Scots (Falkirk Dialect)

A forum for guides, lessons and sharing of useful information.
Post Reply
Tóvur
rupestrian
rupestrian
Posts: 4
Joined: 05 Jul 2015 13:34

Scots (Falkirk Dialect)

Post by Tóvur »

This post will teach the basics of the Scots language, more specifically my dialect of Falkirk, with possible future posts going into more detail if there is demand for it.

My dialect is spoken in the Falkirk district which is on the East-Central coast of Scotland. Although usage of the language varies throughout the district itself with the larger areas resorting more to English or Scottish English and the smaller villages keeping more Scots (although age, social and gender variables also have a heavy affect on the usage). The largest speaker base consists of young to middle-aged working class men (the Elderly have a tendency to use English as they had stricter punishments for speaking Scots as children, though young people such as myself still faced chastisement).

Anyways, I'll use this post to teach some basic Falkirk Scots.

Word order: predominantly SOV, though OSV is quite common especially to emphasis the object, and VSO in imperative sentances.



Verbs

I will only touch lightly on present tense verbs in this post as past tense suffixes and participles/gerunds require a lengthy discussion. A possible subject for a future post. But for now I will show the lresent tense forms:

cen /kɛn/ to know

a cen /a kɛn/ = I know

ȝe cen /jɛ kɛn/ = you know

e cens /ɛ kɛns/ = he knows

schi cens ʃɪ kɛns/ = she knows

it cens /ɪʔ kɛns/ =it knows

wi cen /wɪ kɛn/ = we know

ȝeis cen /jis kɛn/ = you.pl know

þe cen /ðɛ kɛn/ = they know

Some commonly used verbs however use the participle to form the present tense e.g

wat /wãʔ/ to want

am watn /əm wãʔn̩/ = I want

ȝer watn /jər wɑ̃ʔn̩/ = you want

eis watn /is wãʔn̩/ = he wants

scheis watn /ʃis wãʔn̩/ = she wants

's watn /s wãʔn̩/ = it wants

wur watn /wʌr wãʔn̩/ = we want

ȝeisr watn /jisər wãʔn̩/ = you.pl want

þur watn /ðʌr wãʔn̩/ = they want

You may notice the pronouns are different here. Pronouns in Scots have different forms depending on tense as Falkirk Scots marks many tenses on the subject with clitics, excpet when it is a pronoun where it takes another form instead

Some verbs:

te haud to hold
te screiv to write
te spic to speak

Nouns

Scots has two noun cases which are Common Case and Genitive Case. Common Case is simply anything that isn't genitive. Scots has three word orders which are Singular, Plural and Collective. I will explain how each works below.

Common Case

Singular: no change
plural: -s. If the noun ends in 's' then the suffix is -eis /is/. If the noun ends in 'e' then remove the final 'e' and replace with the suffix -eis
e.g

gled buzzard > gleds buzzards
peis sandwich > peiseis sandwiches
lase girl > laseis girls

Collective: the prefix aȝ-

aȝgled every buzzard.
aȝpeis every sandwich
aȝlase every girl

Genitive Case

Singular: -s. If the noun ends in 's' then the suffix -eis /is/ is used. If the noun ends in 'e' then the final e is removed and replaced with the suffix -eis
e.g

gleds buzzard's
peiseis sandwich's
laseis girl's

Plural: -seis. If the noun ends in 's' then the suffix -eis /is/ is used. If the noun ends in 'e' then the final e is removed and replaced with the suffix -eis
e.g

gledseis buzzards'
peiseis sandwiches'
laseis girls'

Collective: the prefix aȝ- plus the suffix -s.If the noun ends in 's' then the suffix -eis /is/ is used. If the noun ends in 'e' then the final e is removed and replaced with the suffix -eis
e.g

aȝgleds every buzzard's
aȝpeiseis every sandwich's
aȝlaseis every girl's

Articles

The Falkirk Scots definite article is i, other dialects have definite articles such as rei, ri, ra, da, de, ei, þi

The indefinite article is a which is used before consonants and vowels both.

Word order in Scots is predominantly SVO. Though OSV is quite common, especially when the object is emphasised, but only if the object is a noun (and not a pronoun). The reason for this is that phonemic stress in Scots is strictly on the first syllable of the first word and can't move around to place emphasis (like English can). So when an object is emphasised Scots places it to the front.

e.g

Unemphasised: I want the sandwich > am watn i peis
Emphasised: I want the SANDWICH > i peis am watn

The reason the word order doesn't often change when the object is a pronoun is because Scots pronouns have two sets which are emphasised and unemphasised. So when the object is a pronoun you simply use the emphasised form.

Unemphasised: she knows me > schi cens mi
Emphasised: she knows ME. > schi cens mei

Object Pronouns: unemphasised/emphasised

1sg: mi/mei
2sg: ȝe/ȝú
3sg.masc: um/um
3.sg.fem: ur/ur
3sg.neut: it/it

1pl:us/us
2pl:ȝeis/ȝús
3pl: þum/þaim

Although like any language this rule has some exeptions. The 1sg, 2sg, 3pl object pronouns can be placed at the front of a sentenced and also take on emohaissed forms. Perhaps this is no surprise as these pronouns are the only ones to have different unemphasised and emphased object pronouns (the rest have this distinction when they are subjects).

That is all for now. I am happy to ask any questions :)
User avatar
Znex
roman
roman
Posts: 1036
Joined: 12 Aug 2013 14:05
Location: Australia

Re: Scots (Falkirk Dialect)

Post by Znex »

Ooh, a cen it! Am screivn n spicn Scots! Am watn mair, plis! [:P]

Specifically, could you post up about the copula conjugation, negatives, and some sentences, that we can practise with? And with recordings, if ȝer nat mindn, þat is.

I can't wait to see more! [:D]
:eng: : [tick] | :grc: : [:|] | :chn: :isr: :wls: : [:S] | :deu: :ell: :rus: : [:x]
Conlangs: Hawntow, Yorkish, misc.
she/her
User avatar
Adarain
greek
greek
Posts: 511
Joined: 03 Jul 2015 15:36
Location: Switzerland, usually

Re: Scots (Falkirk Dialect)

Post by Adarain »

Am watn te cen te spic i scots leid :)

Could you maybe do the same that I did in the Swiss German course and give some vocab and translation exercises? You wrote a very concise overview but I can't really apply it well :)
At kveldi skal dag lęyfa,
Konu es bręnnd es,
Mæki es ręyndr es,
Męy es gefin es,
Ís es yfir kømr,
Ǫl es drukkit es.
User avatar
elemtilas
runic
runic
Posts: 3021
Joined: 22 Nov 2014 04:48

Re: Scots (Falkirk Dialect)

Post by elemtilas »

Tóvur wrote:My dialect is spoken in the Falkirk district which is on the East-Central coast of Scotland.

cen /kɛn/ to know

schi cens ʃɪ kɛns/ = she knows

ȝeis cen /jis kɛn/ = you.pl know

þe cen /ðɛ kɛn/ = they know

You may notice the pronouns are different here. Pronouns in Scots have different forms depending on tense as Falkirk Scots marks many tenses on the subject with clitics, excpet when it is a pronoun where it takes another form instead
A couple speirins:

I only ever read one thing in Scots (not Falkirk dialect, mind) and note some obvious orthographical differences. For example, is the use of yogh and thorn in Scots common / normal? Same for "c" = [k]? Or is this your own system of orthography (I do understand that there are differences and lack of consensus in this department). I've seen other varieties spell it "ken", but never "cen". Also, is the use of thorn and yogh a new fangled thing or is it a continuation of a much older tradition -- it's been a very long while indeed since either were used with any regularity in English!

If I understood the examples right, it looks like perhaps both Scots and English are headed in the direction of fusing pronoun and auxiliary verb. In English, leastways, in speech if not in writing.
Tóvur
rupestrian
rupestrian
Posts: 4
Joined: 05 Jul 2015 13:34

Re: Scots (Falkirk Dialect)

Post by Tóvur »

The orthography used here is the SSS orthography, designed as a standard for the language. Created by myself but it has been put forward as a possible standard for the future in discussions in the Scots community. The use of yogh, thorn and eth goes way back into the Old Scots texts where they were common (there has been a break in literacy in Scots so writing nowadays usually borrows graphemes from early Scots texts).

In Falkirk Scots the pronouns and auxiliaries have fully fused (they are inseparable) and on nouns they became enclitics, except when the sentence is a question where they become interrogative proclitics. An example (TAM marking pronouns and clitics in bold)

Verbal Clitics

The Scots language has usually marked tense by inflections on the noun or auxiliaries placed before the verb which is what English currently does. But Modern Scots is turning those auxiliaries into verbal clitics which attach to the subject (either the noun or noun phrase or definate/indefinate articles). Except for in the affirmative where pronouns merged with the auxiliaries to produce different pronouns according to tense. I will give a list below of these clitics in each tense in both the affirmative and interrogative in use with the pronouns (just the singular ones as I'm lazy and the plural ones use the same as 2sg) and a noun to example its usage.


I'll use the verb "bleður" (to chat, in other dialects is "bleðir")

Present Progressive Affirmative: verbal enclitic on the subject and participle on the verb

I am chatting= am bleðurin /əm bʟɛðʌrɪn/
You are chatting = ȝer bleðurin /jər bʟɛðʌrɪn/
He is chatting = eis bleðurin /is bʟɛðʌrɪn/

The child is = i wains bleðurin /ɪ we:ns bʟɛðʌrɪn/
The children are = i wainsr bleðurin /ɪ we:nsər bʟɛðʌrɪn/

Present Progressive Interrogative: verbal proclitic on the subject and participle on the verb

am I chatting? = m'a bleðurin? /m̩a bʟɛðʌrɪn/
Are you chatting? = iȝ'ȝe bleðurin? /ɪj.jɛ bʟɛðʌrɪn/
Is he chatting = s'e bleðurin? /sɛ bʟɛðʌrɪn/

Is the child chatting = s'i wain bleðurin? /sɪ we:n bʟɛðʌrɪn/
Are the children chatting= i'þi wains bleðurin? /ɪðɪ we:ns bʟɛðʌrɪn/ (here an older form of the definite article 'þi' when uses with the clitic)

Present Perfective Affirmative: verbal enclitic on the subject and past tense inflection on the verb (this tense is very rare and is falling out of use)

I have chatted= av bleðurt /a:v bʟɛðʌrʔ/
You have chatted = ȝev bleðurt /jəv bʟɛðʌrʔ/
He has chatted = eis bleðurt /is bʟɛðʌrʔ/


The child has chatted = i wains bleðurt /ɪ we:ns bʟɛðʌrʔ/
The children have chatted = i wainsv bleðurt /ɪ we:nsəv bʟɛðʌrʔ/

Present Perfective Interrogative: verbal proclitic on the subject and past tebse inflections on the verb

Have I chatted= v'a bleðurt? /va: bʟɛðʌrʔ/
Have you chatted= v'ȝe bleðurt? /vjɛ bʟɛðʌrʔ/
Has he chatted = s'e bleðurt? /sɛ bʟɛðʌrʔ/

Has the child chatted= s'i wain bleðurt? /sɪ we:n bʟɛðʌrʔ/
Have the children chatted = v'þi wains bleðurt? /vðɪ we:ns bʟɛðʌrʔ/

Future Affirmative: verbal enclitic on the subject and no inflections on the verb

I will chat = al bleður /aʊ bʟɛðʌr/
You will chat = ȝel bleður /jəʊ bʟɛðʌr/
He will chat = eil bleður /iL bʟɛðʌr/


The child will chat = i wainl bleður /ɪ we:nʟ̩ bʟɛðʌr/
The children will chat = i wainsl bleður /ɪ we:nʟ̩ bʟɛðʌr/

Future Interrogative: verbal proclitic on the subject and no inflections on the verb

Will I chat = l'a bleður? /ʟ̩a bʟɛðʌr/
Will you chat = wiȝ'ȝe bleður? /wɪj.jɛ bʟɛðʌr
Will he chat = l'e bleður? /ʟ̩ɛ bʟɛðʌr/


will the child chat = l'i wain bleður? /ʟ̩ɪ we:n bʟɛðʌr/
Will the children chat= l'i wains bleður? /ʟ̩ɪ we:ns bʟɛðʌr/

Future Conditional Affirmative: verbal enclitic on the subject and no inflections on the verb

I would chat= ad bleður /a:d bʟɛðʌr/
You would chat = ȝed bleður /jəd bʟɛðʌr/
He would chat = eid bleður /id bʟɛðʌr/

The child would chat= i waind bleður /ɪ we:nəd bʟɛðʌr/
The children would chat = i wainsd bleður /ɪ we:nsəd bʟɛðʌr/


Simple Past Affirmative: no clitics on subject and past tense inflection on the verb

I chatted = a bleðurt /a: bʟɛðʌrʔ/
You chatted = ȝe bleðurt /jɛ bʟɛðʌrʔ/
He chatted = e bleðurt /ɛ bʟɛðʌrʔ/


The child = i wain bleðurt /ɪ we:n bʟɛðʌrʔ/
The children = i wains bleðurt /ɪ we:n bʟɛðʌrʔ/

Simple past Interrogative: verbal proclitics and no inflections on the verb

Did I chat= d'a bleður? /da bʟɛðʌr/
Did you chat= d'ȝe bleður? /djɛ bʟɛðʌr/ or /d͡ʒɛ bʟɛðʌr/ interchangeably
Did he chat ='d'e bleður? /dɛ bʟɛðʌr/

Did the child chat = d'i wain bleður? /dɪ we:n bʟɛðʌr/
Did the children chat = d'i wains bleður? /dɪ we:ns bʟɛðʌr/

Past Progressive Affirmative: no verbal enclitics on the subject. Auxiliary 'wis' is put after the subject and the verb is a participle

I was chatting = a wis bleðurin /a: wɪs bʟɛðʌrɪn/
You were chatting = ȝe wur bleðurin /jɛ wʌr bʟɛðʌrɪn/
He was chatting= e wis bleðurin /ɛ wɪs bʟɛðʌrɪn/

The child was chatting= i wain wis bleðurin /ɪ we:n wɪs bʟɛðʌrɪn/
The children were chatting = i wains wur bleðurin /ɪ we:ns wʌr bʟɛðʌrɪn/

Past Progressive Interrogative: uses a mixture of proclitics and auxiliaries depending on the person, the verb is a participle

was I chatting= wis a bleðurin? /wɪs a: bʟɛðʌrɪn/ (uses auxiliary)
Were you chatting = wi'ȝe bleðurin? /wɪj.jɛ bʟɛðʌrɪn/ (uses proclitic)
Was he chatting= wis e bleðurin? /wɪs ɛ bʟɛðʌrɪn/ (uses auxiliary)


Was the child = wis i wain bleðurin? /wɪs ɪ we:ns bʟɛðʌrɪn/ (uses auxiliary)
Were the chidren = wi'þi wains bleðurin? /wɪðɪ we:ns blɛðʌrɪn/ (uses proclitic)
HoskhMatriarch
roman
roman
Posts: 1500
Joined: 16 May 2015 18:48

Re: Scots (Falkirk Dialect)

Post by HoskhMatriarch »

This is cool. Scots looks like a different language from English and not a dialect from what I've seen here, which I've always been confused about.
No darkness can harm you if you are guided by your own inner light
User avatar
Znex
roman
roman
Posts: 1036
Joined: 12 Aug 2013 14:05
Location: Australia

Re: Scots (Falkirk Dialect)

Post by Znex »

It's definitely marked out from English by the use of unfamiliar words for commonly used English words and different forms altogether of grammatical words (eg. <i> for <the>), yet at the same time it's undoubtably still somewhat intelligible. Is this what it feels like for Frenchmen encountering Occitan or Germans encountering Swiss German?
:eng: : [tick] | :grc: : [:|] | :chn: :isr: :wls: : [:S] | :deu: :ell: :rus: : [:x]
Conlangs: Hawntow, Yorkish, misc.
she/her
User avatar
elemtilas
runic
runic
Posts: 3021
Joined: 22 Nov 2014 04:48

Re: Scots (Falkirk Dialect)

Post by elemtilas »

HoskhMatriarch wrote:This is cool. Scots looks like a different language from English and not a dialect from what I've seen here, which I've always been confused about.
No, it's a different language, but it's a very intelligible one! Much more so than other relatively close cousins of English. It is also rather highly accessible to the English speaker. This is because both Scots and English are at one end of an ancient dialect continuum that stretched from Scotland down through Northumbria, the Midlands, Wessex, Kent and across to Frisia, Saxony, the Low Countries and on up the Rheine and into Austria, Switzerland and Northern Italy -- all those West Germanic languages!
Rabotaju
hieroglyphic
hieroglyphic
Posts: 41
Joined: 23 Jun 2014 07:08

Re: Scots (Falkirk Dialect)

Post by Rabotaju »

If I understand this correctly, then:

She would: Scheid
She will: Scheil
She has: Scheis

We would: Wud
We will: Wul
We have: Wuv

They would: Þud
They will: Þul
They have: Þuv

Would this be correct?
Tóvur
rupestrian
rupestrian
Posts: 4
Joined: 05 Jul 2015 13:34

Re: Scots (Falkirk Dialect)

Post by Tóvur »

That is absolutely correct :)
Rabotaju
hieroglyphic
hieroglyphic
Posts: 41
Joined: 23 Jun 2014 07:08

Re: Scots (Falkirk Dialect)

Post by Rabotaju »

Tóvur wrote:That is absolutely correct :)
Yey! And I'm assuming that the 'it...' would follow the same pattern as 'it is', i.e. 'it would' is 'd? And would the interrogative forms of scheil, scheid, etc. follow the same pattern as the masculine, or would it be different because it begins in a consonant?

What are the present simple and future conditional interrogatives?

Could you also list the entire alphabet?

Thank you :)
Post Reply