Southern Scots
Southern Scots
Southern Scots or Border Scots as it
is also known - apart for a stretch of land between Carlisle
an Gretna where the Cumbrian and Scots dialect mix - is
substantially different from the dialects of English spoken
south of the Border. Beat Glauser's research into the
dialects on both sides of the border pointed out that
the linguistic and political borders were practically
identical. Southern Scots is also known as the 'yowe and
mey' dialect ('you and me').
Consonants
Consonants usually have the same phonetic values (pronunciation)
in Scots, as in English.
A final <d> may be pronounced /t/
in words like cupbuird and orchard, and /ʤ/
in words like curmud, daud and fud.
<f> may be pronounced /v/
in a few words such as cauf, staff and sheaf.
<f>
may be pronounced /ð/
in a few words such as ledder, pouder, shouder and sowder.
A final <t> may be pronounced /d/
after <l>, <m>, <n>, <ng> or a
vowel in a monosyllable e.g. telt and selt.
The <w> in the cluster <tw> may be vocalised
in words like twilt, twin and twinty giving [tolt],
[ton] and ['tunti].
A /j/ (<y>)
before /i/ may be
elided in words like year.
For more detail see Orthography.
| Scots
Spellings |
Pronunciation in
words like: |
| |
|
IPA |
|
| <ch> |
medial and final |
/x/ |
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/1 |
begrudge, cadge, cruldge,
fadge |
| <g> |
occasionally |
/ʤ/1 |
breinge, gigot |
| <ld> |
medial and final |
/ld/2 |
auld, bield, cauld,
elder, fauld |
| <nd> |
usually |
/nd/3 |
daunder, find, haund,
saund, 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/ |
blether, thaim, thair |
| <wh> |
usually |
/ʍ/4 |
wha, whan, wheel,
wheech |
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/5 |
auld, haud, haund,
saul, saund, slauchter |
| <aw> |
usually final |
/a/ |
aw, blaw, caw,
draw, faw, gaw, gnaw,
haw, slaw, snaw, staw |
| <aw> |
occasionally |
/a/ |
awn, awfu, bawbee,
bawsant |
| <ai> |
initial and medial |
/e/6 |
aith, aiple, braid,
craitur, fain, gaither, graith,
haimer, laim |
| <ae> |
usually |
/e/ |
brae, frae7,
gae, sae, tae n., wae |
| <aCe> |
C=consonant |
/e/6 |
face, gate, hame8,
Pace |
| <ai, ae> |
Initial in |
/je/9 |
ae, aik, ait,
aith
|
<ai, aCe>
|
except in |
/jɪ/ |
aiblins, ale, ane,
ance |
| <ae> |
except in |
/ø/10 |
adae, dae, shae,
tae v. |
| <ay> |
usually |
/e/ |
day, gray, lay |
| <ea> |
usually |
/i/11 |
beast, cheap, deave,
east, heap, hear, meat,
ream |
| <ee> |
usually |
/i/ |
eetem, freet, jeely,
keep, meet, teeth, weel,
weet |
| <ee, ea> |
final |
/əi/ |
dee, dree, free,
knee, sea, see, tea |
| <ei, ie> |
usually |
/i/ |
bield, beir, chield,
deid, eild, heid, meidae,
peir, scrieve, shielin, spreid,
teir, threid |
| <ei> |
before /x/ |
/i/ |
dreich, heich, skeich |
| <e> |
usually |
/ɛ/12 |
bed, ebb, esh,
fecht, gled, gless, seck,
wecht |
| <i> |
usually |
/ɪ/13 |
drink, in, inch,
licht, lift, pit, rin,
simmer, sin, stibble |
| <i> |
after /w/
and /ʍ/
often |
/ʌ/ |
whin, whisper, whit,
wid, wind, wir, wird,
wirm, wittins |
| <o(a)> |
usually |
/o/14 |
boat, boss, box,
coal, cod, common, hoast,
on, rock |
| <och> |
often |
/ʌux/ |
dochter, thocht |
| <oo> |
usually |
/u/ |
aboot, coont, droop,
hoose, moose, oot, scoor,
soond |
| <ou> |
usually |
/u/ |
broun, bouk, coum,
couer, doun, dout, poupit,
thoum |
| <oo, ou> |
final |
/ʌu/ |
allou, brou, cou,
dou, fou, hou, nou, oo,
sou, you |
| <uCe> |
usually |
/u/ |
dule, hure |
| <u> |
usually |
/ʌ/ |
bund, burn, drunken,
fund, grund, truff, unce,
wund |
| <ui> |
usually |
/ø/12 |
abuin, abuise, bluid,
bruit, buird, cuil, cuit,
duin, fluir, fruit, fuird,
guid, luif, luim, muin,
muir, muisic, ruise, schuil,
shuir, spuin, uise, uiss,
Yuil |
| <eu> |
usually |
/jʌ/15 |
beuch, beuk, eneuch,
heuk, leuch, leuk, neuk,
sheuch, teuch, teug |
| <ew> |
usually |
/ju/ |
dew, few, new,
spew |
| <iCe, yCe> |
C=consonant |
/əi/ |
advice, bide, byle,
fine, fire, ile, rive,
tyne, wice, wyte |
| <ey> |
usually |
/əi/ |
eyntment, eyster, fley |
| <y(e)> |
final |
/aɪ/ |
in 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 |
/ɛ/ |
Americae, airae, barrae,
nairae, swallae, windae |
| <ie> |
diminutive |
/ɪ/ |
grannie, laddie, lassie,
shoppie, wifie |
| <fu> |
usually |
/fɛ/ |
awfu, carefu, mensefu |
| <na> |
negative |
/nɛ/ |
dinna, haesna, maunna,
winna, wisna, |
| <y, ie> |
adverbial and adjectival |
/ɪ/16 |
reekie, sairy, stany,
stourie |
| <ly> |
adverbial |
/lɪ/16 |
brawly, feckly, fully,
geyly, likely, uncoly |
Footnotes
- This may be pronounced /ʒ/
after <n>.
- To the west simplification of <ld> to /l/
occurs finally and when the next word begins with a
consonant.
- To the west simplification of <nd> to /n/
occurs in all positions.
- Some older speakers pronounce wh /xw/.
It may be pronounced /h/ in words like
whurl and wheezle.
- <au> before /x/
is usually /ʌux/
as in sauch and slauchter.
- The older /ɪə/
may occur in some areas. <ai> before <ch>
may be /iu/ as
in daich and laich.
- The <f> in frae is often pronounced /θ/.
- Initial /h/
before /e/ is
often pronounced /(h)jɪ/
in words like hame, hale and hairse.
- In Teviotdale /jɛ/
occurs.
- The pronunciation /ɵ/
(Ger. Götter) or /œ/
(Ger. zwölf, Fr. oeuf) also occurs,
including dis, disna, dinna. This
is subject to the Scots Vowel Length Rule.
The South East Central Scots pronunciation of the <ui>
spelling are now very prevelant in this dialect.
| Scots
Spellings |
Pronunciation
in words like: |
| |
|
IPA |
|
| <a> |
final in |
/e:/ |
dae, shae, tae
v. |
| <ui> |
initial short |
/jɪ/ |
uiss |
| <ui> |
medial short |
/ɪ/ |
abuin, bluid, bruit,
duin, fruit, luif, luim,
muin, spuin, Yuil |
| <ui> |
initial long |
/je:/ |
uise |
| <ui> |
medial long |
/e:/ |
abuise, buird, fuird,
fluir, muir, muisic, ruise,
shuir |
| <i> |
medial in |
/ɪ/ |
dis, disna, dinna |
- The pronunciation /e/
may occur in some words.
- The pronunciation /æ/
also occurs.
- Before /x/,
/əi/ may
occur. The pronunciation /ɛ/
also occurs. In North Roxburghshire /əi/
may occur before /g/
and /ŋ/.
- Initial <o> may be pronounced /wʌ/
in words like open, orchard, ort and even hope. In words
like coal the older /uə/
may occur.
- The pronunciations /ɵ/
(Ger.Götter) or /iu/
also occur.
- The pronunciation /ɪe/
(Eng. aim, Ger. Sehr, Fr. été)
also occurs.
Literature:
Glauser, Beat (1974) The Scottish-English
Linguistic Border. Lexical Aspects, Bern: Francke.
Johnston, Paul (1997) "Regional variation" in Charles
Jones ed. The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language,
Edinburgh University Press, 443-513.
Mather, James Y. and H. H. Speitel (1986) The Linguistic
Atlas of Scotland volume 3, London: Croom Helm.
Murray, James (1870-72, 1873) The
Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland, London:
Philological Society.
Watson, George (1923) The Roxburghshire Word-Book,
Cambridge University Press.
Wettstein, P. (1942) The Phonology of a Berwickshire
Dialect, Zurich: Bienne.
Zai, Rudolph (1942) The Phonology of the Morebattle
Dialect, Lucerne: Ræber.
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