Scots Word of the Week is written by Chris Robinson of Scottish Language Dictionaries.

This week's Word is spoken by Dr Dauvit Horsbroch.

Jist Yarnin

English    said    e.g.    Scots    said    e.g.
mb    “mb”    number, chamber, rumble    m(m)    “m”    nummer, chaumer, rummle
nd    “nd”    hundred, end , hand    n(d)    “n(d)”    hun(n/d)er, en(n/d), haun(d)
ct    “kt”    fact, effect, strict    ck    “k”    fack, effeck, strick
a/ike    “ai/y”    make, take, strike    a/ik    “a/i”    mak, tak, strik
pt    “pt”    accept, attempt, empty    p    “p”    accep, *attemp, *empy?
s, ce    “s”    sew, notice, officer    sh    “sh”    shew, *notish, *officiar
gh    -    bright, fight, tough    ch    “kh”    bricht, fecht, teuch
gh    -    though, through, delight    -    -    tho, throu, *delyte {delicht?}
-all    “awl”    fall, hall, ball, all    a(a)    “a(w)”    faa, *haa, baa, aa
al    “al”    false, salt, scald    au    “a(w)”    fause, saut, scaud
al    “a”    calf, half, calm, walk    au    “a(w)”    cauf, hauf, *caum, *wauk
be-    “be”    because, between, before    a    “a”    *acause, atween, afore
ol    “ol”    bolster, gold, stolen    ow    “ow”    bowster, gowd, stowen
ua    “yooa”    actual, annual, gradual    w    “wa”    *ackwal, *anwal, *gradwal
-ull    “ool”    full, pull    ou    “oo”    fou, pou
-ul    “ool”    useful, awful, wonderful    -u    “a/ai/oo”    *uisfu, awfu, *wunnerfu

Vouel correspondences

English    said    e.g.    Scots    said    e.g.
a    “a”    arm, father, matter    ai    “ai”    airm, faither, *maiter?
a    “a”    brass, glass, fast    e    “e”    bress, gless, fest
e    “e”    well, wet, errand    ee    “ee”    weel, weet, eerant
ea    “ee”    real, reap, meat, eat    ae    “ee/ai”    rael, raep, *maet, aet
ea    “e”    deaf, head, bread    ei    “ee”    *deif, heid, breid
i    “i”    idiot, spirit, sick    ei    “ee”    *eidiot, *speirit, *seik
i-e    “i-e”    advise, baptise    ei    “ee”    *adveise, *bapteise
o    “o”    drop, soft, throng    a    “a”    drap, saft, thrang
o    “u”    word, work, worth    i    “i/u”    wird, wirk (v), *wirth
o-e    “oh”    stone, home, bone    a-e    “ai”    stane, hame, bane
o-e    “oa/oo/u”    whore, move, love    u-e    “oo”    hure, *muve, luve
oi    “oi”    oil, point, join    y(-e)    “ey”    *yle/eyl, *pynt, *jyne
ol    “ol”    old, fold, cold    aul    “a(w)”    auld, fauld, cauld
oo    “oo”    moon, roof, poor    ui    “ai/i/ee/ö“    muin, ruif, puir
oo+k    “oo”    look, took, nook    eu+k    “yoo”    leuk, *teuk (taen), neuk
ou    “ow”    our, house, sound    oo    “oo”    oor, hoose, soond
-ow    “oo”    follow, widow, window    -ae    “ë/ai”    follae, *weidae, windae
-ow    “oh”    crow, show, sow, row    -aw    “a/aw”    craw, shaw, saw, raw
-ow    “oh”    grow, row, flow, bow    -owe    “ow”    growe, rowe, *flowe, *bowe
ow    “ow”    power, town, cow    ou    “oo”    *pouer, toun, *cou
u    “u”    nut, summer, sun    i    “i”    nit, simmer, sin
u    “u”    duck (v), jug, thumb    ou    “oo”    *douk, joug, thoum
u    “yoo”    use (v), use (n), music    ui    “ai/i/ee/ö“    *uise, *uiss, muisic
ure    “yoor”    mixture, picture, nature    ur    “ër”    *mixtur, *pictur, naitur
y    “i”    system, syllable    ei    “ee”    *seistem, *seilable?
y-e    “i-e”    paralyse, analyse    ei    “ee”    *paraleise {ee}, *analeise

Unnecessar spellin chynges

The follaein is unnecessar spellin chynges whaur, for non-regional scrievin, the words is better left wi the English spellin or spelt anither wey (see tables abuin).

English    said    e.g.    Scots    said    e.g.
a    “o”    want, wash, water    aa    “a”    *want, *waash, *waater
e    “e”    leg, term, exercise    ai    “e, ai”    *laig, *tairm, *aixercise
e    “i”    ever, never, English    i    “i”    ivver, nivver, *Inglish
e    “ë”    enter, suffer, winter    i    “ë”    *entir, *suffir, *wuntir
i    “i”    will, hill, win    u    “i, u”    wull, hull, wun {also wi i}
o    “o”    on, stop, job    oa    “oa”    oan, stoap, joab {+ on, etc.}
o    “u”    word, work, worth    u    “u, i”    *wurd, wurk, wurth

spellins no in SSD – shawin whaur SSD practice micht be redd up or different frae
ë    here staunds for the soond o the e in English the

The follaein is anes at wad need parteicular consideration:

a- for English be- in words like acause, atween, afore (consider asweel (w)ithoot/athout, (w)ithin/athin)
au or English a + silent l in words like cauf, caum, hauf (but merk cleckin o homographs in, e.g. walk, wauk, waulk, at wid aa then be spelt wauk)
ae [i/e] for English ea [i] in words like aet, maet, haep – maistly no i the dictionars
ai for English e in words like laig, baid, tairm, vairsion, etc.
a for English e in the frequent words thare, thair an thay (consider asweel them or thaim)
ee for English e in words like weet, weel, freet
ei for English i in words like seik, speirit, tradeition, oreiginal, etc.; aither:
stresst syllables only, e.g. seik, speirit, eidiot, tradeition, oreiginal;
stresst first syllables only, e.g. seik, speirit, eidiot but tradition, original;
ithergaits, e.g. parteiceiple, accesseible (no recommendit);
wi a diacritic raither (esp. Latinate words), e.g. spírit, tradítion, etc. (no recommendit)
ei for English y in words like seistem, seilable, seimetry/seimetrie
ei-e for English i-e in words like adveise, bapteise, emphaseise
ei for English y in words like paraleise, analeise (merk at z in words like thon wid be wrang etymologically [frae the Greek –lysis, wi an s], shawin ae danger o uisin z in words like bapteise [Greek –izein, wi a z] as suggestit in Innin (cause gin ei wis uised in baith there widna be e’en the differ atween y an i as a guide) an aiblins an airgument for keepin s aawey an the etymological i an y, tae evyte faain throu’t.)
i (raither nor u or a) for English o in words like wird, wirk (v), wirth (no recommendit)
ck for English ct in words like fack, effeck, strick (English strict)
-k for English -ke in words like mak, tak, strik (but also brak, spak/spack, past tense o spaek)
p for English pt in words like attemp, corrup, empy
n or nn for English dn in words like hunner, enn, haun
sh for English s in words like shew, notish, offisher
w for English ua in words like ackwal, anwal, gradwal, uiswal
u for English i in words like wul(l), tul(l), hul(l)
alternatively only w(h)u for English w(h)i in words like wul, wunter, wutch
i for English o in words like wird, wirk (v), wirth
alternatively u for English o in words like wurd, wurk, wurth
i for English e in words like ivver, nivver, Inglish (consider asweel e’er, ne’er, e’en)
u-e for English o-e in words like hure, muve, luve
y-e for English oi in words like pynt, spyle, vyce (hings on consideration o y/i-e)
oo for English ou in words like aboot, hoose, roond
ou for English ow in words like broun, shouer, hou
ui (raither nor u-e/ai, etc.) for English oo in words like uise, uiss, muin, guid, fluir, puir
eu+k for English oo+k in words like teuk, leuk, beuk
-ur for English ure in words like craitur, mixtur, pictur
{e for English ea in words like hevvie, red, kned (nae differ in pronoonciation)}

Frequent words

Frequent words depends on mair consideration o the 300-word leet.  The follaein table gies chyces for the personal pronouns, whaur the’r maist variants.

Person    English    SNDA    Other    Scheme 1    Scheme 2    Informal
Singular
1    I
me
my
mine    A(h)

ma    A, I

my
myn, myne    I
me
my
mine    A

ma    
2    you
your
yours    ye, *youse
yer    you
yuir, yeir, yere
yours, yuirs, yeirs, yeres    you, ye
your, yere(e)
yours        youse
3    he
him
his
she
her
hers
it
its        


shae
hir
hirs
hit
hits    he
him
his
she
her
hers
(h)it
(h)its        



hur
hurs
Plural
1    we
us
our    
uz
oor    
hus, us
our, wir    we
us
oor        
hiz, huz
wir
2    you

your
yours    yeez, yiz, *youse    you    you, ye

your, yer(e)
yours        yeez, yiz, *youse
3    they
them
their    
thaim
thir    thai, thay
thaim
thair    they
them
their    thay
thaim
thair    
thum
thir

Person         the grammatical person o the pronoun    
English        the English maik
SNDA        spellins frae CESD and/or SSD
Other        ither common spellins, incorporatin aa the suggestions frae the 300-word leet
Scheme 1    suggestit spellins for the pronouns
Scheme 2    an alternative scheme shawin the maist common variations
Informal    forms mair appropriate for dialogue an siclike
*    the youse spellin (but curiously no yeez or yiz) is notit in CESD as informal in baith singular an plural

    Scots
e.g.    ai/i type
Dialeck    ü/ö type
Shetlandic    ee type
North-Aest
Lang    puir, ruise    “pair”, “raize”    “pör”, “röze”    “peer”, “reeze”
Short    buit, muin    “bit”, “min”    “böt”, “mün”    “beet”, “meen”

SSD maistly reflecks the lowse uise o the ui digraph in Scots in general, giein baith uissfu (tuim, buit) an less uissfu (wuid, cuiter) ensamples.  Houanever, for non-regional writin especially, it is recommendit at this spellin be uised only for words wi the regional pronoonciation variants described abuin – aften correspondin tae an “oo” soond i the English cognate – an that ither spellins be uised for words at daesna hae thae variants.  Spellin aa the appropriate words wi ui raither nor wi their regional pronooncins o “ai”, “i” or “ee”, means at fowk frae aa ower Scotland will can read written Scots wi their ain accent, withoot haein the impression o readin some ither bodie’s dialeck.

A short leet o sic words is:
guid, bluid, fluid, fuid, stuid, luif, fuil, sc(h)uil, tuim, duin, muin, abuin, spuin, shuin, nuin, suin, shuin, fluir, puir, muir, shuir, ruise, uise, uiss, muisic, juist, buit, suit (English soot), luit (past tense o lat), tuith.

Merk the common disteinction atween the spellins o uise (variously said “yaize”, “eeze”, “öze”) for the verb, an uiss (“yiss”, “eese”, “öse”) for the noun.

Afore k an ch (as in loch) the oreiginal soond teuk a different gait, an becam the soond uisually spelt eu – again wi different pronoonciations in sindrie by-leids.  Sae it is recommendit at eu raither nor ui be uised afore k an ch, sae:
teuk, leuk, beuk, neuk, deuk, sheuk, sheuch, leuch, eneuch, teuch, heuch, etc.

Some ither words at tends tae be spelt wi ui daesna hae the expeckit dialeck variants in modern Scots spaek, an is better spelt wi ither spellins.
fit (foot) an wid (wood) is pronoonced wi an “i” soond maist aawey, an better sae spelt.
coud, soud raither nor cuid, suid.

Ither words – aften cognates o English words in o-e – at daesna hae the dialeck variants o the ui phoneme is better spelt u-e, sae dule, luve, gluve, muve, pruve, hure, wure.

In words like guide, guise an quine, the u is associatit wi the precedin consonant raither nor the follaein i, sae there’s nae inconseistency.  A kenspeckle ensample is ruin.

Note: the ui spellin is whyles popularly perceived as the characteristic front “oo” soond (a bittie like German ü in über; ue in French rue; [y] in phonetic script efter Scandinavian y in e.g. Swedish nyckel) at kythes in Wast Central Scots especially.  In fack, this soond is uised in that dialeck in words at haesna the ui spellin – like true, blue, etc. – an a pronoonciation o words like muin an puir as “mün” an “pür” is actually the English forms o the words – moon an poor – said wi a Wast Central accent.  The pronoonciations o the Scots forms muin an puir is “min” an “pair”.


ow/owe

SSD maistly uises ow ineitial an medial – e.g. ower, nowt, owe final – e.g. cowe, howe, but wi certain exceptions, siclike as bow (for baith English bow – an arra – an buoy).


y/y-e/i-e

SSD uises whyles y-e, whyles i-e – e.g. syne, hyne, blybe, etc. but wime, bile, blide, etc. withoot ony obvious rulin criterion.  Alternative approaches at haes been proponed is:

Sinder i an y phonologically, uisin y for the “shorter” soond – [i] as in gey – an i-e for the “langer” soond – [ai] as in kye.  This wid gie, e.g. five, drive but tyme, wyfe, mynd, byde, syne, synd.  {Sae – approximately – Innin.}

Problems wi this is at it laeds tae different spellins o kenspeckle words at’s said the same in Scots an Scottish English (as fornent RP); at some common words wi the “kye” soond haes fameiliar spellins in y – e.g. byre, kythe; an at there’s dialectical variations in the wey some o thae words (includin byre an wey/wey) is said.

Keep i-e in identical English cognates, but uise y in unique Scots words.  {Sae Eagle.}  This wid gie, e.g. five, drive, time, wife, mind but syne, synd an aither bide or byde dependin on hou far it wis regairdit as characteristically Scots raither nor wi reference tae English abide.

The ae problem wi this is at it laeds tae (slicht) non-homogeneity, at shaws wi the problem o hou tae spell bide.

Lea English spelllins alane – e.g. time, wife, fire, tyre – an in unique or characteristic Scots words uise y-e for the lang soond wi ye final (byre, kythe, kye), an i-e for the short soond, wi y afore consonant groups an digraphs an ey final (tine, jine, wynd, pynt, gey, pey).  {Sae – tentatively – Tait.}

This approach retains the maist kenspeckle spellins o mony words (tho no aa – e.g. dyke), but shares the problems o dialectical variants (first bullet) an heterogeneity (second bullet).

Uise y aawey, irrespective o phonology – tyme, wyfe, fyre, tyne, pynt, byde, etc.  {Sae – apparently – Stylesheet an RWS; tho the ensamples they gie is aa o the “short” soond, they dinna mention the ither ane.}

This is easy tae apply, but laeds tae unfameiliar spellins o mony kenspeckle words.

In ony o the abuin, y is uised afore consonant clusters an digraphs in unique Scots words – e.g. synd, wynd, kythe.

Uisin y regularly for English oi – e.g. pynt, jyne, etc. – wid be in kilter wi aa the abuin suggestions, excep for the third ane.


Single Vouels

The single vouels a, e, i, o an u is pronoonced as in Scottish English, an generally they gie nae problem.  Some o the wheen difficulties at daes kythe is:

i/u an o/aa

i or u in words like will, till
o or oa in words like on, stop

Baith they chyces is relate tae aesthetics (see abuin), the “Ah wull go oan tull ah stoap” kind o Scots bein identified wi the phonetics o urban colloquial spaek.  It is suggestit at baith the u words like wull, etc. an the oa words like oan, etc. be confined tae phonetic types o writin – dialogue, drama, verse, an prose thirlt tae thir – an at forms wi i an o – will, till, on, shop – be uised for non-regional writin.

Allocation o e or ai words like pairt/pert, gaither/gether, cairy/*kerry

The problem here is at some words haes baith pronoonciations in sindrie by-leids, an ither words at daesna seem tae hae sic variants is spelt wi ai by analogy.

It is suggestit at ai or e be uised accordin tae pronoonciation in words whaur the the English cognates haes a – or an “a” soond – e.g. airm, faither, ferm, hert, but at the e be retained in English cognates like leg, term, exercise (raither nor laig, tairm, aixercise).


Verb Endins

The endins o waek verbs – i.e. verbs at forms their past tenses bi endins, e.g. kep, keppit, raither nor internal chynges, e.g. greet, grat, is maistly as follaes:

In modern spaek, only verbs endin in p, t, k, b, d an g haes the endin it, e.g. keppit, howkit, flittit, biggit, rubbit, luggit, etc.  This true asweel whaur the present tense haes thae letters follaed bi e – e.g. hatit, gypit, rakit, fadit – excep ge, whaur the g haes a different “j” soond – sae caged, paged, raged.  Antrin exceptions tae this rule is e.g. developed, enveloped.

Latinate verbs endin in te whyles daesna add naething i the past participle, e.g. past tense “I appreciatit that”, but past participle “that wid be appreciatit”.

Verbs endin in f, ss, en, l, sh, tch, ch an sometimes r, maistly haes the endin t, e.g. cofft, passt, fasht, kent, raivelt, killt, birlt, speirt, pootcht, brocht.

Verbs endin in le taks the endin elt, sae ettelt, hirpelt.
Verbs endin in an “ee” soond uisually taks the t endin, sae worriet, mairiet.

Ithers (includin verbs endin in se, whaur the s uisually haes a “z” soond) maistly haes endins in ed, e.g. daured, luved, scrieved, kaimed, hained, cawed, rowed, cryed, poued, preed, raged, kythed, jaloused, lowsed, supposed, etc.  A kenspeckle exception is fremmit (at haes a variant fremd.)


In general, it’s best tae uise pronoonciation as a guide raither nor uise the it endin in verbs like openit, kythit, jalousit, tramplit, followit, luvit, etc. (better opent, kythed, jaloused, trampelt, follaed, luved).

The disteinction atween present participles in an an verbal nouns in in, as recommendit i the Stylesheet, isna uisually favoured nouadays; but a disteinction soud be make atween present participles endin in in – e.g. pittin, lattin, gettin – an past participles in en – e.g. pitten, latten, gotten.

Soond-thirlt writin (poetry, drama, dialeck, etc.)

In dialeck, dialogue, an ither forms o creative writin, it’s aften necessar or desirable tae pit ower the touk o naitural spaek.  Tae some extent there’s nae rules at can apply tae this, an indiveidual scrievers will dae it in differin weys.  Housomever, ther is some pynts at can be uissfu:

Monie dialecks haes existin staundards at can be referred til.

In general, regairdin dialecks as by-leids o Scots raither nor o English, an shawin variations frae Scots norms raither nor English anes (especially i the uiss o apostrophes) will forder perception o Scots as a language.

Sin maist dialeck differs is i the vouels (wi obvious kenspeckle exceptions like North-Aest f for wh an Shetlandic t an d for ineitial th), rules o thoum for consonants – e.g. ck raither nor kk –is maistly equally applicable tae ony form o Scots writin.

Neutral spellins needna mean neutral language.  The syntax an vocabular o ony dialeck or register o Scots coud be expressed uisin the same orthography.  Only phonetic differs needs ither spellins tae pit them ower.

Non-regional orthography

For a general orthography at can brig dialecks an registers, it’s necessar tae hae some wey o walin amang the variants – e.g. ca, caw, caa – gien in SSD an CESD, an mair sae i the bigger dictionars.  This blad seeks tae provide rules o thoum for daein this.  Types o spellins at micht be regairdit as mair appropriate for dialogue an siclike nor for non-regional scrievin is, e.g.


Spellins at tends tae emphasise regional pronoonciations like yaise, fan, craa, awaw, pör raither nor uise, whan, craw, awa, puir.

oa for o e.g. oan, shoap.

a- medial in words like waant, waash.

u for i e.g. tull, wull.

Hyperphonetic spellins in general, like sumhin, urnae, jiwanni? For somethin, arna, dae ye want tae?