Modern Scots
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 English, largely from the colloquial register.
From the nineteenth century onwards influence from the South through education and increased mobility have caused Scots features to retreat northwards so that for all practical purposes the political and linguistic boundaries may be considered to coincide.
Due to their being roughly near the border between the two dialects, places like Dundee and Perth can contain elements and influences of both Northern and Central Scots.
Other words may be spelt the same but differ in pronunciation, for example: aunt, swap, want and wash with /a/, bull, full v. and pull with /ʌ/, bind, find and wind v., etc.
[citation needed] During the 15th and 16th centuries, when Scots was a state language, the Makars had a loose spelling system separate from that of English.
[65] All of this "had the unfortunate effect of suggesting that Broad Scots was not a separate language system, but rather a divergent or inferior form of English".
[71] By the end of the 19th century, Scots spelling "was in a state of confusion as a result of hundreds of years of piecemeal borrowing from English".
Some writers created their own spelling systems to represent their own dialects, rather than following the pan-dialect conventions of modern literary Scots.
Commenting on this, John Corbett (2003: 260) writes that "devising a normative orthography for Scots has been one of the greatest linguistic hobbies of the past century".
They represent a consensus view of writers in Scots at the time, following several years of debate and consultation involving Alexander Scott, Adam Jack Aitken, David Murison, Alastair Mackie and others.
A developed version of the Style Sheet, it is based on the old spellings of the Makars but seeks to preserve the familiar appearance of written Scots.
It prefers a number of more phonetic spellings that were commonly used by medieval Makars, such as: ar (are), byd, tym, wyf (bide, time, wife), cum, sum (come, some), eftir (after), evin (even), evir (ever), heir, neir (here, near), hir (her), ir (are), im (am), littil (little), sal (shall) speik (speak), thay (they), thaim (them), thair (their), thare (there), yit (yet), wad (would), war (were), wes (was), wul (will).
In 2012, the Scottish Government released a policy approach that highlights their aim to provide opportunities for children to learn languages other than their mother tongues.
Individuals are starting to understand the cultural impact that learning Scots has on young people, and want to encourage the use of the language in everyday conversations and help re-appropriate it as a traditional.
[88] The second person singular nominative thoo ([ðuː], Southern Scots [ðʌu], Shetland dialect [duː]) survived in colloquial speech until the mid 19th century in most of lowland Scotland.
The older second person singular possessive thy ([ðai]), and thee ([ði], Shetland [diː] along with thine(s) [dəin(z)]) still survive to some extent where thoo remains in use.
Adverbs are also formed with -s,[86] -lies, lins, gate(s)and wey(s) -wey, whiles (at times), mebbes (perhaps), brawlies (splendidly), geylies (pretty well), aiblins (perhaps), airselins (backwards), hauflins (partly), hidlins (secretly), maistlins (almost), awgates (always, everywhere), ilkagate (everywhere), onygate (anyhow), ilkawey (everywhere), onywey (anyhow, anywhere), endweys (straight ahead), whit wey (how, why).
Diminutives in -ie,[86] burnie small burn (stream), feardie/feartie (frightened person, coward), gamie (gamekeeper), kiltie (kilted soldier), postie (postman), wifie (woman, also used in Geordie dialect), rhodie (rhododendron), and also in -ock,[86] bittock (little bit), playock (toy, plaything), sourock (sorrel) and Northern –ag,[86] bairnag (little), bairn (child, common in Geordie dialect), Cheordag (Geordie), -ockie, hooseockie (small house), wifeockie (little woman), both influenced by the Scottish Gaelic diminutive -ag (-óg in Irish Gaelic).
From Hallow-Fair (Robert Fergusson 1750–1774) At Hallowmas, whan nights grow lang, And starnies shine fu' clear, Whan fock, the nippin cauld to bang, Their winter hap-warms wear, Near Edinbrough a fair there hads, I wat there's nane whase name is, For strappin dames an sturdy lads, And cap and stoup, mair famous Than it that day.
Upo' the tap o' ilka lum The sun bagan to keek, And bad the trig made maidens come A sightly joe to seek At Hallow-fair, whare browsters rare Keep gude ale on the gantries, And dinna scrimp ye o' a skair O' kebbucks frae their pantries, Fu' saut that day.
From The Maker to Posterity (Robert Louis Stevenson 1850–1894) Far 'yont amang the years to be When a' we think, an' a' we see, An' a' we luve, 's been dung ajee By time's rouch shouther, An' what was richt and wrang for me Lies mangled throu'ther,
It's possible – it's hardly mair - That some ane, ripin' after lear - Some auld professor or young heir, If still there's either - May find an' read me, an' be sair Perplexed, puir brither!
My puir auld sangs lie a' their lane, Their sense, that aince was braw an' plain, Tint a'thegether, Like runes upon a standin' stane Amang the heather.
From The House with the Green Shutters (George Douglas Brown 1869–1902) From Embro to the Ploy (Robert Garioch 1909–1981) The tartan tred wad gar ye lauch; nae problem is owre teuch.
A puckle dollar bill will aye preive Hiram Teufelsdröckh a septary of Clan McKay it's maybe richt eneuch, verflüch!
The Auld High Schule, whaur mony a skelp of triple-tonguit tawse has gien a heist-up and a help towards Doctorates of Laws, nou hears, for Ramsay's cantie rhyme, loud pawmies of applause frae folk that pey a pund a time to sit on wudden raws gey hard in Embro to the ploy
The haly kirk's Assembly-haa nou fairly coups the creel wi Lindsay's Three Estatis, braw devices of the Deil.
About our heids the satire stots like hailstanes till we reel; the bawrs are in auld-farrant Scots, it's maybe jist as weill, imphm, in Embro to the ploy.
