North Northern Scots
Encyclopedia
North Northern Scots refers to the dialects of Scots
spoken in Caithness
, the Black Isle
and Easter Ross
.
Ness to some 4 miles west of Thurso
. To the west of that Scottish Gaelic used to be spoken. The Caithness varieties have been influenced by both Gaelic and Norn. The dialect spoken the neighbourhood of John o' Groats
resembles that of Orkney
to some extent.
of the Caithness varieties generally follows the pattern of the Mid Northern Scots varieties but:
is generally follows that of other Scots dialects but:
The Past tense and past participles it an t are realised /ɪd/ and /d/ in, for example, hurtit, skelpit (smacked), mendit traivelt (travelled), raxt (reached), telt (told) and kent (knew/known)
The diminutive ock is realised /əɡ/ influenced by or borrowed from Gaelic. A final ock in other words may also be realised /əɡ/. Often written ag in dialect writing.
The Present participle and gerund
in may be differentiated /ən/ and /ɪn/, for example, He wis aye gutteran aboot. and He's fond o gutterin aboot.
and modern education has influenced the Black Isle varieties to some extent. Avoch
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
.
of the Black Isle and Easter Ross varieties generally follow the pattern of the Caithness varieties but:
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
spoken in Caithness
Caithness
Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...
, the Black Isle
Black Isle
The Black Isle is an eastern area of the Highland local government council area of Scotland, within the county of Ross and Cromarty. The name nearly always includes the article "the"....
and Easter Ross
Easter Ross
Easter Ross 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 constituency and a Scottish Parliament constituency...
.
Caithness
The dialect of Caithness is generally spoken in the lowlying land to the east of a line drawn from ClythClyth
Clyth is a remote scattered coastal crofting village, in eastern Caithness, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland....
Ness to some 4 miles west of Thurso
Thurso
-Facilities:Offices of the Highland Council are located in the town, as is the main campus of North Highland College, formerly Thurso College. This is one of several partner colleges which constitute the UHI Millennium Institute, and offers several certificate, diploma and degree courses from...
. To the west of that Scottish Gaelic used to be spoken. The Caithness varieties have been influenced by both Gaelic and Norn. The dialect spoken the neighbourhood of John o' Groats
John o' Groats
John o' Groats is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland. Part of the county of Caithness, John o' Groats is popular with tourists because it is usually regarded as the most northerly settlement of mainland Great Britain, although this is not a claim made by the inhabitants...
resembles that of Orkney
Orcadian dialect
Orcadian dialect is a dialect of Insular Scots, itself a dialect of the Scots language. It is derived from Lowland Scots with a degree of influence from the Norn language, which is an extinct North Germanic language. Orcadian is spoken in Orkney, north of mainland Scotland.The other Insular Scots...
to some extent.
Phonology
The phonologyPhonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
of the Caithness varieties generally follows the pattern of the Mid Northern Scots varieties but:
- Initial j or g, which is realised /dʒ/ in most other ScotsModern ScotsModern Scots describes the varieties of Scots traditionally spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster from 1700.Throughout its history, Modern Scots has been undergoing a process of language attrition, whereby successive generations of speakers have adopted more and more features from...
dialects, may be realised /tʃ/.
- The k in the clusterConsonant clusterIn linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word splits....
kn may be pronounced in for example, knife and knowe (knoll).
- th, usually /ð/ or /θ/ in other Scots dialect, may be realised /f/ in a few words, for example muith (sultry) and thresh. The initial th dropped in all pronominalPronominalPronominal can be used either to describe something related to a pronoun or to mean a phrase that acts as a pronoun in the context of nominal. An example of the second case is, "I want that kind". The phrase "that kind" stands in for a noun phrase, or nominal, that can be deduced from context, and...
s, for example the, they (thay) and thare (there) etc.
- The w in the cluster wr may be realised /v/ 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 /e(ː)/, may be realised /əi/ 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 /ʌu/ rather than /aː/ before ld in, for example Bauld (bold), cauld (cold) and sauld (sold).
- ea, ei (vowel 3) may be realised /əi/ rather than /i(ː)/ or /e(ː)/ 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 /oi/ in, for example, bide (remain), byke (wasps' nest), line and pipe.
- ui (vowel 7) is realised /i(ː)/ including after /ɡ/ and /k/. 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 /(j)uː/ before /r/ in, for example, buird (board), fluir (floor) and fuird (ford), often written boord, floor and foord in dialect writing. The realisation [i(ː)] also occurs in adae (ado), dae (do), shae (shoe) and tae (to~too).
Grammar
The grammarGrammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
is generally follows that of other Scots dialects but:
The Past tense and past participles it an t are realised /ɪd/ and /d/ in, for example, hurtit, skelpit (smacked), mendit traivelt (travelled), raxt (reached), telt (told) and kent (knew/known)
The diminutive ock is realised /əɡ/ influenced by or borrowed from Gaelic. A final ock in other words may also be realised /əɡ/. Often written ag in dialect writing.
The Present participle and gerund
Gerund
In linguistics* As applied to English, it refers to the usage of a verb as a noun ....
in may be differentiated /ən/ and /ɪn/, for example, He wis aye gutteran aboot. and He's fond o gutterin aboot.
Black Isle and Easter Ross
Contact with Mid Northern Scots via fishermen from the Moray FirthMoray Firth
The Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotland...
and modern education has influenced the Black Isle varieties to some extent. Avoch
Avoch
Avoch is a harbour-village located on the south-east coast of the Black Isle, on the Moray Firth.Ormond Castle or Avoch Castle was a stronghold built on the site and served as a royal castle to William the Lion; passed on to the Morays of Petty then Archibald the Grim, Lord of Galloway, upon his...
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
Highland English is the variety of Scottish English spoken by many in the Scottish Highlands. It is more strongly influenced by Gaelic than other forms of Scottish English. Island English is the variety spoken as a second language by native Gaelic speakers in the Outer Hebrides...
.
Phonology
The phonologyPhonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
of the Black Isle and Easter Ross varieties generally follow the pattern of the Caithness varieties but:
- Initial ch, usually realised /tʃ/ in other Scots dialects, may be realised /ʃ/ 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 /h/ in the pronominals wha (who), whit (what), whase (whose), whan (when) and whaur (where). The realisation may also be /f/ as in Mid Northern Scots and in CromartyCromartyThe Royal Burgh of Cromarty is a burgh in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.-History:It was previously the county town of the former county of Cromartyshire...
the realisation may be /w/.