Central Scots is a group of
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
s of
Scots.
Central Scots is spoken from
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
and
Perthshire
Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...
to the
Lothians and
Wigtownshire
Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has f ...
, often split into North East Central Scots (Northeast Mid Scots) and South East Central Scots (Southeast Mid Scots), West Central Scots (West Mid Scots) and South West Central Scots (Southwest Mid Scots).
Like other varieties of
Scots, Central Scots has been undergoing a process of
language attrition
Language attrition is the process of losing a native or first language. This process is generally caused by both isolation from speakers of the first language ("L1") and the acquisition and use of a second language ("L2"), which interferes with ...
, whereby successive generations of speakers have adopted more and more features from Standard English. By the end of the twentieth century Scots was at an advanced stage of
language death
In linguistics, language death occurs when a language loses its last native speaker. By extension, language extinction is when the language is no longer known, including by second-language speakers. Other similar terms include linguicide, the deat ...
over much of Lowland Scotland.
Phonology
Consonants
Most consonants are usually pronounced much as in English but:
* ch is traditionally realised in, for example, ''bocht'' (bought), ''coch'' (cough), ''dochter'' (daughter), ''focht'' (fought), ''socht'' (sought ) and ''troch'' (trough).
* ld and nd
elision
In linguistics, an elision or deletion is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase. However, these terms are also used to refer more narrowly to cases where two words are run toget ...
to and occurs in all Central Scots dialects but in the Lothians ‘’ld’’ only simplifies to ‘’l’’ finally where the next word begins with a consonant.
*ng: is always .
*nch: usually . ''brainch'' (branch), ''dunch'' (push), etc.
*r: or is pronounced in all positions, i.e.
rhotically.
*t: may be a glottal stop between vowels or word final.
*wh: usually , older .
Vowels
Vowel length
In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, f ...
is usually conditioned by the
Scottish Vowel Length Rule
The Scottish Vowel Length Rule (also known as Aitken's law after A. J. Aitken, the Scottish linguist who formulated it) describes how vowel length in Scots, Scottish English, and, to some extent, Ulster English and Geordie is conditioned by th ...
(SVLR).
*a (vowel 17) is usually but to the north and east also occurs. Note final ''a'' (vowel 12) in ''awa'' (away), ''twa'' (two) and ''wha'' (who) is usually realised South of the Forth, often written ''awae'', ''twae'' and ''whae'' in dialect writing.
* aw and au (vowel 12) is usually in the East and parts of Perthshire or in the West to West Lothian, however, is spreading eastwards, for example ''aw'' (all), ''cauld'' (cold), ''braw'' (fine, pleasant), ''faw'' (fall) and ''snaw'' (snow).
* ai, ay and a (consonant)e, ae (vowel 4 or 8) are usually realised , for example ''baith'' (both), ''braid'' (broad), ''cake'', ''claes'' (clothes), ''grape'' (grope), ''kail'' (cole), ''laid'' (load), ''laif'' (loaf), ''made'', ''raip'' (rope), ''saip'' (soap), ''spae'' (foretell). South of the Forth the initial realisation is often , for example ''acre'', ''aik'' (oak), ''aits'', (oats), ''ale'', ''ane'' (one) and ''ance'' (once) often written ''yicker'', ''yick'', ''yits'', ''yill'', ''yin'' and ''yince'' in dialect writing. Where that occurs, ''ae'' (one-before nouns) is realised , often written ''yae'' in dialect writing.
* e (vowel 16) is usually realised , for example ''bed'', ''het'' (heated), ''yett'' (gate), etc.
*ea, ei (vowel 3), has generally merged with (vowel 2) or (vowel 4 or 8) depending on dialect. With prevailing in the south east and west and prevailing in the north east of the dialect area. Before , may occur. For example ''deid'' (dead), ''heid'' (head), ''meat'' (food), ''clear'' etc.
*ee (vowels 2 and 11), e (Consonant)e (vowel 2). Occasionally ei and ie with ''ei'' generally before ''ch'' (), but also in a few other words, and ''ie'' generally occurring before ''l'' and ''v''. The realisation is generally e.g. ''dree'' (endure), ''ee'' (eye), ''een'' (eyes), ''flee'' (fly), ''here'', ''lee'' (lie, fib), ''see'', ''speir'' (enquire), ''steek'' (shut), ''thee'' (thigh) and ''tree'' etc. The digraph ''ea'' also occurs in a few words such as ''lea'' and ''sea''.
* eu (vowel 7 before and see ''ui'') is usually realised in the west and Fife, and in the south west and south of the Forth, for example ''beuk'' (book), ''eneuch'' (enough), ''ceuk'' (cook), ''leuk'' (look) and ''teuk'' (took).
*o (vowel 18): has merged with vowel 5 () throughout much of the dialect area, often spelled phonetically ''oa'' in dialect spellings such as (box), (corn), ''Goad'' (God) (job) and (on) etc.
*oa (vowel 5) is usually .
*ou the general literary spelling of vowel 6, also u (consonant)e in some words, is realised , often represented by oo, a 19th-century borrowing from Standard English. e.g. ''cou'' (cow), ''broun'' (brown), ''hoose'' (house), ''moose'' (mouse) etc.
*ow, owe (root final), (vowel 13) is usually
[Johnston, Paul (1997) ''Regional Variation'' in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.498] in ''bowe'' (bow), ''howe'' (hollow), ''knowe'' (knoll), ''cowp'' (overturn), ''yowe'' (ewe), etc. Vocalisation to often occurs before ,
for example ''bowk'' (retch), ''howk'' (dig) often written ''boak'' and ''hoak'' in dialect writing.
*ui, the usual literary spelling
of vowel 7 (except before and see eu). The older realisation may still occur in Perthshire and in Parts of Fife otherwise, as is the norm elsewhere, vowel 7 merges with vowel 15 () in SVLR short environments and vowel 8 () in long environments,
[Johnston, Paul (1997) ''Regional Variation'' in Jones, Charles (ed.) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. p.467] e.g. ''buird'' (board), ''buit'' (boot), ''cuit'' (ankle), ''fluir'' (floor), ''guid'' (good), ''schuil'' (school), etc. Note that v. and n. (use) are and . The realisation is often written ''ai'' in dialect writing, e.g. ''flair'' for ''fluir'' (floor), ''shair'' for ''shuir'' (sure), for (use v.) and ''yiss'' for (use n.).
See also
*
Glasgow patter
The Glasgow dialect, popularly known as the Glasgow patter or Glaswegian, varies from Scottish English at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum to the local dialect of West Central Scots at the other. Therefore, the speech of many Glaswegian ...
*
Berwick-upon-Tweed#Berwick dialect
References
{{Reflist
Scots dialects
Fife
Clackmannanshire
Perth and Kinross
Stirling (council area)
Falkirk (council area)
East Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire
Culture in Glasgow
Renfrewshire
Inverclyde
East Renfrewshire
North Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire
West Lothian
Culture in Edinburgh
Midlothian
East Lothian
North Ayrshire
East Ayrshire
South Ayrshire
Galloway