Central Scots

Central Scots is one of the broad dialect divisions of Scots, others being Ullans, Border (or Southern) Scots, “The Doric” (North-Eastern Scots) and Insular Scots.

It is spoken in the central area of Scotland, a band running from east coast to west coast, including Dumfries and Galloway, Strathclyde, the Lothians, Fife, and Perth and Kinross.

While dramatic differences in pronunciation have existed for centuries between Central Scots and the more northerly varieties, it was only in the early 20th Century that the sounds of Central Scots changed to distinguish them clearly from southern varieties. Although Central Scots was historically the most influential dialect of Scots, being the language of the monarchy an the law courts, those sound changes and a certain amount of anglicisation due to the influx of English and Irish workers to Glasgow in the early 20th Century has led Central Scots to be thought of as the most heavily anglicised of Scots dialects. This is more true of the cities and certain of the larger towns, however: in the smaller towns and villages, traditional dialects are still the norm.

The main sound change in 20th Century Central Scots is from the vowel sound in words like “guid” and “puir”. Where the short sound of “guid” was once pronounced as in German “Mütter”, it’s is now pronounced as in Scottish English “lid”, and where the long sound of “puir” was pronounced as in French “peur”, it’s now pronounced as in Scottish English “hair”. In some areas to the north of the region the original sounds persist, however.
Vowel sounds vary between the dialects of Central Scots. For example, while words like “breid”, “heid” and “deif” may be sounded as in Scottish English “weird” south of the River Forth, to the north they are more likely to be sounded as in Scottish English “care”.
An example of consonant variation between the dialects of Central Scots is in words ending with “-d”, which are nearly always pronounced with a “-t” to the west, but in the north of the region nearly always with a “-d”, while in the Lothians it may be one or the other, depending on the word.
Thousands of speakers of the Central Scots dialects have penned poetry, short stories and novels in Scots, although traditionally Scots is written in a somewhat standardised manner, so the writing isn’t normally distinguished as Central Scots.

Author: Sandy Fleming, 2002

Sample
Author: Robert Burns, as told by his youngest sister, Mrs. Isobel Begg
Source: “The Mairiage o Robin Reidbreest an Jenny Wran” (“The Marriage of Robin Redbreast and Jenny Wren”)
Translation: Sandy Fleming

So wee Robin flew awa till he came to a bonny burnside, an there he saw a wee callant sittin. An the wee callant says, “Where tu gaun, wee Robin?”
An wee Robin says, “I’m gaun awa to the king to sing him a sang this guid Yule morning.”
An the wee callant says, “Come here, wee Robin, an I’ll gie ye a wheen grand muilins out o my pooch.”
But wee Robin says, “Na, na! wee callant; na, na! Ye speldert the gowdspink, but ye’se no spelder me.”
So wee Robin flew awa till he came to the king, an there he sat on a winnock sole an sang the king a bonny sang. An the king says to the queen, “What’ll we gie to wee Robin for singin us this bonny sang?”
An the queen says to the king, “I think we’ll gie him the wee wran to be his wife.” So wee Robin an the wee wran were married, an the king an the queen an a’ the coort danced at the waddin; syne he flew awa hame to his ain water side an happit on a brier.

So the little Robin flew until he came to the side of a lovely stream, and there he saw a little stripling sitting. And the little stripling said, “Where are you going, little Robin?”
And little Robin said, “I’m going to the king to sing him a song this fine Yule morning.”
And the little stripling said, “Come here, little Robin, and I’ll give you some very good crumbs from my pocket.”
But the Robin said, “No, no! little stripling; no, no! You spreadeagled the goldfinch, but you won’t spreadeagle me.”
So little Robin flew until he came to the king, and there he sat on a window sill and sang the king a lovely song. And the king said to the queen, “What shall we give the little Robin for singing us this lovely song?”
And the queen said to the king, “I think we’ll give him the little wren to be his wife”. So little Robin and the little wren were married, and the king and the queen and the whole court danced at the wedding; then he flew away home to his own water side and hopped on a briar.

Further information: http://www.lowlands-l.net  (Click on “Resources” and on “Links” or “Offline Material”.)

[Home]