Speaking Scotland: Scots and Gaelic

what linguistic influences are on the Scots language

English, Anglian, Anglo-Danish, Cumbric, Jutes, Latin

what Scots words show Old Norse influence

kirk and kist

why is it difficult to place the changeover from Old English to Scots

there was a loss of Scottish records by King Edward I and also loss of artefatcs in Viking raids so histories are incomplete

what aided the spread of Scots language

David I formed royal boroughs that helped the language spread

Robert II (Robert the Bruce) in the epic poem was a rhyming piece of literature written in Scots, one of the earliest pieces in Scotland

what are the 4 types of Scottish dialect

• Insular (Shetland, Orkney)

• Northern (Caithness)

• Cnetral

• Southern (Borders)

how is Scots seeing a resurgence in contemporary times

• Scots language policy means it is a protected language and regarded as one of the 3 official languages of Scotland

• Scots Language Awards celebrate its usage

what is interesting about the apologetic apostrophe

e.g. with is written as wi’ not wi

the apostrophe marks the missing letters'/ sounds but these are only missing from English and not Scots, leaning inot the Scottish Cringe phenomenon and the sense of inferiority and incrrectness fekt when compared to English

what is the oldest survuvung Scottish Gelic artefact

The book of Deer from 1130

what was the Highland Line

• a linguistic border between the highlands and lowlands that marked a border between Gaelic and Scots usage

• it was stabilised around 1350-1400 and remained static until 1750

how did Gaelic speakers decline over time

• 50% in 1500

• 20% in 1800

• 1.1% in 2011

• 1.2% in 2022

why is Gaelic’s language structure interesting and rare

• it is a VSO language which is very rare cross-linguistically

• tense is marked through lenition and initial mutation as well as suffixes

• features pre-aspiration which is rare cross-linguistically

why is language a key element for national identity in many cases

it is a catalyst of national movements as there is a string emphasis placed on language being THE defining feature of a distinct nation

why has language previosuly not been the centre of Scotland’s claim to a distinct national identity and nationalist movements

because other apsects of culture act as a signal of autonomy and distinction from England, for example the separate national church, legal, health and education systems also being separately governed

linguistic distinctiveness is therefore foregrounded

how is Scots often characterised

• it is often confined to a folksy setting and humour rather than formal explications/ analysis

• often viewed as a dialect or slang

• often stereotypes as broad or rough and carrying negative class connotations

why is standardisation of Scots in a written mode potentially controversial

• because is technically an umbrella term and covers a variety of dialects and regional variations

• to produce a standardised orthography would require the foregrounding of one variation, thus invoking a dynamic of a prestige hierarchy

what statisrtics did the 2022 census show on Scots

• its speakership decreases 2.1% from 2011

• 0.89% see Scots as their main language

• nearly 50% of speakers claim at least some level of proficiency in reading, writing, listening or speaking

why might it be claimed that the census may not produce any meaningful data about Scots

because each person may understand and view Scots differently in terms of what is required to be ‘proficient’ in it, and also where is exists on a continuum in relation to English

what is the Scottish Language Act and what did it do

• it was passed in June 2025 and came into effect on St Andrews’ Day

• it gave Scots official status is being one of the country’s 3 official languages

• there must be an effort to provide guidance in the promotion of Scots in local areas