Wir Ain Leid

Mid Northern Scots

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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. The langstracht Shopcentre, Aberdeen. The spelling 'stracht' showing the northern pronunciation of 'straucht'.
Approximate pronunciations of the IPA symbols is given in one or more of the following languages: Scottish Standard English, French and German.

Consonants

Consonants usually have the same phonetic values (pronunciation) in Scots, as in English.

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 /ɪ/ 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.

For more detail see Orthography.
Scots Spellings Pronunciation in words like:
 
<ch> medial and final /x/1 bocht, loch, nicht
<ch> initial /ʧ/ chap, chield, chirl, chowk
<nch> usually /nʃ/ brainch, clinch, dunch, hainch, inch, French
<tch> usually /ʧ/ fleetch, wratch
<dge> usually /ʤ/ begrudge, cadge, cruldge, fadge
<g(e)> occasionally /ʤ/ breinge, gigot
<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
<ng> usually /ŋ/ finger, hing, ingan, single
<nk> usually /ŋk/ bink, hank
<qu> usually /kw/ acquent, quair, queen
<sh> usually /ʃ/ creash, sheep
<sh> occasionally /ʒ/ fushion, pushion
<th> usually /θ/ graith, thole, thrawn
<th> usually /ð/2 blether, thaim, thair
<wh> usually /f/3 wha, whan, wheech, wheel
<wr> initial often /vr/ wrack, wrang, wricht, write

Vowels and Diphthongs

vowels unstressed /ə/ aboot, the, oxter, duntit, bannock, smeddum
<a> initial in /ə/ ahint, awa etc.
<a> usually /a/ aff, lang, mak, wash, watch
<a> final in /a/ awa, twa, wha
<au> usually /a/4 auld, haud, haund, saul, saund, slauchter
<aw> usually final /a/5 aw, blaw, caw, draw, faw, gaw, gnaw, haw, slaw, snaw, staw
<aw> occasional /a/ awn, awfu, bawbee, bawsant
<ai> initial and medial /e/6,7 aiblins, aik, aiple, ait, aith, braid, craitur, fain, gaither, graith, haimer, laim
<aCe> C=consonant /e/6,7 ale, face, gate, hame, Pace
<ane> usually /i/8 alane, ane, ance, bane, gane, mane, nane, stane
<ae> usually /e/ ae, brae, f(r)ae, gae, sae, tae n., wae
<ae> except in /i/ adae, dae, shae, tae v.
<ay> usually /e/ day, gray, lay
<ea> usually /i/6,9 beast, cheap, deave, east, heap, hear, meat, ream, sea, tea
<ee> usually /i/6 dee, dree, eetem, freet, jeely, keep, meet, teeth, weel, weet
<ei,
ie>
usually /i/6 beir, bield, chield, deid, eild, heid, meidae, peir, scrieve, shielin, spreid, teir, threid
<ei> before /x/ /i/ dreich, heich, skeich
<e> usually /ɛ/10 bed, ebb, esh, fecht, gled, gless, seck, wecht
<i> usually /ɪ/11 drink, in, inch, licht, lift, pit, rin, simmer, sin, stibble
<i> after <w> and <wh> often /ʌ/ whin, whisper, whit, wid, wind, wir, wird, wirm, wittins
<o(a)> usually /ɔ/11 boat, boss, box, coal6, cod, common, dochter, hoast, loch, on, rock, thocht
<oo> usually /u/ aboot, coont, droop, hoose, moose, oot, scoor, soond
<ou> usually /u/11 allou, bouk, broun, coum, couer, doun, dout, poupit, thoum
<uCe> C=Consonant /u/ dule, hure
<u> usually /ʌ/ bund, burn, drunken, fund, grund, truff, unce, wund
<ui> usually /i/12 abuin, abuise, bluid, bruit, buird, duin, fluir, fruit, fuird, luim, luif, muin, muir, muisic, ruise, shuir, spuin, uiss, uise, Yuil,
<ui> after /g/ and /k/ /wi/ cuil, cuit, guid, schuil
<eu> usually /ju/ beuch, beuk, eneuch, heuk, leuch, leuk, neuk, sheuch, teuch, teug
<ew> usually /jʌu/13 dew, few, new, spew
<iCe,
yCe>
C=consonant /əi/14 advice, bide, byle, fine, fire ile, rive, tyne, wice, wyte
<ey> usually /əi/ eyntment, eyster, fley
<y(e)> final in /əi/ cry, kye etc.
<oi> usually /oi/ Boid, noise
<oy> usually /oi/ foy, ploy
<ow> initial and medial /ʌu/ bowt, cowp, cowt, gowd, gowf, lowp, owsen
<owe> final /ʌu/ flowe, glowe, growe, howe, knowe, lowe, rowe, towe

Suffixes

<ae> usually /ə/15 Americae, arrae, barrae, nairae, swallae, windae
<ie> diminutive /i/16 grannie, laddie, lassie, shoppie, wifie
<fu> usually /fɛ/17 awfu, carefu, mensefu
<na> negative /nə/ dinna, haesna, maunna, winna, wisna,
<y, ie> adverbial and adjectival /i/16 reekie, sairy, stany, stourie
<ly> adverbial /li/16 brawly, feckly, fully, geyly, likely, uncoly

  1. Medial and final <cht> is sometimes pronounced /θ/ (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 /ɔ/ 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 /əi/ (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 /ɪ/ may occur e.g. speak and week.
  7. A /k/ before <ae, aCe, ai> often produces a yod-gilde + /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 [kwɪntrə], coal [kwəil]6, coat [kwəit]6 and coud [kwɪd]. 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 /ɔi/ may occur.
  15. The pronunciation /e/ also occurs.
  16. If the preceding vowel is /i/ or /əi/, or the preceding consonant is /b, d, ð, g, v, ʒ/ or /z/, the pronunciation is /i/, otherwise /ɪ/.
  17. The pronunciation /fe/ also occurs.

In phrases beginning with in the, on the, at the and o the, the two words are contracted into 'ee' [i:] .

Thae and thir are replaced by the plural use of this and that.
The <th> is often elided in words like this and that, especially in Buchan.

The preposition gin is also used to mean 'by the time that' - Gin we git thare it'll be daurk!

Doric is a mailing list for discussion and debate in and on the Scots Language and the Doric Dialect, especially as used in the North East of Scotland.

Literature:

Dieth, Eugen (1932) A Grammar of the Buchan Dialect, Cambridge University Press.
Wölck, Wolfgang (1965) Phonematische Analyse der Sprache von Buchan, Heidelberg: Winter.
Mather, James Y. and H. H. Speitel (1986) The Linguistic Atlas of Scotland volume 3, London: Croom Helm.
Johnston, Paul (1997) "Regional variation" in Charles Jones ed. The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, 443-513.

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