.
15 The pronunciation /e/ also occurs.
/i/, otherwise //.
17 The pronunciation /fe/ also occurs.
In phrases beginning with in the, on the, at the and o the, the two
Wir Ain Leid
words are contracted into 'ee' [i:].

Thae and thir are replaced by the plural use of this and that.
The <th> is often dropped in words like this and that.
The preposition gin is also used to mean 'by the time that' - Gin we
git thare it'll be daurk!
Literature:
Dieth, Eugen (1932) A Grammar of the Buchan Dialect, Cambridge University Press.
London: Croom Helm.
Wlck, Wolfgang (1965) Phonematische Analyse der Sprache von Buchan, Heidelberg:
Winter.
Wir Ain Leid
North Northern Scots
Consonants

 /b/ <d> /d/

<f, ph> /f/ <g> /g/
<h> /h/ <j, dg(e)> /d/
<c, k, ck> /k/1 <l> /l/
<m> /m/ <n> /n/
 /p/ <r> /r/
<t> /t/ <v> /v/
<w> /w/ <x> /ks/
<y> /j/ <z, s, se> /z/

IPA
<ch> medial and final
/x/ bocht, loch, nicht
<ch> initial often /t/ chap, chield, chirl, chowk
inch, French
<ock> final often /g/1 bannock, hillock, lassieock
fadge
<g> usually /d/2 breinge, gigot
<g> occasionally /t/ gigot, gin
<gn> Initial /gn/ gnap, gnaw
<j> Initial /t/ Jean, jeely, jyle
<kn> Initial /n/3 knap, knee, knot, knowe
<ld> final when the /l/ auld, bield, cauld, fauld
next word begins with a consonant
sindry
Wir Ain Leid

<t> final often /d/ droukit, it, mairit, semmit
<th> usually //4 blether, thaim, thair
<wh> usually /f/5 wha, whan, wheech, wheel
<wr> often initial /vr/ wrack, wrang, wricht, write
Unstressed vowels // aboot, the, oxter, duntit,

bannock, smeddum
saund, slauchter
<aw> usually final /a/ aw, blaw, caw, draw, faw, gaw,
<ai> initial and /i/8 aiblins, aik, aiple, ait, aith,
medial braid, craitur, gaither, graith,
haimer, fain, laim
<aCe> usually /i/8 ale, alane, ane, ance, bane,
nane, stane, Pace
tae n., wae
<ae> except in /i/ adae, dae, shae, tae v.
<ae> except in /i/8 claes
tea
Wir Ain Leid

<ei, ie> usually /i/8 beir, bield, chield, deid, eild,
gless, seck, wecht
rin, simmer, sin, stibble, whin,
whisper, whit, wid, wind, wir,
wird, wirm, wittins
common, loch, on, dochter,
hoast, rock, thocht
<oo> usually /y/ aboot, coont, droop, hoose,
<ou> usually /y/ allou, bouk, broun, couer,
thoum
<uCe> usually /y/ dule, hure
 usually /y/ bund, burn, drunken, fund,
<ui> usually /i/10 abuin, abuise, bluid, bruit,
cuil, cuit, duin, fruit, guid, luif,
luim, muin, muisic, ruise,
schuil, spuin, uise, uiss, Yuil
<ui> before <r> /ju:/ buird, fluir, fuird, muir, shuir
<eu> usually /ju/11 beuch, beuk eneuch, heuk,
teuch, teug
<ew> usually /jy/ dew, few, new, spew
<y(e)> final in /i/ cry, kye etc.
<ow> initial and /u/ bowt, cowp, cowt, gowd,
Wir Ain Leid

Suffixes

shoppie, wifie
winna, wisna
<t, it> verbal endings /t/ scunnert, selt, telt
/it/14 duntit, skelpit
adjectival
<ly> adverbial /li/13 brawly, feckly, fully, geyly,
likely, uncoly
Footnotes
1 This is usual in Caithness, /k/ may also be pronounced /g/.

2 In Caithness initial // may occur.
3 In Caithness /kn/ may occur. In the Black Isle and Easter
Ross /kr/ may occur.
4 Initial <th> may be omitted in words like the, thair, thare,
thee and thoo.
5 In Cromarty /w/ prevails. It may occur in some words in
other areas. In the Black Isle and Easter Ross <wh> may be
omitted or replaced by /h/ in words like wha, whan, whase
and whit.
6 In the Black Isle and Easter Ross /i/ may occur before <n>
and <ng>.
7 Also // before <l>, <n>, <r> and <ch> /x/. In Caithness
the cluster <auld> may be pronounced /ul(d)/.
8 The pronunciation /e/ is becoming predominant.
Wir Ain Leid
9 In the Black Isle and Easter Ross before /g/ and /x/ the
pronunciation /i/ may occur in words like big, nicht, pig
and sicht.
10 The pronunciation // or /y/ may occur in dis, disna and
dinna.
11 The pronunciation /j/ may occur in words like eneuch.
12 The pronunciation /oi/ may occur in words like bide, byke,
line and pipe.
/i/, otherwise //.
14 In Caithness the pronunciations are /d/ and /d/. This also
occurs as /d/ for final <et> in worlds like lempet and
packet.
Initial <th> is often silent in pronominals like the, thay, thare etc.
and this and that.
Thae and thir are replaced by the plural use of this and that.
Older speakers still differentiate the present participle and the

gerund (verbal noun). In older Scots the present participle was
written <and> /an(d)/and the gerund <ing> /n/. These
pronunciations are still used.
Present Participle: He wis aye stravaigan aboot.

He was always roaming around.
Gerund: He's fond o stravaigin aboot.

He likes roaming around.
The diminutive suffix <ock> is pronounced /g/ and may be

written <ag>: The wee bairnag - The small child.
Literature:
Mather, James (1978) "The dialect of Caithness", Scottish Literary Journal Supplement

Wir Ain Leid
6, 1 16.
London: Croom Helm.
Nicolson, D. B. (1907) "Dialect" in J. Horne ed. The County of Caithness, Wick: W. Rae,
60-68.
Wir Ain Leid
Insular Scots
Shetland and Orkney were colonised from Norway under Danish

control in the ninth century. The colonists spoke a Scandinavian
language which came to be known as Norn. The Islands were
governed under proxy between 1321 and 1468 by the Scottish Earls
of Angus, Strathearn and St. Clair. In 1468 the Islands were offered
as a dowry security for the marriage of the Danish princess Margaret
to James III. The dowry was never paid and the Islands became part
of Scotland. Eventually through Scots government and settlement
the Islands became Scots speaking although the dialect is heavily
influenced by Norn. Not only in vocabulary but also in verb
construction.
Because of the significant variation within Insular Scots and its
difference to mainland Scots varieties. Insular Scots has developed
orthographic traditions of its own. Vowel length and the use of
consonants varies much more than in mainland Scots, and is
impossible to represent using traditional Scots orthography.
The following can only be considered a rough guide, see:

Robertson, T. A. and Graham, J. (1952) Grammar and Usage of the
Shetland Dialect, Lerwick: Shetland Times Ltd.
Graham, J. (1984) The Shetland Dictionary, Lerwick.
Flaws, M. and Lamb, G. (1997) The Orkney Dictionary, The Orkney
Language and Culture Group, Kirkwall.
Tait, John (2000) "Some characteristics of the Shetlandic vowel
system", Scottish Language 19 , 83-99.
Consonants

 /b/ <d> /d/

<f, ph> /f/ <g> /g/
<h> /h/ <j, dg(e)> /d/
<c, k, ck> /k/ <l> /l/
<m> /m/ <n> /n/
Wir Ain Leid
 /p/ <r> /r/

<t> /t/ <v> /v/
<w> /w/ <x> /ks/
<y> /j/ <z, s, se> /z/
An initial <d> before a vowel may be pronounced /dj/ or even

//.
Initial <f> (/f/) may be pronounced /fj/ in words like fact,
fauch and ferm etc.

IPA
<ch> usually /x/ bocht, nicht, loch
<ch> Initial often /t/ chap, chield, chirl, chowk
<nch> usually /n/ brainch, clinch, dunch,
hainch, inch, French
<dge> usually /d/1 begrudge, cadge,
cruldge, fadge
<g(e)> occasionally /d/1 breinge, gigot
<gn> usually /gn/2 gnap, gnaw
<kn> usually /kn/2 knap, knee, knot, knowe
<j> initial /t/ Jean, jeely, jyle
<ld> final /ld/3 auld, bield, cauld, elder, fauld
<nd> final /nd/3 baund, daunder, find, haund,
sindry
//
<sh> occasionally // pushion, fushion
<th> usually /d/ blether, thaim, thair
<th> usually /t/ wirth, thing, thrawn
<th> final // mooth, sooth, truith
<th> final // buith, meith
Wir Ain Leid
/d/
/kw/
<wr> initial often /wr/ wrack, wrang, write, wricht
Unstressed vowels // aboot, the, oxter, duntit,

bannock, smeddum
<a> usually /a/4 aff, mak, lang, wash, watch
saund, slauchter
<aw> usually final /a/4 aw, blaw, caw, draw, faw, gaw,
<aw> occasional /a/4 awn, awfu, bawbee, bawsant
<ai> initial and /(:)/5 aiblins, aith, aiple, aik, ait,
medial gaither, haimer, braid, laim,
fain, graith, craitur
<aCe> usually /e/6 alane, ale, ane, ance, bane,
nane, Pace, stane
<ae> usually /e/7 ae, brae, f(r)ae, gae, sae,
tae n., wae
<ae> except in //8 adae, dae, shae, tae v.
<ea> usually /i, beast, cheap, deave, east,
e/9 heap, hear, meat, ream, sea,
tea
<ea> before /k/ // breeks, leak, speak
(Shetland)
<ee> usually /i/7 dee, dree, eetem, freet, jeely,
<ei, ie> usually /i, beir, bield, chield, eild, deid,
e/9 heid, meidae, peir, scrieve,
Wir Ain Leid

gless, seck, wecht
rin, simmer, sin, stibble, whin,
whisper, whit, wid, wind, wir,
wird, wirm, wittins
<o(a)> usually //12 boat, boss, box, coal, cod,
common, dochter, hoast, loch,
on, rock, thocht
<ou> usually /u/ allou, bouk, broun, coum,
couer, doun, dout, poupit,
thoum
<uCe> usually //8 dule, hure
Yuil
<eu> usually //13 beuch, beuk, eneuch, heuk,
teuch, teug
<ew> usually /ju/ dew, few, new, spew,
<iCe, usually /i/ advice, bide, byle, fine, fire,
<ey> usually /i/ eyntment, eyster
<y(e)>final in /ai/ cry, kye etc.
<oi> usually /e/ Boid, noise
<oy> usually /e/ foy, ploy
<ow> initial and /u/14bowt, cowp, cowt, gowd,
<owe> final /u/14flowe, glowe, growe, howe,
Wir Ain Leid
Footnotes
1 Often pronounced //.

2 Now usually only among older speakers. In Shetland <kn>
may occasionally be pronounced /hn/.
3 Syllable final <ln> and <nd> are often pronounced /l/ and
/n/.
4 In some areas // and // may also occur. In some areas
<au> and <aw> may also be pronounced// or //. The
cluster <auld> may be pronounced /ul(d)/.
5 In west Shetland /e/ also occurs. In peripheral areas it may
be diphthongised. In parts of Orkney before /p/, /t/, /k/,
//, /f/, /s/ and //, /:/ may occur as in aik, aiple, ait,
craitur. In Orkney /i/ may occur.
6 On Whalsay after /k/ and /g/, /je/ may occur as in cake
[kjek]. In Orkney after /w/, /i/ may occur as in wame
[wim]. In some dialects <ane> is pronounced /in/ as in
alane, ane, bane, gane, mane, nane and stane. In Orkney /i/
may occur before other consonants.
7 In Orkney /i/ may occur.
8 The pronunciation /Y/ (Ger. Flle) also occurs.
Note // in dis, disna and dinna.
On the island of Stronsay pronunciations similar to those of
Central Scots occur with // in abuin, abuise, bluid, bruit,
cuil, cuit, dis, disna, dinna, duin, fruit, fuird, guid, luif, luim,
muin, schuil, spuin, uise and Yuil etc., and /e:/ in buird, dae,
fluir, muir, muisic, ruise, shuir, tae v. and uiss. In Orkney
/(j)u/ may occur before /p/
The pronunciation /Y/ (Ger. Flle) also occurs.
Note // in dis, disna and dinna.
On the island of Stronsay pronunciations similar to those of
Central Scots occur with // in abuin, abuise, bluid, bruit,
cuil, cuit, dis, disna, dinna, duin, fruit, fuird, guid, luif, luim,
muin, schuil, spuin, uise and Yuil etc., and /e:/ in buird, dae,
fluir, muir, muisic, ruise, shuir, tae v. and uiss. In Orkney
/(j)u/ may occur before /p/.
9 Orkney usually has /i/ but Shetland may have // or /e/.
Wir Ain Leid
10 Before /r/, /e/ may occurs in some areas. In the outer isles
diphthongisation may occur.
11 In Orkney /i/ may occur before /g/, /k/ and /m/, and before
/l/, // may occur. Before /x/ diphthongisation to /i/ or
/ae/ may occur as in nicht. A preceding /k/ may be realised
/kj/ some times also /t/.
12 In some areas the pronunciation /o/ also occurs and on Yell
before /x/, /u/ may occur as in brocht, loch, thocht.
13 The pronunciations /Y/ or /(j)u/ may also occur.
14 In some words the pronunciation /u/ may occur in Shetland
and // may occur in Orkney.
The perfect and past perfect tenses are formed with the verb tae be
rather than the verb tae hae i.e.
I'm buin at da fyshin. Dey wir buin at da fyshin.

(A'm been at the fishin.) (Thay war been at the fishin.)
A hae been at the fishin. Thay haed been at the fishin.
I have been fishing. They had been fishing.
Wir Ain Leid
Aberdeen Scots
Spoken in the city itself and increasingly in surrounding areas.

Like all urban dialects Aberdeen suffers from a loss of much
particularly Scots vocabulary. The pronunciation of Aberdeen Scots
is essentially Mid Northern Scots (p.66).
Consonants usually have the same phonetic values (p.20) in as in

English.
Words that traditionally have Medial and Final <ch> /x/ are
increasingly taking the English pronunciation in words with English
cognates i.e. bought (bocht), draught (draucht), enough (eneuch),
laugh (lauch), night (nicht), right (richt), rough (roch), sight (sicht)
and tight (ticht) etc. /x/ remains in words with no English cognates
like loch but pronunciations with /k/ are spreading among the
young.
Initial <wh> pronounced /f/ is still widespread but words like white,
whin and whisky have //. /w/ is spreading among the youngest
speakers.
The initial <th> in words like thaim, that and this is often elided i.e.
'em, 'at and 'is.
The is often elided to 'ee' /i/.
Vowels and diphthongs are generally pronounced the same as Mid

Northern Scots (p.66).
The <ui> generally takes the Mid Northern Scots pronunciation /i/
but /u/ is spreading in many common words with English cognates.
In words like dew, few, spew and new the pronunciation /ju/ has
replaced the traditional /ju/.
Glottal stops for final /t/ and /k/ and medial /t/in words like bat,
night, bottle, watter and back, are not widespread in Aberdeen Scots
except among the young. The /t/ often simply being omitted.

Wir Ain Leid
Dundee Scots
Like other urban dialects Dundonian also suffers from a loss of

much traditional agricultural and countryside vocabulary. Dundee
lies just inside the South Northern Scots (p.61) dialect 'border'
subsequently the pronunciation of Dundee Scots shares some
features with North East Central Scots (p.61).

English.
Words that traditionally have Medial and Final <ch> /x/ now
generally take the English pronunciation in words with English
like loch.
Initial <wh> is pronounced // in common with North East Central
Scots.
The initial <th> in words like thing, naething and think is often
pronounced /h/.
<h> 'dropping' is seldom but is possible in rapid speech in
unstressed pronouns like he, her and him etc. His is often rendered
[(h)i:z].
Vowels and diphthongs are usually similar to those of the

surrounding dialects but note the following:
A final glide /-(j)l/ or epenthetic vowel may occur in words like
spyle, byle, birl and [e:rm] airm etc.
<a>, <au> and <aw> have the northern pronunciation /a/ e.g. aff,
alang, crabbit, drap, shak, tak, tap, twa, awa, wha, faw, awbody,
baw, waw, awfu, blaw, braw and chaw etc.
<ai> and <a(consonant)e> are usually pronounced /e/ but // may
occur before/r/ and in some words like gaither, jaiket, maiter and
skail.
<ea> is usually /e/ in words like beast, cheap, cheat, fear, leave,
neat and seat etc.
<ei> is usually /e/ in words like deif, heid, leid (metal), reid etc.
Wir Ain Leid
<ie> is usually /i/ in words like gie, piece, sieven etc.

 is usually // but // also occurs i.e. brither, cliver, finger, girn,
git, hing, iver, wir, wis and yit etc. with // but birl, fit, lift, lip, whit
and will etc. with //.
The well-known Dundee marker is the pronunciation // in words
like by, buy, ay, forby, fry, cry, pie, sky, drive, five, size and diary
etc. This also occurs where English cognates have replaced the
Scots words i.e. eye (ee), I (A), lie (lee) and my (ma) etc.
The <ui> generally takes the pronunciation /e/ but is often /u/
before <v>, <th> and <z> in words like buith (booth), muive
(move), suithe (sooth), ruise, and in many common words with
English cognates.
Note dinna, didna, juist and tae (to) with //.
In words with English cognates the <eu> is usually pronounced /u/
i.e. beuk (book), heuk (hook), leuk (look) and teuk (took) etc. in
particularly Scots words e.g. speugie /ju/ may also occur.
Glottal stops are often seen as the hallmark of urban Scots dialects
especially for final /t/ and /k/ and medial /t/ in words like bat,
night, bottle, watter and back.
Adverbial and adjectival <(l)y> varies between /e/ and /i/. Similarly
with final <-(a)e> in words like borrae, nairae, orra, swallae and
windae etc. <-fu> is /fi/ e.g. awfu.
The negative <-na> is /na/ e.g. canna, dinna, didna, isna, needna
and winna etc.
The past tense <-it> is usually /t/ e.g. barkit, crabbit, dytit, glaikit,
hackit, hallockit, nakit, pentit and sleekit etc. but final <-t> e.g.
clypt etc. may also be /d/ e.g. couart and drount etc.
Literature:
McCluskey, Mick (1990) Dundonian for Beginners, Edinburgh: Mainstream.

Wir Ain Leid
Edinburgh Scots
Spoken in the city itself and surrounding towns such as Bonnyrigg,

Dalkeith and Penicuik. The speech of North Berwick, Dunbar,
Haddington and Tranent is also heavily influenced by this dialect.
Like all urban dialects 'Embra' suffers from a loss of much
particularly Scots vocabulary. The pronunciation of Edinburgh Scots
is essentially South east Central Scots (p.35).

English.
like loch but pronunciations with /k/ are spreading.
Initial <wh> // is still widespread but is increasingly being
replaced by /w/ in words like whales and wheel etc.
pronounced /h/.
<thr> may be rendered /r/ in words like three.
Medial <th> rendered as /r/ is occasionally encountered in words
like bother (bather), brother (brither) and mother (mither).
<h> 'dropping' is seldom but is possible in rapid speech in
unstressed pronouns like he, her and him etc.
Vowels and diphthongs are generally pronounced the same as South

East Central Scots.
The <ui> generally takes the Central Scots pronunciation but /u/ is
usual before <v>, <th> and <z> in words like buith (booth), muive
(move), suithe (sooth), ruise, and in many common words with
English cognates.
i.e. beuk (book), heuk (hook), leuk (look) and teuk (took) etc.
In many words of Latin origin the pronunciation /i/ has been
replaced by the English pronunciation e.g. bapteese (baptise),
Wir Ain Leid
obleege (oblige), ceevil (civil), oreeginal (original), eetem (item),

peety (pity) and leeberal (liberal) etc.
The diphthong /u/ before /k/ is usually vocalised to /o/ e.g. bowk
(boak), fowk (folk) and yowk (yolk) etc.
night, bottle, watter and back. The initial /t/ in the infinitive marker
tae and where the target syllable is unstressed may be glottalized.

Wir Ain Leid
Glasgow Scots
Fondly known as 'the Patter', Glaswegian is spoken in the city itself

and well established in the surrounding towns such as Clydebank,
Paisley, Renfrew and Rutherglen, and increasingly gaining influence
around the Firth of Clyde in Cambeltown, Dumbarton, Gourock,
Greenock and Rothesay. An east Lanarkshire variety is spoken in
Airdrie, Coatbridge, Cumbernauld, Denny, Motherwell, Strathaven
and Wishaw. An Ayrshire variety is spoken in Carstairs, Irvine,
Kilmarnock, Leadhills and Prestwick.
Like all urban dialects Glaswegian suffers from a loss of much
particularly Scots vocabulary, though very innovative at coining new
terms e.g. boggin, malkie, stotter, bampot and heidbanger, many
becoming quite widespread. The pronunciation of Glasgow Scots is
essentially West Central Scots (p.45).

English.
like loch but pronunciations with /k/ are spreading.
Initial <wh> // is still widespread but is increasingly being
replaced by /w/ in words like whales and wheel etc.
The letter <t> often becomes /r/ across words e.g. let it [lr].
pronounced /h/.
The <thr> is often/r/ in words like three.
Medial <th> rendered as /r/ is occasionally encountered in words
like brother [brr], [br] (brither) and mother [mr] (mither).
The is often rendered [r] as in "we are ra people".
Wir Ain Leid
Vowels and diphthongs are generally pronounced the same as West

Central Scots.
In words like fluir, hair, rare and stair etc. the /e:/ is often
pronounced / :/ before /r/.
The <ui> generally takes the Central Scots pronunciation but /u/ or
even // is usual before <v>, <th> and <z> in words like buith
(booth), muive (move), suithe (sooth), ruise, and in many common
words with English cognates.
or even // i.e. beuk (book), heuk (hook), leuk (look) and teuk
(took) etc.
In many words of Latin origin the pronunciation /i/ has been
replaced by the English pronunciation e.g. bapteese (baptise),
obleege (oblige), ceevil (civil), oreeginal (original), eetem (item),
peety (pity) and leeberal (liberal) etc.
An epenthetic vowel // is often inserted before the final /r/ in
words like girl, airm, film and torn.
The vowel in reid, sieven, hieven, niver and iver is usually // or //.
The final <a(e)> in words like barrae, fellae, morra and tobbacca is
pronounced //.
The negative suffix <-na> in words like canna and dinna etc. is
usually pronounced /n/ though /ne/ is spreading from the east.
The diphthong /u/ before /k/ is usually vocalised to /o/ e.g. bowk
(boak), fowk (folk) and yowk (yolk) etc.
night, bottle, watter and back.
Literature:
Hagan, Anette I. (2002) Urban Scots Dialect Writing, Bern: Lang.

Macafee, Caroline (1983) Varieties of English Around the World: Glasgow, Amsterdam:
Benjamins.

Wir Ain Leid
Belfast Dialect
Although the Belfast dialect can not

be considered Scots it does
include a number of features of
Ulster Scots origin. Belfast lies
between Ulster Scots (p.55)
speaking areas to the north and
south. Consequently the speech of Belfast contains numerous
vocabulary, grammar and syntactical features of Scots origin
brought to the city by 19th and 20th century incomers from Down
and Antrim.
Vocabulary items include such words as thon, scallion, weans,

mebbe (maybe), jouk, keek, skelf, polis, crack, farl (fardel), oxter,
neb, scunner, stour, redd and clart.
Ay and ye for 'yes' and 'you' are almost universal.
Grammatical and syntactical features include:
The use of for til and for to (and the use of on after waiting):
'm waiting on ye for til wash the car.

I'm waiting for you to wash the car.
He's come over for to see the film.

He's come over in order to watch the film.
Typically Scots use of the auxiliaries (p.177) will, would, should,

could, might and can avoiding, 'shall', 'ought' and 'may'.
Scots use of is and was and the verb inflexion -s (p.200).
Yer man and me is... Him an me has...

Your husband and I are... Him and I have...
Him and me eats everything Him an me was...

Him and I eat everything. Him and I were...
Wir Ain Leid
Others are:
See thon tree, our Jim planted it.

See that dress, my sister's for buying it.
She's away for the shopping.

He's very fond of the swimming.
What for would I go there?

How come I wasn't picked for the team?
Most of the Scots grammatical features and idioms carried over into
Scottish Standard English (p.98) also occur in Mid Ulster English.
Some Belfast phonology also shows Scots influence - even
preserving the system of vowel length more clearly than some Ulster
Scots dialects themselves.
The retention of the pronunciation // for <wh> may well be due
to Scots influence.
The pronunciations // in words like bad, hand, man, Maud and
fraud etc. // in words like bit, pick and fish etc. and the diphthong
/i/ or /a/ in words like bide, Friday, rise, wife and white etc.
Literature:
Harris, J. (1985) Phonological Variation and Change Studies in Hiberno-English,

Cambridge University Press.
Henry, Alison (1995) Belfast English and Standard English - Dialect Variation and
Parameter Setting, University of Ulster.
Milroy, James (1981) Regional Accents of English: Belfast, Belfast: Balckstaff.

Wir Ain Leid
Gidhealtachd
Gidhealtachd - the Gaelic for the Highlands and Islands to the west
- were of course until recently on the whole Gaelic speaking.
Gaelic has had an influence on the vocabulary, pronunciation and
grammar of Scots spoken in areas, which until relatively recently,
were Gaelic speaking.
Some well known Scots words of Gaelic origin are:
Scots Gaelic English English
ben beinn mountain

cairn crn a pile of stones
ceilidh ceilidh a social gathering
clachan clachan hamlet
cranreuch crannreothadh hoar-frost
glen gleann valley
ingle aingeal fire
loch loch lake
partan partan (edible) crab
tocher tocher dowry
In older literature representations of how Gaelic speakers

pronounced Scots were frequent. That is unlikely today since access
to the phoneme inventory of Scots has long been available to all
through universal education in Scottish English. Some of the most
frequent pronunciations (p.20) are:
The vowel // may be pronounced //.
A hae twa muckle fush.

I have two big fish.
The <th> //, in a final position may be pronounced /s/. Written

<s> or <ss> here.
Hae ye seen Macbess?

Wir Ain Leid
Have you seen Macbeth?
A sunk tare's a flee un ma mooss.

I think there's a fly in my mouth.
A haed a het bass tus mornin.

I had a hot bath this morning.
At the beginning of words <th> // may be pronounced /ts/.
Tsun's ussna whut tay seemt tae pe.

Things aren't what they seemed to be.
Uss onytsun' un t' kustie?

Is anything in the chest?
The <th> //, may be pronounced /t/, /s/ and / or /sz/.
Tus uss ma hoose.

This is my house.
T' tusser day.

The other day.
Hut's furszer doun t' loan.

It's further down the lane.
The pronunciation /z/ may be replaced by /s/, written <ss> here.
Tus uss a yowe. He wuss taen ut tae pe shuirn.

This is a ewe. He was taking it to be shorn.
T' usser yowess wuss left un t' pairk.

The other ewes were left in the field.
The // as in pleasure may be pronounced // as in shut.
Shaimass (Seumas) haes shust been made a sershant.

Wir Ain Leid
James has just been promoted to sergeant.
A /b/ may be pronounced /p/.
Prung t' pox un t' capun.

Bring the box into the cabin.
A /d/ may be replaced by /t/.
A haed a gut trunk wi hum.

I had a good drink with him.
A /g/ may be replaced by /k/
Hae ye seen ma pet kait?

Have you seen my pet goat?
In Scots nouns are either masculine, feminine or neuter. Gaelic only

has masculine and feminine, many neuter words may be referred to
as she.
She'ss no lang syne buggit. (The hoose)

It's been built recently. (The house)
In Gaelic the adjective may be repeated for emphasis.
Ut'ss a weet, weet day. She'ss a gut, gut lassie.

It a very wet day. She's a very good girl.
The pronoun A (I) may be replaced by masel, influenced by the

Gaelic 'mi-fein'.
Masel wull raw ye tae yer shup.

I will row you to your ship.
In Gaelic the preposition 'air' (on), is used for on, in, o (of) and tae
(to). This may occur as on in Gaelic influenced Scots.
Wir Ain Leid
Ut'ss gut on ye. T' dug dee'd on me.

Well done. The dog died in spite of all my efforts.
He wuss wirkin on me. Put a quaisten on me.

He was nasty to me. Ask me a question about it.
A body dud sometsun' on me.

Someone did something to me.
Tsun'ss uss gaun wrang on me.

Things are going wrong for me.
T' horse run awa on me.

The horse ran away though I did my best to hold it.
Gaelic only has a single verb form 'tha' for am, is and are, similarly
Gaelic 'bha' means both wis (was) an war (were).
Masel uss gauld. Ma haunds uss aw clarty.

I am cold. My hands are all dirty.
Tus dug uss gut, gut. Whut uss tsir?

This dog is very good. Which are these?
T' pairnss wuss here.

The children were here.
The Gaelic relative sentence using that may be used in place of a

simple sentence.
Ut uss me tsat uss t' fermer an you tsat uss t' cottar.
I am the farmer and you are the cottager.
Tenses. The verb 'to be', is the only Gaelic verb having a present
tense. In Gaelic the present tense is usually formed by using a the
present tense of the verb 'to be' and a verbal noun. As a result of
substituting the Gaelic prepositions 'ag', 'aig' with at and 'air' with
Wir Ain Leid
efter (after), the following may occur:
Gaelic Gaelic influenced Scots English
Tha i ag radh. She'ss at sayin. She says.

Tha i air radh. She'ss efter sayin. She had said.
Bha i ag radh. She wuss at sayin. She said.
Bha i air radh She wuss efter sayin. She had said.
Bhitheadh i ag radh. She wat pe at sayin. She would say.
Bhitheadh i air radh. She wat pe efter sayin. She would have
said.
Bithidh i ag radh. She wull pe at sayin. She will say.
Bithidh i air radh. She wull pe efter sayin. She will have said.
Wir Ain Leid
Scottish Standard English
SSE is essentially standard English spoken with a Scottish accent.

SSE as spoken by educated, middle-class urban Scots is described
here. The pronunciation (p.20) differs from that of most other
varieties of English.
The Scots Vowel Length Rule also affects SSE (p.21).
/i/ beak, bee, peer, weak, weir

/e/ bay, day, pair, pane
// bed, fern, heard, herd, merry
// bid, bird, bitter, wanted
// butter, fur, hurry, putt, sofa
/a/ bad, bard, calm, father, marry, palm, pam, path
/u/ boot, full, good, poor, pool, pull, put
/o/ boat, cord, hoard, soar, stole
// caught, cot, cough, fork, long, paw, pot, sword
/a/ buy, rise, sly, tie, tied, why
/i/ night, rice, sight, slide, tide, while
/u/ brown, down, house, mouse, out
/oi/ boy, noise, toy
SSE has less vowels than other varieties because SSE is rhotic i.e.
<r> is pronounced /r/ after vowels and not vocalised to //, //,
// and /:/ as in RP (How posh folk in England Speak). Thus the
pairs sawed/soared and pores/paws are distinct, and the following
are only distinguished by the presence of /r/.
bee [bi:] beer [bi:r]

bay [be:] bear [be:r]
fen [fn] fern [frn]
bid [bd] bird [brd]
bun [bn] burn [brn]
bad [bad] bard [bard]

Wir Ain Leid
moo [mu:] moor [mu:r]

row [ro:] roar [ro:r]
pot [pt] port [prt]
fern, bird and hurt may merge in some accents.

In words like serene - serenity and obscene - obscenity the second
syllable of serenity and obscenity have /i/. RP has //.
Consonants
Consonants are much like those of RP but:

SSE differentiates between <wh> // and <w> /w/ i.e. which [t]
and witch [wt].
/p/, /t/ and /k/ are not aspirated in SSE.
The consonant /r/ is often //. Some speakers have //, these
speakers usually merge //, // and // before /r/ to //.
Non-initial /t/ is often realised as a glottal stop //.
<ch> pronounced /x/ only occurs in a few specifically Scots words
like loch and dreich.
Some words have a distinctive SSE pronunciation:
SSE RP
December [dzmbr] [dsmb]

length [ln] [l]
strength [strn] [str]
luxury [lgri] [lkr]
raspberry [rasbr] [r:zbr]
realise [ri:la:z] [rlaiz]
though [o:] [ou]
tortoise [t:rtoiz] [t:ts]
Wednesday [wdnzde] [wnzd]
with [w] [w]
Wir Ain Leid
Stress
Many words have different stress than in RP. Porpoise and tortoise
have equal stress on each syllable. In the following the main stress
in on the final syllable: advertise, baptize, realize and recognize etc.
The following have the main stress on the second syllable:
lamentable and preferably.
Grammar and Vocabulary
The grammar of SSE is much the same as standard English but SSE
is influenced by Scots grammar and idiom to varying degrees. SSE
has a range of legal vocabulary not present in standard English. This
is often anglicized versions of Scots vocabulary.
The following are common examples of how Scots grammar
influences SSE:
The Scots use of modal verbs i.e. many speakers do not use 'shall'
and 'may' and use would instead of 'should'.
Might and will maybe are used for possibility and have (got) for
compulsion.
Need to, use to and dare to are used as main verbs. Need may occur
in the passive, and is also used non-progressively as is want.
The verb have is used more like an auxiliary.
SSE Anglo English
Will I see you after? Shall I see you later?

Can I come as well? May I come as well?
He might come later. He may come later.
He'll maybe come later. He may come later.
I would, if I was you. I should, if I were you.
He has got to come. He must come.
She has to leave. She must leave.
I don't need to do that. I needn't do that.
He didn't need to do that. He needn't have done that.
He doesn't dare to talk. He didn't dare talk.
My hair needs washed. My hair needs washing.
100 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
My hair needs to be washed.

I'm needing a cup of tea. I need a cup of tea.
He'd a good time last night. He had a good time last night.
Had you a good time last Did you have a good time last
night? night?
The passive is usually expressed with get i.e. I got told off.
Some verbs are used progressively:
He was thinking he'd get He thought he would get

more pay. more pay.
I was hoping to see him. I hoped to see him.
They were meaning to come. They meant to come
A well known marker of SSE is the use of not rather than '-n't':
He'll not come. He won't come.

You're not wanted. You aren't wanted.
Is he not coming?. Isn't he coming?
Can you not come? Can't you come?
Do you not want it? Don't you want it?
Did he not come? Didn't he come?
Not also negates verbs i.e. He isn't still not working. Nobody would
dream of not coming.
Verbs of motion are often elided before adverbs of motion: I'll away
home then. and The cat wants out. etc.
The is used as in Scots i.e. To take the cold. To get sent to the
hospital. To go to the church.
Non-reflexive use of the pronoun self i.e. How's yourself today? and
Is himself in? etc.
Anybody, everybody, nobody and somebody are used in preference
to anyone, everyone, no one and someone.
Yet may occur with non-perfective forms of the verb:
Wir Ain Leid
SSE Anglo English
Did you buy one yet? Have you bought one yet?
He is here yet. He is still here.
The adverbial particle follows the verb:
He turned out the light. He turned the light out.

They took off their coats. They took their coats off.
Many Scots idioms and phrases have been carried over into SSE.
How are you keeping? How are you?

I doubt he's not coming. I expect he isn't coming.
Away to your bed. Go to bed.
That's me away. I'm going now.
I've got the cold I've got a cold.
It's for your Christmas. It's your Christmas present.
I gave her a row. I scolded her.
He gave me a fright. He frightened me.
I'm finished it. I'm finished.
I'll get you home. I'll take you home.
Cheerio just now! Goodbye for now!
To go the messages. To go shopping.
The back of nine. Just after nine (o' clock).
102 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Scots Spelling
The spellings used here are based on frequently used non-regional

Traditional Scots. These are based on an analysis of 18th and 19th
century spelling conventions, historical practice and etymology,
applied consistently. They can to the most part, be read and
pronounced in any Scots dialect, with the possible exception of
Insular Scots. On the whole the spellings used can be found in the
Concise Scots Dictionary published by the SNDA. The following
explains the spelling conventions used when choosing among and
adapting the spelling variants in the Concise Scots Dictionary.
Conventions used generally follow the spellings in the Scots School
Dictionary (SSD) in so far as they are consistent or cross-dialect. The
SSD is also published by the SNDA.
Some spellings of course don't always adhere to the 'rules'
explained here. Those are considered 'established spellings'
because dictionaries usually have only one entry for the word in
question.
Words in Scots are often divided into three groups:
1 Shared vocabulary consists of words which are both common

to English and Scots (and other languages as well), often
spelled the same in both languages. Many people mistakenly
refer to these words as 'English Words' - this is the result of
an anglocentric view of the world. The German language
uses all, Arm, Dame, Finger, Hand and Land these words are
common to both English and German.
2 Close cognates are words which are common to English and
Scots (and other languages as well), but which are
pronounced (and spelled) differently in Scots i.e. aw, airm,
and haund etc.
3 Words particular to Scots. Many people refer to these as
'Scots words', an by implication assume the words in the
previous groups are somehow not 'Scots words'. This is
based on the false assumption that anything that occurs in
Wir Ain Leid
English can't be Scots. The fact is that all the words in these
groups are Scots words whether they occur in other
languages or not.
Orthographic Conventions
Some words which only have a slightly different pronunciation in

Scots than in Scottish English (usually the vowel sound), generally
have same the spelling as in English. Do not assume that because a
word is spelled the same as in English it is pronounced as such.
Base forms of words are usually spelled phonemically - not in a
one-letter to one-sound manner but in a more graphemically
economic manner. In this system position, environment and overt
markers enable the same letter or cluster of letters to perform
several distinct functions. Several letters or letter clusters may also
represent the same sound.
Compounds and derivatives tend to be spelled morphemically, the

established grapheme bases are usually retained regardless of the
phonemic alterations involved. The assumption being that the
reader knows the phonemic alterations that accompany the
formation of derivatives and inflections. This may be a hindrance to
learning Scots pronunciation from the spellings, but Scots spelling
is geared for the convenience of native speakers, not for the learner.
Some words are spelled the same as in English but have a different
pronunciation in Scots e.g. aunt(ie), swap, want and wash etc.
<a(u)> as in /a/. Bull, full v. and pull etc. //. Bind, find and
wind v. etc. //. (Note in those words the final <d> is often
silent.)
Words that sound the same in Scots as in Scottish English usually
retain the same spelling e.g. come, door, for, hear, some, the,
tongue and young etc., except where a Scots spelling has become
established or the words have a different 'stressed' form, e.g. A (I),
an (and), ma (my), thare and thaim etc.
In some words the spellings may differ slightly in order to
accommodate the Scots pronunciation, e.g. lenth and strenth etc.
104 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Short vowels are usually written with:

A final consonant or consonants i.e. buff, bak, ban, lib, licht, seck,
tint, wat and wid etc.
Two consonants followed by <e> i.e. birse, carse, dulse, ense,
girse, grilse, mense, merse and winze etc.
The spelling <a> for the vowel sound in words like aff, at, back,
bak, bap, lat, rax, tak, tap, wad, wash and watch etc.
The spelling <a> is usually used finally for the vowel sound in
words like awa, twa and wha etc.
The spelling <e> for the vowel sound in words like ken, gled, ferm
and yett etc.
The spelling for the short vowel in words like bird, brig, find,
kist, shilpit, whisper, will, wir, wird, wirm, wirthy and wittins etc.
The pronunciation often varies between // and // especially after
<w> and <wh>.
// also occurs in Ulster before voiceless sounds or clusters
containing them.
Some writers spell some of the above words with .
The spelling for the vowel sound in words like dubs, bull,
drumly hunder and pull etc.
Schwa // may be represented by <a, e, i, o> or in unstressed

positions i.e. aboot, the, oxter, loanin, bannock and smeddum.
Long vowels are usually written with:

The absence of a following consonant i.e. <e> in be and we /i(:)/,
also /e(:)/, in wi /i(:)/ also // and //. The <y> in by is often
pronounced //, /i/ and /e/ (especially in the West and Ulster) also
occur. <o> in jo and no is usually pronounced /o(:)/.
A single consonant followed by <e> i.e. bane, fere, bode and hure
etc.
Wir Ain Leid
Two letters <au, aw, ae, ai, ay, ea, ee, ei, ie, oa, oo, ou> i.e. faw,
glaur, snaw, brae, bairn, day, fear, weet, dreich, bield, gloam,
hoose, broun etc. and very rarely <aa> in, for example, haar.
The spelling <e(Consonant)e> is usually always pronounced /i(:)/

e.g. here and fere etc.
The final lexical <e> in verbs preventing homographs of plural
nouns in brouse - brous, please - pleas, tease - teas etc.
The spelling <u(consonant)e> for the vowel sound /u(:)/ in words

where the spelling is established e.g. dule and hure etc.
The spelling <aw> is usually used where English cognates have

<all>, giving: aw, awbody, baw, caw and haw etc.
Some writers use <aa> instead of <aw>.
The spelling <au> is usually used initially and medially, giving:

auld, cauld, caunle, draucht, haund, laund, saund and wauken etc.
The cluster <auld> is often pronounced /ul/ in Ulster.
Note laund has an unstressed vowel in compounds and is spelled
land e.g. hieland and Scotland etc.
The spelling <aw> is usually used finally, giving: braw, draw, gnaw,
law, maw, saw, and claw etc.
A few exceptions exist e.g. bawbie and bawsant.
The spellings <ae>, <ai>, <a(consonant)e>, for the monothongal

vowel sound in words like brae, hain and hame etc.
The spelling <ae> is usually used initially and finally, and

occasionally medially, giving: ae, frae, sae, strae and faem etc.
The spelling <ai> is usually used initially and medially . The

pronunciation often varies between /e(:)/ and //, especially before
/r/, giving: aiple, airm, bairn, braith, cairt, dairn, daith, jaiket, pairt,
sair, shairp, stairt and wairm etc.
The digraph <ea> is used in common with many English cognates.

106 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Though in English the spelling represents two pronunciations /i(:)/

as in "meat" and // as in "head".
In Scots the <ea> is usually either /i(:)/ or /e(:)/ depending on the
lexeme or dialect (p.26) in words like eat, east, beard, lead v., heap,
beast, read, creash, ease, meal, meat, gear, sea, tea, and fear etc.,
where /e(:)/ is usually prevalent in words of Romance origin.
The pronunciation // may occur before /r/ in words like early,
earn, hearth, learn and pearl etc.
Scots also uses the traditional digraph <ei> to

represent the /i(:)/ or /e(:)/ pronunciations.
Especially where English cognates are spelled using <ea> as in
English "head".
Scots <ei> is used initially and medially giving: eild, eith, beir,
breid, breinge, deid, deif, dreid, heid, leid n., meidae, peir, pleisur,
seicont, sweir, teir v. and weir etc.
Except medially before <v> and <ld>, and in shared words where
<ie> is used giving: bield, chield, elieven, scrieve, sieven, shield and
shielin etc.
The digraph <ei> before /x/ is usually pronounced /i/ in all

dialects (p.26).
Giving: dreich, heich and skeich and wheich etc.
A number of words have established <ei> and <ie> spellings, these

words are usually always pronounced with /i(:)/.
For example: chief, deil, lief, neir, neist, nieve, scrieve and speir.
Some writers may use the spelling <ei> in all of the above.
The spelling <ea> is retained in words pronounced the same in

Scots and Scottish English e.g. read (past tense). Some writers use
<e> for this sound in all words.
The digraph <ee> is pronounced /i(:)/ in all Scots dialects (p.26).

Freend, permeesion, wee, freet, neebour, weel, weet and een etc.
Except in Southern Scots where root final it is /i/.
Wir Ain Leid
The spelling <ee> is retained in words pronounced the same in

Scots and Scottish English. e.g. creep, feel and seek etc.
Some writers use the spelling <ee> /i(:)/ while
others use <ei> or <ie> for this sound in all
words. Other writers use a mixture of <ee>,
<ei> and <ie>.
The traditional terminal digraph <ie> is used for

diminutives giving: grannie, laddie, lassie,
shoppie and wifie etc.
<ie> and <y> are used for forming adjectives,

<ie> tends to be used in particularly Scots words and <y> in words
the same or similar to English. <y> is usually used for adverbial
endings giving: reekie, pernicketie, sairy, stany, stourie, brawly,
bonnily, cannie, cannily, feckly, fully, geyly, likely, specially, sairly,
shuirly and uncoly etc.
The pronunciation is usually /e/ in Central Scots dialects, but /i/
and // also occur. In Northern dialects and East Perthshire a
variation of /i/ and // occurs, where /i/ occurs when the preceding
vowel is /i/ or /i/, or the preceding consonant is /b, d, , g, v, /
or /z/. Otherwise //.
The internal inconsistency caused

by unpredictably using <ie> or
<y> will be found in this book.
Some writers simply use one or the other.
When forming the participle from verbs ending in <ie> the <ie>
changes to <y> giving cairyin and coueryin etc.
<ie> is used at the end of many other words, especially nouns. e.g.
gie and hie etc.
For the sake of orthographic consistency some writers use either
<ie> or <y> in all these words.
<o> and <oa> have merged to /o/ in many dialects but some
retain the distinction between // and /o/. In Mid Northern Scots
/wi/ may occur before /t/ e.g. coat and gote etc.
108 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
The spelling <oo> is used for the

vowel sound in words like hoose,
aboot and soond in order to avoid
confusing <ou> with the English
pronunciation.
The traditional Scots spelling <ou> is used in all other words where
confusion with the English pronunciation is unlikely. Many writers
use either <ou> or <oo> for this sound in all words.
The digraph <ou> is nearly always pronounced /u(:)/ in Scots,

except in Southern Scots, when final, it is pronounced /u/.
The spelling <ui> for the vowel sound in words like guid, ruif, tuim,
spuin, puir, juist and truith etc.
Diphthongs are usually written with two letters <ey, eu, oi, oy,
ow(e)> and <y(e)> etc.
The spelling <i(consonant)e> for the diphthong in words

pronounced similarly in Scots and Scottish English e.g. wife, knife,
thrice and lice etc. Particularly Scots words are often spelled with
the traditional Scots <y(consonant)e> e.g. dyke, fyle, syne and tyne
etc.
The traditional spelling <y> is used in

words like wynd and also in mynd (mind)
and kynd (kind) in order to indicate the
Scots pronunciation difference from words like find and bind etc. -
rhyme with 'pinn(ed)'.
Some writers use <y(consonant)e> in all words with this diphthong.
The spellings <y>, <ye>, <ey> are used

for the diphthong in words like aye
(always), ay (yes) and kye etc.
The spelling <ey> represents this sound initially and finally in
Wir Ain Leid
words like eydent, eyster, cley, gey and wey etc.
The spelling <eu> in words like beuk,

deuk, eneuch, teuch, leuk, teug, teuk,
neuk and heuch etc.
Where a word begins or ends with this

diphthong <ew> is used, giving: ewest,
new and tew etc.
The spellings <ow> and <owe> (finally)

for the diphthong in words like growe,
growthe, thowe, howf, dowy, fowk, lowp
and cowp etc.
The diphthong <ow> in some of these
words, especially before <k>, may be
vocalised to /o/ e.g. bowk, fowk and yowk etc.
As in English, in disyllabic words where the first syllable is stressed,

the consonant following the single vowel in the first syllable is
doubled giving blatter, watter, verra, fremmit, biggit, dizzen,
donnert and butter etc.
The following letters are not doubled. <h, j, q, v, w, x,> and <y>.
Many verbs that end with a single consonant letter double it in the
present and past participles, and past tense, as do some adjectives
for the comparative and superlative i.e. drap - drappin -drappit, het
- hetter - hettest.
<f, l, s> and <z> are usually doubled after short vowels i.e. baff,
nyaff, dwall, mell, bass, bress and bizz etc.
Double consonants are avoided where simple differences to English
spelling exist.
aiple apple mairy marry

cairy carry mainer manner
haimer hammer maiter matter
jaiket jacket
110 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Consonants are not usually doubled after long vowels and

diphthongs i.e. ail, kail, gean, neep, heid, loan, heuk, stale and tyne
etc.
The internal consonant in the past tense and past perfect of verbs
like sell, tell, spell, kill and coff become single giving selt, telt, spelt,
kilt and coft etc.
The spelling <ch> for /x/ in words like

loch, dreich, brocht and nicht, except
initially where it usually represents /t/ in words like chield, cheetie
and chowk or where it follows <r> in words like airch. Otherwise
<tch> is usually used e.g. catch and pootch etc.
The cluster <nch> is always pronounced /n/ giving: brainch,

clinch, dunch, hainch, inch, French, painch etc.
The spelling <c> for /s/ is usually used before the letters <e> and
. Such words are generally of Romance origin, giving: censor,
ceevil, cedent, ceil and mediciner etc.
Initial <c> for /k/ is usually used:
Before vowels, spelled <a>, <ai>, <au>, <aw>, <o> <oa>, <oo>,
<ou> and ,
before the vowel sound (a few exceptions) spelled <ui>,
before the diphthong spelled <ow>, <owe>,
before <l> and <r>,
giving caw, caw, caddie, carle, caird, cairt, cleid, creash, cou, cloot,
croun, coff, corrupt, cosie, coar, cruldge, cushat, cowp, cowt, cley,
cryne, cuist and cuit etc.
Initial <k> is usually used:
Before the vowels spelled <e> and <ei>, <ee> and <ea>.
A few exceptions with the vowels spelled <ai> and <ae>, and <ui>
exist,
Wir Ain Leid
before the diphthong spelled <i(consonant)e> and

<y(consonant)e>,
before <n>, giving keek, keeng, kebbock, Keith, kelter, ken, kye,
kyte, kythe, kail, kaim and knife etc.
Initial <sc> for /sk/ is usually used:

Before the vowels, spelled <a>, <au>, <aw>, <o>, <oa>, <oo>,
<ou>, and <ui>,
before the diphthong spelled <ow> and <owe>,
before <l> and <r>, giving scantlins, sclaff, sclate, sclent, scaud,
scaur, scaw, scone, scoor, scunner, scrieve and scuip etc.
Initial <sk> is usually used:
Before vowels spelled <ai>, <ae> and <a(consonant)e>,

before the diphthong spelled <i(consonant)e> and
<y(consonant)e>,
giving skail, skaith, skelf, skelp, skeel, skirl, skive, skyme and skite
etc.
The terminal <ck> is used at the end of words like beck, feck, and
puddock etc.
The terminal <le> is used in words like muckle, soople and

trauchle. This should be changed to <elt> in the past tense and
past participle to give soopelt and trauchelt etc.
In Many dialects (p.26) the terminal <d> of <nd> and <ld> is

usually silent but is often pronounced in the derived forms
(especially past tenses) of many words. In order to achieve
orthographic consistency such words are spelled with the <nd>,
e.g. haund and soond, and haundit and soondit. Entries in
dictionaries often include the terminal <d> in brackets, e.g.
haun(d), soon(d), sen(d).
In many words the final <d> of a medial <nd> is also silent. Many
words no longer have the <d> pronounced at all. Such words are
now spelled using a medial <nn> or <n>.
Here spellings like bind, blind, find and wind are considered
112 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
adequate for representing the vowel //. Some writers use spellings
like finn(d) in order to show the Scots pronunciation.
The initial <th> in thanks, thing, awthing and think is often

pronounced /h/.
The final <g> in thing is often silent. It is used in writing because
the final <ing> is not the suffix for the gerund or present participle.
This word is cognate with German Ding and Scandinavian ting.
Final <the> to indicate the voiced consonant // in bathe, kythe,
laithe and skaithe etc.
The pronunciation /s/ or /z/ for final <s> or elided and genitive
forms with <'s> or <s'>.
The pronunciation /s/ usually occurs after /f/, /k/, /p/, /s/, /t/,
// and /x/.
e.g. laifs, wifes, wife's, hooses, lochs and threaps etc.
The pronunciation /z/ usually occurs in plurals ending with <es>
and after a vowel sound or /b/, /d/, /g/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /r/, /v/, //
and //.
e.g. dous, haunds, ludges, steams, gie's, his, hers and thairs etc.
Final <ss> is usually pronounced /s/ e.g. miss, bliss, bress, uiss
and wiss etc.
Final <se> is more complicated and it may be worthwhile consulting
a pronunciation dictionary.
Final <se> is usually pronounced /s/ after short vowels /l/, /n/,
/p/ and (long vowels before) /r/.
e.g. coorse, grilse, hoose, manse, mense and traipse. etc.
Final <se> is usually pronounced /z/ after long vowels and
diphthongs.
e.g. jalouse, lowse, phrase, please and uise etc.
<z> for /z/ is seldom used in Scots, though it does occur in some
words as a substitute for the older <> (yogh) representing the
pronunciations //, /j/ and /nj/. <l> became /lj/. This has led to
a number of variants using the spellings <z>, <y>, <n> and <ng>.
e.g. brulzie - brulyie, gaberlunzie - gaberlunyie, senzie - senyie,
Wir Ain Leid
Cockenzie - Cockennie, Mackenzie - Mackennie and Menzies -

Mingis etc.
Glottal stops // are not indicated in writing. Many speakers

substitute a glottal stop for /t/ and sometimes /k/ and /p/,
between two vowels.
English and Scots cognates
Many Scots and English words are derived by direct descent from
the same source. Some insights into the spelling of Scots may be
gained by comparing the spelling of Scots words to the spellings of
their English cognates. There are of course exceptions to the 'rules'
explained here.
These comparisons in no way imply English is a 'corrupted' form of
Scots!
Different Consonants
Scots has no 'b' in the accented or any following syllable, where

English has it after <m>.
English Scots English Scots

amber lammer rumble rummle
chamber chaumer shamble skemmle
cumber cummer thimble thimmle
embers emmers timber timmer
number nummer tumble tummle
Note.
Dizember December member member
September September November November
As previously mentioned the final <d> after <n> is usually silent. In

many words the historic <d> in medial positions is not pronounced.
In such words the spelling <n> or <nn> is used.
candle caunle thunder thunner

114 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
wonder wunner
Scots often has no final 'f' where English does.
self sel sheriff shirra
Scots often has no medial and final 'v' where English does.
calves caur have hae

delve del leave lea'
devil deil love lue
dove dou over ower
even e'en serve ser
give gie silver siller
harvest hairst twelve twal
In some words Scots has no final 'th', where English does.
mouth mou (uncouth) unco

quoth quo with wi
Letter Differences
In some words Scots has <dd> where English has <th>.
smithy smiddie stithy stiddie

withy widdie
Scots often has <k> or <ck> where English has

<ch>. The Scots <k> or <ck> is often claimed to
be of Scandinavian origin.
birch birk larch larick

bitch bick stitch steek
breeches breeks stretch streek
church kirk such sic
itchy yeukie thatch thack
Wir Ain Leid
Scots often has <scl> where English has <sl>.
slant sclent slender sclender

slate sclate slice sclice
Scots often has <sk> where English has <sh>.
share skare shelf skelf

shambles skemmels
Scots often has <g> or <gg> where English has <dge>.
bridge brig ridge rig

dredge dreg sedge seg
edge on egg
Note the exceptions hedge and sled sledge.
Scots often has <au> where English has <al>.
calf cauf malt maut

calm caum palm paum
chalk cauk psalm psaum
false fause salmon saumon
half hauf salt saut
halse (neck) hause scald scaud
Note stalk, talk and walk.
Scots usually has <aw> where English has final <all>.
all aw hall haw

ball baw small smaw
call caw stall staw
fall faw wall waw
Scots often has <ow> medially and <owe> finally, where English
116 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
has <ol(l)>.
boll bowe hollow howe

bolster bowster knoll knowe
bolt bowt poll powe
colt cowt roll rowe
gold gowd stolen stowen
golf gowf
Note the exception: sodger soldier.
Scots often has <aul> where English has <ol>.
bold bauld old auld

cold cauld scold scauld
fold fauld told tauld
Note the exceptions:
hold haud soldier sodger

solder souder
In Scots the position of <r> is often switched compared to the

preceding or following vowel in English.
burnt brunt proverb provrib

christen kirsten rhubarb rhubrub
curb crib turf truff
grass girse wart wrat
modern modren wrestle warstle
pretend pertend
Scots often has a pronunciation variation between // and /s/ in

many words of Norman French origin. These words may be spelled
using <s>, <c> or <sh>.
cinders shinders notice notish

Wir Ain Leid
gusset gushet officer offisher

hoarse hairsh sow (clothes) shew
mince minsh vessel veshel
The <ual> in some words may be pronounced /wl/.
actual gradual annual
In some words of Latin origin, Scots has kept the original

pronunciation /i(:)/ where English has // or /ai/.
baptise bapteese oblige obleege

civil ceevil original oreeginal
item eetem pity peety
liberal leeberal position poseetion
licence leeshence spirit speerit
Note. seestem system.
Scots often has <-fee> where English has <-fy>.
magnify magnifee satisfy saitisfee

modify modifee signify seegnifee
Scots often has where English has .
nut nit summer simmer
Scots often has <e> where English has <a>.
brass bress glad gled

clasp clesp glass gless
fast fest hasp hesp
Scots often has <ai> where English has <a>. Especially in words
with <r> + consonant.
arm airm saddle saidle

118 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
bedraggle bedraigle sharp shairp

father faither warm wairm
manner mainer yard yaird
Scots often has <a> where English has <o>.
crop crap soft saft

drop drap song sang
long lang strong strang
pot pat throng thrang
sob sab top tap
Scots often has <a(consonant)e> where English has

<o(consonant)e>.
bone bane one ane

home hame stone stane
lone lane
Note the exceptions in <ai>.
cole kail sore sair

rope raip whole hail
Note. open remains so in Scots.
Scots often has <ee> where English has <e>.
fret freet well weel

jelly jeely wet weet
Note the exception reid red.
Scots often has or after <wh> and <w> where English has
<e>, , or <o>.
whelk wulk word wird

Wir Ain Leid
whorl whurl worm wirm

woman wumman
Scots often has <y> or where English has <oi>
anoint anynt join jyne

boil (sore) byle point pynt
boil (water) byle spoil spyle
choice chyce voice vyce
Note.
evite avoid oyster eyster

eyntment ointment pushion poison
ile oil queir choir
noise noise ryal royal
Scots has <ch> /x/ where English has <gh>.

Most dialects of Scots have a German like Ich/Ach rule governing
the pronunciation of <ch>. <ch> is pronounced // following a
front vowel, and /x/ following a back vowel. For the sake of
simplicity /x/ has been throughout this book.
bought bocht might v. micht

bright bricht night nicht
fight fecht rough roch
fright fricht sight sicht
high heich thought thocht
laugh lauch tough teuch
light licht weight wecht
might n. maucht
Note the exception, 'delight' comes from Old French 'deliter'.

The English spelling arose by analogy with 'light'. The word is
not pronounced 'delicht' in Scots and is written (and
pronounced) 'delite'. Burgh is usually written with <gh> in
Scots.
120 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Scots often has <oo> where English has <ou>.
about aboot out oot

house hoose round roond
mouse moose sound soond
(healthy)
our oor sound soond
(noise)
Scots often has where English has <ou>.
found fund mount munt

fountain funtain mountain muntain
ground grund mourn murn
Among the exceptions are:
colour colour though tho

country kintra thought thocht
enough eneuch through throu
group group tour tour
Scots often has <ou> where English has <ow> medially.
brown broun gown goun

cower couer powder pouder
crowd croud power pouer
crown croun shower shouer
down doun towel touel
drown droun tower touer
flower flouer town toun
fowl foul
In some words Scots often has final <aw> where English has final
<ow>.
blow blaw row (line) raw

Wir Ain Leid
crow craw show shaw

low law snow snaw
mow maw throw thraw
In some words Scots often has final

<ae> where English has final <ow>.
arrow arrae pillow pillae

barrow barrae shadow shaidae
bellows bellaes sorrow sorrae
borrow borrae swallow swallae
follow follae widow weedae
marrow marrae window windae
meadow meidae yellow yellae
narrow nairae
Similarly in some words Scots often has final <ae> where English
has final <a>.
algebra algebrae Canada Canadae

America Americae China Cheenae
alpha alphae omega omegae
In some words Scots has <ou> where English has final <ow>.
allow allou cow cou

bow bou how hou
brow brou nou now
Exceptions to the above are:
bellow buller furrow furr

below ablo minnow minnin
elbow elbuck
The Anglo-Saxon long <o> /o:/ became // and /y/ in older Scots,
then spelled <ui> and <u(Consonant)e> respectively. Now generally
spelled <ui> or <eu> (see below) in Modern Scots and usually
122 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
<oo> in English. Similarly with Scandinavian and Romance words.

This remains /(:)/and /y(:)/ peripheral dialects. In parts of Fife,
Angus and Ulster /e(:)/ occurs. In northern dialects and parts of
Ulster /i(:)/ occurs, where in Mid Northern Scots after /g/ and /k/ it
is /wi(:)/. In Central Scots and parts of Ulster it became // when
short and /e:/ when long.
blood bluid palm luif

board buird pool puil
brute bruit poor puir
cool cuil roose ruise
done duin refuse refuise
floor fluir school schuil
ford fuird spoon spuin
fruit fruit sure shuir
good guid Thursday Fuirsday
loom luim use n. uiss
moon muin use v. uise
moor muir (young cuithe
coal-fish)
In some of the above the Central Scots pronunciation has

established itself in the spelling.
ado adae shoe shae

do dae to tae
e.g. dae do, did did, duin done and dis does.
Some words descended from the long <o> now have .
brother brither mother mither

foot fit other ither
Note. wid wood isn't descended from long <o>.
Where the Anglo-Saxon long <o> /o:/ was followed by /k/ or /x/
Wir Ain Leid
the sound shifted to <eu> in Scots. Pronounced /(j)u/ or /(j)/

depending on dialect (p.26). Similarly with Scandinavian words.
book beuk look leuk

bough beuch nook neuk
(cliff) heuch plough pleuch
(ditch) sheuch (ravine) cleuch
duck (bird) deuk (sparrow) speug
enough eneuch tough teuch
heuk hook tug teug
laughed leuch
In some words Scots has no final <e> as in English <ure>.
creature craitur nature naitur

lecture lectur picture pictur
mixture mixtur venture ventur
Note. secure, siccar.
In many words Scots has initial <a> where English has <be>.
because acause beneath aneath

before afore beside aside
behind ahint between atween
below ablo beyond ayont
124 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
The Articles
The Indefinite Article
The indefinite article does not refer to a particular person or object.
1 The indefinite article is a [], emphatic [a]. The indefinite article

becomes an before vowels.
A finger. A man. A yowe. An airm. An awfu day.

A finger . A man. A ewe. An arm. An awful day.
In colloquial speech a is often used before both consonants and

vowels.
Are ye haein a egg tae yer tea?

Are you having an egg for dinner?
A seen a ingine doun the railwey yaird.

I saw an engine down at the railway yard.
Sometimes the indefinite article is omitted altogether.
Thair's mony ane dis that. Mony time.

Many a one does that. Many a time.
2 Ae [e:, je:] is the adjectival form of ane and means 'single' or

'solitary' or the 'only one' and is usually used before nouns.
The young man gaed oot the disco wi an ae lass.

The young man left the disco with only one girl.
3 The indefinite pronoun some is the plural of a, ae, ane and an

meaning an unknown number of the things named by the noun.
Some o thae flouers is wiltit.

Wir Ain Leid
Some of those flowers are wilted.
Some fowk's trystin at the kirk.

Some people are meeting at church.
The Definite Article
1 The definite article the [] refers to a particular person or object.

Scots usage often prefers the definite article over the indefinite
article.
He wis feelin hungert an eatit the bit breid.

He was feeling hungry and ate a piece of bread.
Efter he telt her it wis throu she gaed aff wi the tear in her
ee.
After he told her it was finished she left with a tear in her
eye.
Taiblet costs twal pennies the piece.

Tablet costs twelve pence a piece.
Thay haed a stoot walkin stick the piece.

They each had a stout walking stick.
2 Special uses of the definite article. Before the names of the

seasons and the days of the week.
Scots English
The ware spring

The simmer summer
The hairst autumn
The winter winter
The Monanday. Monday.
The Tysday. Tuesday.
The Wadensday. Wednesday
The Fuirsday etc. Thursday etc.
126 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Are ye gaun til the gemme on the Seturday?

Are you going to the game on Saturday?
Hit's cauld in the winter.

It's cold in winter.
Before many nouns.
Awa til the kirk. Doun the toun. At the schuil.

Off to church. In town. In school.
Up the stair. Fish tae the tea. On the knock.

Up stairs. Fish for dinner. O' clock.
Sent til the jyle. A gemme at the bouls.

Sent to goal. A game of bowls.
Doun the brae. Wi the train. He begoud the dealin.

Down hill. By train. He began trading.
The price o the milk an the butter's aye gaun up.

The price of milk and butter is always increasing.
In a number of adverbial phrases.
The nou. The day. The morn. The nicht.

Just now. Today. Tomorrow. Tonight.
The morn come aicht day. The morn's nicht.

Tomorrow week. Tomorrow night.
The streen / yestreen. The morn's morn(in).

Yesterday (evening). Tomorrow morning.
Thegither. The baith o ye. The maist o ye.

Together. Both of you. Most of you.
Wir Ain Leid
A shillin the piece. For the maiter o a poond or twa.

A shilling each. For the sake of a few pounds.
The corn's guid the year.

The corn is good this year.
The definite article is often used colloquially instead of a

possessive pronoun.
The wife. The guidman.

My (your or his) wife. My (your or her) husband.
The wife wis in the gairden wi's.

My (your or his) wife was in the garden with me.
She clawed the mutch aff me.

She tore off my cap.
The sodger wis wantin the helm.

The soldier was lacking his helmet.
Hou's the guidman the day?

How is your husband today?
Before the names of diseases.
The measles. The brounkaities. The haingles.

Measles. Bronchitis. Influenza.
The gulsoch. The cauld. The buffits. The rheumatise.

Jaundice. Cold. Mumps. Rheumatism.
Before the names of trades, occupations, sciences and

departments of learning.
Ma son's learnin the carpenterin.

My son is learning carpentry.
128 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
He kens the chemistry gey guid.

He knows chemistry very well.
She's guid at the Laitin. He canna speak the French.

She is good at Latin. He can't speak French.
Wir Ain Leid
Nouns
Nouns are words used as the name of a person, animal, object,

place or quality, or a collection of these.
1 The gender of nouns is not indicated by their sound but by their

meaning. Nouns are either male, female, common or neutral
depending on whether they denote a male, female, either sex or
an inanimate object.
2 Singular nouns.
Some nouns have different forms for male and female.
Male Female
boar boar sou sow
brither brother sister sister
bull bull cou cow
cowt colt filly filly
drake drake deuk duck
dug dog bick bitch
eme/uncle* uncle auntie aunt
faither father mither mother
guidman husband guidwife wife
guid-sir grandfather auld-dame grandmother
keeng king queen queen
lad boy lass girl
loun ** boy quean girl
man man wumman woman
nevoy nephew niece niece
staig stallion meir mare
tuip ram yowe ewe
*eme is the maternal uncle.

**loun and quean [kwin] are typical of northern Scots
varieties.
130 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Machines, ships and boats etc., countries and the like often take
the feminine and are addressed by the pronoun she.
She's late the day. (The bus)

The bus is late today.
3 Regular plurals are formed by adding s.
haund haunds kirn kirns pirn pirns

hand hands churn churns bobbin bobbins
Note that in words like knife, laif, life, thief, wife the Scots plural
is regular.
knifes laifs lifes thiefs wifes

knives loaves lives thieves wives
If the singular noun ends in a sibilant (hissing) sound it takes the

ending es, or where the noun ends with an e, s, to form the
plural.
hoose hooses rash Rashes catch catches

house houses rush Rushes catch catches
Some nouns are usually or only used in the plural, or they have a
special meaning when used in the plural.
ess ash(es) parritch porridge

bellaes bellows plainstanes pavement
breeks trousers severals* several
brose soup shears scissors
broth soup tangs tongs
duds rags tawse leather strap
lichts lungs
*Severals refers to several persons or things.
Some nouns are only used in the plural. Accompanying verbs are
Wir Ain Leid
used as if to denote their constituent parts.
The parritch! The'r real guid the day.

The porridge! It is really good today.
Thir kail will be ower cauld.

This broth will be too cold.
4 Scots contains a number of irregular plurals. Some of the more

common ones are:
Singular Plural
cauf calf caur calves
cou cow kye cattle
ee eye een eyes
fit foot feet feet
guiss goose geese geese
loose louse lice lice
man man men men
moose mouse mice mice
owse ox owsen oxen
shae shoe shuin shoes
tuith tooth teeth teeth
wumman woman weemen women
Older forms brither (brother) - brether(en) (brothers) and

tree (tree) treen (trees) existed.
5 Some nouns have the same form in singular and plural.
Singular Plural
birse bristle birse bristles
cod cod cod cod
deer deer deer deer
dizzen dozen dizzen dozens
fish fish fish* fish
gait goat gait goats
groose grouse groose grouse
132 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
gryce pig gryce pigs

herrin herring herrin herring
horse horse horse horses
nowt bullock nowt cattle
pease pea pease peas
saumon salmon saumon salmon
sheep sheep sheep sheep
swine pig swine pigs
troot trout troot trout
The plural fish represents a mass of fish. The plural fishes

represents a quantity of individual 'fishes'.
Note: A scissor. (A pair of scissors.)
Leuk at aw thae fish. A hae five fishes.

Look at all those fish. I have five fish(es).
6 Many nouns take the same form as the verb with which they are
connected.
Verb Noun
blame blame fault
lauch lauch laugh
stap stap step
stap stap stop
It's no ma blame. That's an ill lauch. Tak tent o the stap.

It's not my fault. That's an evil laugh. Mind the step.
7 Tae is often used in conjunction with nouns and verbs to form

compounds implying addition, attraction, attachment and motion
towards.
Ye shoud stop, the tae-brig is gaun up.

You ought to stop, the draw-bridge is being raised.
The dealer selt the gear for the tae-come.

Wir Ain Leid
The dealer sold the equipment for profit.
The tae-draucht o the swaw is takkin the boat wi't.

The attractive force of the waves is carrying the boat along.
The man bocht sae muckle he wis gien a bit tae-breid.

The man bought so much that he was given more by way of a
discount.
He keeps his dug in a tae-faw. That's juist his tae-name.

He keeps his dog in a lean-to. That's only his nickname.
8 Diminutives.
Diminutives expressing smallness, endearment or contempt are

formed by adding ie, ock or even ockie to the noun (ies for
plurals) and are often preceded by wee.
The wee lassie. A wee duggie. The wee beastie.

The little girl. A little dog. The little beast.
A wee bittock mair. Ye wee saftie.

A little bit more. You little soft headed person.
A hooseockie. The wifeockie. The muckle feardie.

A little house. The little woman. The big coward.
The pleuchie. He's a daftie. Ma wee dearies.

The ploughman. He's mad. My little darlings.
9 Nouns of measure and quantity.
Number and quantity are sometimes designated by nouns and

sometimes by adjectives.
After cardinal numbers, nouns of measure, usually remain
unchanged in the plural. The noun is usually followed by the
preposition o before a pronoun, but o is often omitted before a
following noun.
134 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Twa poke o tatties. Fower acre o grund.

Two bags of potatoes. Four acres of land.
Three fit lang. Fower mile awa. Five hunderwecht.

Three feet long. Four miles away. Five hundredweight.
A gied him twa poond. Sax pund (weight).

I gave him two pounds. Six pounds (Sterling)
Twa gless o beer. A guid wheen months.

Two glasses of beer. A good many months.
She's twal year auld. Ten stane o hay.

She is twelve years old. Ten stones of hay.
Aicht score o sheep. Sieven dizzen o eggs.

Eight score sheep. Seven dozen eggs.
A wee drap ile. A wee bit breid.

A little drop of oil. A little bit of bread.
Nouns of quantity.
A small quantity may be expressed by:
A wee, a bit. Juist a wee bit wean.

A small, a little. Only a little child.
Gie's a wee thing(ie) ile. A tait o oo.

Give me a little (bit of) oil. A (little) lock of wool.
Gie's a wee drap kail.

Give me a small drop of (cabbage) soup.
A wee thocht whisky. A hair o aits.

A small whisky. A small portion of oats.
Wir Ain Leid
A grain soordouk. A wee titch saut.

A little buttermilk. A little salt.
A few may be expressed by:
A wheen neeps. Twa-three weets. A pickle nits.

A few turnips. A few drinks. A few nuts.
A somewhat larger quantity may be expressed by:
A curn o fowk. A guid wheen auld wifes.

A few people. A good few old women.
A guid pickle fishes.

A good few fish.
A considerable quantity may be expressed by:
A hantle stanes. A great deal mair.

A large amount of stones. A great deal more.
A muckle hott muck. A daud o kebbock.

Very much dung. A chunk of cheese.
A nievefu bere. A rowth o pouts.

A fistful of barley. An abundance of young game birds.
A gowpanfu o grosets.
Two (cupped) hands full of gooseberries.
Other expressions of measurement and quantity are:
She's the wale o thaim aw. The feck o fowk thinks that.
She's the pick of them all. Most people think so.
The hail clamjamfrie.

The whole mob. All the odds and ends.
136 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Gie's the tither hauf. That wis juist the tae hauf o't.
Give me the other half. That was the one half of it.
A niver seen the likes o thae.

I never saw anything like those.
The lave can bide here.

The remainder may remain here.
He'd taen the tane an she'd taen the tither.

He'd taken one and she'd taken the other.
10 Case.
Nouns have three cases; nominative, objective and possessive.

The nominative names the subject. The objective denotes the
object. The possessive denotes possession.
The nominative and the objective are the same.
The possessive singular is formed by adding 's to the nominative
(insert apostrophe).
The bairn's fit. The wife's ring.

The child's foot. The wife's ring.
The dug's bane. The horse's heid.

The dog's bone. The horse's head.
Note the subtle difference in meaning of:
He said he seen a cou's heid at the door.

He said he saw a cow's head at the door.
(the head of a living cow looking in).
She said she seen a cou-heid at the door.

She said she saw a cow's head at the door.
Wir Ain Leid
(the severed head of a dead cow).
The possessive plural is formed by adding s' to the nominative.
Yowes' horns. Wifes' rings.

Dugs' banes. Hooses' windaes.
Ewes' horns. Wives' rings.
Dogs' bones. Houses'
windows.
Where the plural is not formed by adding s' or es' to the singular,
's is added to the nominative plural.
Men's buits. Weemen's clash. Kye's milk.

Men's boots. Woman's gossip. Cow's milk.
11 Nouns denoting inanimate objects do not usually take the

possessive. In such cases a sense of belonging to, being
connected with or being used for is expressed:
By placing the governing noun before the governed noun with

the preposition o (of) in between them.
The heid o the toun. The fit o the toun.

The upper end of town. The lower end of town.
By simply forming a compound noun by placing the governed

noun in front of the governing noun.
Herts-caud. Heidsheet. Hausebane.

Heartburn. Sheet for the top of a bed. Collarbone.
By sometimes inserting a hyphen is between the nouns.
Toun-heid. Brig-end.
The town centre. The end of the bridge.
Lum-tap.
138 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
The top of the chimney.
The use or non use of a hyphen depends on word stress and

morphological behaviour.
12 The verbal noun (a verb functioning as a noun) is formed by

adding in to the verb root. As in English the final e of the verb is
dropped.
The beirin o praisents is furthie.

The bearing of presents is pleasant.
The batin o dugs is ill-kyndit.

The beating of dogs is cruel.
He's fond o speakin til his feres.

He's fond of speaking to his comrades.
Spak o lowpin ower a linn.

Spoke of jumping over a deep pool.
Bitin an scartin's Scots fowk's wooin.

Biting and scratching is Scottish peoples' way of wooing.
13 Most nouns describing occupations or the person carrying out

the action implied by the verb were formed by adding ar to the
verb in middle Scots. That pronunciation has become /r/, now
usually spelled er. Some older forms spelled ar still exist.
bak baxter baker

cot cottar cottager
ferm fermer farmer
flesh flesher butcher
jyne jyner joiner
lee leear liar
lowp lowper jumper
mak makar poet (maker)
Wir Ain Leid
pent penter painter

saidle saidler saddler
shear shearer reaper
shew shewster sempster
(suere)* souter cobbler
wab wabster weaver
*From Latin Sutor - suere to sew.
140 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Pronouns
Pronouns are words used instead of nouns, noun phrases etc.

already known or understood from the context, or as a dummy
subject or object (eg. it) with little or no meaning.
Indefinite Pronouns
1 The relative indefinite refers to no particular person and in Scots

it is a body.
Note that in Scots a living or dead body is usually referred to as
the bouk and a dead body is also a corp, plural corpse.
That dis a body guid. Gin a body trysts a body.

That does one good. If one visits someone.
A body's sel. A body wadna skaithe thairsel.

One's self. One wouldn't injure oneself.
2 Thaim is also used indefinitely.
Thaim that wants tae eat parritch can eat parritch.

Those who wish to eat porridge may eat porridge.
Gie't back til thaim that's aucht it.

Give it back to whom it belongs.
3 Other indefinite pronouns are:
awbody everyone onything anything

awthing everything some some
ilk ane each (one) somebody someone
ocht anything something something
onybody anyone
Ilk ane o ye tak a gun. Awthing's ill.

Wir Ain Leid
Each one of you take a gun. Everything is bad.

Dae ye hae ocht for me?
Do you have anything for me?
Something wis makkin a sair dirdum.

Something was making a tairible noise.
Dis onybody ken whaur ma breeks is?

Does anyone know where my trousers are?
Awbody's wantin tae gang til the dance the morn's nicht.
Everyone wants to go to the dance tomorrow night.
Is thare onything guid at the picturs the nicht?

Is anything good on at the cinema this evening?
142 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Demonstrative Pronouns
The demonstrative pronouns point out objects.
Singular Plural
this this thir these
that that thae those
yon (thon)* yonder yon (thon) yonder
*Yon (thon) indicates something that is further away in space

or time.
Thir's guid neeps. Thae's bonnie weans.

These are good turnips. Those are pretty children.
Yon's a muckle tree. That'll dae fine.

That's a big tree over there. That will do nicely.
Thon war grand times. This is a braw day.

Those were great days - long ago. This is a beautiful day.
This dug's awfu frichtsome. That hoose is gey an braw.

This dog is very frightful. That house is very nice.
Yon ben is happit wi snaw.

That mountain over there is covered in snow.
Thir fowk canna thole the cauld an thae fowk disna like the
sun.
These people can't bear the cold and those people don't like
the sun.
In Mid Northern and North Northern Scots this and that are as
plurals rather than thir and thae:
This hooses is aucht the laird.

These houses belong to the landowner.
Wir Ain Leid
That tuips is awfu veecious.

Those rams are terribly vicious.
144 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Personal Pronouns
The personal pronouns refer to three sets of people.
The first person refers to the person or persons speaking.

The second person refers to the person or persons spoken to.
The third person refers to the person, persons or thing or things
spoken of.
1 Personal pronoun singular.
The nominative names the subject and the objectives names the
object.
Nominative Objective
1. Person singular: A I me me
2. Person singular: ye you ye, you you
3. Person singular: he he him him
3. Person singular: she she her her
3. Person singular: it, hit* it it, hit* it
* Emphatic forms.
The use of thoo as the 2. person familiar singular and ye as the

2. person formal singular along the lines of the German 'Sie' and
'Du' survived in most dialects until the beginning of the twentieth
century. They still survive in Shetland as du and you. Thoo was
often used with a verb having the same form as the third person.
Thoo is... Thoo haes... Thoo will... Thoo comes...

You are... You have... You shall... You come...
The 1 Person singular A is always written with a capital letter.

The plural us is often used instead of the 1st person objective
singular me in combination with verbs. Often shortened to 's.
Gie's the haimer. Lat us gang oot the nicht.

Give me the hammer. Let me go out tonight.
Wir Ain Leid
Are ye no gaun tae come wi's? Will ye hae's Bess?

Aren't you going to come with me? Will you marry me Bess?
2 Personal pronoun plural.
Nominative Objective
1. Person plural: we* we us, hus** us
2. Person plural: ye ye
you you you you
3. Person plural: thay they thaim them
*We may be pronounced oo [u] in Southern Scots and also be

used as an unstressed substitute for us.
**Us [vs, vz, s, z], unstressed [()s, ()z], emphatic [hz, hvz].
The plural forms of you, youse and yese, which probably
originated in Ireland are quite widespread in Scotland.
The unstressed form of thaim is thum, not usually written as
such.
Thaim is often used indefinitely (not referring to a particular
person) to represent 'he', 'them', 'those' and 'whoever'.
You'll no gar me dae ony o thae things.

You will not compel me to do any of those things.
Come Yuil we'll gie't thaim.

When Christmas comes, we'll give it to them.
Gin thay dinna gie's it back we'll caw on the polis.

If they don't give it back to us we will call the police.
Naebody speirt at us gin we wantit tae gang.

No one asked us if we wanted to go.
We aucht that. It wisna thaim ava.

We own that. It wasn't them at all.
Gie't thaim that wants it.

Give it to those who want it.
146 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Us an thaim is aye fechtin.

We are always fighting each other.
Me an thaim's no chief the nou.

They and I are not on friendly terms at present.
Hus an thaim's no awfu pally.

We and they are not very friendly.
3 When two pronouns, one of which is it come together, it

generally follows the other pronoun.
Gie's it. Gie him it. A gied her it.

Give it to me. Give it to him. I gave it to her.
Thay gied me it. Did ye tell him it?

They gave it to me. Did you tell it to him?
A'll gie ye it. Ye'll no gie's it back again.

I'll give it to you. You won't give it back to me again.
She'll gie thaim it. A'll tell ye it.

She'll give it to them. I'll tell it to you.
it may be abbreviated to 't.

In eastern dialects when it is abbreviated after a vowel or a voiced
consonant it may be pronounced /d/.
A hae leukit awgates for't. A dinna care aboot nane o't.

I've looked everywhere for it. A don't care for any of it.
Ye'll see't or lang. A'll gie ye't.

You'll see it before long. I'll give it to you.
A coudna dae't. That'll pit him frae't.

I couldn't do it. That'll put him off it.
Wir Ain Leid
He's by wi't. He shoud pou't oot the nou.

He's past it. (as good as dead) He should pull it out now.
4 When two pronouns of different persons come together the first

person is generally put first.
Me an you'll gang thegither. Me an him's guid pals.

You and I'll go together. He and I are good friends.
148 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns indicate who possesses (owns) something.
1 Used attributively
Singular Plural
1. Person: ma my wir, oor our
2. Person yer, yer,
your your your your
3. Person his his
3. Person her her thair their
3. Person its, hits* its
*Emphatic form.
Although the following quantitative nouns are singular the

possessive pronoun referring to them is used in the plural.
Awbody haes thair ain draff-poke tae cairy.

Everyone has his (or her) own draff-sack to carry.
Whan a body's wrang wi thair mynd.

When a person is wrong in his (or her) mind.
Somebody's left thair fitmerks ahint thaim.

Someone has left his (or her) footmarks behind them.
It's no aft onybody finds thair wey here.

It is seldom that anyone finds their way here.
Ilka's tae dae thair bit for the kirk fte.

Everyone has to do his (or her) bit for the church fte.
Note the following usage of possessive pronouns.
Come awa tae yer tea. A haena gotten ma denner yit.

Come along to tea. I haven't had (got) dinner yet.
Wir Ain Leid
He's awa hame til his supper.

He has gone home for supper.
2 Used predictively or absolutely.
Singular Plural
1. Person singular: mines mine wirs/oors ours
2. Person singular: yours yours yours yours
3. Person singular: his his
hers hers thairs theirs
its, *hits its
*Emphatic forms.
That's ma auld touer. That auld byre's mines.

That is my old tower. That that old cow shed is mine.
Are ye siccar that's yours? Hit's nae guid ava.

Are you sure that is yours? It's no good at all.
Yer hoose is fawin doun but thairs isna.

Your house is falling down but theirs isn't.
Thair schame for tae mak siller's mair better nor his.
Their plan to make money is better than his.
Lippen til her, she kens wir thochties anent it.

Trust her, she knows our ideas about it.
150 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Reflexive Pronouns
1 Reflexive pronouns indicate that the action turns back upon the
subject.
The reflexive pronouns are formed by adding sel to the

possessives (p.149). The suffix sel is usually used collectively and
the suffix sels individually.
Singular Plural
1. Person: masel myself wirsel(s), ourselves
oorsel(s)
2. Person: yersel yourself yersel(s) yourselves
the sel o ye
3. Person: himsel,* himself thaimsel(s) themselves

hissel thairsel(s)
hersel herself
itsel, itself
*hitsel,
the sel o't
*Emphatic forms.
He wis twa year younger nor masel.

He was two years younger than me.
Weel, it'll no mend itsel.

Well, it won't repair itself.
Masel an Dauvit gaed hame.

David and I went home.
Gin it wisna for masel it wadna hae happent.

If it wasn't for me it wouldn't have happened.
A telt ye we micht can mend it wirsel.

I told you we may be able to repair it ourselves.
Wir Ain Leid
Gang awa yer twa sels. Coud ye dae that yersels?

Go away both of you. Could you do that yourselves?
Ma brither kens fowk that mends awthing thairsels.

My brother knows people who repair every thing themselves.
We can dae awthing wirsels.

We can do everything ourselves.
Sels may be used independently.
Gang awa yer twa sels.

Go away both of you.
2 The reflexive pronoun can be intensified by inserting ma ain or

mine ain before sel. The form ma nain is the result of a wrong
division of mine ain.
A made it aw ma ain sel

I made it entirely by myself.
Gie's the scissor an A'll cut it ma nain sel.

Give me the scissors and I'll cut it myself.
3 The possessive of the reflexive pronoun is formed by adding ain

to the possessive form of the simple pronoun.
That's ma ain dug. She canna thole her ain fowk.

That is my (own) dog. She can't endure her own people.
4 The word lane or lee lane, plural lanes is used in much the same
way as sel.
She wis sittin her lane. A wis aw ma lee lane.

She was sitting by herself. I was by myself. (all alone)
We gaed wir lanes. He leeved his lane.

152 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
We went by ourselves. He lived alone.
Thay stuid thir lane. The auld aik stuid its lane.
They stood by themselves. The old oak stood by itself.
Gin ye'd hae telt him he wad hae stuid by his lane.
If you had told him he would have stood alone.
Is she by her lane?

Is she on her own?
Wir Ain Leid
Interrogative Pronouns
Interrogatives ask questions.
1 Male and female, singular and plural.
Nominative: wha? who?

Objective: wha? whom?
Possessive: whase? whose?
Wha's that? Wha did ye see?

Who is that? Whom did you see?
Wha belangs this hoose?

To whom does this house belong?
Wha's aucht the televeesion? Whase shuin's thae?

Whose is the television? Whose are those shoes?
2 The Neuter in plural and singular nominative and objective is
Whit, Whilk corresponding to English 'which' is considered

obsolete, whit may be used in its place.
Whit dae ye want tae yer tea?

What would you like for your dinner?
Whilk gate dae A tak til the bus stance?

Whit gate dae A tak til the bus stance?
Which road do I take to the bus stop?
Whit haund will ye tak?

Which hand will you take?
Whit dug haes the langest lugs?

Which dog has the longest ears?
154 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Whit like is it? Whit's the time?

What is it like? What time is it?
3 Whit for? is used in Scots to ask

'why?'
Whit for maun ye gang hame?

Why must you go home?
Whit for hae ye coft thae flouers?

Why have you bought those
flowers?
The negative is whit for no? meaning 'why not?'
Whit for no tak the dug wi ye?

Why not take the dog along?
Whit for no shoud A gie him it back?

Why shouldn't I return it to him?
Wir Ain Leid
Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns introduce information referring to the previous

part of the sentence (clause). In the sentence:
The kemp that won the gowd medal wis awfu prood.
The champion who won the gold medal was extremely proud.
The clause 'that won the gowd medal' provides information relative
to the 'kemp'.
These relative clauses are introduced by relative pronouns.
1 The relative pronoun for male and female, and each case is that
(who, which, that) often shortened to 'at, not to be confused with
the preposition at.
The relative pronouns wha (who) and wham (whom) are

Anglicisms found in poetry.
Thay are aw gluttons that little guid gits.

All who get little good are gluttons.
The chield that steys neist door.

The fellow who lives next door.
The fowk that's comin tae veesit.

The people who are coming to visit.
Gie't back tae thaim that's aucht it.

Give it back to those who own it.
That may be made possessive by adding 's
The rinners that's feet is sair.

The runners whose feet hurt.
The man that's dug dee'd.

156 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
The man whose dog died.
The laddies that's baw's tint.

The boys whose ball is lost.
The wifie that's washin wis duin.

The woman whose washing was finished.
2 Shadow pronouns appear in constructions such as that +

possessive pronoun (p.149)
The lad that his dug's deid.

The boy whose dog is dead.
The wifie that her messages is tint.

The woman whose shopping is lost.
The man that his darg's duin.

The man whose work is done.
3 Sometimes the relative pronoun is omitted. Prepositions are

frequently omitted at the end of a sentence.
Thare's no mony fowk (that) steys in thon glen.

There are not many people who live in that valley.
Ma freend's a dochter (that) uised tae be in the schuil.

My friend has a daughter who used to be at school.
We haed this Soothren lass (that) cam tae wir schuil.

We had this English girl who came to our school.
The machine (that) ye milk the kye (wi).

The machine with which you milk the cows.
Thare's juist the ane o us (that's) been tae Cupar afore.

Wir Ain Leid
There's only one of us who has been to Cupar before.
The shop (that) A bocht it (frae).

The shop from which I bought it.
4 Whilk as a relative pronoun is only used after a statement. It is

now obsolete in speech but still occurs in literature. Whilk may
be replaced by that, with, if necessary, a corresponding change
of idiom.
He said that he haed tint it, whilk wisna whit he wantit tae
hear.
He said that he haed tint it, an that wisna whit he wantit tae
hear.
He said he had lost it, which was not what he wanted to hear.
The wirkers howkit a sheuch in whilk the foonds wis liggit.

The wirkers howkit a sheuch, that the foonds wis liggit in.
The workers dug a trench in which the foundations were laid.
The pat wi whilk the maid byles watter.

The pat that the maid byles watter wi.
The pot in which the maid boils water.
158 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Negative Pronouns
naebody no one nane none

naething nothing nocht nothing
Naebody wad hae ocht tae dae wi her.

No one would have anything to do with her.
Nane o thae fowk wantit tae ken her aither.

None of those people wanted to know her either.
The'r naething for teenagers tae dae in the schames.

There is nothing for teenagers to do on the housing estates.
A gat nocht back frae ma tenner.

I got nothing back from my ten pounds.
Ye're aither awthing or naething wi him.

You are either everything or nothing to him.
Wir Ain Leid
Other Pronouns
ane anither one another ony any

aw ither thing everything else ony ither body anyone else
awbody everyone onybody anyone
awthing everything sic such
baith both some some
ilk / ilka each / every some ither someone else
body
ilka body everyone somebody someone
ither other, someither some other
each other
ivery hott everything something something
mony ane many a one the tither the other
ocht anything
It's no aft onybody finds thair wey thare.

It isn't often that anyone finds their way there.

You're either everything or nothing to him.
Ilka body kens thair ain best wey. Baith the twa o ye.
Everyone knows their own best way. Both of you.
Sic an sic a body's gaun tae be mairit.

So-and-so is going to be married.
Thay war baith like ither

They were both alike.
160 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Adjectives
Adjectives are words added to nouns to qualify them or to limit their

denotation by reference to quality, number or position.
1 Adjectives are usually formed from nouns and verbs by adding

<ie> or where words are shared with or similar to English <y>
may be used. <fu>, <some>, <n> and <en> or <ern> are also
used to form adjectives.
The internal inconsistency caused by unpredictably using <ie> or
<y> will be found in this book. Some writers simply use one or
the other.
A creashie cloot. A stany gate.

A greasy cloth. A stony road.
The duddie claes. The reekie lum.

The ragged clothes. The smoky chimney.
The stourie brace. The grippy puggie.

The dusty mantlepiece. The grasping monkey.
Awfu dreich wather. A waefu chield.

Awfully dull weather. A woeful fellow.
An awfu mishanter. A fearsome beast.

An awful mishap. A fearsome beast.
A gruesome carline. A braw lichtsome day.

A ghastly old woman. A beautiful joyous day.
A winsome young man. A waesome ongaun.

A charming young man. A sad going on.
The stanern waw. The treen buirds.

The stone wall. The wooden boards.
Wir Ain Leid
A straen tattie-bogle.
A straw scarecrow.
2 The past participles of verbs (p.190)

may also be used as adjectives.
The droukit dug. The feart laddie.

The soaked dog. The scared boy.
The soopit fluir. The drucken man.

The swept floor. The drunk man.
The cuisten baw. The shoddit horse.

The cast ball. The shod horse.
The thrawn wifie. The thruishen corn.

The obstinate woman. The threshed grain.
3 Suffixes and prefixes.
The suffix <fu> implies the subjective condition.
A fearfu wee dug. The suithfu chield.

A timid little dog. The honest fellow.
The waefu weedae. The thochtfu Dominie.

The melancholy widow. The thoughtful headmaster.
The suffix <like> can be attached to adjectives to qualify the

meaning.
She gied a wicelike ootcome sae weel pitten on.

She presented a good appearance so well dressed.
The auld plane-tree wis vainishtlike.

The old sycamore tree had a shrunken appearance.
162 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
The suffix <lin> or <lins> signifies 'way', 'condition' or

'direction'.
It's a snell eastlin wind. The hauflins laddie.

It is a fierce east wind. The half-grown boy.
He wis blindlins fou yestreen.

He was blind drunk last night.
The prefix <cam> signifies 'awry'.
The camsheuch auld gowk wadna lat me see his dochter.

The crabbed old fool wouldn't let me see his daughter.
The raip wis sae camshauchelt A coudna unraivel't.

The rope was so tangled that I couldn't untangle it.
A cammelt crummock. Thae's gey an camsteirie nowt.

A crooked walking-stick. Those are extremely unruly cattle.
The suffix <rif> 'abundant' signifies 'full of the quality of'.
The bairn's awfu waukrif.

The baby is awfully wakeful.
It's a gey an cauldrif day the day.

It's an extremely cold day today.
4 Adjectives may be formed by suffixing <like> or <kin>.
The nicht wis black-like. It wis a black-kin o a nicht.

The night was blackish. It was a blackish night.
Siclike fowk gars me grue.

Such people make me shudder.
Wir Ain Leid
5 siccan (sic kin). With the indefinite article added siccan becomes
sicna.
Sicna day as A hae haed, siccan cauld as it is.

Such a kind of day as I've had, so cold as it is.
6 Whiten (whit kin o) is used both singularly and in the plural and
can mean, depending on situation or context, 'what kind of?' or
'what sort of?' With the indefinite article added whiten becomes
whitna.
Whit kintra dae ye come frae?

Which (part of the) country do you come from?
Whit year wis thay mairit in?

In which year were they married?
Whiten baccie's that?

What kind of tabacco is that?
Whiten fowk dis siclike?

What kind of people do such like?
Whitna body's yon?

What kind of a person is he (or she)?
Whitna cou's it ye hae?

What kind of a cow is it that you have?
7 Adjectives don't usually change their form in the plural, the

following exceptions exist.
Singular Plural
that that thir those
this this thae these
little little muckle much, large
mony many
164 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
In Mid Northern and North Northern Scots this and that are
used as plurals rather than thir and thae.
8 Demonstrative adjectives point out people and objects.
Definite demonstrative adjectives refer to a particular person or

object.
Definite singular Definite plural

this this thir those
that that thae these
yon (thon) that yon (thon) that
sic such sic such
(the) tither the other the tithers the others
This and thir refer to objects near the person speaking.

That and thae refer to objects near the person spoken to.
Yon (thon) refers to objects farther off in place or time.
Northern Scots uses this and that as the plural of this and that.
A dinna like thae tatties. Whase bairns is thir?

I don't like these potatoes. Whose are those children?
Dae ye see yon tree?

Do you see that tree over there?
A aft mynd o yon time.

I often think of that time (long ago).
He's a richt timmer-heid thon.

That man is a downright blockhead.
A haena seen him this lang time.

I haven't seen him for a long time.
She haedna seen him this mony a year.

She hadn't seen him for many years.
Wir Ain Leid
Indefinite demonstrative adjectives do not refer to any particular

person or object.
Singular Plural
the ae* the only,
a certain one
ony any ony any
anither another ither(s) others
*ae is the adjectival form of ane.
Are thare ony parritch left? It's the ae dug A hae.

Is any porridge left? It's the only dog I have.
A wad liefer hae the tither. He didna hae ony ither anes.
I would rather have the other. He didn't have any others.
She coft anither poke aiples.

She bought another bag of apples.
The chields speirt whit ither haed.

The fellows inquired what each other had.
9 Adjective comparisons.
In single syllable words comparisons are formed by suffixing er

(comparative) and est (superlative).
The comparative expresses more or greater degree The
superlative expresses the most or highest degree.
Comparative Superlative
braw nice brawer brawest
heich high heicher heichest
laich low laicher laichest
lang long langer langest
If the adjective ends with ee the comparative and superlative are

formed by adding -er and -est respectively e.g. wee (small), wee-
166 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
er, wee-est.
Note the comparative of like - liker meaning more like.
In words of two or more syllables the comparative is formed by
prefixing mair, and the superlative is formed by suffixing maist.
The tree's mair muckle nor the hoose.

The tree is larger than the house.
The hoose is the muckle maist biggin in the toun.

The house is the largest building in town.
Sometimes double comparatives are used.
He's mair aulder nor me. It's mair sweeter nor hinney.
He's older than me. It's sweeter than honey.
The maist bonniest lassie.

The prettiest girl.
10 Irregular comparison.
guid good better best best
hint rear hinder hintmaist rearest
ill bad waur warst worst
little little less least least
mony many mair maist most
muckle much mair maist most
naur near naurer neist next
(haund)
Mony, mair and maist are used with countable nouns.

Muckle, mair and maist are used with uncountable nouns.
Negative Adjectives.
11 Negative adjectives
Wir Ain Leid
<wan> is a negative prefix roughly corresponding to un.
That wis ae wanchancie mishanter.

That was one unfortunate accident.
Thon bourtree is awfu wanshapen.

Yonder elder tree is awfully
deformed.
The tint gear wis wanawnt.

The lost belongings were
unclaimed.
Yer dochter's a wansonsie wee lassie.

Your daughter is a mischievous little girl.
Negative adjectives nae and nane.

The negative adjective nae is used before nouns.
A hae nae siller in ma pootch. It's nae guid greetin.

I have no money in my pocket. It's no good crying.
Thare's nae body hame the nicht.

There's no one at home tonight.
Nane o the twa. Nane o thaim.

None of the two. None of them.
Thare'll nane o the twa o ye'll gang.

Neither of you shall go.
Negative attributes can be expressed by adding less to the noun

or verb.
The careless wee laddie. The fushionless sodger.

The careless little boy. The pithless soldier.
A hairmless wee laum. A thochtless thing tae dae.

168 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
A harmless little lamb. A thoughtless thing to do.
12 Several nouns, adverbs and prepositions of place are used as

adjectives.
abuin above buiner buinmaist
ablo below nether blomaist
afore before foremaist, first
ahint behind hinder hintmaist
aneath beneath nether neathmaist
ben* in benmaist
doun down nether dounmaist
east east easter eastmaist
in** in inner inmaist
naur near naurer neist
(haund)
oot out ootmaist
up up upper upmaist
wast west waster wastmaist
*ben is only used to refer to the inner

room of a dwelling.
** In colloquial speech in is often shortened to i' in unstressed
positions before consonants and is sometimes written as
such.
13 The nouns of number, quantity and distribution are often used as

adjectives, others are:
Yon's an orra chield.

That is an odd fellow.
It's no aft that the sun's oot for sae lang.

It is infrequent that the sun shines for so long.
Thare's no mony fowk come.

There are only a few people who have come.
Wir Ain Leid
Aye nou an than thare's an antrin blast o wind.

Every now and then there is an occasional blast of wind.
14 The interrogative adjectives are:
Interrogatives ask questions.

The older whilk corresponding to English 'which' is now obsolete
in speech but may occur in literature. Whilk may be replaced by
whit.
Whilk cou's that? Whilk haund will ye tak

Whit cou's that? Whit haund will ye tak?
Which cow is that? Which hand will you take?
170 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Numbers
1 The cardinal and ordinal adjectives are:
Cardinal Ordinal
ae / ane one first first
twa two seicont second
three three thrid third
fower four fowert fourth
five five fift fifth
sax six saxt sixth
sieven seven sievent seventh
aicht eight aicht eighth
nine nine nint ninth
ten ten tent tenth
elieven eleven elievent eleventh
twal twelve twalt twelfth
thriteen thirteen thriteent thirteenth
fowerteen fourteen fowerteent fowerteenth
fifteen fifteen fifteent fifteenth
... ...
twinty twenty twintiet twentieth
twinty-ane* twenty-one twinty-first
twenty-first
twinty-twa twenty-two twinty-seicont twenty-second
... ...
thritty thirteen thrittiet thirtieth
fowerty forty fowertiet fortieth
... ...
hunder hundred hundert hundredth
thoosand thousand thoosandt thousandth
million million milliont millionth
Wir Ain Leid
* Usage used to be ane an twinty, twa

an twinty etc.
Occasionally the cardinal is used for the
ordinal.
The sieventeen September.

The seventeenth of September.
We will read the aichteen chaipter, fowerteen an fifteen verses.

We shall read the eighteenth chapter, fourteenth and fifteenth
verses.
Ae also means the only or single 'one' and is used before nouns.
The form wan is very widespread in Scotland, it may be a
Hibernian import. Wan may be used in place of ae or ane but ae
and ane aren't interchangeable.
The ae body that cam til the pairty.

The only person who came to the party.
Ae day we'll hae a vacance.

One day we'll have a holiday.
A wis juist wantin the ae nummer for tae win the bingo.
I only needed one number in order to win the bingo.
The abbreviated forms of the ordinal adjectives are:
1st, 2nt, 3d, 4t. etc.

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc.
2 Numerals can be used in the plural to signify groups.
anes twas threes fowers fives saxes sievens aichts...

ones twos threes fours fives sixes sevens eights...
3 Multiples are:
172 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
single dooble treeple three-ply

single double triple triple
4 Groups of people arranged by number in games or activities are

denoted by suffixing some.
twasome, threesome, fowersome, aichtsome.
A twasome at the glessy bouls. A threesome at the gowf.

Two people playing marbles. Three people playing golf.
Will we dance the aichtsome-reel?

Shall we dance the eighthsome-reel?
Hou aboot a fowersome at the cairts?

How about four of us playing cards?
5 Fractions are:
hauf thrid fowert or quarter

half third quarter...
continuing the same as the ordinal adjectives.
6 Other expressions involving numbers are:
twafauld twa-three twal-oors

bentover a few midday meal
folded double (denner)
the tane* fower-oors towmond
the one afternoon meal (tea) twelve months (year)
*the tae before nouns.
He wis twafauld frae eild.

He was bent double with age.
Wir Ain Leid
Twa-three pals is comin roond.

A few friends are coming round.
He'd no seen his fowks thir last sax towmond.

He hadn't seen his people for these last six years.
Come hame for yer twal-oors.

Come home for dinner.
It's aither the tane or the tither.

It's either one or the other.
Dinna forgit an be hame by fower-oors.

Don't forget to be home for tea.
7 Telling the time.
Time is divided into.
seicont(s) second(s)
meenit(s) minute(s)
oor(s) hour(s)
Directly after cardinal numbers, nouns (p.130) of measure,

usually remain unchanged in the plural.
He coud rin a hunder yaird in fowerteen seicont.

He was able to run a hundred yards in fourteen seconds.
It teuk him elieven meenit for tae rin twa mile.

It took him eleven minutes to run two miles.
A'v been waitin on her twa oor the nou.

I've now been waiting for her for two hours.
Dinna fash, we'll win tae in guid oor.

Don't worry, we'll get there in good time.
174 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
A s' bide a wee meenit langer.

I'll stay a little longer.
She shoud be here at the meenit.

She should be here straight away.
The kirk bell jowes oorly.

The church bell rings hourly.
A telt ye tae be here on the meenit heid.

I told you to be here on the dot. (punctually)
Ye'v been haiverin for oors an oors.

You've been waffling for hours and hours.
It used to be standard practice in Scots to reckon the half-hour

before the next hour, this has largely been replaced by the
standard English practice of reckoning the half-hour after the
hour. No doubt through media and educational pressure. A full
hour is called a stricken-oor.
Whit's the time? What time is it?

To which possible answers are:
Twa oors. Sax oors. Ane oors.

Two o'clock. Six o'clock. One o'clock.
Hauf-aicht. Hauf-ane. Three on the knock.

Half-past seven. Half-past twelve. Three o'clock.
Risin twal. Twa meenit afore twal.

Approaching twelve. Two minutes to twelve.
Twinty til fower. A quarter til three. Gin ten oors.

Twenty to four. Quarter to three. Before ten o'clock.
The back o five. Ten efter sieven. Twinty frae sax.

Wir Ain Leid
Shortly after five. Ten past seven. Twenty to six.
Other expressions connected with times of the day are:
dayligaun dusk midnicht midnight

eenin evening morn morning
efternuin afternoon nuin noon
forenicht evening screich o day crack of dawn
forenuin morning sindoun sunset
gloamin just after sunset twal-oors midday
keek o day crack of dawn wee-oors early morning
The paitricks wis screichin lood at een.

The partridges were screeching loudly in the evening.
The muin gied us licht thon mirk Seturday een.

The moon gave us light that dark Saturday evening.
The mornin an forenuin wis awa cantie like.

The (early and late) morning passed pleasantly.
The morn we're gaun tae hae a forenicht thegither.

Tomorrow we are going to have a get-together in the
evening.
The freenge o the lift's reid in the late gloamin.

The fringe of the sky is red in the late twilight.
A wis up oot ma bed for tae wirk at the keek o day.

I was up and out of my bed in order to work at the crack of
dawn.
A hae a tryst at the keek o nuin.

I have an appointment at mid-day.
The nicht afore the morn A wis set on wi a dug.

Last night I was attacked by a dog.
176 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Auxiliary and Modal Verbs
Auxiliary verbs may best be explained by using the following

sentence as an example:
Andro micht hae been biggin a bield.

Andrew may have been building a shelter.
biggin is the main verb conveying the major bits of meaning in the
sentence. Auxiliary verbs add bits of meaning onto the main verb
biggin the action may then be presented as:
possible - micht.
having been in the past - hae / hiv (emphatic).
hae [he] and [h] in southern Scots. Hiv [hv, hv] and [hv] in
north east central and west central Scots.
being in progress rather than as complete been.
Auxiliary verbs have two important properties:
they can be negated by adding na.

they can occur at the beginning of a question.
Modal verbs indicate whether an event or state is possible or

necessary or whether a desire to do something is being expressed.
These verbs have:
no in ending.
no s ending.
the general properties of auxiliary verbs.
In Scots auxiliary verbs are rarely used in the subjunctive mood (the
mood expresses the mode or manner of an action or of a state of
being), the indicative (the mood of the verb that expresses fact) is
preferred in its place.
The active infinitive (the subject of the verb is the doer of the action,
Wir Ain Leid
the verbal idea being expressed without reference to person,

number or time) is used in preference to the passive infinitive (the
subject is the person or thing that sustains, rather than performs
the action of the verb, the verbal idea once again being expressed
without reference to person, number or time).
active infinitive passive infinitive

He's no tae lippen til. He's not to be trusted.
Is this hoose tae lat? Is this house to be let?
The present participle (in or of the present tense) with the verb tae
be (to be) is frequently used.
A'm thinkin. A'm no sayin that. A'm no carin.

I imagine. I won't say that. I don't care.
1 The infinitive expresses or is in the mood that expresses the

verbal idea without reference to person, number or time.
be be
can can
dae do
daur dare
hae / hiv* have
maun must
sall** shall
will will
*Emphatic forms.
**Probably obsolete, replaced by will.
Be for indicates the sense of 'want'.
A'll no be for that the nou. Whit are ye for nou?

I don't want that at the moment. What will you have now?
A'm no for nae mair.

I don't want any more.
178 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
In the first person will indicates simple future.
will ye be thare? Ay but ye will tho. A'll gie ye't.

Shall you be there? Yes, but you shall. I'll give it to you.
A will dae that. A'll daur him dae't.

I shall do that. I'll dare him to do it.
will is also used to indicate supposition.
A see a body will hae been speakin wi ye.

I see someone has been speaking to you.
That's duin, A will can gang awa hame saitisfee'd.

That is finished, I shall be able to go home satisfied.
In questions will is used to express 'do you wish me to?'
Will A gang an git ane? will A come roond the morn?

Shall I go and get one? Shall I come around tomorrow?
Div is an interrogative and emphatic form of dae.
Div ye hae ony? Div A hae tae come?

Do you have any? Do I have to come?
Sall indicates an intention. Sall is often shortened to s' [z] (often

illogically written 'se).
A s' wad. A s' gie ye ma warrandice. A s' uphaud.

I will wager. I'll give you my guarantee. I will uphold.
Ye s' no be here - A s' aye be thare.

You will not be here - I will still be there.
Maun only expresses the conclusive meaning. Obligation is

Wir Ain Leid
expressed by hae tae and need tae.
Ye maun gang hame. Ye maun be forfochten.

You must go home. You must be exhausted.
(It is time to ...) (judging by your appearance)
Ye maun speir anent the job by nine.

You must inquire about the job by nine.
(Otherwise someone else will get it.)
A hae tae tak the kye oot. A hiv tae gang tae ma wark.
I must take the cows out(side). I must go to work.
Ye need tae pent the hoose. A need tae caw ma grannie.

You must paint the house. I must call grandmother.
She'll hae tae can lauch. A hae tae dae't nou.

She must be able to laugh. I must to do it now.
Permission or ability is expressed by the infinitive use of can, git

tae and git + gerund.
A'll no can gang the morn.

I won't be able to go tomorrow.
Ye can hae the day aff the morn.

You may have the day off tomorrow.
Thay gat gaun til the gemme.

They were allowed to go to the match.
Thay git daffin ootby till aicht in the een.

They are allowed to play outside until eight in the evening.
The schuil-bairns gits tae come ben whan it teems.

The school children are allowed to come in when it rains
heavily.
180 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
In colloquial speech hae is often shortened to a after coud, haed,

micht, shoud and wad.
He coud a duin it. A wad a haed tae dae't.

He could have done it. I would have had to do it.
A wad a coud a duin it.

I would have been able to have done it.
2 Past and present tense.
Infinitive Present Past

be am am
is is wis was
are are war were
hae / hiv haes has* haed had
dae* dis does did did
sall shall shoud su(l)d ** should, ought
will will wad *** would
can can coud**** could
maun must buid had to
daur daurs dares durst dared
*Haes [hez, hz, hs, hz]. Haes may be written his.
Haed [hd, hd], [hd] in Perthshire and southern Scots and
[hed] in the north. Haed may be written hid.
**Dae is strictly speaking a <ui> word but is seldom written
dui, Dis may be written daes and did written daed.
***su(l)d [sud] is an older and literary form which is still often
used. The emphatic form of shoud is often written shid/shud.
****Note: Scots often omits hae (have) after wad.
*****The emphatic form of could is sometimes written cud.
Coud is pronounced [kwd] in many northern dialects
He coud hae gien ye scotch.

He could have given you scotch.
Ye wad thocht he haed duin it.

Wir Ain Leid
You would have thought he had done it.
A daur say, it micht hae been waur.

I daresay, it may have been worse.
I kent the days whan less wad serred him.

I knew the days when he would have been satisfied with less.
It buid tae be. A buid tae gang.

It had to be. I had to go.
Wha wad thocht it. Bairns shoud haud thair tongues.

Who would have thought it. Children should keep quiet.
Mony o the laums haes dee'd.

Many of the lambs have died.
Ye shoud learn tae leuk afore ye lowp.

You should learn to look before you leap.
A coud hae telt ye that. Me an him haes haed a gemme.

I could of told you that. He and I have had a game.
Plural subject nouns combine with is and wis.

Wis may replace war but not conversely. Scots usually uses we
are and thay are.
After a sibilated consonant the full form of is is used.
Is can however be abbreviated to 's.
The windaes wis aw steekit. Is thae yours?

The windows were all closed. Are those yours?
That'll be aw for nou. We wis aw asleep.

We were all asleep. That will be all for now.
Me an him's no chief. Thir's bonnie flouers.

Him and I are not on friendly terms. Those are pretty flowers.
182 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
That's fine nowt. The swallaes is come.

Those are fine cattle. The swallows have come.
Thaim that comes first's first serred.

Those who come first are served first.
The laums is oot in the pairk.

The lambs are out in the field.
In the singular and plural the past tense of the auxiliary verb be
is usually wis or war. Except before or after the pronoun thay
where it is usually war
Ye wis thare, wis ye no? Whaur wis ye gaun?

You were there, were you not? Where were you going?
We wis gaun hame. Beasts wis cheaper than.

We were going home. Cattle were cheaper then.
War thay baith thare? Thay war baith ben the hoose.
Were both of them there? Both of them were in the house.
Apostrophe abbreviations.
Nowadays only the shorter versions exist. These are not often
used in written Scots.
The'r equivalent to 'there is' or 'there are.'

Are the? equivalent to 'is there?' or 'are there?'
The war equivalent to 'there was.'
War the? equivalent to 'was there?
Ance the war a man. Are the mony mair o yer kin?
Once there was a man. Are there many more of your sort?
Are the onybody in? The'r no nae time at nicht.

Is there anyone in? There's no time at night.
Wir Ain Leid
The'r a man doun thare.

There's a man down there.
The warna hauf sae muckle dichtin duin than.

There wasn't half as much cleaning done then.
South of the Forth, Scots uses many double modal constructions.
He micht can come the morn.

He may be able to come tomorrow.
He micht coud dae't.

He may be able to do it. (in the future)
A shoud can mend the skathie.

I ought to be able to repair the fence.
She'll can tent the bairn.

She'll be able to look after the child.
He'll hae tae coud dae't.

He'll have to be able to do it. (in the future)
He shoud coud tak it wi him.

He ought to be able to take it with him. (in the future)
The lad maun coud muck the byre.

The lad should be able to clean the cow shed. (condition)
The horse maun can hurl the cairt.

The horse can surely pull the cart.
Ilka bairn in the toun will can say that.

Every child in town ought to be able to say that.
She wad coud milk the kye gin she ettelt.

She would be able to milk the cows if she tried.
184 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Thay uisst tae coud soum faur, but no the nou.

They used to be able to swim far, but not now.
Ulster Scots still uses the older present habitual be [bi:] and bes
[bi:z] for a state of being that extends over a period of time.
It dis be rainin here aft. Thay be playin fitbaw on Seturday.

It often rains here. They play football on Seturday.
We be frae Coleraine. She bes wirkin in Belfast the nou.

We are from Coleraine. She is now working in Belfast.
Burns Nicht dis be celebrate in Ulster.

Burns Night is celebrated in Ulster.
Fish bes selt at the mercat ilka Friday.

Fish are sold at the market every Friday.
We bes at the dancin ilka Seturday.

We go dancing every Saturday.
3 Negative infinitive.
The auxiliary verbs are usually negated by affixing na. Some

change their spelling and / or pronunciation in the process.
Infinitive
be binna be not
can canna can't
dae dinna* don't
daur daurna daren't
hae haena* haven't
maun maunna mustn't
sall** sanna shan't
will winna won't
*Dinna and haena may be written daena and hinna.

Wir Ain Leid
Divna is an emphatic and interrogative form of dinna.

Note disna and haesna which may be written daesna and
hisna.
** Largely obsolete. Replaced by will and winna.
These usually occur:
In all persons of the plural except immediately following a

personal pronoun.
Where the subject is a plural noun.
Where the plural pronoun is separated from the verb by some
other word or words. See The verb ending s (p.200).
Binna feart. A haena ony ingans.

Don't be scared. I haven't any onions.
A dinna ken yer brither. Ye maunna gang.

I don't know your brother. You mustn't go.
He winna skelp the wean. A daurna tell.

He won't slap the child. I daren't tell.
He maunna tak mair aiples.

He mustn't take more apples.
She sanna wash the fluir.

She has no intention to wash the floor.
He daurna tell her he wis on the bash.

He daren't tell her he was on a drinking bout.
He canna heeze thon muckle stane.

He can't lift that large stone (over there)
In colloquial speech dinna is often shortened to di' [de] and

canna to ca' [ka].
Di' dae that. A di' ken wha it wis.

186 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Don't do that. I don't know who it was.
He ca' tell ye whaur it is. A ca' dae that.

He can't tell you where it is. I can't do that.
4 Negative present.
Present
am amna am not
is isna isn't
are arena aren't
haes haesna hasn't
dis disna* doesn't
*Disna may be written daesna.
A amna gaun hame acause she isna comin wi's

an you arena helpin ava.
I am not going home because she isn't coming with me

and you aren't helping at all.
She haesna seen him an he disna ken whaur he's at.

She hasn't seen him and he doesn't know where he is.
Am and are usually take the full form of the adverb.
A'm no weel. Ye're no blate.

I'm not well. You're not shy.
5 Negative past.
Past
wis wisna wasn't
war warna weren't
haed haedna* hadn't
did didna didn't
Wir Ain Leid
shoud shoudna shouldnt

wad wadna wouldn't
coud coudna couldn't
micht michtna mightn't
*Note haedna which may be written hidna.
A wisna gaun tae big a hoose in the winter

an thay warna gaun tae gie's a haund.
I wasn't going to build a house in winter

and they weren't going to help me.
Daena speir at him he michtna ken whaur't is.

Don't ask him he mightn't know where it is.
A haedna gien the seetiation muckle thocht.

I hadn't given the situation much thought.
His new sark didna ser. He shoudna fash hissel.

His new shirt didn't fit. He ought not annoy himself.
He wadna come. A wadna eat it gin ye peyed me.

He wouldn't come. I wouldn't eat it if you paid me.
A coudna say a hott aboot it. A coudna beir tae think on it.
I couldn't say anything about it. I couldn't bear to think of it.
A coudna dae't. A michtna hae tae.

I couldn't do it. I mightn't have to.
Interrogative sentences (questions) usually begin with one of the

auxiliary verbs followed by the subject unless they begin with an
interrogative pronoun or adverb.
Div is an emphatic and interrogative form of dae.
Am A no richt? Are ye siccar? Wha did ye see?

Am I not right? Are you sure? Who did you see?
188 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Dinna ye ken? Div ye no ken? Canna ye come?

Don't you know? Don't you know? Can't you come?
Can ye no come? Wad ye like a bittock?

Can't you come? Would you like a bit?
The affirmative answer is ay and the negative answer is na or

nae, or colloquial naw.
D'ye want an ice? Ay thanks!

Would you like an ice cream? Yes please!
D'ye want yer heid duntit? Nae!

Would you like your head bashed? No!
D'ye ken whaur Rab is? Na.

Do you know where Robert is? No.
If no auxiliary verb is used, the sentence may begin with a verb.
Think ye sae? Cam ye by Fawkirk?

Do you think so? Did you come past Falkirk?
Whaur haurd ye that? Whaur gat ye yer schuilin?

Where did you hear that? Where did you go to school?
Wir Ain Leid
Verbs
Verbs indicate an action, occurrence or state. Events can be placed:

in present time i.e. the present tense e.g. is (is).
in past time i.e. the past tense e.g. wis or hae / hiv (was or have).
as having taken place in the past but are relevant to the present
time, the perfect. e.g. haes (has).
1 Scots often uses the continuous tense where English would have
a simple tense.
A'm thinkin means much the same as 'I imagine' in English. A'm
doutin means much the same as 'I'm afraid' in English.
A'm thinkin we wad been telt tae gang

I imagine we would have been told to leave.
A'm doutin that thare will be wittins anent the mishanter.

I'm afraid there will be news about the accident.
This also occurs with other tenses and verbs.
A'll pit ma buits on the morn, an be rinnin ower the muir.

I'll put my boots on tomorrow and run over the moor.
Ye wad git a sair fricht, gin he wis comin alive again.

You would get a terrible fright if he came back to life.
2 The past tense and the past perfect of strong verbs.
Strong verbs form the past and past perfect by changing their
vowels.
In some verbs the past perfect is formed by adding n after aw
and r.
190 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Infinitive Past Past perfect

(Present tense) (Past tense) (past participle)
be be wis, war been

bate beat bate baten
beir bear, carry buir born
begin begin begoud began
bend bend bent bent
bid bid bid, bade bidden
bind bind band bund
blaw blow blew blawn
bluid bleed bled bled
bide endure bade bidden
can can coud
cast cast cuist cuisten
come come cam, come(d) cam, come(n)
ding strike dang dung
draw draw drew drawn
drink drink drank drucken, drunken
drive drive druive druive, driv
faw fall fell fawn
fesh fetch fuish fuishen
find find fand fund
flee fly flew flewen
fling fling flang flung
forgit forget forgat forgotten
freeze freeze fruize frozen
git got gat gotten
greet cry grat grutten
hide hide hade, hod hidden, hodden
hit hit hat hitten
lat let luit latten
mistak mistake misteuk mistaen
quit rid, quit quat quat, quitten
read read rade read(en)
rin run ran, run ran, run
ride ride rade rid(den)
Wir Ain Leid
shae shoe shod shoddit

shall* shall shoud
shear shear, clip shuir shorn
sit sit sat sitten
slide slide slade slidden
speak speak spak spoken
staund stand stuid stuiden
straw strew strawed strawn
strick strike strack stricken
strive strive struive striven
sweir swear swuire sworn
tak tak teuk taen
teir tear tuir torn
thresh thrash thruish thruishen
thrive thrive thruive thri'en, thriven
weir wear wuir worn
win reach / won wan wun
write write wrat(e) written
*Also older forms sall and s(o)ud /suld.
3 The past tense and the past perfect of weak verbs.
Verbs that end with b, d, g, k, p and t by adding it.

Verbs that end with il, en, ch, sh, ss and f by adding t.
Verbs that end with a consonant followed by le change their
ending to elt.
Verbs that end with r have either t or (e)d, especially in the south.
Otherwise by the addition of ed or d where the infinitive ends
with a vowel sound or silent e.
Verbs that end with ee by adding 'd.
Verbs of French or Latin origin do not add t, it, d or ed in the
past perfect.
The past perfect of some verbs is formed by adding ed, en or n
after aw.
In some dialects the ending (e)d may be pronounced /t/.

192 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
acquent acquaint acquentit acquent

awe owe aucht aucht
bend bend bent bent
birrie bury birriet birriet
bou bow, bend boud boud
burn burn brunt brunt
buy buy bocht bocht
byle boil bylt bylt
caw call, drive cawed cawed
cairy carry cairit cairit
dee die dee'd dee'd
dow to be able to docht docht
drap drop drappit drappit
dreid dread dreidit dreidit
droun drown drount drount, droundit
fash trouble, bother fasht fasht
fear fear/scared feart feart
fill fill filt filt
gae* go gaed gane, went
gar compel gart gart
gaither gather gaithert gaithert
hae have haed haen, haed
hurt hurt hurtit hurtit
keep keep keep(i)t keep(i)t
keek peep keekit keekit
ken know kent kent
kill kill kilt kilt
laid load laid(it) laid(it), laiden
lear learn leart leart
leave, lea'leave left left
lee lie (fib) lee'd lee'd
licht light lichtit lichtit
lift lift liftit liftit
lig lay liggit liggit
loss lose lost lost
lue love lued lued
Wir Ain Leid
lowse loosen lowsed lowsed

leuk look leukit leukit
like like likit likit
mairy marry mairit mairit
mean mean meant meant
mend mend, repair ment, mendit ment, mendit
mey may micht
miss miss misst misst
mynd mind, remember mynt, myndit mynt, myndit
need** need needit needit
pent paint pentit pentit
pey pay peyed peyed
pou pull poud poud
rap rap rappit rappit
redd arrange redd redd
rot rot rottit rotten
rowe roll rowed rowed
saw saw (wood) sawed sawn
say say said sain, said
see*** see see'd, saw seen
seek seek socht socht(en)
send send sent sent
ser serve serred serred
shae shoe shod shodden
shairp sharp shairpit shairpit
shuit shoot shuitit shotten
singe singe singed singed
skail spill skailt skailt
sleep sleep sleepit sleepit
slip slip slippit slippit
souk suck soukit soukit
soum swim soumed soumed
soop sweep soopit soopit
speir inquire, ask speirt speirt
spyle spoil spylt spylt
stang sting stang(i)t stangit
stap step stappit stappit
stap stop stappit stappit
194 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
streek stretch streekit, straucht straucht

taigle hinder taigelt taigelt
think think thocht thocht
traivel travel, walk traivelt traivelt
tread tread treadit, tread treadit, treaden
tuim empty tuimt tuimt
uise**** use uised uised
wad wed wad(dit) wad(dit)
wale choose waled waled
wirk***** work wrocht wrocht
wirth to befall wort word
wiss wish wisst wisst
yird bury yirdit yirdit
* Gang ([ga, gan], Mid Northern [gja, g]) is an alternative

for gae.
** The verb see is used colloquially to indicate a desire to be
handed something.
See's ower thon jurnal. Coud ye see's the teapat?

Pass me that magazine over. Could you pass me the teapot?
*** Note the difference between the verb uise (use) and the
noun uiss (use). Uised wi means 'used to' in the sense of being
in the habit of or familiar with. Uisst tae means 'used to' in the
sense of something fulfilling a function or something that
occurred in the past.
**** Note the difference between the verb wirk (work) and the
noun wark (work).
4 Some verbs have both strong and weak forms, especially in the
past perfect.
Wir Ain Leid
eat eat ett, eatit eaten

bake bake beuk, bakit beuk, baken
big build bug, biggit biggen, biggit
brak break breuk, brak brucken, brak
bring bring brang, brung
brocht(en) brochten(en)
bide stay bid, bade bid, bade, bidden
burst burst barst, brast, bursten,
burstit burstit
catch catch cotch, caucht, cotch(en),
catcht caucht, catcht
chuise choose chuise, chuist chosen, chuist
cleid clothe cled, cleidit cled, cleidit
cleek hook, link claucht, cleekit claucht, cleekit
craw crow crew, crawt, crawn
creep creep crap, creepit cruppen, creepit
come come cam, comed come(n), comed
dae do did, duin duin
daur* dare durst daurd*, durst
drink drink drank drunken, drucken
fecht fight focht, feucht, fochten,
fechtit feuchten, fechtit
flit move home flittit flittit, flitten
flyte scold flait, flytit flytit
gie give gae, gied gien, gied
growe grow grew, growed grawn, growed
grip seize grap, grippit grippen, grippit
hae have haed haen, haed
haud hold held, haudit hauden
hear hear haurd, heard haurd, heard
[hi:rd or he:rd]
hing hang hang, hingit hung, hingit
lauch laugh leuch, laucht leuchen, laucht
leap leap lap(e), leapit lip(pen), leapit
lowp jump lowpit lowpen, lowpit
mak make made, makkit made
maw mow mew, mawed mawn
pit put pat, pit pat, pit(ten)
196 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
pruive prove pruived pruived, pruiven

quit rid, quit quat(e) quat, quitten
rive tear ruive, rived riven, rived
sawe sew sew, sawed sawn, sawed
sclim climb sclam, sclimmt sclimmt, sclum
sell sell sauld, selt sauld, selt
set set set setten
shak shake sheuk, shakkit shakken, sheuken,
shakkit
shape shape shape shapen shapit,
shew sew shewed shewn, shewed
shuit shoot shot, shuitit shot(ten), shuitit
sing sing sang, singit sung, singit
snaw snow snew, snawed snawn, snawed
spit spit spat, spittit spitten, spittit
spreid spread sprad, spreidit sprad, spreidit
stick stick stack, stickit stack, sticken
stickit,
steal steal staw, stealt stowen, stealt
sweit sweat swat(tit), sweitit swatten, sweitit,
teach teach taucht, teacht, taucht, teacht
tell tell tauld, telt tauld, telt
thraw throw, twist threw, thrawed threwen, thrawn
threid thread threidit thred, threidit
treat treat treat(it) treat
tyne lose tyned, tint tyned, tint
wash wash wuish, washt wuishen, washt
weet wet wat, weetit wat(ten), weetit
wind wind wand, windit wund, windit,
*The past perfect of daur when followed by a noun or complex

verb phrase is daurd.
5 In simple sentences Scots prefers the word order Subject - verb

adverb - (adjective) object.
He sneckit aff the licht.

Wir Ain Leid
He switched the light off.
She hingit oot the washin.

She hung the washing out.
The wirkers heezed up the wechty stanes.

The workers hoisted the heavy stones up.
English prefers Subject - verb - (adjective) object adverb.
6 The infinitive marker, for tae (used with verbs) means 'in order
to'.
He cam for tae eat his denner. A gaed for tae git it.
He came to eat his dinner. I went to get it.
The war room for tae git yer haund in.

There was space to get your hand in.
Ye'll come for tae mak up a gemme.

You'll come to make up a game.
He ettelt for tae gang. Thay aw gaed for tae see't.

He meant to go. They all went to see it.
7 Note that want and need are regularly followed by a past

participle (referring to an action that is past).
The bairn wants taen hame at fower oors.

The child would like to be taken home at four o' clock.
Ma caur needs washt.

My car needs to be washed.
In Scots want also has the meaning 'to be lacking'.
A didna want the will but A wantit the means.

I didn't lack the will but I lacked the means.
198 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Sae lang's fowk's born barefit the souter winna want a job.
As long as people are born barefoot the cobbler won't lack a
job.
The young bride disna want tae dae wantin the new shuin an
muntin.
The young bride doesn't want to do without the new shoes
And trousseau.
8 Note the uses of leuk and seem.
It leuks like thay winna come.

It looks as if they won't come.
It seems like naebody's hame.

It seems as if no one is at home.
9 The prefix be can be used before verbs to strengthen them and

to make nouns into verbs.
A begrudge no gaun tae see ma grannie.

I regret not going to visit my grandmother.
The Pape's gaun tae besaunt thon mairtyr.

The Pope is going to canonise that martyr.
She beteacht aw her siller til the man frae the insurance.
She entrusted all her money to the insurance agent.
Ye'll hae tae besmairten yersel afore ye gae oot.

You'll have to tidy yourself up before you go out.
The rievers bewaves thair veectims.

The robbers lay in wait for their victims.
Dinna ettle tae begowk me.

Don't attempt to fool me.
Wir Ain Leid
10 The verb inflexion s. (Northern Subject Rule) When a verb

immediately follows a personal pronoun in the present tense, the
verb remains the same.
A come first. We gang thare.

I come first. We go there.
A ken that fine. We ken that fine.

I know that well. We know that well.
Thay come for tae dae't. Thay say he's ower auld.
They come to do it. They say he is too old.
Thay are comin an aw. The laddies? Thay'v went.

They are coming too. The boys? They have gone.
The verb ending s, occurs:

In all persons of the plural except immediately following a
personal pronoun (see above).
Thaim that says he's ower auld.

Those who say he is too old.
It's us that gangs til the schuil.

It's us who go to school.
You anes says that ilka day. Us auld fowk kens that fine.
You ones say that every day. We old people know that well.
That's whit thay caws it here. It's us that says sae.

That is what they call it here. It's us who say so.
Thaim that dis thair hamewark gits sweeties efter.

Those who do their homework receive sweets afterwards.
It's thaim an us that haes aw the graith.

It's us and them who have all the equipment.
200 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Where the subject of the verb includes two pronouns.
Me an you kens that fine. Thaim an us gangs thegither.

You and I know that well. Us and them go together.
Him an her gies nae grief.

Him and her don't cause trouble.
Me an her dis bonnie pentins.

Her and I do nice paintings.
Thaim an him haes braw motors.

He and they have nice cars.
Where the subject is a plural noun.
Weemen kens that fine. Ma brakes haes went.

Women know that well. My brakes have gone.
Fowk that comes unbidden, sits unserred.

People who come uninvited, sit unserved.
Auld men dees an bairns suin forgits.

Old men die and children soon forget.
Whan the kye comes hame.

When the cows come home.
As the days lenthens the cauld strenthens.

As the days get longer the cold gets stronger.
Fowk that haes sair feet canna daunder.

People who have sore feet can't go for walks.
Bairns that dis guid gangs tae hieven.

Children who do good go to heaven.
Wir Ain Leid
Where the plural pronoun is separated from the verb by some

other word or words.
Us twa whiles gangs thare.

Us two sometimes go there.
Us three whiles haes pizza.

Us three sometimes have pizza.
You anes says whit you means.

You ones say what you mean.
You anes aye dis that on a Seturday.

You ones always do that on a Saturday.
Some fowk frae Jeddart thinks he's richt, but ithers frae here
mainteens the contrair.
Some people from Jedburgh thinks he's right, but others from
Here maintain the opposite.
Where the infinitive is used for a narrative past the verb

sometimes takes the ending s even in the first person singular
and after a single personal pronoun.
A niver sees him nou. An in we comes.

I never see him now. And in we came.
Cut that oot the nou A says. A says no tae come the morn.
Stop that now I said. I said not to come tomorrow.
11 The present indicative (the mood of the present tense expressing

fact).
The present indicative is usually formed by adding s to the

infinitive.
Infinitive Present indicative

202 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
eat eat eats eats

gie give gies gives
greet cry greets crys
hae have haes has
juidge judge juidges judges
lowp leap lowps leaps
pech pant pechs pants
skail spill skails spills
skelloch scream skellochs screams
shak shake shaks shakes
smue smile smues smiles
smuirich kiss smuirichs kisses
wirk work wirks works
wiss wish wisses wishes
She dis that aw the time. He kens whaur tae gang.

She does that all the time. He knows where to go.
She washes the fluir ilka Monanday.

She washes the floor every Monday.
It peys tae tak tent o yer caur.

It pays to look after your car.
12 Interrogative sentences (questions) may begin with a verb instead

of an auxiliary (p.177).
Think ye sae? Cam ye by Athol?

Do you think so? Did you come past Athol?
13 Negative verbs.
Single syllable verbs used to be negated by affixing na or nae.
A carena a tait. He kensna whaur she is.

I don't care a bit. He doesn't know where she is.
Wir Ain Leid
A amna duin yit. He'll carena a tait.

I'm not finished yet. He won't care a bit.
These are now usually replaced by modal verb forms or no.
A dinna care a tait. He disna ken whaur she is.

A'm no duin yit. He'll no care a tait.

The usual negative with past tense verbs is niver.
A naurhaund coft the haliday, but A coudna gang till the

Hint end o Augist sae A niver coft it.
I nearly bought the holiday, but I couldn't go until the end of
August so I didn't buy it.
A niver gotten stairtit till nine. A will niver iver dae drogs.
I didn't get started until nine. I will at no time take drugs.
Negative or unpleasant attributes may be indicated by the prefix

mis.
That wickit man mislippens his bairns.

That wicked man neglects his children.
The mediciner miskent the seemptoms.

The physician mistook the symptoms.
A misdout wir lads'll win the gemme.

I doubt our boys will win the game.
The penter wis sair mistrystit wi the onding.

The painter was extremely dismayed by the downpour.
14 In middle Scots the present participle (referring to an action that

is roughly contemporaneous ) was formed by adding and to the
204 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
verb. By the twentieth century the pronunciation had become

indistinguishable from that of the verbal noun in most dialects.
During the Scots revival some Scots writers started to revive the
older form spelling the present participle an. In line with modern
pronunciation the form in is used here.
In words like bide, side, ride and hate the final e is dropped when
forming the present participle. Where the verb ends with ie the ie
changes to y.
He cam beirin praisents. He wis bidin ootby.

He came bearing presents. He was staying outside.
He wis hatin haein tae wirk on the Saubath.

He hated having to work on Sunday.
She wis batin the dug.

She was beating the dog.
He's aye cairyin on lik a daft fuil body.

He's always behaving like a stupid fool person.
The dug wis coueryin doun whan the thunner clappit.

The dog was cowering when the thunder clapped.
One common word survives with a form of the older participle.
He wis aye willint tae dae't.

He was always willing to do it.
The laums willintly gaed til the slauchter.

The lambs willingly went to the slaughter.
Note that the irregular present participle of gae is gaun.
A'm gaun hame, thare's nocht tae dae.

I'm going home, there is nothing to do.
Wir Ain Leid
Progressive use of the present participle.
He wisna likin it an the lassie he wis wi wisna likin it.

He didn't like it and the girl he was with didn't like it.
We warna wantin tae big a new hoose.

We didn't want to build a new house.
Ye're no intendin tae open thon bottle o wine the nicht, are ye?
You don't intend to open that bottle of wine tonight, do you?
He's no liftin a wird ye say.

He doesn't understand a word you say.
Scots prefers the use of present participle to the infinitive.
Thay aye conteena wirkin till the whistle blaws.

They always continue to work until the whistle blows.
He stairtit speakin til his feres.

He started to speak to his comrades.
It wis glaikit lea'in the dug in the hoose its lane.

It was thoughtless to leave the dog in the house on its own.
Ettle at eatin less gin ye're ower wechty.

Try to eat less if you're over weight.
206 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Adverbs
Adverbs are words added to verbs, adjectives or other adverbs,

expressing some modification of the meaning or accompanying
circumstance.
1 Generally adverbs take the same form as the verb root or

adjective, especially when they are placed after verbs.
It's real guid ale. A'm awfu fauchelt.

It's really good ale. I'm terribly tired.
Mynd an caw cannie.

Remember to proceed carefully.
2 Adverbs are mostly formed by suffixing ly or lies. Some adverbs

are formed by suffixing s, lins, gate(s) and wey(s). Where the
adjective ends in ie the adverb may be formed by changing ie to i
and adding ly.
The internal inconsistency caused by unpredictably using <lie>
or<ly> will be found in this book. Some writers simply use one
or the other.
aiblins perhaps ilkagate everyway

airselins backwards ilkawey everyway
awgates everywhere maistlins almost
brawly splendidly mebbes maybe
brawlies splendidly onygate anyway
cannily cautiously onyweys anywhere
endweys straight on sidelins sideways
geylies rather much whit wey how? why?
hauflins half, partially whiles sometimes
hidlins secretly
Ye aiblins micht come ower.

Perhaps you might come over.
Wir Ain Leid
Thon baurley-bree gangs doun brawlies.

That whisky goes down splendidly.
3 Some adverbs are formed using the prefix be.
The shielin's bewast the brig ower the burn.

The shepherd's hut is to the west of the bridge across the
stream.
Betimes ye hear a gowk in the shaw.

Sometimes you hear a cuckoo in the copse.
4 The suffix le implies direction towards, lin(s) implies direction

from.
He gaed twa mile eastle.

He went two miles eastwards.
The caller norlin wind blew athoot lissins.

The fresh north wind blew without respite.
5 Adjectives used as adverbs.
Adjectives usually remain unchanged when being used as

adverbs.
A'm awfu thrang. A'm tairible obleeged tae ye.

I'm very busy. I'm terribly obliged to you.
Caw cannie. He's clean daft.

Take it easy/be careful. He's quite mad.
The dug wis naurhaund wuid. A'm real weel the day.
The dog was nearly mad. I'm very well today.
He's richt fou the nicht. She wis greetin sair.

He's very drunk tonight. She was crying bitterly.
208 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
He's no sair pleased. Her tongue gangs constant.

He's not greatly pleased. Her tongue is constantly
wagging.
A haed clean forgotten. Nae ither body.

I had quite forgot. No body else.
Ony ither thing. A wis fair dumfoondert.

Anything else. I was struck quite dumb.
Among the few exceptions are:
alanerly entirely haurdly hardly, barely

brawly splendidly,
thoroughly likely probably
feckly mostly shuirly surely
freely completely uncoly very much
fully* fully geyly a good deal
*Fully expresses the sense of 'quite', 'rather more than', 'a

good deal' and 'on the whole'.
A kent him brawly. Coorser fully nor the floor.

I knew him very well. A good deal courser than flour.
Fully that. A s' likely be thare.

Quite that. I shall probably be there.
A coud haurdly thole the dule.

I could barely endure the suffering.
He wad shuirly gie't whase aucht.

He would surely give it to whom it belongs.
Wir Ain Leid
The words fair and clean also express the sense of 'quite'.
He's clean daft. A'm clean duin.

He's quite mad. I'm quite exhausted.
A wis fair dumfoondert. He's fair clean fou the nicht.

I was struck quite dumb. He's quite drunk to night.
Scots has a number of words that express the concept of 'very'.
He wis taen awa awfu suddent.

He was taken away very suddenly.
Thae's tairible fine nowt.

Those are exceedingly fine cattle.
No michty muckle. Thae's real fine neeps.

Not very much. Those are very fine turnips.
He's no sair pleased wi it. That's a richt auld ane.

He's not greatly pleased about it. That's a very old one.
6 Adverbs may also be formed from many adjectives when the

preceded by the preposition 'for'.
Ay that's the fare for ordinar. Jeanie's a guid bairn for

uisual.
Yes that's the ordinary fare. Jeanie's usually a good child.
The politeecian gied a better speech nor for ordinar.

The politician gave a better speech than as usual.
A telt ye that disna come on for common.

I told you that doesn't normally happen.
7 Interrogative and relative adverbs.
210 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Interrogatives ask questions and relatives refer to the preceding

part of the sentence. Demonstratives point out. Some of the
commonest adverbs are related to the pronouns in form and
meaning.
here here whaur where

hou how whilk* which
nou now whit what
sae so whit for why
than then whiten** what kind of
thare there whit wey why
that that why why
this this yon (thon) that over there
this wey this way yonder
(thonder) over there
wha who
whan when yon (thon) wey that way
* Whilk is now obsolete but may occur in literature. Whilk may

be replaced by whit.
**With the indefinite article added whiten becomes whitna
'what kind of a'.
Pronouns Adverbs
Place Time Manner or Case
Intero- wha? hou? why?
gative: why? whaur? whan? whit wey?
whit(en)? whit for?
Relative: why whaur whan hou , why,
whit whit wey,
whit for
Demon- this, that, here, thare, nou, than, this wey,
Strative: yon, thon yonder, yon time sae, that,
thonder yon wey
Yon (thon) and yonder (thonder) refer to things at a distance.
Wir Ain Leid
Hou? is often used to ask for a reason, as is why?
Hou did ye no speir at him? Hou no?

Why didn't you ask him? Why not?
Bide thare. Hou come ye teuk the job?

Stay there. Why did you take the job?
He wis weel whan A seen him. It's no that ill.

He was well when I saw him. It's not so bad.
Why wis ye no comin? Whaur ye gaun?

Why weren't you coming? Where are you going?
Whan did he come? A dinna think it.

When did he come? I don't think so.
Hou's aw wi ye? She wis that prood.

How do you do? She was so proud.
Gang ower yonder. Whit for? Whit wey no?

Go over there. For what reason? Why not?
A will that. Whit for no? A telt ye that.

I'll do so. Why not? I told yo so.
8 Many prepositions of place and time are used adverbially.
ablo below ahint behind

aboot about doun down
abuin above oot out
afore before up up
Adverbs of place.
aback behind here awa hereabouts

abeich aloof hyne awa far off
abreed abroad inby inside
212 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
aff off in ower inside

agley off the straight naur(haund) near, nearly
ajee awry naurby near, nearly
asteer astir onygate anyway
aside beside ootby outside
awa away, along oot ower across
awa aff leaving ower farther off
awa by at home,
off home owerby over the way
awgates everywhere somegate somewhere
ayont beyond. somewey somewhere
back back thare awa thereabouts
backarts backwards thare oot outside
by past thegither together
ewest near, close by whaur where
faur far whaur awa whereabouts
forrit forwards whaur e'er where ever
hame home yont along, through
haufgate(s) half-way
Och! Whaur awa gat ye that auld creukit penny?

Oh! Whereabouts did you get that crooked old penny?
She fuish in ower the bottle an pat doun the kebbock.

She brought over the bottle and put the cheese down.
He wrocht ootby. Oot ower her bed.

He worked out of doors. Out of her bed.
Come awa ben an gang but.

Come on into the inner room and go into the outer room.
The cooncil's schames gangs aft agley.

The council's plans often go wrong.
Sit yont a bittock. Shut tae the door.

Sit a bit farther along. Close the door.
Wir Ain Leid
A bide but an ben wi him.

He and I live together in the same house.
Here awa, thare awa, haud awa hame.

Hither, tither, make for home.
The'r no sic a thing here awa. Come inby.

There's no such thing hereabouts. Come indoors.
She's aboot again efter a spell o the haingles.

She's on the move again after having influenza.
A hae leukit awgates for't. A'll awa by.

I've looked everywhere for it. I'm going home.
Coud ye lay that by for me?

Is it possible to reserve that for me?
It'a a difficult horse tae keep in aboot.

it's a difficult horse to control.
He's awa aff. Haud oot ower.

He's leaving. Keep away.
He wis naurhaund deid. The'r naebody in.

He was nearly dead. There's no one in.
Lay in tae yer darg. Come in ower.

Commence your work. Come nearer.
Are ye comin yont the clachan?

Are you coming through the village?
A'm no throu yit. She wis telt richt oot.

I haven't finished yet. She was told outright.
He's no tae lippen til. He stays naurhaund.

214 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
He's not to be trusted. He lives nearby.
The'r nae dout aboot that. Back an forrit.

There's no expecting that. Backwards and forwards.
A'm awa for tae howk tatties. Gang awa hame.

I'm off in order to dig for potatoes. Go along home.
Dae ye ken gin the schuil's in?

Do you know if school's assembled?
Gang an cleek up wi thae childer.

Go and become friendly with those children.
She coud sair lay aff aboot horse.

She could sorely talk about horses.
Dinna ettle for tae slip awa. she wis awa wi't.
Don't try to leave quietly. She was off with it.
He's up aboot Buchan somewey.

He's somewhere in Buchan.
Can ye no haud yer bairn in aboot.

Can't you keep your child under control.
He wis awa frae the tattie howkin.

He was unable to dig for potatoes.
Ye war sair fair wabbit that ye sleepit in.

You were so tired that you overslept.
Dinna mak on ye can write.

Don't pretend you can write.
Hirsle yont.
Shuffle along to the other end.
Wir Ain Leid
He cam oot wi a frichtfu skelloch.

He uttered a frightful scream.
Dinna cast oot wi yer wee brither.

Don't quarrel with your little brother.
At lenth the bairn's won ower.

At last the baby has fallen asleep.
Dinna fash yersel it'll suin cast up.

Don't trouble yourself it will soon turn up.
The hail hoose wis throu ither.

The whole house was disorderly.
Is the kirk throu?

Is the church (service) finished?
9 Adverbs of time and number.
a wee a little while mony's the time often

a while sin some time ago ne'er never
ae day one day neist next
aft(en) often niver never
again again no aft seldom
ance once nou now
awa ago nous an thans now and then
aye always/still sin since
belyve soon suin soon
efter after syne then/ago
e'er ever till untill
faur back long ago than then
fernyear last year the nicht tonight
in a wee shortly, soon the nou at present
iver ever whan when
lang for long whiles sometimes
mony time many a time yit yet
216 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
yestreen yesterday
Auld lang syne. No the nou.

Long, long ago. Not just now.
Syne A gaed hame. Syne he cam ben.

Then I went home. Then he came in.
It's a lang while sin syne. He's aye til the fore.
It's a long time since then. He's still alive.
Whiles ay an whiles na.

Sometimes yes and sometimes no.
Aye wice ahint the haund. It's thritty year awa.

Always wise after the event. It's thirty years ago.
Ae day suin we'll gang oot thegither.

One day soon we'll go out together.
A hae seen that mony the time.

I've seen that often.
It's a gey lang while sin than.

It's a very long time since then.
He comes here whiles. No as iver A haurd onywey.

He comes here sometimes. Not that I ever heard at any rate.
A hiv etten that mony time. A'm aye warstlin on.

I've eaten that often. I'm still struggling on.
Ae time faur back A kent him. Bide a wee.

At one time long ago I knew him. Stay a little.
Auld lang syne we wis pals.

Long, long ago we were friends.
Wir Ain Leid
This mony a day he haes been late for his darg.

For many a day now, he has got to work late.
Ance on a day, a while sin, thare leeved three wee swine.

Once upon a time, some time ago, there lived three little pigs.
10 Adverbs of quantity, manner and degree.
a heap a great deal, like like, as it were,

very much probably
a thocht the least bit like eneuch likely, possibly,
enough
alike similar/same mebbe perhaps
ava at all muckle much
awthegither similarly ney an almost
belike probably, naur(haund) nearly, almost
perhaps
brawly finely, elegantly, onywey at least,
at any rate, anyhow
very well
clean absolutely, ower excessively, too
completely
e'en even richt right
eneuch enough somegate somehow, someway
even even that so, that
even on even, straight, throu done, finished
correct
fine very well, liken associate with
very much
juist just, really, maist almost
simply, truly
kin o somewhat, weel well
rather, thoroughly,
easily
Scots has a number of adverbs and expressions for the concept

of 'very', 'remarkably', 'thoroughly' etc.
218 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Verra, real, fell, unco, gey (an) and fou.
It's wirth twa poond onywey.

It's worth two pounds at any rate.
Ye hae pitten in ower muckle saut.

You have put in too much salt.
She's a wee thing daft. That's a thocht ower lang.

She's a little mad. That's the least bit too long.
A wis kin o (weys) feart like. A'm gey (an) thrang the nou.
I was somewhat afraid. I'm very busy just now.
Juist that. A ken him fine.

Just so. I know him well.
She wis muckle thocht o. Ye hae comed ower suin.

She was very well thought of. You've come too early.
That's guid eneuch. She's unco queer.

That's good enough. She's very eccentric.
That's nae guid ava (at aw). Are ye no throu yet.

That's no good at all. Haven't you finished yet.
He can dae't fine. A naurhaund cowpit.

He can do it easily. I nearly overturned.
He's a fell guid meenister.

He's a remarkably good clergyman.
She's a hantle sicht better. A wis hindert a wee thing.

She's much better. I was a little delayed.
A'm no verra weel like, the day.

Wir Ain Leid
I'm not very well, as it were, today.
He cam a heap aboot Enster. A wis that feart.

He often came to Anstruther. I was so scared.
A kent him brawly. She juist gabbert even on.

I knew him very well. She simply jabbered incessantly.
It gangs even throu. Like eneuch A'll be thare.

It goes straight through. I shall very likely be there.
Ma horse is fell weel comed in nou.

My horse is thoroughly well trained now.
11 Other adverbs and adverbial expressions are.
a maiter o as much as lat be leave alone

abee as it is alone lief(er) rather
aff-luif off-hand lood oot aloud
ance eerant specially for mair by taiken more over
that alone
alowe alight, on fire mebbe may be, perhaps
an aw that and all that nae dout no doubt,
sort of thing doubtless
an that and so on, naither however
etcetera
an aw also, ower over
as well, too
at ane mair at the last by wi't past with it,
push as good as dead
atweel in any case still an on nevertheless
aw weys in every way suiner sooner, rather
but only somewey somehow or
other
by wi't done for, that wey in that way,
as good as dead like that
byordinar extraordinarily the conter on the contrary
deed indeed, the lenth o as far as
220 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
to be sure
eent indeed the wey o't how it goes
ense else tho though, indeed
for aw that notwithstanding, throu over,
completed all the same
forby besides throu ither anyhow,
in confusion
furrin abroad weel-a-whit certainly
(foreign)
hail on steadily, housomeiver however
right along
Note the use of sae and as.
The fish wis sae lang as ma airm.

The fish was as long as my arm.
Thae pease is byordinar fine.

Those peas are extraordinarily fine.
We gaed hame sae as tae ceuk the denner.

We went home in order to cook dinner.
Milkin kye an aw that.

Milking cows and all that sort of thing.
Is he gaun furrin? He is eent.

Is he going abroad? He is indeed.
The rin awa bairns gat the lenth o the burn.

The runaway children got as far as the stream.
He gaed awa a maiter o twinty poond in ma det.

He left with as much as twenty pounds in my debt.
She's his auntie somewey.

She's his aunt somehow or other.
Wir Ain Leid
Dinna gang ance eerant. Wis it tho?

Don't go for that alone. Was it indeed?
It's no milk naither. The lum's alowe.

It's not milk however. The chimney is on fire.
A'd as lief bide at hame. He brocht his sin an aw.

I'd rather stay at home. He brought his son too.
Mebbe ay, Mebbe na. He's by wi't.

Perhaps yes, perhaps no. He's past recovery.
Deed ay! It wisna that wey ava.

Yes indeed ! It wasn't like that at all.
A wad suiner gang hame. Read it lood oot.

I would rather go home. Read it aloud.
An mony mair forby.

And many more besides.
His time wis throu. Lat's abee.

His time was over. Leave me (us) alone.
In Scots the word anely has an affirmative sense.
It's anely five mile tae Glesgae - Ay but it's up the brae.
It's only five miles to Glasgow - No but it's uphill.
In English 'only' has a negative sense thus the answer : 'No (of
course) but it's uphill'.
12 Negative adverbs.
Negative adverbs are:
no not ne'er never

222 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
no at aw not at all niver never

no ava not at all nae gate nowhere
nane none no aft rarely, seldom
naetheless nevertheless
No often combines with the comparatives sae (so) and that (so).
She's no sae gyte as ye think. He's no that ill.

She is not as mad as you think. He is not so ill.
It's no aft sae wairm. I canna find him nae gate.

It is rarely so warm. I can't find him anywhere.
Thare is something no that cannie aboot thon horse.

There is something not so safe about that horse.
Single syllable verbs and adverbs used to be negated by affixing

na or nae.
A carena a tait. He kensna whaur she is.

A amna duin yet. He'll carena a tait.

These are now usually replaced with modal verb forms or no.
A dinna care a tait. He disna ken whaur she is.

A'm no duin yet. He'll no care a tait.

Double negatives are very common.
No nae ither thing. She haedna nane naither.

Nothing else. Besides she hadn't any.
Wir Ain Leid
A niver eats nae beef. A haena seen her nae gate.

I never eat any beef. I haven't seen her anywhere.
A dinna care aboot nane o't.

I don't care for any of it.
A dinna tak nae mair nor a gless.

I don't take more than a glass.
He's no nae waur.

He's no worse.
She haedna nane naither.

She hadn't any either.
The'r no nae time at nicht.

There's no time at night.
The horns niver gits nae size.

The horns never get to any size.
A'm no gaun tae gie ye naething.

I'm not going to give you anything.
The'r nae sic a thing nae place nou.

There's no such thing anywhere
now.
Thare niver wis naething like it.

There never was anything like it.
Ye canna lippen on him wi naething.

You can't trust him about anything.
A niver haurd it get naething else.

I never heard it called anything else.
224 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
13 Comparison of adverbs.
Adverbs form their comparative and superlative in the same way

as adjectives. See under adjective comparisons (p.166).
Wir Ain Leid
Prepositions
Prepositions are words that are used before pronouns, nouns or

their equivalents to express position, movement or circumstance
etc. relative to or affecting them.
1 Prepositions of position and movement.
ablo below fornen(s)t in front of, facing

aboot about frae (fae) from
abuin above in* in
aff off in ower inside
aff o away from, by intae, intilinto, inside
afore before, in front of naur(haund) near
agin against o of
agley off line on on / upon
ahint behind oot out
alang along oot o out of
alenth along ootby outside
amang among oot on out of
aneath beneath oot ower outside, across,
anent concerning, beyond
opposite oot unner from under
aside beside ootwi outside of, beyond
at at ower over, across
athin within roond round
athort across, over roond aboot around
athoot without throu through
atween between tae**, til to
atweesh between till untill
awa away unner under
ayont beyond up up
by by, beside wi with
doun down wioot outside
efter after yont along
endlang along
for for
226 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
**In colloquial speech in is often shortened to i' before

consonants and is often written as such.
Particular syntax and idiom are connected to many prepositions.
Uses of aboot.
The tither's no bad but thay're aboot it.

The other's not bad but they're about the same.
Aboot Brochty.
In the neighbourhood of Broughty Ferry.
Tak yer auld plaid aboot ye.

Take your old plaid around you.
Come in aboot the hoose. He gaed aboot the pairk.

Come into the house. He went around the field.
Uses of aff.
Aff often expresses the source of something.
The lad wisna wantin baten aff that man.

The boy didn't want to be beaten by that man.
He wis fashin hissel aff you.

He was worrying himself because of you.
He teuk the coat aff me.

He took my coat away from me.
A gat the breid aff ma mither. A teuk it aff him.

I got the bread from mother. I took it from him.
Scots uses o (of) where English omits it.

Wir Ain Leid
Tak thon joug aff o the tap bink. A bit collop aff o the sou.
Take that jug off the top shelf. A small cut from the pig.
Scots uses amang (among) where English uses 'in'.
He wrocht ootby amang the rain.

He worked outside in the rain.
Ower the muir amang the heather.

Over the moor in the heather.
The bairns wis oot amang the snaw.

The children were out in the snow.
She tint her gowd ring amang the saund.

She lost her gold ring in the sand.
Uses of at.
Angry at him. Whit are ye at?

Angry with him. What do you mean?
A canna come at a name for't.

I can't think of a name for it.
She lat at him athoot lissins.

She attacked him without respite.
Ye can tak the grue at her.

You may become disgusted with her.
She speirt at me anent ma wark.

She asked me about my work.
That drunken man wantit tae lay at me.

That drunkard wanted to strike me.
228 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
A need tae speir at ye hou ye war late.

I must ask you why you were late.
Thay war aye at me anent it.

They were always talking to me about it.
We are haen a gemme at the rummy

We are having a game of rummy.
The train cam in aboot fower at een.

The train arrived at approximately four in the evening.
Uses of awa.
He wun awa hame. The boat wis awa wi't.

He slipped off home. The boat was done for.
The auld man wis awa wi't. Weel, that's awa wi't.
The old man was dead. Well, that's it lost.
Uses of back.
Back
i.e. towards the back.
Back the close.

In the entrance, back from the street.
Uses of by.
He wis by himsel. She's auld by me.

He was off his head. She's older than me.
A'll tak thaim aw by that ane.

I'll take them all except that one.
Thae aiples is by thair best.

Wir Ain Leid
Those apples are past their best.
By the glesses. A cam by the wey o Perth.

Beside the glasses. I came via Perth.
A ken nocht waur by her.

know nothing worse about her.
We haed ither kins by thae.

We had other kinds besides those.
The beuk wis written by Shuggie Broun.

The book was written by Hugh Brown.
Thare's juist twa fowk steyin here by masel.

There's only two people living here besides me.
Dinna fash yersel lass, thare's mony by him.

Don't trouble yourself girl, there are others besides him.
Uses of but and ben.
ben indicates movement into the inner room.
Gang ben the hoose. Come ben the hoose.

Go into the inner room. Come in (to) the house.
but indicates movement into the outer room.
It's but the hoose.

It's in the outer room (kitchen).
Scots omits 'to' after doun (down) where English retains it.
A'm gaun doun the shops.

I'm going down to the shops.
Doun the hoose.

230 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
In the best room.
Doun the watter.

Down (along) the river.
Uses of efter.
Whit ye efter? He ran efter the dug.

What do you want? He ran after the dog.
Chap an aks efter her. It's ten efter twal.

Knock (in order) to ask for her. It's ten past twelve.
Uses of for.
He winna taigle for fear o missin the bus.

He won't dawdle in order to avoid missing the bus.
A'm no feart for you, ony wey.

I'm not scared of you, at any rate.
Tell Jock A wis speirin for him.

Give my regards to Jock.
It's no for ony uiss. It's for nae mainer o uiss.

It's not of any use. It's of no use.
A winna kneel doun for fylin ma breeks.

I won't kneel down for fear of dirtying my trousers.
Shoud we gang roond an caw for wir pals?

Shall we go round and call on our friends?
A'm for a cauld ale. Whit ye for?

I'd like a cold ale. What would you like?
Tell yer brither A wis aksin for him.

Wir Ain Leid
Tell your brother I was asking after his health.
Thir horse is gaun daft for watter.

These horses are going mad for want of water.
It's makkin for snaw. A wis stairvin for hunger.

It looks like it's about to snow. I was starving of hunger.
Will ye no speir for her? A cam for tae see ye.

Won't you ask after her? I came to see you.
A will speir for her haund.

I shall ask for her hand in marriage.
Uses of frae (fae).
Frae is a literary form - fae being common in speech, except in

South West Central Scots and Southern Scots where it is
pronounced thrae.
Frae often expresses cause.
The auld carle dee'd frae the cauld.

The old man died of the cold.
A'm no feart frae speeders.

I'm not scared of spiders.
A'm gaun tae git kilt frae ma faes.

I'm going to get killed by my enemies.
Other uses.
A hae been pitten frae that thochtie.

I've been put off that idea.
Ma sister wis skelpit frae the teacher.

My sister was slapped by the teacher.
232 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Whaur d'ye come frae? He's awa frae his wark.

Where do you come from? He's unable to work.
That's different frae this.

That is different than this.
Uses of in.
With verbs of movement Scots omits 'to' after in where English

retains it.
In colloquial speech in is often shortened to i before consonants,
many writers also use this form.
She ran in the hoose. A gat it in a praisent.

She ran into the house. I got it as a present.
Lay yer luif in mines lass.

Lay your palm in mine girl.
She didna want ither fowk tae hear sae she said it in til hersel.
She didn't want other people to hear so she whispered.
Uses of o.
A'm the better o that. He's the waur o drink.

I'm the better for that. He's worse for drink.
Tak a swatch o this. Can ye mynd o wha't wis?

Take a critical look at this. Can you remember who it was?
He wisna blythe o wir meetin John.

He wasn't pleased with us meeting John.
The bairns is awfu crouse o the Yuil.

The children are exited over Christmas.
Wir Ain Leid
Gie's a read o yer beuk. A'm bored o this beuk.

Lend me your book. I'm bored with this book.
We canna mak a better o't A daur say.

I suppose we can't improve on it.
Nane the better o yer speirin.

None the better for your asking.
The gorblin wis in o its nest.

The fledgling was inside its nest.
Thare's a queer thing o that lassie.

There's a strange thing about that girl.
Efter aw thon ettle ye'd be better o a rest.

After all that endeavour you'd be better for a rest.
Maugre o his sair fit he traipsed til the shops.

In spite of his sore foot he trudged to the shops.
Uses of on.
Shoot on him afore he gangs.

Shout to him before he goes.
Hou lang maun A wait on thon train?

How long must I wait for that train?
Think on whaur she is. Waitin on a bus.

Think about where she is. Waiting for a bus.
She's sair on her shuin. She's mairit on ma brither.

She mistreats her shoes. She's married to my brother.
A waitit an oor on him. Can ye no mak up on him?

I waited an hour for him. Can't you overtake him?
234 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Dinna mak on ye can write.

Don't pretend that you can write.
Can ye no mynd on thon chield?

Can't you remember about that fellow?
Cry on Willie tae come ower.

Call William to come over.
A wadna lippen on Scotrail.

I wouldn't depend on Scotrail.
She wis fair on me efter A duntit her caur.

She was fair to me after I hit her car.
Ma guid-sir gaed on a stick.

My grandfather went supported by a stick.
He did it on himsel.
He did it on his own account
Lief is me on thon braw lassie.

I am fond of that beautiful girl.
Whaur'd ye faw on thon auld plaid.

Where did you discover that old plaid.
A happent tae faw on Hamish in the toun.

I happened to meet Hamish by chance in town.
Ye winna can mak muckle on't.

You won't be able to make much of it.
Cry on Tam for tae come here.

Call to Tom to come here.
Ye aye yoke on the prentice.

Wir Ain Leid
You always find fault with the apprentice.
Mony lees is made on thon auld limmer.

Many lies are told about that old slag.
Uses of oot.
Scots omits o (of) after oot (out) where English retains it.
The schuil wis oot. He teuk the thochtie oot a beuk.

School was finished. He took the idea from a book.
We cam oot the shop an gaed ower the brig.

We came out of the shop and went across the bridge.
Can ye redd oot whit ye war daein in the wids?

Can you explain what you were doing in the woods?
Jurnalists speirs oot the wittins thay're efter.

Journalists track down the information they are after.
Uses of ower.
The wife hit me ower the heid.

My wife hit me on the head.
She wis taen in ower by the swick.

She was deceived by the swindler.
A spak til him ower the phone.

I spoke to him by telephone.
Ye canna tak in ower sicna mensefu chield.

You can't deceive such a sensible fellow.
Whan ye're auld it's haurd tae faw ower.

When you're old it's hard to fall asleep.
236 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
A coudna come ower siclike wirds afore a leddy.

I couldn't repeat such words in front of a lady.
The bairn haed thrawn the baw ower the windae.

The baby had thrown the ball out of the window.
Dae A hae tae threap ower ye aw the time?

Do I have to insist all the time?
Tae is used with the infinitive (in the mood that expresses, the
verbal idea without reference to person, number or time). Til is
usually used before nouns, with the definite or indefinite article
and in Central and Southern Scots usually before words that
begin with a vowel or the letter h.
The infinitive marker, for tae, used with verbs (p.190), means 'in
order to'.
He cam for tae eat his denner. A gaed for tae git it.
He came to eat his dinner. I went to get it.
Ye'll come for tae mak up a gemme.

You'll come to make up a game.
He ettelt for tae gang. Thay aw gaed for tae see't.

He meant to go. They all went to see it.
The war room for tae git yer haund in.

There was a space to get in your hand.
Scots omits tae as a sign of the infinitive where English retains it.
He kens better nor say siclike.

He knows better than to say suchlike.
Did ye write him?

Did you write to him?
Wir Ain Leid
Other uses of tae and til.
A telt her tae dae that. A telt her tae dicht the bink.
I told her to do that. I told her to wipe the shelf.
Ma mither shewed it tae me.

My mother sewed it for me.
Leuk tae thon bonnie pictur.

Look at that pretty picture.
Ma faither's a jyner tae tred.

My father is a joiner by trade.
She haed a bairn tae ma cuisin.

She had a baby with my cousin.
A spak til him ower the phone.

I spoke to him by telephone.
A'm juist a puir man tae you.

I'm a poor man compared with you.
A telt it til her. She wis dochter tae the Shirra.

I told it to her. She was the Sherrif's daughter.
The meenister gaed awa til the kirk.

The minister went off to church.
Dauvit wrocht tae Mr. Gourlay.

David worked for Mr. Gourlay.
Naur til his dochter. Can ye hear til the laverock?

Near to his daughter. Can you hear the lark?
No tae whit it ance wis.

Not in comparison with what it once was.
238 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
A maun leuk gin thare's a bit post tae him.

I must check if there's some mail for him.
A'm gaun tae hae a fried egg tae ma tea.

I'm going to have a fried egg for tea.
He cam til a hoose amang thae braes.

He came to a house in those hills.
Uses of throu.
Send that paircel throu the post.

Send that parcel by post.
We gaed throu auld times thegither.

We talked about old times together.
A wis waukrif an gat up throu the nicht.

I was wakeful and got up during the night.
Uses of up.
Scots omits 'to' after up where English retains it.
Are ye gaun up the braeheid?

Are you going up to the hilltop?
Are ye gaun tae redd up yer accoont?

Are you going to settle your account?
Coud ye redd up ma carburettor?

Could you adjust my carburettor?
Uses of wi.
A didna speak wi him. He cam wi a fremmit chield.

I didn't speak to him. He came with a strange fellow.
Wir Ain Leid
Scots uses wi where English uses 'by' or to express cause.
The aits wis etten wi the mice. She'll gang wi the bus.
The oats were eaten by the mice. She'll go by bus.
It wis thair weans that gat battert wi some ither weans.

It was their children who got battered by some other children.
She wis rin ower wi a bus forenent the hoose.

She was run over by a bus in front of her house.
We misst the bus wi sleepin in.

We missed the bus because we overslept.
She wis gey pitten on wi the wey ye dresst.

She was impressed by the way you dressed.
The wind's sae snell ye coud dee wi cauld.

The wind is so severe you could die of cold.
The bairn coudna git sleepit wi the lichtnin.

The child couldn't sleep owing to the lightning.
The polis wis set on wi a muckle dug.

The policeman was attacked by a large dog.
Other uses of wi.
She's gaun tae mairy wi ma brither.

She's going to marry my brother.
A wrocht wi him fower year.

I worked for four years for him.
Tak tent nou - dinna faw wi bairn!

Take care now - don't get pregnant!
240 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Other particular usages of prepositions are.
A s' write the provost anent thae ongauns.

I will write to the mayor concerning those going-ons.
Sit intil the ingle. He stuid afore the door.

Sit nearer the fire. He stood in front of the door.
Gang up the brae an ower the tap an ye're abuin the toun.
Go up the hill and over the top and you are above the town.
The new causey wisna athin the schame.

The new causeway wasn't within the plan.
He bides oot ower the mains ower bi the heuch.

He lives beyond the home farm over the way from the quarry.
Thare's nae luve tint atween thae twa.

There's no love lost between those two.
He stuid atweesh the door an the winnock.

He stood between the door and the window.
The dug's aneath the buird. Anent the kirk.

The dog is under the table. Opposite the church.
Sae mony traivelers gaun back an forrit athort the kintra.

So many travellers going to and fro across the country.
Dinna lea' yer gear liggin athort the hoose.

Don't leave your belongings lying all over the house.
Thay war sittin aside ither. He wrocht ayont the brae.

They were sitting side by side. He worked beyond the hill.
Throu the yett an endlang the pad.

Through the gate and along the path.
Wir Ain Leid
The birks aside the burn.

The birches beside the stream.
The troot soumed alang the shallaes.

The trout swam along the shallows.
A winna gang in ower her door.

I won't go inside her door.
A niver pit a fit intil't. Juist athin the door.

I never put a foot inside it. Just inside the door.
At lang an last the law gaed agin him.

At long last the law acted against him.
Keek oot ower the door yont the road.

Peep outside the door along the road.
A winna gang in ower her door. The cycle's agin the waw.
I won't go inside her door. The bicycle is against the wall.
He's appearin anent the juidge the morn.

He's appearing before the judge tomorrow.
A rin anent her doun the brae.

I ran along side her down the slope.
She fell agin the bink. He turnt anent her.

She fell against the bench. He turned to face her.
2 Prepositions of time.
aboot about frae (fae) from

afore before gin by, before
at at in in
athin within naur near
atween between or* till, before
242 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
by by sin since, ago

efter after syne since (the time of), ago
*Not to be confused with the conjunction or (or).
Be hame by twal. A'll be hame afore ye.

Be home by twelve. I'll be home before you.
Hit's aboot ten efter aicht. It's gey naur the twal o nicht.
It's about ten past eight. It's nearly midnight.
Whit time's the dance at?

When does the dance begin?
A biggit the waw or denner time.

I built the wall before dinner time.
It'll tak atween twinty an thritty meenit langer.

It'll take between twenty and thirty minutes longer.
Can ye come athin the neist oor?

Can you come within the next hour?
The train gaed elieven meenit syne.

The train left eleven minutes ago.
The bus'll gang in aboot sax meenit.

The bus will leave in approximately six minutes.
The lectur stairts in twal meenit.

The lecture starts in twelve minutes.
3 Other prepositions are:
by / tae in comparison with maugre in spite of,

despite
Wir Ain Leid
binna except / unless o of

but without / except wantin short of/lacking
for for wi with
forby besides wioot without
like like
He's auld by me. It brunt lik mad.

He's older than me. It burned furiously.
But care or pain. Aicht score o sheep.

Without care or pain. Eight score of sheep.
A man wantin a leg. Gang oot maugre o the rain.

A man short of a leg. Go out in spite of the rain.

You're either everything or nothing to him.
He'll lear hou tae dae't, maugre o his sair haund.

He'll learn how to do it, despite his sore hand.
Thare wis naebody forby masel in the wids.

There was no one besides me in the woods.
No tae whit it ance wis.

Not in comparison with what it once was.
A hae nae horse binna ma cuddie an wee Donald.

I have no horses besides my donkey and little Donald.
4 Prepositions in colloquial speech.
The forms o the, in the, at the and on the are often shortened to
ee. Tae the is often shortened to tee. Wi the is often shortened
to wee. By the is often shortened to bee and tae shortened to
ae.
The heid ee toun. At the back ee kirk.

244 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
The highest part of town. At the back of the church.
Ee gloamin. Ee morn. Ee back end ee year

In the twilight. In the morning. At the end of the year.
Ee muckle hoose. Twice ee day.

In the mansion house. Twice a (in the) day.
A haena been ee toun yit. Thay wis rowin ee fluir.

I haven't been into town yet. They were rolling on the floor.
A skelp ee lug. Ee conter.

A slap on the ear. On the contrary.
He bides ee ither side o Crief.

He stays on the other side of Crief.
It fell oot his haund ee fluir.

It fell out of his hand on to the floor.
He wis in tee craig. Tae sowp wee deil.

He was up to the neck (in it). To drink with the devil.
A'm no gaunae dae't. A'm gaunae gie ye something.

I'm not going to do it. I'm going to give you something.
Ye hae the wrang sou bee lug.

You have the wrong pig by the ear.
A'm gaun awa tee wall for watter.

I'm going along to the well for water.
5 Relative clauses
In the sentence:
The wifie that coft the maumie grosets wis wankent.

Wir Ain Leid
The woman who bought the ripe gooseberries was unknown.
The clause 'that coft the maumie grosets' provides information

relative to the 'wifie'. These are usually introduced by the relative
pronoun that (p.156).
Prepositions occur only at the end of relative clauses and are

frequently omitted.
The mercat staund (that) A bocht it (frae).

The market stall from which I bought it.
At the wall's a raip (that) ye can pou the bucket back up (wi).
At the well is a rope with which you can pull the pale back up.
A haena been til a dance yit that A haena gotten hame (frae)
the sel same nicht.
I haven't been to a dance yet from which I haven't got home
The same night.
246 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words that connect sentences, clauses and words.
1 Many common adverbs and prepositions are also used as

conjunctions.
afore before tae / til to

efter after whan when, while
frae (fae) from the time that whaur where
hou how, why whit wey why
Frae is a literary form - fae being common in speech, except in

South West Central Scots and Southern Scots where it is
pronounced thrae.
Frae it waukens the bairn is greetin.

The child is crying from the time that it awakes.
He's duin nocht but eat frae he gaed in.

He's done nothing but eat since he went in.
2 Other conjunctions are:
aither either naither neither

(a)cause because nor than
an and or ere, before, until,
as as / than or**
baith both sae so
by in comparison with, sin since
besides, than syne then, since
binna unless, except (from the time that)
but but, except, without that that
cep except, unless tho though
for for, notwithstanding tae until
that whan while
Wir Ain Leid
for fear lest wioot except, unless

gif* if, whether yit yet
gin if, whether
*Note gif is now obsolete and is usually a literary form.

**Note or meaning 'ere', 'before' and 'until' is a different word
than or meaning 'or'.
Ye are auld by me. He haes mair nor A thocht.

You're older than me. He has more than I thought.
Ye'll see't or lang. Cause a wisna bidden.

You'll see it before long. Because I wasn't invited.
Bide here or A retour. Wheesht or ense A'll belt ye.

Wait here until I return. Be quiet or else I'll hit you.
Och, gin thay war awa. An ance wir wames is fou.

Oh, if only they were gone. If for once our stomachs are full.
Ye are white but whaur ye are beld.

You're white except where you are bald.
Gif Jimmie says it's weel it's weel.

If Jimmy says it is well it is well.
Awbody but ma freends cam.

Everyone except my friends came.
Ye'll be droukit or ye win hame.

You'll be soaked before you get home.
Shoud A tak this ane or that ane?

Should I take this one or that one?
A didna ken gif he wad come or no.

I didn't know whether or not he would come.
248 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Whit will A dae gin ma caur winna stairt?

What shall I do if my car won't start?
Ye'll no git ben binna ye weir yer kirk-claes.

You'll not get in unless you wear your best clothes.
He wis auld sin A mynd.

He's been an old man as long as I can remember.
Siller's rife nou by't wis in oor day.

Money is plentiful now compared with what is was in our day.
Thare wis mair as sieven hunder fowk come til the gaitherin.
More than seven hundred people had come to the gathering.
3 Note the use of an (and) + a verb in infinitive phrases. Infinitive -

in the mood that expresses, the verbal idea without reference to
person, number or time.
Ettle an mend the gairden yett by the morn.

Try to repair the garden gate by tomorrow.
Mynd an bring her back afore twal.

Remember to bring her back before twelve.
She canna mynd an dae whit she's telt.

She can't remember to do what she's told.
4 An (and) is used to introduce verbless subordinate clauses

(cannot function as sentences in their own right, but perform an
adjectival, adverbial or nominal function) that express surprise or
indignation.
He haed tae heeze aw thae pallets an him wi his sair airm.

He had to hoist all those pallets. Him having a sore arm.
She haed tae daunder fower mile an her aicht month biggen.
Wir Ain Leid
She had to wander for four miles. Being eight months

pregnant.
250 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Greetings
1 The various dialects have their expressions for 'how do you do?'
Hou's aw wi ye? Hou's yer dous?

How is everything with you? How are your pigeons?
Hou d'ye fend? (South West) Whit fettle? (Borders)

How are you managing? What state (are you in)?
Hou ye lestin? (Borders) Whit like? (North East)

How are you lasting? What (are things) like?
Whit wey are ye? (Ulster)

How are you?
To these may be answered:
Brawly - Thank ye. No bad conseederin. A canna compleen.

Nicely - Thank you. Not bad considering. I can't complain.
Hingin by a threid. A hae been waur. Sae faw ye.

Just managing. I've been worse. Same to you.
2 Guests who are in a hurry and often unwilling to take a seat are
often told.
It's sae cheap sittin as staundin.

It is as cheap sitting as standing.
3 In Pubs or other places where people gather a common invitation

to join in is.
Come intil the body o the kirk.

Join the company.
Wir Ain Leid
4 When parting.
Haste ye back.
Return soon.
5 Newlyweds are often greeted with.
Happy fit.
Refers to the custom of 'fit washin', washing the feet of the bride
or bridegroom the night before the wedding.
6 At the new year or when moving into a new house.
Lang mey yer lum reek.

Live long and happily.
Mey the best ye hae iver seen be the warst ye'll iver see.
May the best you have ever seen be the worst you will ever
see.
Mey the moose ne'er lea' yer girnal wi the tear drap in its ee.
May the mouse never leave your grain store with a tear drop in
Its eye.
Mey ye aye keep hail an herty till ye're auld eneuch tae dee.
May you always stay whole and hearty until you are old
enough to die.
Mey ye aye juist be sae happy as A wiss ye aye tae be.

May you still be as happy as I always wish you to be.
7 When writing letters the usual form of address is Ma freend, Ma

fere or Guid billie corresponding to the English Dear. Formal
letters begin with Guid Sir, Guid Mr. (Maister) or Mem (Madam)
corresponding to the English Dear.
Other terms of address are:

252 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Miss Miss Maister Mister

Dame Lady Chield Gentleman or fellow
Mistress Misses Guidman Husband or
male head of household
Sir Sir Guidwife Female head of household
Letters may be ended with the following:
Formal Informal
Aefauldly Sincerely Fair faw Best/good wishes
Yours aye faithfully cheery-bye Goodbye for now
Fare ye weel Farewell See ye efter See you later
Wrong use of 'fair faw ye' for 'walcome' on a sign in Ulster.
Wir Ain Leid
Days, Months and Holidays
1 The days of the week and months of the year are:
Monanday Monday Januar January

Tysday Tuesday Februar February
Wadensday Wednesday Mairch March
Fuirsday Thursday Apryle April
Friday Friday Mey May
Seturday Saturday Juin June
Saubath Sabbath Julie July
Sunday Sunday Augist August
September September
October October
November November
Dizember December
Come roond Seturday first.

Come round next Saturday.
A canna - hou aboot Seturday neist?

I can't - how about next Saturday but one?
2 The important festivals and holidays are:
Ne'er's day New year's day Beltane Mayday

Handsel 1st Monday of Whitsunday Whitsun
Monanday new year
Burns nicht 25th January Lammas 1st August
Caunlemas Candlemas Michelmas Michaelmas
Bannock nicht Shrove Tuesday Hallae een Hallowe'en
Fastern's een Shrove Tuesday Mairtinmas Martinmas
Ess Wadensday Ash Wednesday Sowans nicht Christmas eve
Pace Easter Yuil Christmas, Yule
Hunt the gowk April fools day Hogmanay New year's eve
254 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Aspects of Colloquial Speech
1 Tags.
Tags are added to questions in order to prompt the person

spoken to, to agree with the speaker's statement. In requests,
tags ask the person spoken to, to agree with and act on the
speaker's request. Tag questions.
Did ye stairt tae jouk the schuil, did ye?

Did you start to play truant, did you?
Are ye aye at the scaffie's yaird, are ye?

Are you still working at the rubbish dump, are you?
Ye hivna juist haed yer teeth oot, hiv ye?

Have you just had your teeth removed, have you?
Is Shona hame, is she?

Is Shona at home, is she?
The negative tag usually contains no, it indicates that the person
speaking expects a positive response.
Jimmie haes gane, haes he no?

Jimmy has gone, hasn't he?
Fiona can soum, can she no?

Fiona can swim, can't she?
Jock will gie't ye, will he no?

Jock will give you it, won't he?
The tag eh is often added to questions and requests.
Lat me pit ma coat on eh? It's no ower muckle, eh?

Wir Ain Leid
Let me put my coat on, won't you? It's not too big, is it?
We ken him gey an weel nou, eh?

We know him quite well now, don't we?
Ye are takkin her til the picturs, eh no?

You're taking her to the cinema, aren't you?
Pit the kist doun thare eh?

Put the chest down there, won't you?
Be guid tae ma dochter eh?

Be good to my daughter, won't you?
Other frequently used tags are:
Ye dinna gang for that kin o lassie, na?

You don't go for that sort of girl, no?
Ye telt her anent it, ay?

You told her about it, yes?
He's no ettlin tae tak aw o't, no really?

He's not trying to take all of it, not really?
A'll be wi ye Monanday, richt?

I shall be with you on Monday, right?
Ye're no mynt tae win hame in this wather, shuirly?

You aren't intending to reach home in this weather, surely?
Great confidence is expressed by speakers who use the tags eh

or shuir at the beginning of a statement. This invites the person
spoken to, to confirm the speaker's expectation, producing in
effect a tag question.
Shuir the Pape's Catholic?

Of course the Pope is a Catholic?
256 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Eh Kairien's bairn's a laddie?

Of course Kairien's baby is a boy?
2 Focusing devices are used to introduce items into the

conversation or to give prominence to items which the person
speaking wishes to introduce into the conversation. The most
frequently used words for these purposes are see, ken and like.
...see thae auld hooses, ma faither bug ane.

...see those old houses, my father built one.
...see you pal, gin ye dae that again A'll dunt ye!
...see you chum, if you do that again I'll thump you!
...ken Morag, she juist wadna dae't.

...know Morag, she just wouldn't do it.
A gaed doun the toun like, an the polis...

I went down town, and the police...
It wis, weel, like fower year sin A seen him.

It was, well, four years since I saw him.
He haes his dug like, gies him company.

He has his dog , it keeps him company.
...She's in the infirmary, ken, tae hae a neir transplauntit.

...she's in the hospital, you know, to have a kidney
transplanted.
3 Interjections.
The summoning interjection is Hey or haw.
Hey, you wi the reid heid!

Hey, you with the red hair!
Wir Ain Leid
Haw, whaur d'ye think ye're gaun?

Hey, where do you think you are going?
Some of the common assertive interjections are:
atweel indeed ma certes my, certainly

bi fegs by faith, truly mynd ye mind you
certes certainly Nyod God
deed indeed wheesht silence
haud on stop whowe wow
Some of the commonest interjections of surprise and

astonishment are:
Bletheration nonsense hech heh

crivens Christ defend us losh Lord save us
fegs faith megstie me mighty God
haivers nonsense niver impossible
Some of the interjections used to express disgust are:
dozen't. feech, feuch.

confound it. fie.
Impatience is often expressed using the interjection och.

Troubles or worry are often expressed by using the interjections
och, hoot and s'truith = God's truth.
Resignation or submission to something that can't be avoided
may be expressed with aweel = Oh well!
Assent is often expressed using weel-a-weel = Well oh well.
Sympathy and sorrow are often expressed by using the following
interjections.
ochone nounae! nounae!

woe is me! now then!
258 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Idioms
Idioms are distinctive expressions peculiar to a language whose

meaning is not always determinable from their individual words.
Scots is especially rich in such expressions.
A bonnie fechter. A game chicken.

A cadger's curse. A worthless thing.
A fiddler's biddin. A last-minute invitation.
A kent face. An acquaintance.
A new tout on an auld horn. Old hat.
A tee'd baw. A success from the start.
A thocht shame tae be seen I was ashamed to be seen with
wi him. him.
A tulchan. A stuffed shirt.
A wad liefer dae this as that. I would rather do this than that.
A'll gar ye claw whaur it's no I'll give you what for.
yeukie.
A'll see day aboot wi ye. I'll be even with you.
A'm no that faur ben wi him. I'm not so familiar with him.
A s' warrand. I'll bet, I'll be bound.
Abuin yer feet. Beyond one's means.
Aff the fang. Not in the mood.
Aff the gleg. Off the mark.
Ahint the haund. In arrears, after the event.
Are ye throu? Are you finished?
Are you takkin me on? (tak on) Are you pulling my leg?
As weel suin as syne. The sooner the better.
At the hinder end. In the long run.
Atween the wind an the waw. In dire poverty.
Auld claes an parritch. Routine.
Auld in the horn. Astute.
Aw ae oo. All the same, birds of a feather.
Aw yer pith. With all one's energy.
Aw the airts. All localities or directions.
Awa tae fremd. Gone away from home.
Wir Ain Leid
Awbody's body. A sycophant, a sail trimmer.

Aks a blissin. Say grace.
Aye til the fore. Still be around (alive).
Be at ae wird. Stick to one's word.
Be at the knag and the widdie. Be at loggerheads.
Be at twa. Be at variance.
Be daein wi't. Be content with it.
Be in the wey o. Be in the habit of.
Beck an bou. Curry favour.
Better sin as syne. Better sooner than later.
Bi his wey o't. According to him.
Birl the wilkies. Turn somersault.
Bou yer hoch. Sit down.
Caw yer gird. Do one's thing.
Cadgers is aye crackin Always talking shop.
on creuk saidles.
Cauf kintra. Native district.
Caw cannie. Proceed carefully.
Caw the crack. Chat.
Chowk for jowl. Side by side.
Cleek in wi. Associate with.
Cock the wee finger. Have a tipple (drink).
Come (back) wi the blind Return only after a long time.
cairier.
Cowp somebody's hurl. Upset someone's plans.
Crap an ruit. Entirely.
Creep in / oot. Shortening / lengthening of
daylight.
Creash the luif. bribe.
Crouse in the craw. Confident in speech.
Cry barley fummle. Ask for a truce.
Dance yer lane. Jump for joy.
Dee a fair strae daith. Die a natural death.
Dort at... Over nurse.
Doun the stank. Down the drain.
Dree yer weird. suffer one's fate.
Droun the miller. Put too much water in the
whisky.
260 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Faw oot on... loose ones temper with...

Feel black affrontit. Feel deeply ashamed.
Flee laich. be unambitious.
Flee laich, flee lang. Fly low, fly long.
For ance an aye. For ever.
First come, first serred. First come is first served.
Gae til the bent. Abscond.
Gae-lattin. Letting-go. Bankruptcy
Gang agley. Go astray.
Gang an whistle on yer thoum. Go and chase yourself.
Gang ance eerant. Go for that alone. (specially for
that purpose)
Gang doun the brae. To deteriorate in health or
circumstances.
Gang hail-heidit for. Be absolutely engrossed in.
Gang the messages. Do the shopping
Gang til the gate. Be ruined.
Gat the bree o't. Bore the brunt of it.
Gaupin like a raw gorb. Gaping like an unfledged bird.
Git laldie. Get a beating.
Gie's yer crack. Give me your news.
Git amends o. Get one's own back.
Git intae... Get familiar with...
Git on the crack wi. Start a conversation with.
Git yokit tae. Get started with / married to.
Glack yer mittens. Grease one's palm.
Guid gear in smaw bouk. Much in little.
Hae an ee til. Have a liking for.
Hae yer ain adae. Have one's hands full.
Hae nae brou o this. Have no liking for this.
Haud yer wheesht. Be silent.
Haud the cuddie reekin. Keep the pot boiling.
Haud tryst. Keep one's word.
Haund for nieve. Abreast.
Her tongue wad clip cloots. She has a sharp tongue.
Hing the lugs. Mope.
Hingin in the brecham. Pulling one's weight.
Wir Ain Leid
His/her breid's baken. He's/she's arrived, made the

grade.
Hyne (faur) awa. Far away, at a great distance.
Hyne til/tae... As far as, to the distance of.
Ilka body disna hae the like. Not everyone has that sort
o that of thing.
Ilka hicht haes its howe. Every height has it's hollow.
Ill comes upo waur's back. It never rains it pours.
In room o. In place of.
In the wey o. About to.
It winna pottie. It won't wash.
It'll cost ye a bonnie penny. It'll cost you a lot.
It's a gey while nou. It's a fairly long time ago now.
It's a tee'd baw. It's all cut and dry, It's all sewn
up.
It's drappin suit. Walls have ears.
It's mony a needless preen You needn't have taken so much
ye hae pitten in. trouble to dress up.
It's weel wared on him. It serves him right.

Jock Tamson's bairns. Common humanity.
Jouk an lat the jaw gang by. Duck and let the splash go past.
Juist aw the like o thae things. Just all that sort of thing.
Juist that. Quite so.
Kaim yer hair backarts. Annoy one.
Kist o whistles. A pipe organ.
Lad o pairts. Talented youth.
Lang mey yer lum reek. Live long and healthy.
Lat at... Attack...
Lat his ain wand ding him. Let him stew in his own juice.
Lat licht. Let it be known. Disclose a fact.
Lat sit. Leave alone or leave off
262 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Lat that flee stick til the waw. Drop a particularly embarrassing
subject.
Lat the bairns fend for thairsels. Let the children look after
themselves.
Leein like a horse cowper. lying like a horse-dealer.
Lief is me on... I am fond of...
Like a hen on a het girdle. To be on tenterhooks.
Like a set mill. At a standstill.
Like a slung-stane. Like a bolt from the blue.
Like yer meat. Well-fed looking.
Like wha but him. As bold as brass.
Made up wi. Pleased with.
Mak a kirk or a mill o't. Make or mar it.
Mak saut tae yer kail. Earn a living.
Mak wey o anesel. Commit suicide.
Mebbe ay an mebbe umhum. Perhaps yes and perhaps
doubtful.
Mony wirds, muckle drouth. Much talking makes one thirsty.
Muckle guid mey it dae ye. Much good may it do you.
Nae faurer gane nor... As recently as...
Nae great cowp. Not much worth.
Naither eechie nor ochie. Neither one thing or another.
Naither tae dance nor To stand on the sidelines.
haud the caunle
No able for. Having no appetite, incapable of.
No sae deif as he lats on. Not as deaf as he pretends.
No weel. Unwell.
O that ilk. Of the same name.
On the heid o. Occupied with.
Oot o thocht. Beyond belief.
Pit his gas at a peep. Show him in an unflattering light.
Pit on a sair face. Look sorry for one's self.
Pit oot yer ee. Put one's nose out of joint.
Pith o hemp. Hangman's rope.
Pease brose an pianaes. A state of genteel poverty.
Play Jock Needle Jock Preen. Play fast and loose.
Plunk the schuil. Play truant.
Wir Ain Leid
Raise the tuin. Start the tune.

Rax somebody's craig. Hang someone.
Redd the thrapple. Clear the throat.
Redd yer crap. Get it off your chest.
Rin wuid. Go mad.
Sae black's a slae. As black as a sloe.
Sae boss's a baurel. As empty as a barrel.
Sae broun's a berry. As brown as a berry.
Sae cantie as a sou amang As happy as a pig in the
glaur. mud.
Sae fou as a piper. As drunk as a piper.
Sae plain as parritch. As clean as crystal.
Sae teuch's a widdie. As tough as a withy.
Sae eith as kiss ma luif. As easy as winking.
Saut somebody's brose. Get revenge.
Set doun the barrae. Failed in business.
She's better nor she's bonnie. She's better than she's pretty.
She's her mither's t'ae ee. She's the apple of her
(mother's) eye.
Smaw fowk. People of humble rank.
Smilin like a bylt haddie. Smiling like a boiled haddock.
Souk in wi. Ingratiate oneself with.
Speak pan-laif. Talk with an affected English
accent.
Staund like a stoukie. Rooted to the spot.
Staund yont. Keep one's distance.
Steek yer hert. Harden one's heart.
Tae hae a guid conceit o To have a good opinion of one's
yersel. self.
Tak a notion o. Develop a liking for.
Tak a rise oot o. Make fun off.
Tak a tellin. Heed a warning.
Tak yer wird again. Change one's tune.
Tak ower the coals. Call to account.
Tak something ill oot. Be upset about something.
Tak tent. pay attention.
Tak the bit an the buffet. Swallow one's pride.
Tak the dorts /dods. Sulk.
264 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Tak the hert. Affect deeply.

Tak the lend o. Make a fool of.
Tak the rue. Feel remorse, Have second
thoughts.
That liddit his mill. That shut him up.
That pat his gas at the peep. That shut him up.
That pat the branks on him. That cut him down to size/shut
Him up.
That'll niver craw in yer crap. You'll never smell that.
That's gey naur the bit. That's nearly right.
The common five-aichts. The average man.
The stang o the trump. The life and soul of the affair.
The unco guid. The self righteous.
The while back. For some time past.
The'r a bee in his bunnet. There is a bee in his bonnet.
Thare wis naither tap, tail nor I couldn't make head nor
main til't tail of it.
Thare's a drap in the hoose. Walls have ears.
Thare's a whaup in the raip. There's a snag.
Thare's ma thoum on that. Let shake hands on it.
Think anesel nae sheep's Consider oneself of no small
shank. importance.
This side o time. In this world.
Trail the poke. Beg.
Trail the weeng. Have an illicit love affair.
Turn the crack. Change the subject.
Tyne the heid. Lose one's temper.
Tyne time on. Waste time on.
Up tae. Equal to, able for.
Up tae hie-doe. Approaching panic.
Wairm the lugs. Beat the ears.
Wait on. Wait for.
Wauk yer wits. Sharpen one's wits.
We niver dee'd o winter yit. We'll survive.
Weel tae. Well on time.
Weemen's kittle cattle. Women are ticklish people.
Whan it comes til the bit. When the crunch comes.
Wir Ain Leid
Whan it comes up ma back. When it occurs to me.

Whit ails ye at... What do you dislike about...
Whit's yer will? What did you say?
Win awa. Die/leave
Win ower. Fall asleep.
Ye needna fash yer thoum. You needn't worry about it.
266 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Proverbs
Proverbs, called provribs, freits or sawes in Scots, are short familiar

sayings expressing a supposed truth or moral lesson.
A'll big nae saundy-mills wi ye.

I'll not be friendly to you.
A bonnie bride is suin buskit an a short horse is suin wispit.

A pretty bride needs little decoration; a small horse little
grooming.
A cauld needs the ceuk sae muckle the doctor.

I need it like a hole in the head.
A gien cou shoudna be leukit in the mou

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth
A greedy gutsie ee ne'er gat a fou wame.

Greedy persons are never satisfied.
A guid dug ne'er barkit aboot a bane.

Good servants don't look for rewards.
A guid name's suiner tint nor won.

A good name is sooner lost than gained.
A hungersome wame haes nae lugs.

A hungry person can't listen to reason.
A rowin stane gaithers nae fug.

A rolling stone gathers no moss
A sent him awa wi a seed in his teeth.

I sent him away with a flea in his ear.
Wir Ain Leid
A shored tree staunds lang.

Threatened folk live long.
A smaw buss is better nor nae bield.

A small bush is better than no shelter.
Ae man's meat is anither man's pushion.

One man's food is another man's poison.
Early creuk the tree that guid crummock wad be.

Those who don't succeed very well at first may do better
afterwards.
An ill shearer aye blames his tuils.

A bad workman always blames his tools.
As ae door's steekit anither opens.

We are never left entirely without hope.
As daft as a yett on a windy day.

As mad as a hatter.
Auld sawes speaks suith.

Old proverbs tell the truth.
Auld speugies is ill tae tame.

It's difficult to teach an old dog new tricks.
Aw compleen o want o siller but nane o want o mense.

If they had more sense they would soon have more money.
Aw things haes an end, an a pudden haes twa.

All things have an end, and a sausage has two
Aye tae eild but niver tae wit.

Always growing older but never wiser.
Bairns maun creep or thay gang.

268 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Those who don't succeed very well at first may do better

afterwards.
Be taen til the fair.

Be led up the garden path.
Better a fremmit freend nor a freend fremmit.

Better a stranger for one's friend than a friend who has become a
stranger.
Better a moose in the pat nor nae flesh.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Better a tuim hoose nor an ill tenant.

Better an empty house than a bad tenant.
Better a wee buss nor nae bield.

Any port in a storm.
Better hauf an egg nor a tuim dowp.

Better half a loaf than no bread.
Better ma freends thinks me fremmit as fashious.

Better my friends think me stranger due to seldom visits than
troublesome due to too many.
Better mak yer feet yer freends.

Run for your life.
Better suin nor syne.

Better sooner than later.
Beauty's muck whan honour's tint.

Beauty is of no value when honour is lost.
Cairy saut til Dysart.

Carry coals to Newcastle.
Wir Ain Leid
Caukin the claith afore the wab be in the luim.

Counting your chickens before they are hatched.
Caw saut til Dysart.

Carry coals to Newcastle.
Claw ye ma back an A'll claw yers

If you scratch my back I'll scratch yours.
Craft maun hae claes but suith gangs nakit.

A craftsman must have clothes but truth goes naked.
Cuttin afore the pynt.

Counting your chickens before they are hatched.
Dancin like a hen on a het girdle.

Like a cat on hot bricks.
Dinna speak o raip til a chield that's faither wis hingit.

Don't talk of rope to a man whose father was hung.
Eenin orts is guid mornins' fother.

What is despised today may be valued tomorrow.
Facts is chields that winna ding.

Facts cannot be denied.
Fell twa dugs wi the ae bane.

Kill two birds with one stone.
Gie a beggar a bed an he'll pey ye wi a loose.

Give a beggar a bed and he'll pay you with a louse.
Gie yer tongue mair halidays nor yer heid.

Give your tongue more holidays than your head.
Git the whistle o yer groat.

270 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Be paid in one's own coin.
Hae ither towe on ane's rock.

Have other fish to fry.
He's no the berry (nor yit the buss it growed on).

He's not the clean potato.
He's waur tae watter nor tae corn.

He's fonder of drink than food.
He haed a tongue that wad clip cloots.

He would talk the hind legs off a donkey.
He haes a crap for aw corn.

All is fish that comes to his net.
He kens the laid frae the croun o the causey.

He knows how many beans make five.
He kens whilk side his bannock's buttert on.

He knows which side his bread is buttered on.
He stummles at strae an lowps ower a linn.

He finds difficulties only where he wants to.
He shoud hae a hail powe that caws his neebour neetie nou.
People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
He that's angry opens his mou an steeks his een.

The angry man speaks unadvisedly, without investigating the
matter.
He that's scant o braith shoudna meddle wi the chanter.

Never begin anything for which you have no aptitude.
He that blaws in stour fills his ain een.

Wir Ain Leid
He who stirs up trouble finds himself in it.
He that sleeps wi dugs maun rise wi flaes.

He who keeps bad company will be the worse for it.
He that will til Cupar maun til Cupar.

A wilful man must have his way.
He wad skin a loose for the tauch.

No source of gain is beneath his miserly attention.
He winna rive his faither's bunnet.

He'll never fill his father's shoes.
His mither canna see daylicht til him.

He's his mother's white haired boy.
Ilk blad o girse keeps its ain dew.

Mind your own business.
It's a bare muir that ye gang throu an no find a heather cou.

It's a long lane that has no turning.
It's a blate cheetie that maks a prood moose.

A shy cat makes a proud mouse.
It's an ill bird that fyles it's ain nest.

It's an evil person who harms one's own.
It's better tae hear the laverock sing nor the moose cheep.
The outdoor life is the better.
It's guid tae begin weel, but better tae end weel.
Make hay while the sun shines.
It's ill bringin but, whit's no ben.

You can't have your cake and eat it.
272 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
It's like butter in the black dug's hause.

It's no use crying over spilt milk.
It's no the rummlin cairt that faws ower the brae.

It's not the likeliest person who dies first.
It's past joukin whan the heid's aff.

It's too late to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Keep something for a sair fit.

Keep something for a rainy day.
Keep yer ain fish-guts tae yer ain seamaws.

Charity begins at home.
Kinnle a caunle at baith ends an it'll suin be duin.

Go to bed late and rise early and you'll soon be dead.
Lat the belled wether brak the snaw.

Tried leaders are best in emergencies.
Lig the heid o the sou til the tail o the gryce.
Balance gains and losses.
Like a Hen on a het girdle.

Like a cat on hot bricks.
Ma tongue isna unner yer belt.

You can't silence me.
Makna tuim ruise.

Bestow no empty praise.
Mony ane for laund, taks a fuil by the haund.

Many marry for money.
Muckle whistlin for little redd laund.

Wir Ain Leid
Much cry for little wool.
Nae gairdener iver lichtlied his ain leeks.

No man speaks ill of what he values most.
Ne'er find faut wi ma shuin unless ye pey ma souter.

Don't criticise something you know nothing about and is none of
Your business.
Ne'er gang til the deil wi a dishcloot on yer heid.

In for a penny, in for a pound.
Ne'er lat yer feet rin faster nor yer shuin.

Don't outstrip your resources.
Ne'er lat yer gear owergang ye.

Pride not yourself in your riches.
Ne'er pit yer haund oot faurer nor yer sleeve will rax.
Spend no more than you can afford.
Niver tak a forehaimer tae brak an egg. (whan ye can dae't wi the
back o a knife).
To crack a nut with a sledgehammer.
No see daylicht til.

Be blind to one's fate.
Oot the hie-gate is aye fair play.

Honesty is the best policy.
Pit twa pennies in a pootch an thay'll creep thegither.
Put two pennies in a purse and they will creep together.
Raise nae mair deils nor ye can lig.

Don't start anything you can't stop.
Reek follaes the fairest, beir witness tae the creuk.

Excellence is accompanied by envy.
274 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Rive the kirk tae theik the queir.

Rob Peter to pay Paul.
Saut somebody's kail.

Have a rod in pickle for.
Set a stoot hert til a stey brae.

The harder the task, the more determination is needed.
Tak a hair o the dug that bit ye yestreen.

A hangover cure!
Tak help at yer elbucks.

Heaven helps those who help themselves.
That'll no set the heather alicht.

That won't set the Thames on fire.
The deil's gane ower Jock Wabster.

The fat's in the fire.
The eemock bites sairer nor the clock.

It is dangerous to interfere with a man seriously engaged in
business.
The keeng ligs doun an the warld rins roond.

No man is indispensable.
The pruif o the pudden's in the the preein o't.

The proof of the pudding is in the tasting.
The thing that's duin is no tae dae,

There's no time like the present.
Thare's a dub at ilka door.

There's a skeleton in every cupboard.
Wir Ain Leid
Thare's a flae in ma hose.

I'm in trouble.
Thare's aye some watter whaur the stirkie drouns.

No smoke without fire.
Thare's mair room athoot nor athin.

An apology for passing wind.
Thay are fremmit freends that canna be fasht.

They are strange friends who can't be bothered.
Thay gang faur that disna meet ae day.

The world's a small place.
We can shape wir bairn's wyliecoat but canna shape thair weird.
We can shape our childrens clothes but not their fate.
Ye are feart for the day ye niver seen.

You are worrying unnecessarily.
Ye canna gaither berries aff a whinbuss.

Don't go to ill-tempered people for favours.
Ye coud hae bund me wi strae.

You could have knocked me down with a feather.
Ye cut lang whangs aff ither fowk's ledder.

You make very free with other people's property.
Ye shape shuin by yer ain shauchelt feet.

To judge others by yourself.
Ye wad wheedle a laverock frae the lift.

You have a winning way with you.
Yer breid's bakkit, ye can hing up yer girdle

276 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
You have achieved all you aimed at.
Yer mynd's aye chasin mice.

Your wits are wool-gathering.
Yer tongue gangs like a laum's tail.

You are never done talking.
Wir Ain Leid
Bibliography
Adams, David 'The Angus and Mearns Dialect' in Bothy Nichts And
Bothy Days, Edinburgh: John Donald 1996
Adams G.B. How to Pronounce Older Scots in Bards and Makars.
Glasgow University Press 1977
Adams G.B. The Dialects of Ulster in English Language in Ireland. O
Muirithe (Ed.) Dublin 1977
Aitken A.J. Lowland Scots. University of Edinburgh for the
Association of Scottish Literary Studies. 1973
Aitken A.J. Scots in The Oxford Companion to the English
Language, OUP, Oxford 1992
Aitken A.J. Variation and Variety in Written Middle Scots in
Edinburgh Studies in English and Scots.
Aitken A.J. Is Scots a Language? In English Today No.3 July 1985
Aitken A.J. The Scottish Vowel-Length Rule in So Meny People
Langages and Tonges. Eds. Benskin and Samuels, 1981
Aitken A.J. Scottish Accents and Dialects in Language in the British
Isles, Ed. Trudgill
Aitken A.J. and McArthur T. (eds) The Languages of Scotland,
Edinburgh 1979
Allan, A. Scots Spellin Ettlin Efter the Quantum Lowp in English
World Wide 6:1, Benjamins, Amsterdam 1995
AUSLQ Innin ti the Scots Leid. Aiberdeen Univairsitie Scots Leid
Quorum, Aberdeen 1995
Bhr D. Englisch und Seine Geographischen Varianten, Mnchen
1974
Braidwood J. The Ulster Dialect Lexicon, Belfast 1969
Brown K. Double Modals in Hawick Scots in Dialects of English
Studies in Grammatical Variation. Longman, London 1991
Burns R. The Poetical works of. Collins, London and Glasgow
Caldwell S.J.G. The Pronoun in Early Scots. Socit Nphilolqique,
Helsinki 1974
Corrigan K.P. What Bees To Be Maun Be in English World Wide 21:1,
Amstedam, Benjamins 2000
Crystal D. Variation in Scotland in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of
The English Language, Cambridge 1991
Dieth E. A Grammar of the Buchan Dialect. Vol. 1 Cambridge 1932
Douglas S. The Scots Language and its European Roots. SLRC,
Perth 1995
Douglas S. A Treatise on the Provincial Dialect of Scotland, Charles
Jones (Ed.) Edinburgh 1991
Dunn D. (ed.)The Faber Book of Twentieth Century Scottish Poetry.
Faber and Faber, London 1992
Ellis A.J. English Dialects Their Sounds and Homes London 1890,
Reprint for the English Dialect Society 1965
Fenton J. The Hamely Tongue, Ullans Press 1995
278 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Flaws M. and Lamb G. The Orkney Dictionary, Kirkwall 1997

Glauser B. The Scottish English Linguistic Border. Franke Verlag,
Bern 1974
Grlach M. Focus on Scotland. John Benjamins Publishing
Company, Amsterdam and Philadelphia 1985
Grlach, M. A Textual History of Scots, C. Winter, Heidelberg 2002
Graham, J. The Shetland Dictionary, Lerwick 1984
Graham W. The Handy Guide to Scots. Ramsay Head Press,
Edinburgh 1991
Graham W. The Scots Wordbook. Ramsay Head Press , Edinburgh
1977
Grant W. and Dixon J.M. The Manual of Modern Scots. Cambridge
1921
Gray W. Parliamo Aberbrothock, Arbroath 1992
Gregg R.J. The Distribution of Raised and Lowered Diphthongs as
Reflexes of ME i in Two Scotch-Irish (SI) Dialects in Phonologia
1972. Wilhelm Fink Verlag Mnchen/Salzburg 1975
Gregg R.J. Notes on the Phonology of a County Antrim Scotch-Irish
Dialect in Orbis 7/8 1958/59
Gregg R.J. The Scotch-Irish Dialect Boundaries in Ulster in Patterns
in the Folk Speech of the British Isles Wakelin (E.d.) London
1972
Harris J. English in the North of Ireland in Language in the British
Isles. Trudgill (Ed.) Cambridge 1984
Hagan, Anette I. Urban Scots Dialect Writing, Bern: Lang 2002
Harris, J. Phonological Variation and Change Studies in Hiberno-
English, Cambridge University Press 1985
Hart H.C. Notes on Ulster Dialect Chiefly Donegal in Transactions of
The Philological Society. London 1899
Henderson A. Scottish Proverbs. Glasgow 1881, Reprint Gale
Research Co. Detroit 1962
Henry A. Belfast English and Standard English, Oxford 1995
Hettinga, J. Standard and dialect in Anstruther and Cellardyke in
Scottish Literary Journal, Supplement 14, 37-48. 1981
Hurtes L. Wrterbuch des Schottischen Dialekts. Wiesbaden 1882.
Reprint 1967
Jamieson J. Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language. 1808
1880
Jones C. (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language,
Edinburgh University Press 1997
Kaminska T.E. Problems in Scottish English Phonology. Max
Niemeyer Verlag, Tbingen 1995
Kay B. The Mither Tongue. Alloway Publishing Ltd. 1986/1993
Kingsmore R.K. Ulster Scots Speech A socio Linguitic Study,
Alabama 1995
Kirk J.M. and Millar G. Verbal Aspects in the Scots and English of
Wir Ain Leid
Ulster
Kloss H. (1967) Abstand languages and Ausbau languages in Anthropological
Linguistics (Harvard : Harvard Press)
Lass R. The Shape of English. J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. London,
Melbourne, 1987
Lorimer W.L. The New Testament In Scots. Southside for the W.L. Lorimer
Memorial Trust, Edinburgh 1983
Macafee C.I. (ed.) The Nuttis Schell Essays in the Scots Language.
Aberdeen 1987
Macafee C.I. Glasgow in Varieties of English around the World.
Benjamins Amsterdam 1983
Macafee C.I. A Short Grammar of Older Scots in Scottish Language
No. 11/12 1992/93
Macafee C.I. (Ed.) A Concise Ulster Dictionary, Oxford 1996
Macafee C.I. The impact of Anglicisation on the Phonology of Scots:
A Keethin Sicht in Of Dyversitie & Change of Langage, C.
Winter, Heidelberg 2002
McArthur, T. ed. The Oxford Companion to the English Language,
Oxford University 1996.
McArthur, T. Scots and Southron in The English Language,
Cambridge 1998
McIntyre J. Hoo's Things in Bilfawst? In Ullans No. 6 1998
McLellan R. Linmill Stories Cannongate, Edinburgh 1990
Macleod I. (ed.) The Scots Thesaurus. Aberdeen University Press
1990
Macleod I. and Cairns P. The Concise English Scots Dictionary.
Chambers 1993
Macleod I. and Cairns P. The Scots School Dictionary. Chambers
1996
Mather, James 'The dialect of Caithness', Scottish Literary Journal
Supplement 6, 1978
Mather J.Y. and Speitel H.H. The Linguistic Atlas of Scotland. Scots
Section Vols. 1, 2 and 3. Croom Helm, London
1975/1977/1986
McClure J.D. Bryght Lanternis. Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen
1989
McClure J.D. English in Scotland in The Cambridge History of the
English Language Vol. 5, Cambridge 1994
McClure J.D. Aitken A.J. Low J.T. (eds.) The Scots Language :
Planning for Modern Usage. Ramsay Head Press, Edinburgh
1980
McClure J.D. The Scots Language in Education. Aberdeen College of
Education and the Association for Scottish Literary Studies
McClure J.D. Scotland and the Lowland Tongue. Aberdeen
University Press 1983
McClure J.D. Why Scots Matters. The Saltire Society 1988
McCluskey M. Dundonian for Beginners, Edinburgh, Mainstream. 1990
McCran R. Grant W. and MacNeil R. (eds.) The Story of English. BBC,
280 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
London 1986
Miller J. The Grammar of Scottish English in Real English : The
Grammar of English Dialects in the British Isles. Longman,
London 1993
Milroy, James Regional Accents of English: Belfast, Belfast: Blackstaff
1981
Milroy J. Some Connections Between Galloway and Ulster Speech in
Scottish Language 1, 1982
Montgomery M. The rediscovery of the Ulster Scots language in
Edgar Schneider (Ed.) Englishes around the World: Studies in
Honour of Manfred Grlach, Amsterdam, Benjamins 1997
Murison D. Scots Saws. Mercat Press, Edinburgh 1981
Murison D. The Dutch Element in the Vocabulary of Scots in
Edinburgh Studies in English and Scots.
Murison D. The Guid Scots Tongue. William Blackwood and Sons
Ltd. 1977
Murison D. (ed.) The Scottish National Dictionary. The Scottish
National Dictionary Association 1931 1976
Murray J.A.H. The Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland .
The Philological Society. London 1873
Nicolson, D. B. 'Dialect' in J. Horne ed. The County of Caithness,
Wick: W. Rae, 1907
Neill W. Tales frae the Odyssey o Homer Owreset intil Scots. The
Saltire Society, Edinburgh 1992
Patterson W.H. A Glossary of Words used in Antrim and Down,
London 1880
Price G. The Languages of Britain. Edward Arnold 1984
Purves D. A Scots Grammar, Edinburgh 1997, revised 2002
Ramsay A. in The Works of Allan Ramsay Vol. V. Includes a
collection of Scots proverbs. The Scottish Texts Society. Blackwood and Sons
Ltd., Edinburgh and London 1972
Riach, W. A. D. 'A dialect study of comparative areas in Galloway',
Scottish Literary Journal Supplement 9, 12, Scottish
Language 1, 1979,1980,1982
Robertson T.A. and Graham J.J. Grammar and Use of the Shetland
Dialect. The Shetland Times Ltd. Lerwick 1991
Robinson M. (ed.) The Concise Scots Dictionary. Aberdeen
University Press, Aberdeen 1985
Robinson P. Ulster-Scots A Grammar of the Traditional Written and
Spoken Language, Ullans Press 1997
Sceat Walter W. A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English
Language. Oxford (1882) 1961
Scots language Resource Centre. Leid Tree. Perth 1996
Smith G. Specimens of Middle Scots. Blackwood, Edinburgh 1902
Staples J.H. Notes on Ulster English Dialects For Comparison with
English Dialects by the Late A.J. Ellis... in Transactions of the
Wir Ain Leid
Philological Society, London 1896-97

Tait, John 'Some characteristics of the Shetlandic vowel system,
Scottish Language 19, 2000
Todd L. Words Apart. A Dictionary of Northern Ireland English,
Gerrards Cross, Smythe 1990
Traynor M. The English Dialect of Donegal, Dublin 1953
Tulloch G. The Language of Walter Scott, 1980
Tulloch G. A History of the Scots Bible. Aberdeen University Press
1989
Warrack A. Chambers Scots Dictionary. W. and R. Chambers Ltd.
1987
Watson G. The Roxburghshire Wordbook, Cambridge 1923
Wells S.C. Ireland, The North in The Accents of English 2 The British
Isles, Cambridge 1982
Wettstein P. The Phonology of a Berwickshire Dialect, Bienne 1942
Wilson Sir J. Lowland Scots as Spoken in the Lower Strathearn
District of Perthshire. Oxford 1915
Wilson Sir J. The Dialect of Robert Burns as Spoken in Central
Ayrshire. Oxford 1923
Wilson Sir J. The Dialects of Central Scotland. Oxford 1926
Wlk W. Phonetische Analyse der Sprache von Buchan. Carl Winter
Uni Verlag, Heidelberg 1965
Wright J. The English Dialect Grammar, Oxford 1905
Zai R. The Phonology of a Morebattle Dialect, Lucerne 1942
282 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Wir Ain Leid
Contents
What is Scots?........................................................................................... 2
The Emergence of Scots ......................................................................... 2
The Relationship of Scots to Other Germanic Languages ...................... 5
The Development of English and Scots .................................................. 6
Language or Dialect? .............................................................................. 10
Language.............................................................................................. 10
Accents................................................................................................. 11
Dialects ................................................................................................ 11
Geographic Dialect Continua................................................................ 11
Autonomy and Heteronomy ................................................................. 12
Is Scots a Dialect or a Language? ......................................................... 14
Written Scots .......................................................................................... 17
Pronunciation ......................................................................................... 20
Consonants .......................................................................................... 20
Vowels .................................................................................................. 21
Diphthongs .......................................................................................... 22
Word Stress .......................................................................................... 22
The Alphabet........................................................................................ 23
Silent Letters ........................................................................................ 24
Connected Speech................................................................................ 25
Syntax and Morphology ....................................................................... 25
Punctuation and Use of Capital letters ................................................. 25
The Pronunciation of Scots Dialects ....................................................... 26
Dialect Map .......................................................................................... 26
Southern Scots ..................................................................................... 29
South East Central Scots....................................................................... 35
North East Central Scots....................................................................... 40
West Central Scots................................................................................ 45
South West Central Scots...................................................................... 50
Ulster Scots .......................................................................................... 55
South Northern Scots ........................................................................... 61
Mid Northern Scots............................................................................... 66
North Northern Scots ........................................................................... 72
Insular Scots ......................................................................................... 78
Wir Ain Leid
Aberdeen Scots .................................................................................... 84

Dundee Scots ....................................................................................... 85
Edinburgh Scots ................................................................................... 87
Glasgow Scots ...................................................................................... 89
Belfast Dialect....................................................................................... 91
Gidhealtachd ...................................................................................... 93
Scottish Standard English ....................................................................... 98
Vowels and Diphthongs ....................................................................... 98
Consonants .......................................................................................... 99
Stress...................................................................................................100
Grammar and Vocabulary....................................................................100
Scots Spelling ....................................................................................... 103
Orthographic Conventions .................................................................. 104
English and Scots cognates .................................................................114
The Articles .......................................................................................... 125
The Indefinite Article...........................................................................125
The Definite Article .............................................................................126
Nouns................................................................................................... 130
Pronouns .............................................................................................. 141
Indefinite Pronouns .............................................................................141
Demonstrative Pronouns .....................................................................143
Personal Pronouns...............................................................................145
Possessive Pronouns ...........................................................................149
Reflexive Pronouns..............................................................................151
Interrogative Pronouns........................................................................154
Relative Pronouns................................................................................156
Negative Pronouns ..............................................................................159
Other Pronouns ...................................................................................160
Adjectives ............................................................................................. 161
Numbers............................................................................................... 171
Auxiliary and Modal Verbs.................................................................... 177
Verbs .................................................................................................... 190
Adverbs ................................................................................................ 207
Prepositions.......................................................................................... 226
Conjunctions ........................................................................................ 247
Greetings.............................................................................................. 251
Days, Months and Holidays .................................................................. 254
Aspects of Colloquial Speech ............................................................... 255
284 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle
Wir Ain Leid
Idioms .................................................................................................. 259

T T
Proverbs ............................................................................................... 267

T T
Bibliography ......................................................................................... 278

T T
Contents ............................................................................................... 283

T T
Wir Ain Leid
COPYRICHT
Aw richts is pitten by. Nae pairt o this darg shuid be doobelt, hained
in ony kin o seestem, or furthset in ony shape or by ony gate
whitsomeiver, athoot haein leave frae the writer afore-haund.
Thare's nae pleens whan the abuin is duin for tae fordle the Scots
leid in eddication, sae lang's naebody is makkin siller oot o't.
COPYRIGHT
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored

in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without prior permission of the author.
There are no objections if the above is done in order to further the
Scots language in education, as long as no one is making money
from it.
Andy Eagle 2005
286 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Scots Leid Scottish Grammar 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Scots Leid Scottish Grammar 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Wir Ain Leid

An Innin tae Modren Scots

Everyday speech in lowland Scotland varies from speaker to speaker.

This book concentrates wholly on the Traditional Scots end of this

Traditional Scots has no equivalent of 'RP'. Scots is spoken in various

The Emergence of Scots

The first language known to have been spoken in Scotland was

One of the conditions to the annexation of the Northumbrian

2 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

noblemen who held lands in the Midlands and northern England.

The Inglis (Early northern Middle English) spoken in Northumbria

speech of London. The early Middle English varieties in the south

4 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

The Relationship of Scots to Other Germanic Languages

By the end of the fifteenth century the Inglis language of Scotland

influence of English writers like Chaucer and later Elizabethan

The Development of English and Scots

6 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

great demand among the aristocracy, who were the first to

By the twentieth century Scots had become the language of the so

8 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

Grlach, Manfred (2002) A Textual History of Scots Heidelberg: C. Winter.

Popular culture usually thinks of a dialect as a substandard, low

The Parisian dialect of French

"A language is a collection of mutually intelligible dialects" - A

10 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

and communicate with one another. These languages have little

Accent refers to a variety which is phonetically or phonologically

A dialects is a variety which is grammatically (and perhaps lexically

Geographic Dialect Continua

A dialect continuum is a chain of mutual intelligibility across

Autonomy and Heteronomy

Some varieties spoken in the west Germanic dialect continuum are

German. This is simply because people in the Netherlands usually

Scots was definitely an autonomous Ausbau variety before 1707

and literatures; that correspond to three separate nation states.

Is Scots a Dialect or a Language?

Product information taken from the packaging of a Philips energy

Kan ikke brukes i forbindelse med dimme utstyr eller

Kan ikke bruges i forbindelse med lysdmper og elektronisk

Nevhodn pre stmievanie, elektronick spnanie, pre

Nevhodn pro stmvn, elektronick spnn, fotobunky.

Which is the language, which the dialect?

Arguments put forward in order to define Scots as a language are:

so Scots grammars have been published over the years so

From the Scottish Education Department's Scots Language Factsheet

"The Scottish Executive considers the Scots language to

"The UK Government announced on 4 June 1998 its

"The Consultative Steering Group Report (Section 3.3

And the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement Approved by

"Rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity.

Economic, Social and Cultural Issues

3. All participants recognise the importance of respect,

"Annex 2, DEFINITIONS, Part 5, Language

At the end of the day there is no 'scientific' way to prove whether

16 V. 1.3 2008 Andy Eagle

In 1977 the Association for Scottish Literary and Linguistic Studies

In 1985 a number of Scots writers met at the School of Scottish

The Concise English-Scots Dictionary (1993) and the Scots School

orthography. The SNDA's objective is to encourage the use of Scots

Off course an orthography needs to be selected for use in this book.

The orthography presented here is intended to be read and

The chapter Scots Spelling (p.103) explains the orthographic

Base forms of words are usually spelled phonemically - not in a