North Northern Scots
North Northern Scots
Consonants
Consonants usually have the same phonetic
values (pronunciation)
in Scots, as in English.
For more detail see Orthography.
| Scots Spellings |
Pronunciationin
words like: |
| |
| <ch> |
medial and final |
/x/ |
bocht, loch, nicht |
| <ch> |
initial often |
/ʃ/ |
chap, chield, chirl,
chowk |
| <nch> |
usually |
/nʃ/ |
brainch, clinch, dunch,
hainch, inch, French |
| <tch> |
usually |
/ʧ/ |
fleetch, wratch |
| <ock> |
final often |
/əg/1 |
bannock, hillock, lassieock |
| <dge> |
usually |
/ʤ/ |
begrudge, cadge, cruldge,
fadge |
| <g> |
usually |
/ʤ/2 |
breinge, gigot |
| <g> |
occasionally |
/ʧ/ |
gigot, gin |
| <gn> |
Initial |
/gn/ |
gnap, gnaw |
| <j> |
Initial |
/ʧ/ |
Jean, jeely, jyle |
| <kn> |
Initial |
/n/3 |
knap, knee, knot,
knowe |
| <ld> |
final when the next word begins with
a consonant |
/l/ |
auld, bield, cauld,
fauld |
| <ld> |
otherwise |
/ld/ |
elder |
| <nd> |
usually |
/n/ |
baund, daunder, find,
haund, 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 |
| <t> |
final often |
/d/ |
droukit, it,
mairit, semmit |
| <th> |
usually |
/θ/ |
graith, thole, thrawn |
| <th> |
usually |
/ð/4 |
blether, thaim, thair |
| <wh> |
usually |
/f/5 |
wha, whan, wheech,
wheel |
| <wr> |
often initial |
/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/6 |
aff, lang, mak,
wash, watch |
| <a> |
final in |
/a/ |
awa, twa, wha |
| <au> |
usually |
/a/7 |
auld, haud, haund,
saul, saund, slauchter |
| <aw> |
usually final |
/a/ |
aw, blaw, caw,
draw, faw, gaw, gnaw,
haw, slaw, snaw, staw
|
| <aw> |
occaisional |
/a/ |
awn, awfu, bawbee,
bawsant |
| <ai> |
initial and medial |
/əi/8 |
aiblins, aik, aiple,
ait, aith, braid, craitur,
fain, gaither, graith, haimer,
laim |
| <aCe> |
C=consonant |
/əi/8 |
alane, ale, ane,
ance, bane, face, gane,
gate, hame, mane, nane,
stane, Pace |
| <ae> |
usually |
/e/ |
ae, brae, f(r)ae
, gae, sae, tae n., wae |
| <ae> |
except in |
/i/ |
adae, dae, shae,
tae v. |
| <ae> |
except in |
/əi/8 |
claes |
| <ay> |
usually |
/e/ |
day, gray, lay |
| <ea> |
usually |
/əi/8 |
beast, cheap, deave,
east, heap, hear, meat, ream,
sea, tea |
| <ee> |
usually |
/i/ |
dee, dree, eetem,
freet, jeely, keep, meet,
teeth, weel, weet |
<ei,
ie> |
usually |
/əi/8 |
beir, bield, chield,
deid, eild, heid, meidae,
peir, scrieve, shielin, spreid,
teir, threid |
| <ei> |
before /x/ |
/i/ |
dreich, heich, skeich |
| <e> |
usually |
/ɛ/ |
bed, ebb, esh,
fecht, gled, gless, seck,
wecht |
| <i> |
usually |
/ɛ/9 |
drink, in, inch,
licht, lift, pit, rin,
simmer, sin, stibble, whin,
whisper, whit, wid, wind,
wir, wird, wirm, wittins |
| <o(a)> |
usually |
/o/ |
boat, boss, box,
coal, cod, common, dochter,
hoast, loch, on, rock,
thocht |
| <oo> |
usually |
/y/ |
aboot, coont, droop,
hoose, moose, oot, scoor,
soond |
| <ou> |
usually |
/y/ |
allou, bouk, broun,
coum, couer, doun, dout,
poupit, thoum |
| <uCe> |
usually |
/y/ |
dule, hure |
| <u> |
usually |
/ʌ/ |
bund, burn, drunken,
fund, grund, truff, unce,
wund |
| <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, leuch, leuk, neuk,
sheuch, teuch, teug |
| <ew> |
usually |
/jy/ |
dew, few, new,
spew |
<iCe,
yCe> |
C=consonant |
/əi/12 |
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/ |
Americae, airae, barrae,
nairae, swallae, windae |
| <ie> |
diminutive |
/i/13 |
grannie, laddie, lassie,
shoppie, wifie |
| <fu> |
usually |
/fɛ/ |
awfu, carefu, mensefu |
| <na> |
negative |
/nə/ |
dinna, haesna, maunna,
winna, wisna |
<t,
it> |
verbal endings |
/t/
/ɪt/14 |
scunnert, selt, telt
duntit, skelpit |
<y,
ie> |
adverbial and adjectival |
/i/13 |
reekie, sairy, stany,
stourie |
| <ly> |
adverbial |
/li/13 |
brawly, feckly, fully,
geyly, likely, uncoly |
- This is usual in Caithness,
/k/ may also be pronounced /g/.
- In Caithness initial /ʧ/
may occur.
- In Caithness /kn/
may occur. In the Black Isle and Easter Ross /kr/
may occur.
- Initial <th> may be omitted in words like the,
thair, thare, thee and thoo.
- 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.
- In the Black Isle and Easter Ross /əi/
may occur before <n> and <ng>.
- Also /ɑ/
before <l>, <n>, <r> and <ch>
/x/. In Caithness
the cluster <auld> may be pronounced /ʌul(d)/.
- The pronunciation /e/
is becoming predominant.
- In the Black Isle and Easter Ross before /g/
and /x/ the pronunciation
/əi/ may
occur in words like big, nicht, pig and sicht.
- The pronunciation /ø/ or
/y/ may occur
in dis, disna and dinna.
- The pronunciation /jɔ/
may occur in words like eneuch.
- The pronunciation /oi/
may occur in words like bide, byke, line and pipe.
- 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/.
- In Caithness the pronunciations are /d/
and /əd/.
This also occurs as /ɪd/
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> /ɪn/.
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 /əg/
and may be written <ag>: The wee bairnag - The small
child.
Literature:
Mather, James (1978) "The dialect
of Caithness", Scottish Literary Journal
Supplement 6, 1-16.
Nicolson, D. B. (1907) "Dialect" in J. Horne
ed. The County of Caithness, Wick: W. Rae, 60-68.
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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