North Northern Scots Explained

North Northern Scots is a group of Scots dialects spoken in Caithness, the Black Isle and Easter Ross.^[1]

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.^[2] 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 in the neighbourhood of John o' Groats resembles that of Orkney to some extent.

Phonology

The phonology of the Caithness varieties generally follows the pattern of the Mid Northern Scots varieties but:

• Initial j or g, which is realised pronounced as //dʒ// in most other Scots dialects, may be realised pronounced as //tʃ//.
• The k in the cluster kn may be pronounced in for example, knife and knowe (knoll).
• th, usually pronounced as //ð// or pronounced as //θ// in other Scots dialect, may be realised pronounced as //f// in a few words, for example muith (sultry) and thresh. The initial th dropped in all pronominals, for example the, they (thay) and thare (there) etc.
• The w in the cluster wr may be realised pronounced as //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 pronounced as //e(ː)//, may be realised pronounced as //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 pronounced as //ʌu// rather than pronounced as //aː// before ld in, for example Bauld (bold), cauld (cold) and sauld (sold).
• ea, ei (vowel 3) may be realised pronounced as //əi// rather than pronounced as //i(ː)// or pronounced as //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).^[3]
• i(consonant)e, y(consonant)e (vowels 1 and 10) may be realised pronounced as //oi// in, for example, bide (remain), byke (wasps' nest), line and pipe.
• ui (vowel 7) is realised pronounced as //i(ː)// including after pronounced as //ɡ// and pronounced as //k//. Also u(consonant)e, especially before nasals,^[4] 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 pronounced as //(j)uː// before pronounced as //r// in, for example, buird (board), fluir (floor) and fuird (ford), often written boord, floor and foord in dialect writing. The realisation pronounced as /[i(ː)]/ also occurs in adae (ado), dae (do), shae (shoe) and tae (to~too).

Grammar

The grammar generally follows that of other Scots dialects, but:

The past tense and past participles -it an t are realised pronounced as //ɪd// and pronounced as //d// in, for example, hurtit, skelpit (smacked), mendit, traivelt (travelled), raxt (reached), telt (told) and kent (knew/known).

The diminutive -ock is realised pronounced as //əɡ// influenced by or borrowed from Gaelic. A final -ock in other words may also be realised pronounced as //əɡ//. Often written -ag in dialect writing.

The present participle and gerund -in may be differentiated pronounced as //ən// and pronounced as //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 Firth 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.^[5] More recently there has been a shift to Highland English.^[6] The traditional Black Isle dialect of Cromarty became extinct in October 2012, upon the death of the last native speaker, Bobby Hogg.^[7]

Phonology

The phonology of the Black Isle and Easter Ross varieties generally follow the pattern of the Caithness varieties but:

• Initial ch, usually realised pronounced as //tʃ// in other Scots dialects, may be realised pronounced as //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 pronounced as //h// in the pronominals wha (who), whit (what), whase (whose), whan (when) and whaur (where). The realisation may also be pronounced as //f// as in Mid Northern Scots and in Cromarty the realisation may be pronounced as //w//.

External links

• A phonetic description of North Northern Scots
• A popular look at the Caithness dialect

Notes and References

1. SND: Introduction p. xxxvi
2. http://www.dsl.ac.uk/INTRO/intro2.php?num=27 SND Introduction
3. http://www.dsl.ac.uk/INTRO/intro2.php?num=28 SND Introduction
4. SND:U 2 4i
5. SND: Introduction p. xxxvii
6. Johnston P. Regional Variation in Jones C. (1997) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburg University Press, p. 435.
7. News: Satter. Raphael. Scottish man dies, taking town’s unique dialect with him. 4 October 2012. The Toronto Star. 4 October 2012. London.