Scottish English
English has been spoken in the south-east of Scotland for as long as it has been
spoken in England. In the south-west of Scotland, it dates from the Middle Ages. And
in the Highlands and islands of northern and western Scotland, English has been
spoken for only two hundred years or so.
ScotEng vowels
ScotEng pronunciation is very different from that of most other varieties and may
be difficult to understand.
ScotEng vowels
/i/ bee, peer
/e/ bay, pair
/ε/ bed, merry, fern
/ɪ/ bid, bird, butter, wanted
/ʌ/ putt, hurry, fur, sofa
/a/ bad, marry, bard, path, father, calm
/u/ put, boot, poor
/o/ boat
/ɔ/ pot, long, cough, fork, paw
/ai/ buy
/au/ bout
/ɔi/ boy
There are fewer vowels in this system than in any of the other varieties of English
and here is why:
1. ScotEng is rhotic. The Received Pronunciation (RP) vowels /ɪə/, /εə/, /ʊə/
and /з:/ are the result of the loss of non-prevocalic /r/. They do not occur in ScotEng.
It is a particular characteristic of ScotEng that even short vowels remain distinct
before /r/. As a consequence, the following pairs are distinguished only by the /r/:
bee /bi/ beer /bir/
bay /be/ bear /ber/
fen /fεn/ fern /fεrn/
bid /bɪd/ bird /bɪrd/
hut /hʌt/ hurt /hʌrt/
bad /bad/ bard /bard/
moo /mu/ moor /mur/
row /ro/ roar /ror/
pock /pɔk/ pork /pɔrk/
2. There is not distinction between /æ/ and /ɑː/ in most ScotEng varieties. They
write /a/ for the vowel of bad, bard, calm, etc. However, some middle-class speakers
do have this distinction.
3. Something similar occurs in the case of /ʊ/ and /u:/. Pool and pull are
homonyms – /pul/.
4. There is no RP-type distinction between /ɒ/ and /ɔ:/. They write /ɔ/ for both cot
and caught.
5. Phonetically, the ScotEng vowels are monophthongs (with the exceptions of
/ai/ = [εɪ]~[ɐɪ]; /au/ = [зu]; and /ɔi/). Both /ɪ/ and /ʌ/ are central vowels and /u/ = [u].
6. All vowels in ScotEng are of approximately the same length. They are subject
to the Scottish Vowel Length Rule which said that vowels are longer before /v/, /ð/, /z/,
/r/ and word-finally than they are elsewhere. Word-final vowels remain long even if a
suffix is added. There is a distinction of length between the vowels of pairs such as
the following:
Short Long
greed agreed
wade weighed
fraud flawed
toad towed
mood mooed
tide tied
loud allowed
7. In words such as serenity, obscenity, the second syllable is often pronounced
with /i/, as it is in serene, obscene, rather than with /ε/.
ScotEng consonants
1. ScotEng preserves a distinction between /ʍ/ and /w/: which /ʍɪʧ/, witch /wɪʧ/.
2. Initial /p/, /t/, /k/ are often un-aspirated.
3. The consonant /r/ is most usually a flap [ɾ], as in fern [fεɾn]. However, some
middle-class speakers use the frictionless continuant [ɹ].
4. The glottal stop [ʔ] is a frequent realization of non-initial /t/.
5. /l/ may be dark in all positions, e.g. lilt [ɫəɫt].
6. The velar fricative /x/ occurs in a number of specifically ScotEng words like
loch [lɔx] ‘lake’; dreich [drix] ‘dull’.
ScotEng grammar
Most of the grammatical differences between ScotEng and EngEng are found at
the level of informal speech.
1. In many forms of ScotEng, the main verb have does not require do-support,
even with dynamic meanings, and it can also occur with phonologically reduced
forms:
Had you a good time? Yes, we had.
Have you coffee with breakfast? Yes, I have.
We’d a good time. We HAD a good time.
I’ve coffee with breakfast. I HAVE coffee with breakfast.
We hadn’t a good time.
I haven’t coffee with breakfast.
The main verb and auxiliary have behaved alike, and stative have also behaves
like dynamic have.
2. Will has replaced shall in most contexts. It have will with first-person subjects
in questions:
ScotEng Will I put out the light?
Others Shall/Should I put out the light?
3. There is a tendency not to contract the negative element not, especially in yes-
no questions. If an auxiliary is present in a negated sentence, the auxiliary usually
contracts.
ScotEng EngEng
Is he not going? Isn’t he going?
Did you not see it? Didn’t you see it?
He’ll not go He won’t go
You’ve not seen it. You haven’t seen it
4. In sentences like the following, need is a full verb with a verbal complement:
ScotEng I don’t need to do that.
EngEng I needn’t do that.
Need can occur with a passive participle as its object, whereas most other
varieties of English require the passive infinitive or present participle:
ScotEng My hair needs washed.
EngEng My hair needs washing.
My hair needs to be washed.
5. Want and need can have a directional adverb as object:
He wants/needs out.
6. Certain stative verbs can be used in the progressive aspect:
I’m needing a cup of tea.
7. Yet can occur with non-perfective forms of the verb, while in EngEng, it can
only occur with the perfective:
ScotEng Did you buy one yet?
EngEng Have you bought one yet?
ScotEng He is here yet.
EngEng He is still here.
8. In EngEng, the adverbial particle in compound verbs tends to come after the
direct object, while in ScotEng, it remains directly after the verb:
ScotEng EngEng
He turned out the light. He turned the light out.
They took off their coats. They took their coats off.
ScotEng vocabulary and idioms
The vocabulary of Scots and nonstandard Scottish dialects differs considerably
from that of Standard English, to the extent that dictionaries or glossaries may be
necessary for reading literature in Scots. ScotEng, on the other hand, differs much less
in its vocabulary from other varieties of English. The differences are numerous
enough.
ScotEng EngEng Notes
ashet serving dish A loanword from French and is unknown in
other varieties of English.
aye yes It is informal but entirely natural.
brae incline, hill Frequently in place and street names, and refers
to the slope of the hill, not to the entire hill.
bramble blackberry EngEng speakers use it for the bushes on which
blackberries grow, but ScotEng use bramble
also for the fruit itself.
burn stream It is neutral, but is not used in England. Stream
is used in ScotEng in the figurative sense.
carry-out take-away Places which sell hot food to be taken away and
eaten off the premises.
dram (small alcoholic) drink Usually used with reference to whisky.
dreich dull It is a self-consciously Scottish word.
folk people Both are known and used in Scotland and
England. Folk is much more common and more
colloquial in ScotEng. In EngEng it is used
mainly as an adjective as in folk-songs, folk-
tale, etc.
haar sea mist Refers to the thick mist that comes in from the
sea. The word is Dutch in origin.
infirmary hospital Scottish hospitals are often known as
infirmaries, but hospital is also common.
to jag to prick, jab Jag (noun or verb) is frequently used in
connection with thorns, injections, etc.
janitor caretaker Janitor occurs in this usage also in NAmEng.
loch lake It is familiar to most English speakers from the
names of famous Scottish lakes: Loch Ness and
Loch Lomond. The word is originally from
Gaelic.
to mind to remember To mind has the additional meaning of ‘to
remember’ as in Do you mind when we went to
Edinburgh?
outwith outside It can be frequently encountered in newspapers,
public notices, etc.
pinkie little finger It is not known by many EngEng speakers, but
it is widely used in NAmEng.
provost mayor Provost is ScotEng procurator fiscal, which
corresponds to EngEng public prosecutor.
rone drainpipe Can refer to either a downward-drawing pipe
outside a house or to the horizontal gutterings
around the roof.
rowan mountain ash Rowan /rauan/ is known in England, but there it
is normally pronounced /rouan/.
to shoogle to wobble, shake Informal but very usual.
to sort to mend In EngEng, to sort means ‘to arrange, to
classify’.
to stay to live, reside It also means ‘to reside, live’ as in I stay at
Portobello.
through across In discussing east-west or west-east journeys in
Scotland itself, speakers often use the word
through, as in I’m going through to Glasgow
(from Edinburgh).
wee small It is known to EngEng speakers but is not often
used. It is extremely common in ScotEng and
NZEng.
One is also likely to encounter a number of phrases and idioms which are
specifically Scottish:
ScotEng EngEng
How are you keeping? How are you?
I doubt he’s not coming. I expect he’s not 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 have finished it/I’m finished
I’ll get you home I’ll take (accompany) you home
Cheerio just now! Cheerio (goodbye) for now!
To go the messages To go shopping
The back of nine o’clock Soon after nine o’clock
Scots
Scots was the original standard language of the kingdom of Scotland. However,
after the Reformation and the union of the crowns of England and Scotland, it began
to lose much of its status. Then Scots lost its independence too and came to be felt
very often to be simply a dialect of English. But literature continued to be written in
the language, and today, there is a strong revival movement. The nonstandard dialects
of Scotland are still also basically Scots. There are many tens of thousands of
speakers.
Scots is radically different from most other varieties used in the English-speaking
world, as can be seen from this passage from the journal of the Scots Language
Society Lallans:
For ane an twintie year Lallans, the magazine o the Scots Leid Associe, haes
featurt the bestest current writin in Scots, baith in poetry an prose. Writers o aa
kynds haes kythed atween its batters. Thay’v shown the ongaun vin an vitality o
Scots as a leevin tung. Lallans in its editorial policy haes aye setten heich
staundarts for Scots writin.
For twenty-one years Lallans, the magazine of the Scots Language
Association, has featured the best cunent writing in Scots, both in poetry and
prose. Writers of all kinds have appeared between its covers. They’ve shown the
ongoing vigour and vitality of Scots as a living tomgue. Lallans in its editorial
policy has always set high standards for Scots writing.
It can be seen that Scots is very distinctive in terms of vocabulary and grammar,
as well as pronunciation. Batters is a specifically Scots word which usually refers
specifically to book covers. Haes ‘has’ occurs with plural subjects such as ‘writers’.
And the form heich ‘high’ indicates the use of the voiceless velar fricative, where
Scots preserves a pronunciation that was lost in most of England. Pronunciations such
as that indicated by the spelling baith, corresponding to both, even go back to dialect
differences in Britain that date to the Old English period. It is probably true to say that
the biggest linguistic division of all in the English-speaking world is between Scots
and all the other varieties.
