Scots Orthography

Scots Spelling

The spellings used here are based on frequently used non-regional traditional Scots. They are based on an analysis of 18th and 19th century spelling conventions, historical practice and etymology (see Aw Ae Wey (1.43 MB)). They can to the most part, be read and pronounced in any Scots dialect. On the whole the spellings used can be found in the Concise Scots Dictionary published by the SNDA. The following explains the spelling conventions used when choosing among and adapting the spelling variants in the Concise Scots Dictionary. Conventions used generally follow the spellings in the Scots School Dictionary (SSD) in so far as they are consistent or cross-dialect. The SSD is also published by the SNDA.

Some spellings of course don't always adhere to the 'rules' explained here. Those are considered 'established spellings' because dictionaries usually have only one entry for the word in question.

Words in Scots are often divided into three groups:

1. Shared vocabulary consists of words which are both common to Standard English and Scots (and other languages as well), often spelled the same in both languages. Many people mistakenly refer to these words as 'English Words' - this is the result of an anglocentric view of the world. The German language uses all, Arm, Dame, Finger, Hand and Land these words are common to both Standard English and German.

2. Close cognates are words which are common to Standard English and Scots (and other languages as well), but which are pronounced (and spelled) differently in Scots i.e. aw, airm, and haund etc.

3. Words particular to Scots. Many people refer to these as 'Scots words', an by implication assume the words in the previous groups are somehow not 'Scots words'. This is based on the false assumption that anything that occurs in Standard English can't be Scots. The fact is that all the words in these groups are Scots words whether they occur in other languages or not.

Some words which only have a slightly different pronunciation in Scots than in Scottish Standard English, usually the vowel sound, generally have same the spelling. Do not assume that because a word is spelled the same as in Standard English it is pronounced as such.

Base forms of words are usually spelled phonemically - not in a one-letter to one-sound manner but in a more graphemically economic manner. In this system position, environment and overt markers enable the same letter or cluster of letters to perform several distinct functions. Several letters or letter clusters may also represent the same sound.

Compounds and derivatives tend to be spelled morphemically, the established grapheme bases are usually retained regardless of the phonemic alterations involved. The assumption being that the reader knows the phonemic alterations that accompany the formation of derivatives and inflections. This may be a hindrance to learning Scots pronunciation from the spellings, but Scots spelling is geared for the convenience of native speakers, not for the learner.

Some words are spelled the same as in Standard English but have a different pronunciation in Scots e.g. /a/ in aunt(ie), swap, want and wash etc., /ʌ/ in bull, full v. and pull etc., /ɪ/ in bind, find and wind v. etc. (Note in those words the final <d> is often silent.)

Words that sound the same in Scots as in Scottish Standard English usually retain the same spelling e.g. come, door, for, hear, some, the, tongue and young etc., except where a Scots spelling has become established or the words have a different 'stressed' form, e.g. A (I), an (and), ma (my), thare and thaim etc.

In some words the spellings may differ slightly in order to accommodate the Scots pronunciation, e.g. lenth and strenth etc.

Short vowels are usually written with:
A final consonant or consonants i.e. buff, bak, ban, lib, licht, seck, tint, wat and wid etc.
Two consonants followed by <e> i.e. birse, carse, dulse, ense, girse, grilse, mense, merse and winze etc.

The spelling <a> for the vowel /a/ in words like aff, at, back, bak, bap, lat, rax, tak, tap, wad, wash and watch etc.

The spelling <e> for the vowel /ɛ/ in words like ken, gled, ferm and yett etc.

A final lexical <e> is used to prevent verb homographs of plural nouns like brouse - brous, please - pleas and tease - teas etc.

The spelling <i> for the vowel /ɪ/ in words like bird, brig, find, kist, shilpit, whisper, will, wir, wird, wirm, wirthy and wittins etc.The pronunciation /æ/ also occurs in Ulster before voiceless sounds or clusters containing them. The pronunciation /ʌ/ may also occur, especially after <w> and <wh>. Some writers spell that <u>.

The spelling <u> for the vowel /ʌ/ in words like dubs, bull, drumly, hunder and pull etc.

Schwa /ə/ may be represented by <a, e, i, o> or <u> in unstressed positions i.e. aboot, the, oxter, loanin, bannock and smeddum.

Long vowels are usually written with:
The absence of a following consonant i.e. <e> in be and we /wi(:)/, also /we(:)/, <i> in wi /wi(:)/ also /wɪ/ and /wə/. The <y> in by is often pronounced /bɪ/, /bi/ and /be/ (especially in the West and Ulster) also occurs. <o> in jo and no is usually pronounced /o(:)/.
A single consonant followed by <e> i.e. bane, fere, bode and hure etc.
Two letters <au, aw, ae, ai, ay, ea, ee, ei, ie, oa, oo, ou> i.e. faw, glaur, snaw, brae, bairn, day, fear, weet, dreich, bield, gloam, hoose and broun etc., and very rarely <aa> in, for example, haar.

The spelling <au> for the vowel, variously /ɑ:/, /ɔ:/ and /a(:)/, is usually used initially and medially, giving: auld, cauld, caunle, draucht, haund, laund, saund and wauken etc.
The cluster <auld> is often pronounced /ʌul(d)/ in Ulster.
Note laund has an unstressed vowel in compounds and is spelled land e.g. hieland and Scotland etc.

The spelling <aw> is usually used finally for that vowel, giving: braw, draw, gnaw, law, maw, saw, and claw etc.
A few exceptions exist e.g. bawbie and bawsant.

The spelling <aw> is usually used for that vowel where Standard English cognates have <all>, giving: aw, awbody, baw, caw and haw etc.
Some writers use <aa> instead of <au> and <aw>, particularly when writing Northern and Insular Scots.

The spelling <a> is usually used finally for that vowel in words like awa, twa and wha etc. In the south east that vowel may be pronounced /e/ in those words.

The spelling <a(consonant)e> usually used initially and medially for the vowel /e/ in words like ane, ance, bane, face, gate, hale, hame, lame, nane, Pace and stane etc.

The spelling <ae> is usually used finally for that vowel, rarely medially, giving: ae, brae, frae, sae and strae, and faem and claes etc.

The spelling <ai> is also used initially and medially for the vowel /e(:)/ , often /ɛ/, especially before /r/, giving: aiple, airm, bairn, braith, cairt, dairn, daith, hain, jaiket, pairt, sair, shairp, stairt and wairm etc.

The spelling <ay> is also used finally for that vowel, giving: day, gray, lay, pray and say etc.

The spelling <ea> is used initially and medially in common with many Standard English cognates. Though in Standard English the spelling represents two pronunciations /i(:)/ as in "meat" and /ɛ/ as in "head". In Scots the <ea> is usually pronounced either /i(:)/ or /e(:)/ depending on the lexeme or dialect, in words like beard, beast, creash, ease, east, eat, fear, gear, heap, lead v., meal, meat and read etc. The pronunciation /ɛ/ may occur before /r/ in words like early, earn, hearth, learn and pearl etc.

Scots also uses the traditional digraph <ei> to represent those pronunciations, especially where Standard English cognates are spelled using <ea> as in Standard English "head", giving: eild, eith, beir, breid, breinge, deid, deif, dreid, eleiven, heid, leid n., meidae, peir, pleisur, seicont, seiven, sweir, teir v. and weir etc.

Some writers may use the spelling <ei> in all of the above.

The spelling <ea> is retained in words pronounced /ɛ/ in Scots and Scottish Standard English e.g. read (past tense). Some writers use <e> for that sound in all words.

The spelling <e(Consonant)e> is usually always pronounced /i(:)/ e.g. here and fere etc.

The spelling <ee> is pronounced /i(:)/ in all Scots dialects, except in Southern Scots where root final it is /əi/, in words like een, freend, freet, neebour, neer, permeesion, see, wee, weel and weet etc.The digraph <ea> occasionally occurs in words like lea, plea, sea and tea.

The spelling <ee> is retained in words pronounced the same in Scots and Scottish Standard English. e.g. creep, feel and seek etc.

The spelling <ie> may also be used for that vowel, usually medially before <v>, <l> and in words shared with Standard English, giving: bield, chief, chield, lief, nieve, scrieve, shield and shielin etc.

The spelling <ie>, always /i(:)/, is also used at the end some other words e.g. gie and hie etc.

Before <ch> (/x/) the spelling is often <ei> for that vowel, giving: dreich, heich, skeich and wheich etc.

The spelling <ei> may occasionaly be used in other words for that vowel, giving: deil, neist and speir etc.

For the above some writers variously use <ee>, <ei> or <ie>.

The spelling <ie> is traditionally used for diminutives giving: grannie, laddie, lassie, shappie and wifie etc.

The spellings <ie> and <y> are used for forming adjectives,adverbs and some nouns. <ie> tends to be used in particularly Scots words and <y> in words the same or similar to Standard English. <y> is usually used for adverbial endings giving: reekie, pernicketie, sairy, stany, stourie, brawly, bonnily, cannie, cannily, feckly, fully, geyly, likely, specially, sairly, shuirly and uncoly etc.
The pronunciation is usually /e/ in Central Scots dialects, but /i/ and /ɪ/ also occur. In Northern dialects, and East Perthshire a variation of /i/ and /ɪ/ occurs, where /i/ occurs when the preceding vowel is /i/ or /əi/, or the preceding consonant is /b, d, ð, g, v, ʒ/ or /z/. Otherwise /ɪ/.
The internal inconsistency caused by unpredictably using <ie> or<y> will be found on this site. Some writers simply use one or the other.

When forming the participle from verbs ending in <ie> the <ie> changes to <y> giving cairyin and couryin etc.

For the sake of orthographic consistency many writes use either <ie> or <y> in all those words.

The spelling <oa> for the vowel /o:/ and <o> for the vowel /ɔ/. In many dialects /ɔ/ has merged with /o/ but some dialects retain the distinction between /o:/ and /ɔ/. The distinction is usually retained in spelling, giving: boat, coal, foal, hoast, rose, and thole etc., and boss, box, cod, common, dochter, on, loch, nocht, rock and thocht etc. In Mid Northern Scots, after /k/, /wəi/ may occur e.g. coal and coat etc.

The spellings <ou> or <oo> are used for the vowel /u(:)/. In Southern Scots, when final, it is pronounced /ʌu/. <oo> is used in words like hoose, aboot and soond in order to avoid confusing <ou> with the Standard English pronunciation.

The traditional Scots spelling <ou> is used in all other words where confusion with the Standard English pronunciation is unlikely, giving: allou, brou, broun, bouk, cou, coum, cour, dou, doun, dout, fou, hou, nou, poupit, sou, thoum and you etc.

Some writers use either <ou> or <oo> for that vowel in all those words.

The spelling <u(consonant)e> may occasionally be used for that vowel in words where the spelling is established e.g. dule and hure etc.

The spelling <ui> for the vowel, variously /ø(:)/, /ɪ/ or /e(:)/, and /i(:)/, in words like guid, ruif, tuim, spuin, puir, juist and truith etc.

The spelling <eu> for the vowel, variously /ø(:)/, /(j)u/ or /(j)ʌ/, in words like beuk, deuk, eneuch, teuch, leuk, teug, teuk, neuk and heuch etc.

The spelling <ew> for the vowel /ju/ in words like dew, ewest , few, new, pewter, spew and tew etc. In Mid Northern Scots the pronunciation may be /jʌu/. Other spellings may also occur in a few words like beauty, duty, feu, fuel and peuther etc.

Diphthongs are usually written with two letters <ey, eu, oi, oy, ow(e)> and <y(e)> etc.

The spelling <i(consonant)e> for the diphthongs /əi/ and /aɪ/ in words pronounced similarly in Scots and Scottish Standard English e.g. wife, knife, thrice and lice etc. Particularly Scots words are often spelled with the traditional Scots <y(consonant)e> e.g. dyke, fyle, syne and tyne etc.

The traditional spelling <y> is used in words like wynd and also in mynd (mind) and kynd (kind) in order to indicate the Scots pronunciation difference from words like find and bind etc. - rhyme with 'pinn(ed)'.

Some writers use <y(consonant)e> in all words with this diphthong.

The spellings <y>, <ye>, <ey> are used for the word final for those diphthongs in words like aye (always), ay (yes), cley, gey, kye and wey etc.

The spelling <ey> occasionally represents /əi/ initially in words like eydent and eyster etc.

The spellings <ow> for the diphthong /ʌu/, <owe> finally, in words like growe, growthe, thowe, howf, dowy, fowk, lowp and cowp etc.
Before <k>, that diphthong may be vocalised to /o/ e.g. bowk, fowk and yowk etc.

As in Standard English, in disyllabic words where the first syllable is stressed, the consonant following the single vowel in the first syllable is doubled giving blatter, watter, verra, fremmit, biggit, dizzen, donnert and butter etc.
The following letters are not doubled. <h, j, q, v, w, x,> and <y>.

Many verbs that end with a single consonant letter double it in the present and past participles, and past tense, as do some adjectives for the comparative and superlative i.e. drap - drappin - drappit, het - hetter - hettest.

<f, l, s> and <z> are usually doubled after short vowels i.e. baff, nyaff, dwall, mell, bass, bress and bizz etc.

Double consonants are avoided where simple differences to Standard English spelling exist.

aiple	apple	mairy	marry
cairy	carry	mainer	manner
haimer	hammer	maiter	matter
jaiket	jacket

Consonants are not usually doubled after long vowels and diphthongs i.e. ail, kail, gean, neep, heid, loan, heuk, stale and tyne etc.

The internal consonant in the past tense and past perfect of some verbs like sell, tell, spell and coff become single giving selt, telt, spelt and coft etc.

The spelling <ch> for /x/ in words like loch, dreich, brocht and nicht, except initially where it usually represents /ʧ/ in words like chield, cheetie and chowk or where it follows <r> in words like airch. Otherwise <tch> is usually used e.g. catch and pootch etc.
The cluster <nch> is always pronounced /nʃ/ giving: brainch, clinch, dunch, hainch, inch, French, painch etc.

The spelling <c> for /s/ is usually used before the letters <e> and <i>. Such words are generally of Romance origin, giving: censor, ceevil, cedent, ceil and mediciner etc.

Initial <c> for /k/ is usually used:

Before vowels, spelled <a>, <ai>, <au>, <aw>, <o>, <oa>, <oo>, <ou> and <u>,
before the vowel (a few exceptions) spelled <ui>,
before the diphthong spelled <ow> or <owe>,
before <l> and <r>,
giving caw, caw, caddie, carle, caird, cairt, cleid, creash, cou, cloot, croun, coff, corrupt, cosie, coar, cruldge, cushat, cowp, cowt, cley, cryne, cuist and cuit etc.

Initial <k> is usually used:

Before the vowels spelled <e> and <ei>, <ee> and <ea>.
A few exceptions with the vowels spelled <ai> and <ae>, and <ui> exist,
before the diphthong spelled <i(consonant)e> and <y(consonant)e>,
before <n>,
giving keek, keeng, kebbock, Keith, kelter, ken, kye, kyte, kythe, kail, kaim and knife etc.

Initial <sc> for /sk/ is usually used:

Before the vowels, spelled <a>, <au>, <aw>, <oo>, <ou>, <o>, <oa>, <u> and <ui>,
before the diphthong spelled <ow> and <owe>,
before <l> and <r>,
giving scantlins, sclaff, sclate, scaud, scaur, scaw, sclent, scone, scoor, scowe, scowth, scunner, scrieve and scuip etc.

Initial <sk> is usually used:

Before vowels spelled <ai>, <ae> and <a(consonant)e>,
before the diphthong spelled <i(consonant)e> and <y(consonant)e>,
giving skail, skaith, skelf, skelp, skeel, skirl, skive, skyme and skite etc.

The terminal <ck> is used at the end of words like beck, feck, and puddock etc.

The terminal <le> is used in words like muckle, traivel, soople and trauchle. That is changed to <elt> in the past tense and past participle to give soopelt and trauchelt etc.

In Many dialects the terminal <d> of <nd> and <ld> is usually silent but is often pronounced in the derived forms (especially past tenses) of many words. In order to achieve orthographic consistency such words are spelled with the <nd>, e.g. haund and soond, and haundit and soondit. Entries in dictionaries often include the terminal <d> in brackets, e.g. haun(d), soon(d), sen(d).
In many words the final <d> of a medial <nd> is also silent. Many words no longer have the <d> pronounced at all. Such words are now spelled using a medial <nn> or <n>.
Here spellings like bind, blind, find and wind are considered adequate for representing the vowel /ɪ/. Some writers use spellings like finn(d) in order to show the Scots pronunciation.

The initial <th> in thanks, thing, awthing and think is often pronounced /h/.
The final <g> in thing is often silent. It is used in writing because the final <ing> is not the suffix for the gerund or present participle. This word is cognate with German Ding and Scandinavian ting.

Final <the> to indicate the voiced consonant /ð/ in bathe, kythe, laithe and skaithe etc.

The pronunciation /s/ or /z/ for final <s> or contracted and genitive forms with <'s> or <s'>.
The pronunciation /s/ usually occurs after /f/, /k/, /p/, /s/, /t/, /θ/ and /x/ and before an inflexion.
e.g. laifs, wifes, wife's, hooses, lochs and threaps etc.
The pronunciation /z/ usually occurs in plurals ending with <es> and after a vowel sound or /b/, /d/, /g/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /r/, /v/, /ð/ and /ŋ/.
e.g. dous, haunds, ludges, steams, gie's, his, hers and thairs etc.

Final <ss> is usually pronounced /s/ e.g. miss, bliss, bress, uiss and wiss etc.

Final <se> is more complicated and it may be worthwhile consulting a pronunciation dictionary.
Final <se> is usually pronounced /s/ after short vowels /l/, /n/, /p/ and (long vowels before) /r/.
e.g. coorse, grilse, hoose, manse, mense and traipse. etc.
Final <se> is usually pronounced /z/ after long vowels and diphthongs.
e.g. jalouse, lowse, phrase, please and uise etc.

<z> for /z/ is seldom used in Scots, though it does occur in some words as a substitute for the older <ʒ> (yogh) representing the pronunciations /ŋ/, /ŋj/ and /nj/. <lʒ> became /lj/. This has led to a number of variants using the spellings <z>, <y>, <n> and <ng>.
e.g. brulzie - brulyie, gaberlunzie - gaberlunyie, senzie - senyie, Cockenzie - Cockennie, Mackenzie - Mackennie and Menzies - Mingis etc.

Glottal stops /ʔ/ are not indicated in writing. Many speakers substitute a glottal stop for /t/ and sometimes /k/ and /p/, between two vowels.

Standard English and Scots Cognates

Many Scots and Standard English words are derived by direct descent from the same source. Some insights into the spelling of Scots may be gained by comparing the spelling of Scots words to the spellings of their Standard English cognates. There are of course exceptions to the 'rules' explained here.
These comparisons in no way imply that Standard English is a 'corrupted' form of Scots!

Different Consonants

• Scots has no 'b' in the accented or any following syllable, where Standard English has it after <m>.

  St. English	Scots	St. English	Scots
  amber	lammer	rumble	rummle
  chamber	chaumer	shamble	skemmle
  cumber	cummer	thimble	thimmle
  embers	emmers	timber	timmer
  number	nummer	tumble	tummle

  Note.

  December	December	member	member
  September	September	November	November

• As previously mentioned the final <d> after <n> is usually silent. In many words the historic <d> in medial positions is not pronounced. In such words the spelling <n> or <nn> is used.

  candle	caunle	thunder	thunner
  wander	wander	wonder	wunner

• Scots often has no final 'f' where Standard English does.

  self

  sel

  sheriff

  shirra

• Scots often has no medial and final 'v' where Standard English does.

  calves	caur	have	hae
  delve	del	leave	lea'
  devil	deil	love	lue
  dove	dou	over	ower
  even	e'en	serve	ser
  give	gie	silver	siller
  harvest	hairst	twelve	twal

• In some words Scots has no final 'th', where Standard English does.

  mouth	mou	(uncouth)	unco
  quoth	quo	with	wi

Letter Differences

• In some words Scots has <dd> where Standard English has <th>.

  smithy	smiddie	stithy	stiddie
  withy	widdie

• Scots often has <k> or <ck> where Standard English has <ch>. The Scots <k> or <ck> is often claimed to be of Scandinavian origin.

  birch	birk	larch	larick
  bitch	bick	stitch	steek
  breeches	breeks	stretch	streek
  church	kirk	such	sic
  itchy	yeukie	thatch	thack

• Scots often has <scl> where Standard English has <sl>.

  slant	sclent	slender	sclender
  slate	sclate	slice	sclice

• Scots often has <sk> where Standard English has <sh>.

  shambles

  skemmles

  share

  skare

  shelf

  skelf

• Scots often has <g> or <gg> where Standard English has <dge>.

  bridge	brig	ridge	rig
  dredge	dreg	edge on	egg
  sedge	seg

  Note the exceptions hedge hedge and sledge sled.

• Scots often has <au> where Standard English has <al>.

  calf	cauf	malt	maut
  calm	caum	palm	paum
  chalk	cauk	psalm	psaum
  false	fause	salmon	saumon
  half	hauf	salt	saut
  halse (neck)	hause	scald	scaud

  Note stalk, talk and walk.

• Scots usually has <aw> where Standard English has final <all>.

  call	caw	hall	haw
  all	aw	small	smaw
  ball	baw	stall	staw
  fall	faw	wall	waw

   

• Scots often has <ow> medially and <owe> finally, where Standard English has <ol(l)>.

  boll	bowe	hollow	howe
  bolster	bowster	knoll	knowe
  bolt	bowt	poll	powe
  colt	cowt	roll	rowe
  gold	gowd	stolen	stowen
  golf	gowf

  Note the exception: soldier sodger.

• Scots often has <aul> where Standard English has <ol>.

  bold	bauld	old	auld
  cold	cauld	scold	scauld
  fold	fauld	told	tauld

  Note the exceptions:

  hold	haud	solder	souder
  soldier	sodger

• In Scots the position of <r> is often switched compared to the preceding or following vowel in Standard English.

  burnt	brunt	proverb	provrib
  christen	kirsten	rhubarb	rhubrub
  grass	girse	turf	truff
  curb	crib	wart	wrat
  modern	modren	wrestle	warstle
  pretend	pertend

• Scots often has a pronunciation variation between /ʃ/ and /s/ in many words of Norman French origin. These words may be spelled using <s>, <c> or <sh>.

  officer	offisher	gusset	gushet
  cinders	shinders	hoarse	hairsh
  sew (clothes)	shew	mince	minsh
  vessel	veshel	notice	notish

• The <ual> in some words may be pronounced /wəl/ .

  actual

  gradual

  annual

• In some words of Latin origin, Scots has kept the original pronunciation /i(:)/ where Standard English has /ɪ/ or /ai/.

  baptise	bapteese	oblige	obleege
  civil	ceevil	original	oreeginal
  item	eetem	pity	peety
  liberal	leeberal	position	poseetion
  licence	leeshence	spirit	speerit

  Note. system seestem.

• Scots often has <-fee> where Standard English has <-fy>.

  magnify	magnifee	satisfy	saitisfee
  modify	modifee	signify	seegnifee

• Scots often has <i> where Standard English has <u>.

  nut

  nit

  summer

  simmer

• Scots often has <e> where Standard English has <a>.

  brass	bress	glad	gled
  clasp	clesp	glass	gless
  hasp	hesp	fast	fest

• Scots often has <ai> where Standard English has <a>. Especially in words with <r> + consonant.

  arm	airm	saddle	saidle
  bedraggle	bedraigle	sharp	shairp
  father	faither	warm	wairm
  manner	mainer	yard	yaird

• Scots often has <a> where Standard English has <o>.

  appen	open	soft	saft
  crop	crap	song	sang
  drop	drap	strong	strang
  long	lang	throng	thrang
  pot	pat	top	tap
  sob	sab

• Scots often has <a(consonant)e> where Standard English has <o(consonant)e>.

  bone	bane	one	ane
  home	hame	stone	stane
  lone	lane

  Note the exceptions in <ai>.

  cole	kail	sore	sair
  rope	raip	whole	hail

• Scots often has <ee> where Standard English has <e>.

  well	weel	fret	freet
  wet	weet	jelly	jeely

  Note the exception red reid.

• Scots often has <u> or <i> after <wh> and <w> where Standard English has <e>, <i>, or <o>.

  whelk	wulk	word	wird
  woman	wumman	wirth	worth
  worm	wirm	whurl	whorl

• Scots often has <y> where Standard English has <oi>.

  anynt	anoint	join	jyne
  boil (sore)	byle	point	pynt
  boil (water)	byle	spoil	spyle
  choice	chyce	voice	vyce

  Note.

  ile	oil	eyster	oyster
  queir	choir	noise	noise
  eyntment	ointment	pushion	poison
  ryal	royal	evite	avoid

• Scots has <ch> /x/ where Standard English has <gh>.
  Most dialects of Scots have a German like Ich/Ach rule governing the pronunciation of <ch>. <ch> is pronounced /ç/ following a front vowel, and /x/ following a back vowel. For the sake of simplicity /x/ has been throughout this site.

  bought	bocht	might v.	micht
  bright	bricht	night	nicht
  fight	fecht	rough	roch
  fright	fricht	sight	sicht
  high	heich	thought	thocht
  laugh	lauch	tough	teuch
  light	licht	weight	wecht
  might n.	maucht

  Note the exception, 'delight' comes from Old French 'deliter'. The Standard English spelling arose by analogy with 'light'. The word is not pronounced 'delicht' in Scots and is written (and pronounced) 'delite'.
  Burgh retains the <gh> in Scots.

• Scots often has <oo> where Standard English has <ou>.

  about	aboot	out	oot
  house	hoose	round	roond
  mouse	moose	sound (healthy)	soond
  our	oor	sound (noise)	soond

• Scots often has <u> where Standard English has <ou>.

  found	fund	mount	munt
  fountain	funtain	mountain	muntain
  ground	grund	mourn	murn

  Among the exceptions are:

  though	tho	group	group
  colour	colour	thought	thocht
  country	kintra	through	throu
  enough	eneuch	tour	tour

• Scots often has <ou> where Standard English has <ow> medially.

  brown	broun	gown	goun
  cower	cour	powder	pouder
  crowd	croud	power	pouer
  crown	croun	shower	shour
  down	doun	towel	touel
  drown	droun	tower	tour
  flower	flouer	town	toun
  fowl	foul

• In some words Scots often has final <aw> where Standard English has final <ow>.

  blow	blaw	show	shaw
  crow	craw	snow	snaw
  mow	maw	low	law
  row (line)	raw	throw	thraw

• In some words Scots often has final <ae> where Standard English has final <ow>.

  arrow	airae	pillow	pillae
  barrow	barrae	shadow	shaidae
  bellows	bellaes	sorrow	sorrae
  borrow	borrae	swallow	swallae
  follow	follae	widow	weedae
  marrow	marrae	window	windae
  meadow	meidae	yellow	yellae
  narrow	nairae

  Similarly in some words Scots often has final <ae> where Standard English has final <a>.

  algebra	algebrae	Canada	Canadae
  America	Americae	China	Cheenae
  alpha	alphae	omega	omegae

• In some words Scots has <ou> where Standard English has final <ow>.

  allow	allou	cow	cou
  bow	bou	how	hou
  brow	brou	now	nou

  Exceptions to the above are:

  bellow	buller	furrow	furr
  below	ablo	minnow	minnin
  elbow	elbuck

• The Anglo-Saxon long <o> /o:/ became /ø/ and /y/ in older Scots, then spelled <ui> and <u(Consonant)e> respectively. Now generally spelled <ui> or <eu> (see below) in Modern Scots and usually <oo> in Standard English. Similarly with Scandinavian and Romance words.
  This remains /ø(:)/ and /y(:)/ in peripheral dialects. In parts of Fife, Angus and Ulster /e(:)/ occurs. In northern dialects and parts of Ulster /i(:)/ occurs, where in Mid Northern Scots after /g/ and /k/ it is /wi(:)/. In Central Scots and parts of Ulster it became /ɪ/ when short and /e:/ when long.

  blood	bluid	palm	luif
  board	buird	pool	puil
  brute	bruit	poor	puir
  cool	cuil	roose	ruise
  done	duin	refuse	refuise
  floor	fluir	school	schuil
  ford	fuird	spoon	spuin
  fruit	fruit	sure	shuir
  good	guid	Thursday	Fuirsday
  loom	luim	use n.	uiss
  moon	muin	use v.	uise
  moor	muir	(young coal-fish)	cuithe

• In some of the above the Central Scots pronunciation has established itself in the spelling.

  ado

  adae

  do

  dae

  shoe

  shae

  to

  tae

  e.g. do dae, did did, done duin and does daes or dis.

• Some words descended from the long <o> now have <i>.

  brother	brither	mother	mither
  foot	fit	other	ither

  Note. wood wid, not descended from long <o>.

• Where the Anglo-Saxon long <o> /o:/ was followed by /k/ or /x/ the sound shifted to <eu> in Scots. Pronounced /(j)u/ or /(j)ʌ/ depending on dialect.
  Similarly with Scandinavian words.

  book	beuk	hook	heuk
  bough	beuch	laughed	leuch
  (cliff)	heuch	look	leuk
  (ravine)	cleuch	nook	neuk
  (ditch)	sheuch	plough	pleuch
  duck (bird)	deuk	(sparrow)	speug
  enough	eneuch	tough	teuch

  Note tug teug.

• In some words Scots has no final <e> as in Standard English <ure>.

  creature	craitur	nature	naitur
  lecture	lectur	picture	pictur
  mixture	mixtur	venture	ventur

  Note. secure siccar.

• In many words Scots has initial <a> where Standard English has <be>.

  because	acause	beneath	aneath
  before	afore	beside	aside
  behind	ahint	between	atween
  below	ablo	beyond	ayont

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