Scots Online Dictionary — Phonetic Symbols

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

/r/ rat, is usually trilled (rolled) in Scots.

* Most dialects of Scots have a German like Ich/Ach rule governing the pronunciation of <ch>. Pronounced /ç/ (Ger. Ich) initially or following a front vowel, and /x/ (Ger. Bach) following a back vowel.

Glottal Stops

Many speakers substitute a glottal stop /ʔ/ for /t/ and sometimes /k/ and /p/, between two vowels or final /t/.

Vowels

Note the The Scots Vowel Length Rule:

The following vowels are usually short:

The following vowels are usually long:
In stressed syllables before /v/, /ð/, /z/, /ʒ/ and /r/.
Before another vowel and
Before a morpheme** boundary.

The following vowels are usually long in most dialects:

*In unstressed positions.
**A morpheme is the smallest meaningful part into which a word can be divided, i.e. inflections, prefixes and suffixes etc.

Dipthongs

/aɪ/ usually occurs in long environments.
/əi/ usually occurs in short environments.

See the Spelling Guide spelling guide for further detail.

Other Symbols

ː Shows that the previous vowel is long.
ˈ Shows that the following syllable is stressed.