History of the Scots language

On the whole, Scots descends from the northern form of Anglo-Saxon albeit with influence from Norse via the Vikings, Dutch and Low Saxon through trade with, and immigration from the low countries and Romance via ecclesiastical and legal Latin, Norman and later Parisian French due to the Auld Alliance. Scots also has loan words resulting from contact with Gaelic. These are mainly for geographical features such as loch or strath but there are others such as Scots bog from Gaelic bog (moist or damp); Scots twig (catch on) from Gaelic tuig (understand), Scots galore (lots of) from Gaelic gu lèor (in plenty).

Anglo-Saxon to 1100

Pre-literary Scots to 1375

Early Scots to 1450

Middle Scots to 1700

Modern Scots 1700 onwards

Phonetic developments

(Phonetics in /Sampa/)

Change	Examples
Anglo-Saxon b was lost between m and l or did not develop	emmers (embers), skemmle (shamble), thimmle (thimble), and timmer (timber) from æmerge, scamel, þýmel and timber. Similarly with Romance lammer (amber), chaumer (chamber), nummer (number) and tummle (tumble) but Dizember (December), member and November
Final t in ct is often silent in Romance words but may be pronounced in derivatives.	act, affect, connect, contact, effect, expect, fact, reflect and strict
Similarly with final t in pt	attempt, corrupt, except and tempt. Note crap (crept) and empy (empty) from Anglo-Saxon créopan and æmetig.
Anglo-Saxon nd is often reduced to /n/	and, end, freend (friend(, grund (ground), haund (hand), hunder (hundred), lend and staund (stand), from and, ende, fréond, grund, hand, hundred, lænan, stanan. Similarly with Romance graund (grand) and soond (sound).
Final ld is often reduced to /l/	auld (old), cauld (cold), fauld (fold), field and muild (mould).
Anglo-Saxon k was once universally pronounced before n but is now highly recessive	knaw (know), knowe (knoll), knee, knife and knock. Similarly with g before n, for example gnaw, gnarl, gnap (snap at) and gnegum (tricky nature).
Anglo-Saxon c remained /k/, perhaps due to Norse influence	bick (bitch), birk (birch), breeks (britches), kirk (church), sic (such), steek (stitch), thack (thatch) and yeuk (itch) from bicce, birce, bréc, cirice, swilc, stician, þæc and giccan.
Anglo-Saxon g became /g/	brig (bridge), dreg (dredge), rigg (ridge) and segg (sedge) from bryg, dragan, hrycg and secg.
Anglo-Saxon g became vocalised after o resulting in the diphthong /Vu/	bowe (bow) from boga. Similarly, Norse lowe (flame) from logi.
Anglo-Saxon s became /S/ especially in contact with front vowels	hersh (hoarse), shinners (cinders) and shew (sow) from hás, sinder and sáwan. Similarly with Romance creash (grease), mince, notice, officer and vessel.
Romance sc was retained	sklate (slate), sklenner (slender) and sklice (slice) from esclate, esclendre and esclice. Similarly with Norse sklent (slant).
Anglo-Saxon sc became /sk/	skelf (shelf) and skimmels (shambles) from scylfe and sceamul similarly with Norse scare (share).
Anglo-Saxon f was absorbed into the preceding vowel	caur (calves), del (delve), deil (devil), dou (dove), e'en (even), gie (give), hairst (harvest), lou (love), ower (over), sel (self), siller (silver) and twal (twelve) from cealfian, delfan, déoful, dúfe, æfen, gefan, hærfest, lufu, ofer, self, silfer and twelf. Similarly with (from various sources) hae (have), lea' (leave), pree (taste), shirra (sherrif) and Turra (Turrif).
Word final Anglo-Saxon ð (þ) was lost in a few words	mou (mouth), quo (quoth), unco (uncouth) and wi with from múð, cwæð, uncúþ and wið.
Anglo-Saxon h /x/ remained so in Scots	bricht (bright), fecht (fight), fricht (fright), heich (high), lauch (laugh), licht (light), nicht (night), roch (rough), thocht (thought) and teuch (tough) from beorht, fehtan, fyrhto, héah, hlóh, léoht, niht, rúh, þóht and tóh. But not tho (though), throu (through) and delite (delight).
Anglo-Saxon hw became /xhw/ and subsequently the now widespread /hw/	wha (who) and whit (what) from hwá and hwæt. Note hale (whole), hure (whore) and wulk (whelk).
Various Anglo-Saxon word endings became /I, i, a, A, e/ or /@/ depending on dialect	borrae (borrow), follae (follow), marrae (marrow), meidae (meadow), pillae (pillow), sheddae (shadow), swallae (swallow), weedae (widow) and yallae (yellow) from borgian, folgian, mearh, maedwe, pyle, sceadu, swelgan/swealwe, widwe and geolo. Similarly with Norse windae (window).
Metathesis occurred in many words	girse (grass), truff (turf), wrat (wart) and warstle (wrestle) from Anglo-Saxon græs, turf, wearte and wræstan. Similarly with Romance crub (kerb), modren (modern), pertend (pretend), paitren (pattern), provrib (proverb) and rhubrub (rhubarb).
After a, Anglo-Saxon l became vocalised to /a:/ in Middle Scots subsequently developing to /a/, /A/ or /O/ depending on dialect	aw (all), caw (call), fauch (fallow), faw (fall), gaw (gall), haud (hold), haw (hall), maut (malt), sauch (sallow), saut (salt), smaw (small), staw (stall) and waw (wall) from eal, ceallian, fealh, fallan, gealla, healdan, hall, mealt, salh, sealt, smæl, steall and wall. Similarly with Norse hause (neck) and Romance aum (alum), baw (ball) and scaud (scald).
After o, Anglo-Saxon l became vocalised to /ou/ in Middle Scots and subsequently diphthongised to /Vu/	bowster (bolster), bowt (bolt), cowt (colt), gowd (gold), howe (hollow), knowe (knoll), powe (poll) and towe (toll from bolster, bolt, colt, gold, holh, cnol, polle and toll. Similarly with Romance rowe (roll) and sowder (solder), also Dutch gowf (golf).
After u, Anglo-Saxon l became vocalised to /u/ in Middle Scots	fou (full), pou (pull) and oo (wool) from full, pullian and wull. Similarly Romance coum (culm) and poupit (pulpit).
A w before e resulted in /a, A, O/ depending on dialect	wab (web), wast (west), wadge (wedge), twal (twelve) and dwall (dwell) from web, west, wecg, twelf and dwellan.
Anglo-Saxon a or æ in close position became /a/ occasionally /A/ or /O/.	back, bath, blad (leaf/blade), cat, clap, hack, mak (make), ram, rax (stretch), tak (take), wall (well for water), wash, watter (water) and waps (wasp) from bæc, bæþ, blæd, catt, clappian, haccian, macian, ram, raxan, tacan, wælla, wæscan, wæter, and wæps. Similarly with Norse bag, flag (flagstone) and snag and Dutch pad (path).
Before /n/ and /N/ /a/ developed	can, lang (long), man, pan, sang (song), sank, strang (strong), than (then) and wran (wren) from cann, lang, mæn, panne, sang, sanc strang, þanne and wrænna. Similarly with Norse bann (curse), stang (sting), thrang (busy) and wrang (wrong).
Before /x/ and /n/+consonant Middle Scots /a/ became /A/ or /O/	caunle (candle), draucht (draught), haund (hand), lauch (laugh), saund (sand) and slauchter (slaughter) from candel, draht, hand, hæhhan, sand and slæ. Similarly with Norse baund (band), Dutch fraucht (freight), and Romance chancy, glanders, graund, and stank (a drain).
Before /S, s, sn, st/ and /sp/ /E/ occurred	bress (brass), clesp (clasp), ess (ash), fest (fast), gled (glad), gless (glass), gress (grass) and hesp (hasp) from bræs, claspe, æsce, fæst, glæd, glæs, gæs and hææpse.
Before /r/ + consonant, depending on dialect /e/ or /E/ occurred	airm (arm), airae (arrow), bairn (child), dairn (darn), hairm (harm), hairst (harvest), wairm (warm) and shairp (sharp) from earm, arwe, derne, hearm, hærfest, wearm and scearp. Similarly with aiple (apple), aix (axe), efter (after), peth (path), and wraith (wrath) from æpel, æx, æfter, pæþ and wræþþu. Similarly with Romance caird (card), cairy (carry), gairden (garden), regaird (regard), mairy (marry), mairtyr (martyr) and pairt (part).
Anglo-Saxon a or æ in open position became /a/ in Middle Scots and subsequently /e/. /E:/ may also occur, especially in Ulster.	faither (father), gaither (gather), haimer (hammer), day, brain, fair, nail and tail from fæðer, gaderian, hamer, dæg, brægen, fæger, nægel and tægel. Similarly with Norse cake, gate (street), sale and scaith (damage).
Anglo-Saxon ag- and aw- became /a/, /A/ or /O/ depending on dialect	draw, gnaw, and law from dragan, gnagan, haga and lagu, and Norse maw (seagull) and claw from maga and clawa.
Anglo-Saxon á became /e/	aik (oak), ait (oat), braid (broad), gae (go), hale (whole), hame (home), lade (load), mair (more), raip (rope), saip (soap), sair (sore) and nae (no) from ác, áte, brád, gá, hál, hám, lád, mára, ráp, sáp and ná.
Before /n/ Anglo-Saxon á became /e/ in central, southern and Ulster varieties and /i/ in northern varieties	ane (one), ance (once), bane (bone), gane (gone), nane (none) and stane (stone) from án, ánes, bán, gán, nán and stán. Similarly with Norse, for example frae (from), kail (cole) and spae (foretell) from frá, kál and spá. The vowel /e/ occurs in other words of Norse origin, for example fley (frighten), graith (harness), hain (spare) and lair (mud) from fleyja, greiða, hagna and leir.
Anglo-Saxon áw became /a:/ in Middle Scots and subsequently /a:/, /A:/ or /O:/	blaw (blow), craw (crow), maw (mowe), sawe (sow), saul (soul) and snaw (snow) from bláwan, cráwe, máwan, sáwan, sáwol and snáwan. Similarly with Anglo-Saxon ág and Norse lágr which became awn (to own) and law (low).
Anglo-Saxon é became /i/ early on and remained so	bee, breest breast, cheese, creep, deed, freend (friend), hear, heich (high), knee, seek (sick), sheep, sleep, teeth and wheen a few from béo, bréost, cése, créap, déd, fréond, héran, héah, cnéo, séoc, scép, slép, té&thorn and hwéne;. Also grieve (overseer) from grœfa.
Anglo-Saxon ea and éa became /e/ in Middle Scots, remaining so in some dialects and becoming /i/ in others	"beard", breid (bread), deid (dead), deif (deaf), heid (head), "meat" (food), steid (stead) and tread from beard, bréad, déad, déaf, héafod, mete, stede and tredan. Similarly with Romance words like beast, cheat, conceit, creitur (creature), deceit, ease, please, ream (cream), reison and seison.
Anglo-Saxon í and ý /i/ in Early Scots became /ei/ in Middle Scots and subsequently /@i/ and /aI/ or /AI/ when long	wyce (wise), wyte (blame), bide (remain), kye (cows), hive and fire from wís, wíte, bídan, cý, hýf and fýr. Similarly with Norse grice (pig), sile (strain), tyke (curr), lythe (shelter) and tyne (lose), and Romance advice, fine, cry, sybae (onion) but where Romance words entered Scots after this sound shift the original /i/ remained, for example bapteese (baptise), ceety (city), ceevil (civil), eetem (item), leeberal (liberal), leecence (license), meenister (minister), obleege (oblige), peety (pity), poleetical (political), poseetion, releegion (religion) and speerit (spirit).
Anglo-Saxon i and y became /I/ but approach /V/ in some dialects especially after /w/ and /hw/	hill, filthy, will, win, wind, whip, whisper and whisky.
Anglo-Saxon o in close position became /O/ but in some dialects became /o/	box, lock and rock.
In open position o became /o/	coal, foal, hole and thole endure.
Before /m, p, b/ and /f/ Anglo-Saxon o became /a/ or /A/ depending on dialect	craft (croft), crap (crop), drap (drop), laft (loft), pat (pot), saft (soft) and tap (top) from croft, cropp, dropa, loft, pott, softe and top.
Anglo-Saxon ó became /2/ early on and has remained so in peripheral dialects. In Fife and parts of Perthshire the /2/ became /e/. In central varieties /2/ became /I/ when short	bluid (blood), duin (done), muin (moon) and spuin (spoon) from dón, blód, móna, and spón. Similarly with Romance words like bruit (brute), fruit, schuil (school), tuin (tune), uiss (use n.).
In central varieties /2/ became /e:/ when long	buird (board), fuird (ford), fluir (floor) and muir (moor) from bórd, fórd, flór and mór along with dae (do), shae (shoe) and tae (to) from dó, scó and tó. Similarly with Norse words like Fuirsday (Thursday), luif (palm) and ruise (praise), and Romance words like puir (poor), shuir (sure), uise (use v.).
In northern varieties /i/ where after /g/ and /k/ it became /wi/	guid (good), cuil (cool), from gód, cól and Dutch cuit (ankle), and Romance schuil (school).
Note:	But not fit (foot), wid (wood), wad (would), wud (mad), oo (wool), coud (could) and shoud/su(l)d (should).
Where /k/ or /x/ followed Anglo-Saxon /ó/, depending on dialect, it became /ju, u, jV/ and/or /V/	beuch (bough), beuk (book), ceuk (cook), eneuch (enough), heuch (cliff), heuk (hook), leuch (laughed), leuk (look), pleuch (plough), sheuch (ditch), teuch (tough) and teuk (took) from bóh, bók, cók, genóh, hóh, hók, hlóh, tók, plóh, sóh, tóh and tók.
Anglo-Saxon ów became /Vu/	flowe (flow), glowe (glow), growe (grow) and stowe (stow) from flówan, glówan, grówan and stówigan.
Anglo-Saxon u became /V/, for example but and cut, but in some words it became /I/	din (dun), hinnie (honey), simmer (summer), son and nit (nut) from dunn, hunig, sumor, sunne and hnut. Similarly in some Romance words, for example kizzen (cousin), kimmer (commère), kiver (cover), ingan (onion), stibble (stubble) and tribble (trouble).
Anglo-Saxon ú remained /u/ in Scots. At the end of a word Anglo-Saxon ú became /Vu/ in southern Scots.	brou (brow), broun (brown), cou (cow), dou (dove), doun (down), hoose (house), hou (how), mou (mouth), moose (mouse), nou (now), soor (sour) and thoum (thumb) from brú, brún, cú, dúfe, dún, hús, hú, múð, mús, nú, súr and ðúma.Similarly with Norse boun (ready), couer (cower), droop and stroup (spout), and Romance allou (allow), bouat (lantern), coont (count), dout (doubt), pouder (powder) and roond (round).
Anglo-Saxon í and ý became /ui/ in older Scots and subsequently developed into /AI, aI/ and /@i/ depending on dialect	byle (boil) from býl, Similarly with Romance chyce (choice), eynment (ointment), eyster (oyster), evyte (avoid), jyne (join), ile (oil), pynt (point), syle (soil), spyle (spoil) and vyce (voice)

Written Scots ( Northern Anglo-Saxon)

Text from Dream of the Rood

Runes on the Robert Burns (1759-1796)

'Twas in that place o' Scotland's isle,
That bears the name o' auld "King Coil,"
Upon a bonnie day in June,
When wearin throu' the afternoon,
Twa dogs, that were na thrang at hame,
Forgather'd ance upon a time.
The first I'll name, they ca'd him "C'sar,"
Was keepet for " his Honor's" pleasure:
His hair, his size, his mouth, his lugs,
Shew'd he was nane o' Scotland's dogs;
.

Text from Wandering Willie's Tale

by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) From

Ye maun have heard of Sir Robert Redgauntlet of that ilk, who lived in these parts before the dear years. The country will lang mind him; and our fathers used to draw breath thick if ever they heard him named. He was out wi' the Heilandmen in Montrose's time; and again he was in the hills wi' Glencairn in the saxteen hundred and fifty-twa; and sae when King Charles the Second came in, wha was in sic favour as the Laird of Redgauntlet? He was knighted at Lonon court, wi' the king's ain sword; and being a redhot prelatist he came down here, rampauging like a lion, with, commissions of lieutenancy (and of lunacy, for what I ken) to put down a' the Whigs and Covenanters in the country. Wild wark they made of it; for the Whigs were as dour as the Cavaliers were fierce, and it was which should first tire the other. Redgauntlet was ay for the strong hand; and his name is kend as wide in the country as Claverhouse's or Tam Dalyell's. Glen, nor dargle, nor mountain, nor cave, could hide the puir hill-folk when Redgauntlet was out with bugle and bloodhound after them, as if they had been sae mony deer. And troth when they fand them, they didna mak muckle mair ceremony than a Heilendman wi' a roebuck - it was just, 'will ye tak the test?'-if not, 'make ready-present-fire!'-and there lay the recusant.

Text from The Tale of Tod Lapraik

R.L. Stevenson (1850-1894)

My faither, Tam Dale, peace to his banes, was a wild, sploring lad in his young days, wi' little wisdom and less grace. He was fond of a lass and fond of a glass, and fond of a ran-dan, but I could never hear tell that he was muckle use for honest employment. Frae ae thing to anither, he listed at last for a sodger and was in the garrison of this fort, which was the first way ony of the Dales cam to set foot upon the Bass. Sorrow upon that service! The governor brewed his ain ale; it seems it was the warst conceivable. The rock was proveesioned frae the shore with vivers, The thing was ill-guided, and there were whiles when they but to fish and shoot solans for their diet. To crown a', thir was the Days of the persecution. The perishin' cauld chalmers were all occupeed wi sants and martyrs, the saut of the yearth, of which it wasnae worthy. And though Tam Dale carried a firelock there, a single sodger, and liked a lass an a glass, as I was sayin', the mind of the man was mair just than set with his position. He had glints of the glory of the kirk; there were whiles when his dander rase to see the Lord's saints misguided, and shame covered him that he should be haulding a can'le (or carrying a firelock) in so black a business. There were nights of it when he was here on sentry, the place a' wheesht, the frosts o' winter maybe riving in the wa's, and he wad hear ane o' the prisoneres strike up a psalm, and the rest join in, and the blessed sounds rising from the different chalmers-or dungeons, I would raither say-so that this auld craig in the sea was like a pairt of Heev'n. Black shame was on his saul; his sins hove up before him muckle as the Bass, and above a', that chief sin, that he should have a hand in hagging and hashing at Christ's Kirk. But the truth is that he resisted the spirit. Day cam, there were the rousing compainions, and his guid resolve depairtit.

Text from A Window in Thrums

by J.M. Barrie (1860-1937)

THE LAST NIGHT

'Ay, I ken.'
'An' I pictur ye ilka hour o' the day. Ye never gang hame through thae terrible streets at nicht but I'm thinkin' o' ye.
'I would try no to be sae sad, mother,' said Leeby. 'We've haen a richt fine time, have we no?'
'It's been an awfu' happy time,' said Jess. 'we've haen a pleasantness in oor lives 'at comes to few. I ken naebody 'at's haen sae muckle happines one wy or another.'
'It's because ye're sae guid, mother,' said Jamie.
'Na, Jamie, 'am no guid ava. It's because my fowk's been sae guid, you an' Hendry an' Leeby an' Joey when he was livin'. I've got a lot mair than my deserts.'
'We'll juist look to meetin' next year again, mother. To think o' that keeps me up a' the winter.'
'Ay, if it's the Lord's will, Jamie, but 'am gey dune noo, an Hendry's fell worn too.'
Jamie, the boy that he was, said 'Dinna speak like that, mother,' and Jess again put her hand on his head.
' Fine I ken, Jamie,' she said at all my days on this earth, be they short or lang, I've you for a staff to lean on.'
Ah, many years have gone since then, but if Jamie be living now he has still those words to swallow.
By and by Leeby went ben for the Bible, and put it into Hendry's hands. He slowly turned over the leaves to his favourite chapter, the fourteenth of John's Gospel. Always, on eventful occasions, did Hendry turn to the fourteenth of John.

Other 20th Century Changes

An outcome of the Scots revival of the Twentieth century, was an increasing rejection of apostrophes representing 'missing' English Letters and an increased use of spellings, often older traditional ones, more indicative of the pronunciation. Standard English grammar and idiomatic patterns still prevailed.

Text from The Watergaw

by Hugh MacDiarmid (1892-1978)

Ae weet forenicht i' the yow-trummle
I saw yon antrin thing,
A watergaw wi' its chitterin' licht
Ayont the on-ding;
An' I thocht o' the last wild look ye gied
Afore ye deed!

There was nae reek i' the laverock's hoose
That nicht - an' nane i' mine;
But I hae thocht o' that foolish licht
Ever sin' syne;
An' I think that mebbe at last I ken
What your look meant then.

From
To Robert Fergusson
by Robert Garioch (1909-1981)

...
A hameil, Scottish place eneuch,
whas life was steiran, het and reuch
whilst yet the fairmer wi his pleuch
turned owre the sod
whar classie Queen Street and Drumsheugh
nou stand sae snod.
...

or Ramsay wi his curlin-tangs,
guid makar baith of wigs an sangs,
or, Fergusson, yoursel; sae lang's
ye werena blate,
they were your friens, whatever bangs
were sair'd by fate.

Text from A Drive to Lanark

by Robert McLellan (1907-1985)

The grocer pat my messages into the bogie, and held the door for me till I gat in, syne shut it for me, wiped his hauns on his apron, though I'm shair the door haunle wasna dirty, and gied me a wee bou.
'Dinna let it be lang afore we see ye again,' he said.
He gied me a wave frae the shop door, and I had haurdly gien the reyns a bit joggle to gee Nancy up, whan I saw the polis. He was staunin watchin me frae the big closs at the fute o the tannery wynd, and whan I drew forenent him he walkit forrit and held up his haund.
I kent something was wrang.
'are you in chairge o this vehicle?' he said.
'Ay.'
'What age are ye?'
'eleeven.'
'Are ye aware,' said he, gey solemn like, 'that ye arena alloued to be in chairge o a vehicle till ye're fowerteen?
'Na.'
'I'm sorry son, but I'll hae to book ye.'
He brocht oot a pencil and a notebook.
There were folk gaun bye and they aa stoppit to watch.
I could hae sunk through the grun wi the disgrace.
I stertit to greit.
'What's the laddie dune?' a wumman askit.
'He's in chairge o a vehicle, an he's no auld eneuch.'
'Let the wee sowel gang. He's daein nae hairm.'
'It's against the law.'
'It's a vehicle within the meanin o the act.'
'The meanin o the act. Ye're juist a bumptious big bruit.'
'Ay, leave the laddie alane,' said anither.
The polis began to turn gey reid in the face. He cam and leaned owre me and whispert in my lug.
'Stop greitin, for God's sake an win awa hame. and let this be a lesson to ye. Dinna let me see ye near Lanark again.'

In 1983 W.L. Lorimer's translation of the New Testament was published. On the whole W.L. Lorimer adhered to the prevailing spelling conventions, although he did introduce accents to aid pronunciation for those unfamiliar with Scots. Remarkably Lorimer adhered faithfully to Scots grammatical and idiomatic forms and avoided the anglicisms of others, setting a model seldom followed unfortunately.

Text from Mark 13

AS HE WIS gingin out the temple, ane o the disciples said til him, "luik, Maister! Whattan stanes! Whattan Biggins!"
Jesus answert, "Ye see thir muckle biggins? No ae stane o them will be left abuin anither; the hailwar s' be dung doun an disannulled."
Syne, as he wis sittin his lane on the hill o Olives, forenent the Temple, Peter cam up wi Jeames an John an Andro an speired at him: Tell us," qo he, "whan is thir things tae happen? What sign will be g¡en whan they ar aa a-weers o comin tae pass?"
Jesus tuik speech in haund an said til them: "Tak tent at nae man mislairs ye. Monie feck will kythe caain themsels bi my name an threapin, 'I am the Christ', an monie-ane will they gar gae will. Whan ye hear tell o wars an souchs o war, binna nane pitten about. Thir things maun een happen, but the end will be ey tae come. First fowk mak war on fowk, an kinrick on kinrick. There will be yirdquauks in orra pairts, there will be faimins, but thir is nae mair an the oncome o birth-thraws.
"But ye maun luik til yersels. Ye will be haundit owre tae councils an loundert wi wands in sýnagogues: mairfortaiken, ye will hae tae compeir afore governors an kíngs for my sake, tae gíe them your testimonie; for afore the end the Gospel maun first be preached in aa launds. Whan they harl ye afore courts an juidges, fashna yoursels aforehaund for what ye ar tae say: say ye een what is gíen ye tae say whan ye ar staunin there, for it winna be ye at speaks, but the Halie Spírit.