Scots language

This article is about the distinct West Germanic language. For the dialects of English spoken in Scotland, see Scottish English. For the Celtic language, see Scottish Gaelic.

Scots
Lowland Scots
Broad Scots
(Braid)
Scots
Lallans
Doric
Pronunciation[skɔts]
Native toUnited Kingdom, Republic of Ireland
Region
EthnicityScots
Native speakers
1,508,540 (2022)[1]
Early forms
Dialects
Latin
Official status
Official language in
Scotland[2]
Recognised minority
language in
Northern Ireland (as Ulster Scots)
Republic of Ireland (County Donegal; also as Ulster Scots)
Language codes
ISO 639-2sco
ISO 639-3sco
Glottologscot1243
ELPScots
Linguasphere(varieties: 52-ABA-aaa to -aav) 52-ABA-aa (varieties: 52-ABA-aaa to -aav)
The proportion of respondents in the 2011 census in Scotland aged 3 and above who stated that they can speak Lowland Scots
The proportion of respondents in the 2011 census in Northern Ireland aged 3 and above who stated that they can speak Ulster Scots
Scots language
History
Dialects

Scots[note 1] is a language variety descended from Early Middle English in the West Germanic language family and spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland.[3] Most commonly spoken in the Scottish Lowlands, Northern Isles, and northern Ulster (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots), it is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Gaelic Celtic language that was historically restricted to most of the Scottish Highlands, the Hebrides, and Galloway after the sixteenth century;[4] or Broad Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Standard English. Modern Scots is a sister language of Modern English, as the two diverged from the same medieval form of English.[5][6][7]

Scots is recognised as an indigenous language of Scotland by the Scottish government,[8] a regional or minority language of Europe,[9] and a vulnerable language by UNESCO.[10][11] In a Scottish census from 2022, over 1.5 million people in Scotland reported being able to speak Scots.[1]

Given that there are no universally accepted criteria for distinguishing a language from a dialect, scholars and other interested parties often disagree about the linguistic, historical and social status of Scots, particularly its relationship to English.[12] Although a number of paradigms for distinguishing between languages and dialects exist, they often render contradictory results. Broad Scots is at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum, with Scottish Standard English at the other.[13] Scots is sometimes regarded as a variety of English, though it has its own distinct dialects;[12]: 894  other scholars treat Scots as a distinct Germanic language, in the way that Norwegian is closely linked to but distinct from Danish.[12]: 894 

  1. ^ a b "Scots". Scottish Government. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Fact: Scotland's official languages are English, Scots, Gaelic & British Sign Language". Scotland.org. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  3. ^ "List of declarations made with respect to treaty No. 148". Conventions.coe.int. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  4. ^ "Gaelic Language". cranntara.scot.
  5. ^ Fuster-Márquez, Miguel; Calvo García de Leonardo, Juan José (2011). A Practical Introduction to the History of English. [València]: Universitat de València. p. 21. ISBN 9788437083216. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  6. ^ Alexander Bergs, Modern Scots, Languages of the World series, № 242 (Bow Historical Books, 2001), ISBN 978-3-89586-513-8, pp. 4, 50. "Scots developed out of a mixture of Scandinavianised Northern English during the early Middle English period.... Scots originated as one form of Northern Old English and quickly developed into a language in its own right up to the seventeenth century."
  7. ^ Sandred, Karl Inge (1983). "Good or Bad Scots?: Attitudes to Optional Lexical and Grammatical Usages in Edinburgh". Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. 48. Ubsaliensis S. Academiae: 13. ISBN 978-91-554-1442-9. Whereas Modern Standard English is traced back to an East Midland dialect of Middle English, Modern Scots developed from a northern variety which goes back to Old Northumbrian
  8. ^ "Scots language policy: English version - gov.scot". www.gov.scot.
  9. ^ "States Parties to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and their regional or minority languages". coe.int.
  10. ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  11. ^ Evans, Lisa (15 April 2011). "Endangered languages: the full list". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  12. ^ a b c Aitken, A. J. (1992). The Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford University Press. p. 894.
  13. ^ Stuart-Smith, J. (2008). "Scottish English: Phonology". In Kortman; Upton (eds.). Varieties of English: The British Isles. Mouton de Gruyter, New York. p. 47.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)


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