North Northern Scots refers to the dialects of Scots spoken in Caithness, the

Black Isle The Black Isle ( gd, an t-Eilean Dubh, ) is a peninsula within Ross and Cromarty, in the Scottish Highlands. It includes the towns of Cromarty and Fortrose, and the villages of Culbokie, Jemimaville, Rosemarkie, Avoch, Munlochy, Tore, and ...

and

Easter Ross Easter Ross ( gd, Ros an Ear) is a loosely defined area in the east of Ross, Highland, Scotland. The name is used in the constituency name Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which is the name of both a British House of Commons constitue ...

Caithness

The dialect of Caithness is generally spoken in the lowlying land to the east of a line drawn from Clyth Ness to some 4 miles west of

Thurso Thurso (pronounced ; sco, Thursa, gd, Inbhir Theòrsa ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Gre ...

. To the west of that

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...

used to be spoken. The Caithness varieties have been influenced by both Gaelic and

Norn Norn may refer to: *Norn language, an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken in Northern Isles of Scotland *Norns, beings from Norse mythology *Norn Iron, the local pronunciation of Northern Ireland * Norn iron works, an old industrial c ...

. The dialect spoken in the neighbourhood of John o' Groats resembles that of Orkney to some extent.

Phonology

The

phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

of the Caithness varieties generally follows the pattern of the

Mid Northern Scots Doric, the popular name for Mid Northern Scots or Northeast Scots, refers to the Scots language as spoken in the northeast of Scotland. There is an extensive body of literature, mostly poetry, ballads, and songs, written in Doric. In some liter ...

varieties but: *Initial j or g, which is realised in most other Scots dialects, may be realised . *The k in the

cluster may refer to: Science and technology Astronomy * Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft * Asteroid cluster, a small asteroid family * Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study t ...

kn may be pronounced in for example, ''knife'' and ''knowe'' (knoll). *th, usually or in other Scots dialect, may be realised in a few words, for example ''muith'' (sultry) and ''thresh''. The initial ''th'' dropped in all

pronominal In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not c ...

s, for example ''the'', ''they'' (thay) and ''thare'' (there) etc. *The w in the cluster wr may be realised in Canisbay, in for example ''wrack'' (wreck) and ''wrang'' (wrong). *ai (vowel 8) in initial and medial positions and a(consonant)e (vowel 4), usually , may be realised in, for example, ''alane'' (alone), ''ane'' (one), ''ance'' (once), ''bane'' (bone), ''hail'' (whole), ''hairse'' (hoarse), ''hame'' (home), ''kail'' (kale), ''kaim'' (comb), ''stane'' (stone) and ''wame'' (belly). *au (vowel 12) may be realised rather than before ''ld'' in, for example ''Bauld'' (bold), ''cauld'' (cold) and ''sauld'' (sold). *ea, ei (vowel 3) may be realised rather than or as in other Scots dialects, in for example, ''cheap'', ''east'', ''heid'' (head), ''heiven'' (heaven), ''leaf'', ''peir'' (pear), ''seiven'' (seven), ''sheaf'', ''speak'', ''sweir'' (swear) and ''sweit'' (sweat). *i(consonant)e, y(consonant)e (vowels 1 and 10 ) may be realised in, for example, ''bide'' (remain), ''byke'' (wasps' nest), ''line'' and ''pipe''. * ui (vowel 7) is realised including after and . Also u(consonant)e, especially before nasals, and oo from the spelling of Standard English cognates, in for example, ''abuin'' (above), ''cuit'' (ankle) and ''guid'' (good), often written ''abeen'', ''keet'' and ''geed'' in dialect writing. The realisation is usually before in, for example, ''buird'' (board), ''fluir'' (floor) and ''fuird'' (ford), often written ''boord'', ''floor'' and ''foord'' in dialect writing. The realisation also occurs in ''adae'' (ado), ''dae'' (do), ''shae'' (shoe) and ''tae'' (to~too).

Grammar

The

grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraints, a field that includes domain ...

generally follows that of other Scots dialects, but: The past tense and past participles -it an t are realised and in, for example, ''hurtit'', ''skelpit'' (smacked), ''mendit'', ''traivelt'' (travelled), ''raxt'' (reached), ''telt'' (told) and ''kent'' (knew/known). The diminutive -ock is realised influenced by or borrowed from Gaelic. A final -ock in other words may also be realised . Often written ''-ag'' in dialect writing. The

present participle In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from ...

and

gerund In linguistics, a gerund ( abbreviated ) is any of various nonfinite verb forms in various languages; most often, but not exclusively, one that functions as a noun. In English, it has the properties of both verb and noun, such as being modifiab ...

-in may be differentiated and , for example: ''He wis aye gutteran aboot'' and ''He's fond o gutterin aboot.''

Black Isle and Easter Ross

Contact with

via fishermen from the Moray Firth and modern education has influenced the Black Isle varieties to some extent.

Avoch Avoch harbour Avoch ( ; from the gd, Abhach – meaning mouth of the stream) is a harbour-village located on the south-east coast of the Black Isle, on the Moray Firth. History Origins Ormond Castle or ''Avoch Castle'' was a stronghold built o ...

was originally Gaelic speaking but was settled by Scots-speakers, especially fisher folk, in the 17th century. More recently there has been a shift to

Highland English Highland English ( sco, Hieland Inglis) is the variety of Scottish English spoken by many in the Scottish Highlands and the Hebrides. It is more strongly influenced by Gaelic than are other forms of Scottish English. Phonology *The '' svarabhak ...

. The traditional Black Isle dialect of Cromarty became extinct in October 2012, upon the death of the last native speaker, Bobby Hogg.

Phonology

The

of the Black Isle and Easter Ross varieties generally follow the pattern of the Caithness varieties but: *Initial ch, usually realised in other Scots dialects, may be realised in, for example, ''chap'' (knock), ''chield'' (fellow), ''chirl'' (chirp) and ''chowk'' (cheek). *Initial h may be ' dropped' in, for example, ''haund'' (hand) and ''hoose'' (house) but 'added' in for example in ''ale'' and ''Annie''. *wh may be dropped or realised in the pronominals ''wha'' (who), ''whit'' (what), ''whase'' (whose), ''whan'' (when) and ''whaur'' (where). The realisation may also be as in Mid Northern Scots and in

Cromarty Cromarty (; gd, Cromba, ) is a town, civil parish and former royal burgh in Ross and Cromarty, in the Highland area of Scotland. Situated at the tip of the Black Isle on the southern shore of the mouth of Cromarty Firth, it is seaward from ...

the realisation may be .

References

{{reflist

External links

A phonetic description of North Northern Scots

Scots dialects Culture in Highland (council area) Caithness Ross and Cromarty