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. 
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 |
- Medial and final <cht> is sometimes pronounced
/θ/ (Eng.
thaw) in words like dochter, micht
and nocht etc.
- Often /d/ before
<er>, especially in Buchan.
- The Pronunciation /w/
may occur in some words.
- In Buchan fishing villages /ɔ/
before <m>, <n> and <ng>.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Moray and Nairn usually have /e/.
- Some words may have /e/.
Coastal dialects, Moray and Nairn usually have /e/.
- In coastal villages /ei/
may occur.
- 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.
- In Moray and Nairn before /r/
the pronunciation is usually /(j)u:/.
- Also in words like beauty and duty.
- In Buchan /ɔi/
may occur.
- The pronunciation /e/
also occurs.
- 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/.
- 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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