Scots Grammar

8/11/2019 Scots Grammar

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Characteristics of non-standard grammar in ScotlandCaroline Macafee(1980, revised c. 1992, edited 2011)

Several years ago, I compiled a checklist of those grammatical features of Modern Scotsthat differ from Standard English, and from time to time I am asked for copies.1This,combined with references made to it in print, has prompted me to make it available,although it has no claims to either originality or sophistication.

[Since the last revision (c.1992), some important work has appeared, including Pavlenko(1996) on the be-perfect in Shetland, Hcker (1999) on adverbial clauses, Smith (2000)on negation; and overviews of Modern Scots grammar including Beal (1997), Purves

(1997, rev. 2002) and Miller (2003). For Ulster Scots, see Robinson (1997). For HighlandEnglish, see Sabban (1982, 1985). For considerations of Celtic influence, see Macafeeand OBaoill (1997) and Filppula (1999).For further references, see http://dinamico2.unibg.it/anglistica/slin/scot-bib.htm .]

The differences in grammar between Scots and Standard English are very numerous,2andthere is considerable scope here for quantitative studies of particular variables. There isalso room for more detailed and systematic investigation of specific areas of grammaticalstructure in Scottish speech (embracing the continuum between Scots and ScottishStandard English), following the exemplary work of Miller and Brown in Edinburgh.

Some of the points listed below are rarities, in some cases because they are peripheral tothe historical corpus of written Scots (whether because very localised, or colloquial, orboth), and have now become obsolescent; in others, because they are recentimportations.3Any further documentation of such usages, from written sources or fromspeech, would be very valuable from a lexicographical point of view.

It is useful to have a historical benchmark with which to compare studies based on recentdata. I hope that this checklist will provide an overview of the grammar of Scots(assuming that most of the structure not specifically dealt with below is shared withStandard English). Such an overview should be especially useful in relation to thestylistics of literature in Scots, particularly in identifying registers and in assessing the

realism of purported colloquial language. It is important to be aware of those features ofthe grammar that might appropriately have been used in a literary representation of agiven dialect, but in practice were not. In grammar more than at other linguistic levels,

1I am grateful to A. J. Aitken and Keith Brown for comments and discussion.2I do not intend to enter into the question of whether the differences are structurally profound enough toindicate that Scots is an autonomous language. Kirk (1986, 1987a, 1987b) demonstrates, on the basis of hiswork on the system of modal and auxiliary verbs, that they are not.3Kirk (1981:174) makes the plausible suggestion that urban non-standard varieties in Britain may beconverging upon each other by establishing innovatory and apparently widespread forms.


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modern written Scots tends to adhere to the model instilled by literacy in StandardEnglish.

Standard English as written in Scotland is generally indistinguishable from other BritishStandard English. However, in speech, the distinction between standard and non-standardis blurred, since standard speakers, in Scotland as elsewhere, use various localised forms(lexical and grammatical as well as phonological) unself-consciously in speech andmay be unaware that some of these are scotticisms. (Aitken, 1979, calls these covertscotticisms.)

Not all non-standard items are highly localised. Many of those found in Scotland arewidespread in English, e.g. regular inflections of verbs that are irregular in StandardEnglish. As with localised items, the distinction between standard and non-standard is notalways clear, and some items have been included that might be described as colloquial.

For the description of Standard English, I have relied on Quirk et al.(1972).

Since traditional dialectology, which is still our main source of information, hasconcentrated on qualitative variation, most of our information is of this kind, with theexception of the findings of Brown, Miller and Millar, Kirk, and Romaine in variousworks.

1. Negation

1.1 Negative particles

The usual forms of the negative particle in Scots are:

enclitic: /ne/, written nae, -ny(this originally East Central Scots form appears to bespreading into West Central Scots4); /n/, written na(the preferred form in literaryScots); free-standing: no; North-eastern nae.

Grant and Dixon record an enclitic form nin in the North-east, in interrogatives only:

Divnin ye see the ships sailin ont, said the lassie. (1921: 116).

The form nut(reformed on Standard English not?) occurs under emphasis:

And Im tellin ye it was the i!th. ... ... It was nut, the

st"an#e" asse"ted. ($eo"#e %la&e, The Shipbuilders, 19': 91)

Some auxiliary and modal verbs are phonetically modified by the addition of the encliticnegative particle, e.g. winna(will + -na), alongside the now more common willnaeandthe mixed form willnt; sanna(sal shall + -na); dinna(e) (daedo + -na(e)) and amixed form doannae.

4I owe this observation to A. J. Aitken.


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1.2 Distribution of isolated and enclitic forms

In negative declarative sentences, SUBJECTOPERATORcliticisation, where it ispossible, is preferred over OPERATORNEGATIVE PARTICLE cliticisation in Scottishspeech, e.g. theyll norather than they wont.

According to Hughes and Trudgill (1979), contraction on this pattern is also preferred inthe North of England.Im not, however, is usual in Standard English everywhere, and renotis common.I amnt, by contrast, occurs in Ireland and Scotland. The peculiarly Scotsform isI amnae.

The further north in Britain, the more likely one is to find the order OPERATOR SUBJECT NEGATIVE PARTICLE, in main clauses and in reversed polarity tags:5

Does he not li&e it (*+#hes and "+d#ill, 19-9: 2)

hats aw/ae 0i# o them, is it no (om $"ath and 3immy %oyle, The

Hard Man, 19--: '6)

1.3 Multiple negation

Multiple negation, where the negative particle is semantically reinforced by the negativedeterminer, no, and its compounds (as opposed to anyand its compounds), is common inScots as in other non-standard varieties:

4is shows ye, anny leave n+thin alane (tephen +l"ine, 5ostal#ie

in Poems, 19-1)

I sho+ldnae 0e nae ompany /o" nae0ody. (%essie hyte, he

p"iness and the p+ps, "eo"ded 0y 7inda *eadlee (19-6), Tocher

vol.' (19-8-6): 2)

1.4 Scope

The free-standing negative particle is frequently used with adjectives in its scope:

Is &nowled#e not dependent, in impo"tant senses, on this s+08+lt+"al

va"iation (+nive"sity let+"e", "eo"ded, 19-9)

Likewise, the free-standing negative particle can take as its scope the main verb of theclause:

ill yo+ not p+t too many on the"e in ase they /all in the st"eet,

please (ove"hea"d in $las#ow, 19-9)

5Millar and Brown (1979) found that the enclitic formnaedoes not invert over the subject in their corpusof Edinburgh speech (when this less preferred order occus it is with the standard formnt), but otherdialects may not be so restricted.


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Negation of main verbs by a following negative particle (enclitic or free-standing) andwithout do-support, is now only literary:

Anent *en"y, its a+to", we &en8na sae m+&le as his s+"name (@o0e"t

$a"ioh, *en"y the inst"els


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The preposition governing the agent noun is commonlyfae(from) or wi(with) inScots.

4. Interrogatives

4.1 Pronouns and determiners

The Scots forms of the interrogative pronouns and determiners are as follows:

whae, wha(who) wham(whom) whase, whas(whose) whilk(which) whit(what) whatten, whatna(determiner only)8

North-east dialect forms have /f/ for //.

Whilkis probably obsolete in speech,9but is preserved as a literary form:

Il&a ots a+tho" ma+n ane day spei" tae himsel whil& o o+" th"ee

ottish ton#+es hell +is. (Cenneth ;"ase", he "e0i"th o ots,

Scotia Review, 6 (19-?): '2)

Whattenand whatnaare reduced from what kin (o)(what kind of):

%+t wha we"e his dominies and whatna models did he /ollow (@o0e"t

$a"ioh, he A&"os "eview o/ poet"y, Lallans (19-): 9)

Whit(or what) is probably the most usual non-personal interrogative determiner inScottish speech. It is used with definite as well as indefinite reference:

hat ee saw d+ yon wi en+i"es one o/ the trows. (5D s.v. what)

Whichas an interrogative pronoun is unusual in Scottish speech. Whichas a determinerwith indefiniteyin(or one) is preferred, but whit yin(or what one) is in practice morecommon.

In querying measurement, the construction what NOUN is usual in Scottish speech:

hit a#e +" yo+ (The Hard Man, op. cit., p.69)

hat weht is it (5D s.v. what)

8Murray also records whilken(1873: 193).9Interrogative whilkappears to have survived longer as a determiner than as a pronoun. Cf. the dates of theexamples given under the relevant entry in SND.


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The objective form whamis literary. It is replaced in speech by the subjective form, as incolloquial English generally.

The periphrases whae belangs(or who belongs) and (less commonly?) whae is auchtcanbe used to avoid whase:

ha 0elan#s this hoose ($"ant and Di!on, 1921: 11)

ha is a+ht the wean (ibid, p.11)

4.2 Particles

The tag particle e, described by Millar and Brown, can be fronted to stand as the solemarker of interrogation:

B yo+ve #ot a new 0i&e (illa" and %"own, 19-9: '2)

The word shair(or sure) can be used in the same way:

+"e his nose is di"ty (ove"hea"d in $las#ow, 19)

Both of these may prove to be more common in speech to or by children.

4.3 Adverbs10

An adjective as subject complement is queried by whit like(or what like):

7et me see whit li&e they +". (The Hard Man, op. cit., p.12)

Cause is queried by how, whit wey(or what way) and whit for(or what for):


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The formation of yes/no questions in Scots by inversion of the subject and main verb, andwithout do-support, apparently survived widely until recently. Examples can still befound in Shetland sources:

*e says, ee yo+ aal this lyin a"o+nt he"e (3ames 7a+"enson,

a##ie ille"s ows, "eo"ded 0y Alan %"+/o"d (19-'), Tochervol.'

(19-8-6): 9)

%oy, tin&s d+ need we #en# a// the moa"n (ibid, p.9-)

5. Exclamations

Whit(or what) is used in Scots to express degree in exclamations:

he told me what /ine these pies we"e, and whe"e yo+ o+ld #et them.

(5D s.v. what)

Theis used in the same way


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An they we"e a oald mGn amon# them (ibid, p.9')

hat yea" was p"etty ha"d, the we"ent m+h money to 0e made. (%ella

*i##ins, he th"ee do#s, "eo"ded 0y a+"ie ;lemin# (19), Tochervol.' (19-8-6): 1?)

By contrast, theresand interrogative is thereare now regular in Scottish speech withplural subjects, as in colloquial English generally:

Is the"e weapons (The Hard Man, op. cit., p.1)

and likewise there was:

he"e was ve"y /ew 4o0s availa0le even a/te" the si! months o+"se

($las#ow man, "eo"ded 19-9)

6.2 It

In oral narrative, existential sentences are occasionally introduced by it,11a survival fromOlder Scots:

ell, it wis this yo+n# &in# an +een, ye see (he p"iness and the

p+ps, op. cit., p.2)

it was a ve"y ve"y wild ni#ht an it was a lot o/ snow (%"+ie

*ende"son, he t"ow o/ indho+se, "eo"ded 0y om Ande"son and Alan

%"+/o"d (19-), Tochervol.1 (19-18-2): 22)

7. Emphasis

7.1 See

In Glasgow and perhaps more widely in Central Scotland, the subject noun phrase can beextracted from the main clause to stand as the object of the verb see. Its place is thentaken by an appropriate personal pronoun. This usage probably originates with asyndetonof do you see NOUN PHRASE RECAPITULATORY PRONOUN:

*e &nows whe"e to stop, &now ee this @a0, 0+t *es mean "i#ht

th"o+#h ($all+s, did yo+ say, op. cit., p.)

A common collocation is see you:

ee yo+, e""y Ah nivi" thoat a lassie wid a hid the #+ts. (Ale!

*amilton, H+" e""y in Three $lasgow %riters, op. cit., p.2)

Introductory seeextends to other structures in sentence initial position, such assubordinate clauses and adverbials:

11In ballads, an existential construction it MAIN VERB SUBJECT is found:Then out it speaks a guid auld man (SND s.v. it)


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Hh see i/ this is yo+" idea o a 0loody 4o&eE Ahll 8 ... (*eto"

aillan, The Sash, 19-?: )

An see when Ahve did that Ahm #onnae &ill yiE ($all+s, did yo+say, op. cit., p.-)

Hh 0+t see e/te"wa"ds, when they too& the 0ody away. ... (The Hard

Man, op. cit., p.-)

Ah thoat Ahd went a// +" a/o"e, so Ah did. %+t see noo Ahve went

righta// +". (H+" e""y, op. cit., p.2?)

8. Ellipsis

8.1 Sentence initial items

The ellipsis of recoverable sentence initial items (asyndeton) is regular in Scottishspeech, as in colloquial English generally:

hats 0ea+se I missed th"ee 0+ses. hey we"e all o// the "oad. o

that was +ite +psettin#. 7ate /o" a t+to"ial. (;emale st+dent,

"eo"ded 19-9)

>o+ an +nde"stand how poo" people "eally we"e. as a #"eat deal o/

+nemployment, as yo+ an ima#ine. ($las#ow man, "eo"ded 19-9)

8.2 Copulabe

The present tense forms of beare frequently elided following there, and also here:12

*e"e a /o"m noo 0eat it +i&. (%+d 5eill, a"toon in The &vening

Times, 19)

8.3 Auxiliaryhave

Auxiliary haveis occasionally elided in Scots following a modal verb, especially whenthe modal takes the enclitic negative. The unstressed form // of haveis perhapsphonetically assimilated to na:

H i00ie I hae seen the day = >e wadna 0een sae shy. ($"ant and

Di!on, 1921: 12)

Haveis frequently elided together with a relative pronoun:

12In the following pun, areis elided after whaur(where), presumably by phonetic assimilation:Propped up on the stove was a sign ... and beside it another which

said WHERRABOOTS ... AWRERR, with an arrow pointing to a stall

stacked high with work-boots and shoes. (Its Colours they are

Fine, op. cit., p.140)I.e., whereabouts ... over there and where are the boots ... all rare.


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he"es also a /ai" amo+nt o/ wo"&, inidentally, 0een done on the

&ind o/ lan#+a#e that is e!peted at shool. (+nive"sity let+"e",

"eo"ded 19-9)

Haveis regularly elided in the idiom had better, as in other non-standard varieties:

ell, 3a&, he says, yo+ 0ette" #o now (he th"ee /eathe"s, op.

cit., p.22-)

Willmay be substituted:

ahl 0ette" away (om 7eona"d, ea time in Bunnit Husslin, 19-)

Haveis also regularly elided in have got to, as in colloquial English generally:

>e #oat tae p+t the /"i#htene"s, "i#ht, oan them. (yo+n# $las#ow man,"eo"ded 19-9)

8.4 Main verbs13

Verbs of motion are frequently elided in Scottish speech, giving quasi-adverbial uses ofprepositional adverbs (see below).

Verbs of saying can also be elided in narrative, or replaced by be:

and the at #ot its 0a& +p, ye &en, li&e this, an hhhhE F//phE

and the "ats shhE and the two o them a"e at eah ithe". (he

at and the ha"d heese, op. cit., p.'21)

ell they sta"t Daddy, this is the day wi" li&s ome on Jto the

islandK. a##ie ille"s ows, op. cit., p.99)

9. Relative clauses

9.1 Pronouns

The Scots forms of the relative pronouns are:

at(that)

whae, wha(who) wham(whom) whase, whas(whose) whilk(which)

North-eastern dialect forms have /f/ for //.

13The verb expressing the request to be passed or handed something is elided in the following example:Heh, Mikey! Big Mikey MacGloan! That baw, gonnae? (Gallus, did

you say? op. cit., p.5)


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As with the interrogative pronouns, whamand whilkare only literary.14

9.2 Thatand wh-relatives15

In Scottish speech, as in colloquial English generally, the indeclinable relative pronounthatis preferred to the wh-relatives. Scottish speakers regularly use thatfor personalantecedents and in non-restrictive relative clauses as well as for non-personal antecedentsand restrictive uses:

An a+ld #+y at wis d"+n& #oat taen intae the polis 0oa!. (yo+n#

$las#ow man, "eo"ded 19-9)

A /"esh shipment, that was lon# ove"d+e, a""ived today.

Thatis available not only as subject and object, but also with prepositions:hese a"e the people that we stay with.

Fronted prepositions and quantified relatives are normally unavailable in colloquialScottish speech, but fronted prepositions do occur in literary Scots:

the developan spe"it o %+"ns, /"ae whil& sian heat was late"

en#end"it (*en"y the inst"els


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hey"e e!p"essin# themselves, whih is a di//e"ent thin#. (A"hie

*ind, inte"viewed 0y @o0e"t ait, Scottish nternational11 (19-):

16)

9.4 Zero relative pronoun

In Scots, as in other non-standard varieties, the relative pronoun is optionally deletedwhen it is the subject of its clause:

an it "+00ed aa the "at owe" wi its /in#e"s o" its paws wi this

st+// was in the 0ottle (he th"ee do#s, op. cit., p.2'?)

This is particularly common with an existential main clause:

the"e neve" wis a ha"e, he says, o" a "a00it eve" too& the hills

0+t wi/t o+ld ath. (he th"ee do#s, op. cit.,p.1?)

Standard English allows the reduction of relative clauses with an equative structure (e.g.there are people waiting outside) except that this is not usually possible with one wordcomplements in Standard English. However, these are regularly reduced in Scotsspeech:17

the"es some o/ the teahe"s +iet (%"own, 19: ?)

and on the #ates it says they we"e men wanted. (he at and the ha"d

heese, op. cit., p.266)

10. Complements18

10.1 That

The conjunction thatis regularly elided in Scottish speech, as in colloquial Englishgenerally:

He said at he met us onna the muir whilk wasna the case. (Murray,

1873: 196)17Brown (1980) suggests that it is not necessary to interpret such sentences as containing a relative clause,and regards them rather as transformed NOUN PHRASE COPULA SUBJECT COMPLEMENTstructures.18That how, how thatand that how thatare recorded as complementisers:

The laird himsel said, at hoo the bairns had never gotten on

naething like it wi ony ither body. (Grant and Dixon, 1921: 170)

Sic things my gude-dam tauld to me, / How that a switch o rowan

tree / Gard a the deils and witches fyke. (SND s.v. hoo

He said that fu that hed been swickit wi the coo. (SND s.v. that)

Grant and Dixon also record noras a complementiser:Nae woner nor ye was obleegt to tak yer innocent bairns awa

faes skweel. (1921: 169)


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Anyway, thats not to say Id have helped him o+t even i/ I o+ld

have ($all+s, did yo+ say, op. cit., p.2)

10.2 For to

The infinitival complement is frequently introduced byfir tae(orfor to) in Scots, as inother non-standard varieties:

*e wis "eady /o" tae die any time (he th"ee /eathe"s, op. cit.,

p.22)

10.3 How

Howcan be used to introduce a complement (as opposed to an interrogative clause) in

Scottish speech:>o+ &now how Ahve neve" had a 4ai&et. hen Ah wis a wean Ah neve"

had a 4ai&et, so it disnae "eally 0o""e" me. (yo+n# $las#ow man,

"eo"ded 19-9)

11. Comparison

11.1 -er, -est

The distribution of the comparative and superlative inflections, -erand est, is lessrestricted in Scots (and other non-standard varieties) than in Standard English:

an the"e hes t+"ned the 0ea+ti/+llest &in# ye eve" seen in ye" li/e(he th"ee /eathe"s, op. cit., p.2'')

11.2 -er, -maist

The addition of erand maist(-most) to prepositional adverbs is less restricted inScots than in Standard English:

at the hinne" end

ye"e aye 0ette" &eepin the sootin8end ootmaist (om ott, 3o&

amsons 0ai"ns, Scotia Review6 (19-?): -)

11.3 Double comparatives and superlatives

Like other non-standard varieties, Scots permits the formation of comparatives andsuperlatives by the simultaneous addition of er, -estand mair(or more), maist(or most):

mai" li&e" a laddie no" a w+mman (ibid, p.-)

thi most 0i##est thin#mmi &i& yiv ivi" saw in hi" hale thin#mmi

li/eE ($all+s, did yo+ say, op. cit., p.1')


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Double comparatives such as worserand leastestalso arise, as in other non-standardvarieties, when the inflections are added to suppletive forms.

11.4 Conjunctions

The conjunction of comparison in Scots is variously nor(the preferred form in literaryScots), asor be(or by):

%ette" yo+ no" me. (The Sash, op. cit., p.-)

Hsie aitll loss mo"e a/o"e the saesons owe", hell loss mo"e as

i/ hed teen thee. (a##ie ille"s ows, op. cit., p.9')

hes yo+n#e" 0e ony o them (+""ay, 1-': 169)

When the post-modifying element has clause structure, what, recapitulating the hingeelement, can be found in Scots:

hen ye see that Am as #ood as whit yo+ a"e, will ye no leave me

alane (he at and the ha"d heese, op. cit., p.'21)

12. Other subordinate clauses19

12.1 But what

The subordinating conjunction but whatmay be translated otherwise than that:

7et them neve" let on to my /athe" and mothe" = %+t what Im omin#hame. (5D s.v. what)2

12.2 For aw (that)

The subordinating conjunctionfor aw(that) (alsofor all (that)) means despite (the factthat).

5o"man aai#, /o" aa that his ain wa"& is aye i the +d"on, ...

(anonymo+s, Inte" alia, '(ros1 (1969): 9)

12.3 Like as if

Likeand as ifare combined in Scots as in other non-standard varieties:

19A frequent type of subordinate clause with main clause structure, and no introductory conjunction, isexemplified by the following:

Or youd huv tae feed thems mair likely. (overheard in West

Lothian, 1980s)

Predicates similar to is mair likely, e.g. is nearer the mark, can also take a finite clause as subject. Since thesubject clause could stand alone and convey most of the information, this has the appearance of anafterthought. However, the two clauses are within the same tone group, and cliticisation takes place acrossthe clause boundary, as in the example quoted.20This example is differently interpreted by SND.


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Lp he #oes, li&e as i/ hes the ee an o" some0ody ($all+s, did yo+

say, op. cit., p.2)

12.4 And

Two types of subordinate clause are regularly linked to their superordinate clause by andin Scots. The subordinate clause often, but not invariably, mentions a circumstance thatought to preclude the situation expressed in the main clause:

a) verbless subordinate clause(i) and OBJECT PERSONAL PRONOUN SUBJECT COMPLEMENT

Ill soap in ye" eyes ye and it "ationedE (%ill ait, a"toon in

The &vening !iti)en, 19?2)

(ii) and withPHRASE21

An me wi ma 0ad le# tae. (title o/ a play 0y %illy onnolly)

b) non-finite ingclause:

*e" /i"st 0ai"n, and he" nea"in /o"ty. (3o& amsons 0ai"ns, op.

cit., p.)

13. Tags22

13.1 Reversed polarity

In reversed polarity tags, the order OPERATOR SUBJECT ISOLATE NEGATIVEPARTICLE is regular in Scottish speech (see 1.2 above). Double negative tags occurfollowing negative statements:

>o+" names no illie, isnt it no (illa" and %"own, 19-9: 2-)

13.2 E, e no

Millar and Brown (1979) identify a tag particle ein Scottish speech, used following

positive statements, to elicit confirmation:>o+" names illie, e (ibid, p.?1)

21In the following sentence, the existential haveclause is the equivalent of a withphrase:Awm really nae wise t be sittin clatterin awa here, an me hiz

sic a lang road afore ma. (SND s.v. I)22A tag particle no, naeis recorded after affirmative statements, equivalent in a sense to a reversed polaritytag. SND interprets this as a reduced form of noo(now), Grant and Dixon as the word no (not) (1921:142).


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This particle can be fronted (4.2 above). A corresponding tag, e nooccurs followingnegative statements:

*e disnae li&e pit+"es, e no (ibid, p.'2)

These tags may be more usual in childrens speech.

13.3 So

In Glasgow (as in Northern Ireland), a commonly used tag takes the form soPRONOUN OPERATOR. This is used to reinforce a positive statement:

yo+ve #ot that wee0e"2'= dest"oyed so yo+ have (tephen +l"ine, the

wee0e" 0i"d in Poems, op. cit.)

The corresponding, but less common, reinforcing tag for a negative statement is neitherPRONOUN OPERATOR:

Dont answe" nothin in"iminatin, says the she"i//. = And thats #ood

eno+#h /o" yo+"s t"+ly. = And neithe" ah did, neithe" ah did, =

neithe" ah did, neithe" ah did. (Bdwin o"#an, to0hill in #rom

$lasgow to Saturn, 19-')2?

13.4 Like,but

Likeand butare used in Scots to ameliorate the force of a statement, the latter perhaps

more commonly in the West of Scotland:

Aye, sandpies it wis. 7oo&ed #"eat. asted ho""i0le 0+t. (ts

!olours the" are #ine, op. cit., p.?)

Likealso post-modifies adjectives:

Ahd li&e tae say that he was di//e"ent when he wis wae me +iet

and #entle and a//etionate li&e. (The Hard Man, op. cit., p.2?)

14. Main verbs

14.1 Regular and irregular

Numerous main verbs that are irregular in Standard English can be declined regularly inScots, and vice versa. There are often further differences in treatment for verbs whichboth agree in classifying as regular or irregular. There would be little point in listing theverbs concerned, as there is no up-to-date information on the currency of particular forms(see Wright, 1905, SND, and, for literary Scots, Graham, 1977). Some current examplesmay, however, be given:

23Weeberis a nonce word.24Morgan here plays on the different stress patterns of the main clauseAnd neither ah did, with stress ondid, and the tag, with stress on neither.


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a) past participle and past tense regular: seed, gied(gave), gaed (went), drawed,throwed, hurtit, selt(sold), telt(told), catched, kneeled, sayed, heared, buyed

b) past tense irregular: brung, widd(waded)

c) past participle irregular: haen(had), load, thunk(jocular), drunken, satten, gotten,pitten(put)

d) reduplicated part participle: brochten, hadden, soakent, wroten.

Like other non-standard varieties, Scots reduces the paradigm of several irregular verbsby selecting one form as both past tense and past participle, usually the past tense form,e.g. went, broke, gave,fell, knew, spoke, wore, tore, wrote, broke, ett[ate]; but also e.g.run, gien[given], drunk, shrunk, begun.

In the case of come, gie(give), take, seeand do(main verb), generalisation of bothoccurs. Some of these generalisations are historical, e.g. come(past tense) andfell(pastparticiple). Others are recent, probably representing influences from English dialects(Trotter, 1901) or from Hiberno-English, and such forms appear to be innovating whilethose mentioned in a-d above are declining. This is despite the fact that the innovatingforms are heavily stigmatised by the education system and described by vernacularspeakers themselves as slovenly (Macaulay, 1977: 96) and as part of the stereotype ofthe rough working-class (Hanley, 1984: 166). This is an area that deserves furtherinvestigation.

14.2 Inflections of the past tense and past participle

There are dialectal differences in the forms of the dental suffix in Scots, which leads toconflicting accounts in the literature.

a) itis found after plosives and unstressed vowels, e.g. wantit, soundit,jumpit,pickit,biggit, marriet, buriet.

It is also still found, but less commonly, after fricatives, especially in literary Scots, e.g.screivit,forcit.

In Caithness, -idis regular for Central Scots it, e.g. cowpid, lookid.

b) dis regular in Scots, as in Standard English, after a stressed vowel, e.g. caad, deed.It also appears to be more common than it after voiced fricatives, e.g. screived. In theSouth of Scotland, -d is also regular after nasals, /r/ and /l/, e.g. saird(served).

c) -tis regular in other Scots dialects after nasals, /r/ and /l/, e.g. kent,fluttert, killt, and isalso common after voiceless fricatives, e.g. wisht, laucht.


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14.3 Present

The distribution of the present tense inflection s, -es, was governed by a particular set ofrules in Older Scots, which probably survive only in variable form, co-existing with thesimpler rules of Standard English.

In the traditional system, the use of the inflection or not depends on the nature of thesubject. With the exception of an adjacent personal pronoun subject (see below), theinflection appears throughout:

hats the stones that sin&s the line down, we aa that steedhes

(a##ie ille"s ows, op. cit., p.9-)

>e" maw an me thin&s ye anna #et ony tai0let the mo"n. (3. 3.

%ell, %ee Macgreegor, 192: ?)

Its me at omes /i"st. (+""ay, 1-': 212)

If the subject is an adjacent personal pronoun, the third person singular is inflected, as inStandard English, and so also is the second person singular, where it survives (see19.3).25The first person singular and the plural are uninflected in this syntacticenvironment (again, like Standard English).

However, even in Older Scots (Aitken, 1978), there are traces of a narrative present tense,where the inflection was used with all persons and numbers regardless of the nature ofthe subject, and this is regular in Modern Scots narration:

o anyway, he"e now ... they sho+ts /o" 3a& (he th"ee /eathe"s,op. cit., p.229)

5awE I #oes, nea" s"eamin#, yo+ &now ($all+s, did yo+ say, op.

cit., p.12)

(cf. says, sezin colloquial English generally). This is also the pattern when the presenttense is used in a habitual sense.

The third person singular forms of be(including the past form was) and haveare likewisegeneralised only when the subject is other than an adjacent personal pronoun:

... times is p"etty ha"d on +s (he th"ee do#s, op. cit., p.1?)

an no matte" how ti"ed the /ishe"men was ... they had to #o to the

h+"h (a##ie ille"s ows, op. cit., p.9-)

7adies and #entlemen, I have to anno+ne that my 0"a&es has went

(hea"d in $las#ow, 19-9).

14.4 Subjunctive

25A trace of this in Modern Scots is the tag seestu, latterly Shetland, Orkney and Dumfries, and as anickname for Paisley (SND).


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Special subjunctive forms of verbs are on record. Wright states that main verbs areuninflected throughout the present subjunctive in Scots:

i/ the 0i"d sin# (19: 29)

SND records a past subjunctive of the form had+ taeINFINITIVE:

I/ she had tae "eove" she wad hae 0in a 0i# help tae him. (5D)

and present subjunctive forms of the verb be, namely beor bees, and binnawith theenclitic negative particle.

14.5 Inflection of the present participle

The distinction between the present participle inflection an(d) and the verbal nouninflection in(g), which was apparently lost in Central Scots in the sixteenth century,survives in Caithness and in parts of the South of Scotland:

7e&ly them in


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Bve"y0ody says ah need me heid loo&ed #oin# a0o+t wae him. (The Hard

Man, op. cit., p.2?)

Conversely, some verbs that are transitive in Standard English can be intransitive inScots, offerbeing a particularly common example:

A o//e""ed 0it a "oom in &ithin isny m+h 0ette" (3ames Celman,

5ie tae 0e nie, The $lasgow ReviewIM:', 19-', ?28-)

14.8 Be

In Glasgow, and probably more widely, a form muris found for the first person singularform of be. It is used under emphasis and avoids the awkward sequenceAh am, whichcan however occur:

hats whit thai" sayin is it hat ahm a l+nati hats aw"i#ht

then isnt it Ah ahm a l+nati. (The Hard Man, op. cit., p.16)

I/ Ah dae it, i/ Ah m+" stealin ... ("eo"ded 0y *ai# $o"don /o" %%

otland, 19N +oted in aa/ee, 19': 6)

Murcan take the enclitic negative particle:

Aw, yi" 4o&in, I #oes. Aw naw Ahm +"nae, he says. ($all+s, did

yo+ say, op. cit., p.22)

It appears to be a blend of amand are. Notice that the need for emphasis is oftenproduced by contrast withyou arein the preceding context.

The form wasis sometimes found with the second person:26

say yo+ wis a "e"+it, yo+ wis a p"ospetive "e"+it (3ohn Ceith he

7ai"d o Ldnys /ool, "eo"ded 0y *amish *ende"son (192), Tocher

vol.' (19-8-6), p.2?)

14.9 Prepositional adverbs as verbs of motion

Several prepositional adverbs can occur as defective verbs in Scots, with the sense of

motion or the imparting of motion:

a) infinitive:

26Waswith the third person plural in the following example, if it represents a genuine observation by thewriter, may be an assimilation to the preceding context:

The Ack-an-Ess-Aitch was there. An the 6thH.L.I. was therein

reserve. See?

They was not, said his friend. (The Shipbuilders, op. cit.,

p.91)


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Beis also the regular auxiliary in Scots generally with a small group of verbs includingstartand come:

when I was 4+st sta"ted shool in the 0a0ies lass, ... (H+" e""y,

op. cit., p.1)

an when the do# wis ome tae its p+p 8 ... (he p"iness and the

p+ps, op. cit., p.26)

15.2 Do

Auxiliary dohas an emphatic form divin Scots, occurring for dae(i.e. with all personsand numbers except the third singular), probably modelled on the haeand hivforms ofhave:

ill ye say


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15.4 Semi-modals

Brown and Millar (1980: 86) found that need to, used toand dare, which have beenrecorded as semi-modals in Scots, are now treated as main verbs in East Central Scotland.

15.5 Obligation

Scottish speakers avoid mustin the sense of obligation, reserving it to express logicalnecessity. The semi-modals have to, have got toand will have toare used instead, and inScots, maun:

the"e omes a passa#e that ma+n 0e +oted at some len#th (*en"y the

inst"els o+ve no to #o (%"own and ille", 19-: 16?)

i.e. you are obliged (NEGATIVE you go), whereas Southern English speakers woulduse mustnt.

Negation of the auxiliary requires do-support:

>o+ dont have to #o.

In negative interrogatives, the construction with do-support is accordingly ambiguous:

Do yo+ no have to #o (ibid, p.169)

i.e. QUESTION (NEGATIVE you are obliged (you go)) and QUESTION (you areobliged (NEGATIVE you go)). Like main verbs, have totakes do-support in theemphatic positive construction with so:

*e does sohave to #oE (ibid, p.1-)

15.6 Logical necessity

Since mustis reserved to the sense of logical necessity, mustntoccurs freely in this sensein Scottish (together with Northern English) speech:

*e m+stnt 0e in. (*+#hes and "+d#ill, 19-9: 2')

15.7 Hypothetical statements

In common with most of the English-speaking world, Scottish speakers reserve shouldfor the sense of moral obligation. In hypothetical constructions, wouldis used:


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till event+ally i/ the ... thin# wo+ld +pset, the 0oat at sea wo+ld

0e doin# the same thin#. (a##ie ille"s tows, op. cit., p.9?)

15.8 Polite will

Willis used in Scots, as in other non-standard varieties, in sentences that are predictivestatements in construction, questions with positive expectation in intonation and sense:

And this will 0e yo+" 0"othe"

Will is also used to ameliorate direct statements and questions:

A /emale a+aintane, /ollowin# a ommon oth idiom, said one day

3o&, how a+ld will yo+ 0e I &en weel eno+#h how a+ld I am ...

0+t dinna &en how a+ld Ill 0e. (5D s.v. will)

Would is used in the same way:

I o+ld tell yo+ when this wo+ld ha 0een. his wo+ld ha 0een i the

yea" o ate"loo (a##ie ille"s tows, op, cit., p.1)

15.9 Prediction and intention

Scottish speakers follow the colloquial practice of using willwith all persons andnumbers. Shallcan however be used, again with all persons and numbers

a) as a formal form:

A "eade" /ailin# to p"od+e a o&en ... shall p"od+e p"oo/ o/

identity (notie, $las#ow, 19-9)

b) to express intention emphatically:

this is a 0loody demo"ay, and these ... mo"ons shall 0e /o"ed to

ma&e a hoie (#"a//iti, $las#ow, 19-9)

Sal(also shall) remains generally available in Shetland:

Hh, he says, th+ sanna wGnt that. (a##ie ille"s tows, op.

cit.p.9-)

An as they"e sittin wonde"in whGts w"on# o" whe"e they shall move

to o" whGt they shall do o" whGt they shant do (ibid, p.9)

15.10 Possibility

Mayis avoided in Scottish speech, except as a formal alternative to canin the sense ofpermission. In the sense of possibility, couldand might(Scots micht) are used. In thenegative, cantis preferred for the sense it is not possible that; might notfor the sense


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it is possible that not. However, the Scots form michtnae(below in the mixed formmightnae) also occurs in the former sense:

%+t, he says, i/ I wis to ... ta&e the do# /i" ma ow, he says,

I mi#htnae #o home, he says, /i" ma siste" wo+ld &ill me. (he

th"ee do#s, op. cit., p.1?)

In the interrogative, possibility is expressed by willor could, with mightonly in theinterrogative, and only with the main verb as its scope, thus, whereas the followingmeans to an English speaker is it not possible that it might be broken?, to a Scottishspeaker it is more likely to mean is it possible that it might still be whole?:

i#ht it no(t) 0e 0"o&en (%"own and ille", 19-: 16)

15.11 Double modals

In Central and Southern Scotland, canand couldare found as the second element indouble modal constructions. Canis regularly used as an infinitive, without to, followingwill.28Brown and Miller (1975) tested the responses of Edinburgh speakers to sentencescontaining will can, and found the following order of acceptability:

a) negative declarative:29

*ell no an ome this wee& (%"own and ille", 19-: 1-?)

b) positive declarative:

he mana#e" will an tell yo+ i/ its ome (ibid, p.1-?)

c) negative interrogative:

ill he no an mend them (ibid, p.1-?)

Couldlikewise appears as an infinitive, following would:

In a "isis, what wo+ld a wee lassie li&e that o+ld dae /o" me

(hea"d in est 7othian, 19-9).

28However, I heard the following in West Lothian:The boays are auld enough to can make theirsels a bit i toast.

The other non-finite forms of canare also on record. Murray (1873: 216) gives an example of couldas apast participle:

they haenae could get ane

and SND gives an example of canin the present participle:Wi him no cannin wun hyim wi the railway strike.

29The syntactic sequence exemplified is the normal one, but the following was heard in West Lothian(from a different speaker from the one quoted in note 28):

Ell cannae be bothered wi weans

possibly as a result of the internal coherence of the idiom cannae be bothered.


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Less common are other modals with could:

>ine an Ad w+n the"e, A thoht, A miht me00ies ood #eet a h+"l

the lenth o/ *awi& (5D s.v. can)

I didnt +sed tae o+ld ta& them at aa. (5D s.v. can)'

Other double modals occur occasionally:

hey sho+ld o+#ht to ma&e the "+les lea". (%"own and ille", 19-:

1-?)

*e +sed tae widnae let me +p the 0"ae: Ah wis te""i/ied i im. (hea"d

in est 7othian, 19-9)

16. Adverbials16.1 Formation of adverbs

Like other non-standard varieties, Scots regularly forms manner adverbs without theaddition of a suffix:

yi anny tal& = "i#ht (om 7eona"d, Ln"elated inidents ' in Three

$lasgow %riters, op. cit., p.'6)

Ah wid h+v a""an#ed the /+"nit+"e di//e"ent. (The Hard Man, op. cit.,

p.2)

ye o+ld easy tell 0y the sie o his nose. (3o& amsons %ai"ns,

op. cit., p.-)

Scots has an adverbial suffix s, used with certain sentence adverbs, particularly mebbies(maybe), whiles(sometimes) and nae wunners(no wonder). This also occurs incombination with ly, e.g. readilies, geylies.

More archaic, and less productive, is lins, as in aiblins(maybe) and nearlins(nearly).

A group of prepositional adverbs are compounded with by(e), thus ootbye(outsidethere), doon by(down there), etc.

16.2 Position of adverbs

In some cases, restrictions on the position of adverbs are different in Scots from StandardEnglish:

he #ot paid ove"time /o" 4+st he&in# a 0+nh o/ 0oys ($all+s, did

yo+ say, op. cit., p.2)

30Notice that do-support is involved in the negation of used to. Couldis here approaching the status of amain verb. In a later example, the problematic negation of used tois solved by negating wouldinstead.


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Lp he #oes, /lyin# almost this time (H+" e""y, op. cit., p.2)

she nea" a0o+t massa"eed him (he th"ee do#s, op. cit., p.16)16.3 Noun phrases

A wider range of noun phrases occur as adverbials in Scots than in Standard English:

tho+#h it no"mally seems the"es twie as many lassies the noise they

ma&e (H+" e""y, op. cit., p.16)

they we"e hae"t0"o&en a0oot thei" 0ai"n, an thoht they wo+ld neve"

#et it 0a&, the sie o this man. (he p"iness and the p+ps, op.

cit., p.2)

and yo+ an see hes onent"atin#, on his /ae, the way his ton#+e

+"ls away "o+nd a0o+t his ea"hole, ... ($all+s, did yo+ say, op.

cit., p.')

A dont &now how the poo" so+l mana#ed tae pi& hissel a// the #"o+nd

the state he wis in. (The Hard Man, op. cit., p.22)

Ah o+ld a 0een the"e an 0a&, the time ye too&.

17. Prepositions

17.1 Position

Constructions involving the movement of prepositions tend to be avoided in Scottishspeech. Fronted prepositions in relative clauses occur only in literary texts (see above).According to Hughes and Trudgill (1979: 25), speakers in Scotland and the North ofEngland prefer not to postpone the prepositional adverb in phrasal verbs:

ame thin# a#ain, +p tae the tap o the towe", an th"ew o// thei"

/eathe"s (he th"ee /eathe"s, op. cit., p.2'2)

This preference persists even when there is a pronominal object:

+m, do yo+ have anythin# to wipe +p that with (ove"hea"d in

Bdin0+"#h, 19)

17.2 Selection

There are numerous instances in which prepositions are used with different senses or indifferent lexical environments in Scots than in Standard English, including:

a) intae(or into) is used as a preposition of place north of the Forth:

A wonde" wo+ld the"e 0e ony to0aae, he says, intae that wee 0o!

(he at and the ha"d heese, op. cit., p.269)


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b) aff o(or off of) expresses various senses of from:

5ow this is pl+&it a// o the enhantit &nowe (a##ie ille"s

tows, op. cit., p.9-)

an eve"y0odys #ettin thei" money a// i the oial e+"ity, "i#ht

(yo+n# $las#ow man, "eo"ded 19-9)

c) onis used to express the relationship between a part of the body and the whole:

an this was a #iant "i#ht eno+#h, th"ee heids on him. (he at and

the ha"d heese, op. cit., p.2-)

d) oot(or out) is equivalent to out of

Hh ye annae /lin# piees oot a twenty sto"ey /lat ... (Adam5a+#hton, &ys"ape" wean in 5o"man %+han and Fete" *all, eds.,

The Scottish #ol(singer, 19-': 2')

e) a noun phrase expressing constituent elements is post-modified by a phrase with o(orof) expressing the whole (rather than vice versa)

hat any man alive o+ld #ive >o+n# eil thi"ty o/ a sta"t ...

so+nded "idi+lo+s to o+" way o/ thin&in#. (3ames Celman, >o+n#

eil in Three $lasgow %riters, op. cit., p.6)

an wi this yo+n# man o/ a "ew (a##ie ille"s tows, op. cit.,

p.9?)

f) outwithwithout, outside is normal usage in Scottish legal terminology.

18. Nouns

18.1 Formation

The suffix ie is used freely to form nouns from monosyllabic adjectives and othermonosyllabic nouns, e.g. daftie, sweetie, kiltie.

18.2 Regular and irregular

A small number of nouns take an irregular plural in Scots differing from their (regular orirregular) plural in Standard English, particularly eeneyes, shuinshoes, caurcalves, kyeor kinecows, childerchildren, gallusesbraces (literally gallows).

Regular plurals sometimes occur, as in other non-standard varieties, where StandardEnglish has an irregular form, e.g. louseslice.

18.3 Inflection of plurals and possessives


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Where other varieties of English voice /f/ and // finally in nouns such as wifeandpathbefore the sinflection, as well as before the /s/ of house, no such change takes place inScots, or, for the most part, in Scottish Standard English.

As in other non-standard varieties, the inflection of the possessive can be added to aregular plural, e.g. bairnss.

18.4 Collective and segregate

Several groups of nouns regularly take zero plural marker in Scots when used in acollective sense:31

a) nouns of measurement and quantity, e.g. eight year, six pound;

b) names of large domestic animals

an he #ot the ithe" yin that wis the thie/ tae &ill twa 0i# o! /i"

him (he p"iness and the p+ps, op. cit., p.29)

c) the compounds theirselself and their lanelone:

so they sat an #o"#ed thei"sel wi this heese. (he at and the ha"d

heese, op. cit., p.'21)

yne he #aed oot an le/t the twa o them thei"lane /o" a wee 0it

(3o& amsons 0ai"ns, op. cit., p.11)

18.5 Possessives

When a possessive noun is post-modified, the possessive inflection can be postponed, asin other non-standard varieties:

thats the man at ye met yeste"days dohte" (+""ay, 1-': 166)

18.6 Gender

In Insular Scots, certain nouns referring to inanimate objects take gender marked

pronouns:

5ow the"e we"e no do+0t a0o+t the "an&sman Ji.e. a 0oatK now: he wGs

deep. ... *es deep: yon 0oat loo&s as i/ shO was load wi /ish.

(a##ie illee"s tows, op. cit., p.9)

31Murray (1873: 161, fn.2) records double plurals expressing collective and segregate sensessimultaneously:

Now, scrape yer feets weel, and pit off aa o yer shuins i the

passage!


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an they wo+ld ta& +p the /i"e8&aettle, yo+ &now, i the middle o/ the

0oat: yo+ hGve he" standin# on stons (ibid, p.9)

a sae Ja wate" 0+tt a""ied on "opes o" polesK, thats the name o it.*e was hal/ /illed with waate" (a##ie ille"s tows, op. cit.,

p.9)

18.7 Diminutives

The diminutive suffix ieis used freely, as in colloquial English generally, sometimes incombination with ock, which is especially productive in the North of Scotland, giving ockie. In Caithness, -ocktakes the form ag, e.g. CheordagGeordie.

18.8 Indefinite nouns

The usual Scots indefinite term for a person is a body. Compounds with bodyarepreferred over compounds with one, e.g. awbodyeveryone.Awall combines with body, -thingand wherein place of every. The Scots equivalent of body elseisQUANTIFIER ither body, e.g. ony ither body.

Aneone can stand alone as the indefinite term for a person:

%+t the"e we"e eens


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nominal: oors.

19.3 Second person singular

The second person singular pronouns survive in spoken Scots only in Insular Scots,33where the local dialect forms have /d/ for //. The forms are:

Nominative: du, also thooAccusative: dee, also thee34Possessive, determiner: dee, also thee.

As in Older Scots, regular verbs take the (e)sinflection in the present tense when thereis a second person pronoun subject, and likewise isand has.35

19.4 Second person plural

The distinction between nominativeyeand accusativeyouhas not survived in ModernScots, although in Ulster Scots, and perhaps in other dialects, yedoes occur as a stressedform (in either function).

Second person plural forms, recorded as Hiberno-English by Wright (1905), are nowregular in Glasgow dialect, and widespread in Central Scotland. These forms, nominativeand accusative alike, areyouseand unstressedyiz.

19.5 Third person singular

Although h-dropping is not a feature of Scottish speech (except in the fisher dialect of theCromarty Firth), /h/ is elided in unstressed forms of he, him, hisand her. Conversely, /h/is added to the emphatic forms huzus and hitit. Other Scots forms are heshis andshae(Insular Scots sh) she.

The possessive determiner itsis avoided in Scots, as in other varieties of non-standardEnglish, but is of course available from Standard English.36

Oneis virtually unavailable as an indefinite human pronoun in Scottish speech, and is astereotype of the English of England. Colloquialyouis used instead.

19.6 Third person plural

33The nickname for Paisley, seestu(do you see), captures the memory of this surviving as an archaism inidiomatic use there.34SND also records an accusative form thoo.35SND also records areand have, as withyou.36SND records it for the possessive:

See at the cat pittin up it paw an clawin it head.


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The forms of the third person plural pronoun are as in Standard English, exceptaccusative thaim. Theyis also used as an indefinite subject in Scottish speech, withoutany explicit antecedent, as an alternative to impersonal constructions:

hen I lived in the Bast Bnd, when they +sed to have the ay Day

Fa"ade ... ("eti"ed man, "eo"ded in $las#ow, 19-9)

19.7 Periphrastic possessives

Its(see above) can be replaced in Scots by o it(also of it), and reduced forms ot, od.

The periphrastic possessive o me(or of me) is part of the Highland stereotype in Scottishliterature. Periphrastic possessives occur regularly in the idiomsfor the life o(f) +ACCUSATIVE PERSONAL PRONOUN and be the death o(f) + ACCUSATIVE

PERSONAL PRONOUN.

19.8 Accusative pronouns

Like other varieties of colloquial or non-standard English, Scottish speech employs theaccusative forms of the personal pronouns in the following circumstances:

a) conjoined subject:

%+t hooeve", him an the th"ee do#s is away a#ain (he th"ee do#s,

op. cit., p.1-)

b) in apposition to a noun:

I mean the"e a"e only the th"ee o/ +s &ids in o+" 0it, "i#ht (H+"

e""y, op. cit., p.1-)

Scots also has the accusative forms of the plural pronouns in apposition to the indefinitepronounyins(also ones), e.g.you yins.

c) when the pronoun is separated from the verb, for instance by a relative clause:

hem atll #o an 0"in# 0a& the 0est "in# ...


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g) as a subject complement:

it was "eally me that a+sed the 0othe" (H+" e""y, op. cit., p.1)

19.9 Order of pronominal objects

In Scottish speech, the order of pronominal objects is usually INDIRECT DIRECT,37even when this means that a pronoun follows a noun:

#ie the 0ai"nt (5D s.v. it)

19.10 Reflexives

Like other non-standard varieties, Scots bases all reflexive forms with sel(also self) on

the possessive forms of the personal pronouns, thus hisseland theirsel(s).38

The adjective ain(also own) can be inserted between the pronoun and sel(s) foremphasis, e.g. their ain sels. Twa(e) (also two) is also common in this position:

$an# away ye" twae sels (+""ay, 1-': 19-)

The reflexive pronouns can function as adverbials in Scottish speech, with the sense byREFLEXIVE PRONOUN:

>o+ see, a 0oat didnt #o itsel/ to the /a" o+t #"o+nds: the"e we"e

always two


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i", my lo"d, i/ yell 0elieve me, the"e was no ae sin#le ane,...

that wo+ld #ie yo+" lo"dship a 0aw0ie /o" a+ld lan# syne. ($"ant and

Di!on, 1921: -6)

Ive #ot one hell o/ a sai" heid.

20.2 Definite article

The definite article is used in Scots with exophoric or homophoric reference beforevarious categories of nouns where Standard English employs no determiner, including:

a) diseases:

*es aw ho&ed +p wi the a+ld.

b) trades, sciences and branches of knowledge:

$ood 4oa0 A hid tae oan the lon# distane. (3ames Celman, 5ie tae

0e nie, The $lasgow ReviewIM:', 19-':?2)

c) names of days:

Itll 0e "eady 0y the onday o/ ne!t wee&.

d) institutions:

aye h+n#"y omin hame /"ae the sh+le (3. C. Annand, e and ma

#"annies, I, Lallans-, 19-6:1)

7andit +p in the hoaspital way it tae. (5ie tae 0e nie, op. cit.,

p.?2)

wi thei" po&e o pan8d"aps /o" the &i"& in the mo"nin (3. C. Annand,

e and ma #"annies, II, Lallans, 19--:2?)


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In omes the lassie. Bywis omes "oon /i" a 0lethi" wi the maw in

that whin the a+ld yins oot it his wo"&. (3ames Celman, he hon in

Short Tales rom the -ight Shit, 19-)

h) parts of the body:

0+t yo+ an tell 0y the so+nd o/ it that the 0lo&es lost the head

($all+s, did yo+ say, op. cit., p.6)

ays wGn o the yo+n# haps wi the sha"p eyes, he says, ... (a##ie

ille"s tows, op. cit., p.9?)

i) miscellaneous

hin#s hae no imp"oved tae ony e!tent wo"th the mentionin#. (A

m+&le stee", '(ros1, 1969:)

$"annie and he" +nma""iet dohte" 0aid +p the stai". (e and ma

#"annies, I, op. cit., p.16)

and #ets st+& "i#ht in wi thi 0aith a is ha+ns ($all+s, did yo+

say, op. cit., p.1')

and the sett8ma&&e"s that aine paved the maist o the st"eets in the

to+n (Alastai" a&ie, y #"and/athe"s nieve, Lallans, 19-:9)

ell, she says, ... the"es 4+st the wGn way (a##ie ille"s

tows, op. cit., p.96)

j) with the names of various periods of time, including those with to- in Standard English,thus the day, the nicht(also the night), the morn, the streenyestreen, the noo(also thenow), the year.40

20.3 Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns are used before certain nouns in Scots where other varieties have nodeterminer, including names of meals and the noun bed:

y #"and/aithe" had taen his 0"ea&/ast (@o0e"t 7ellan, he "o0in,

Lallans ?, 19-:1)

Im away tae ma 0ed.?1

20.4 Demonstrative

40By analogy with the dayetc., togetheris also remodelled as thegitherin Scots.41But thein this Shetland example:

the hoosekeeper fand this tablemaid dead it the baed (The trow

of Windhouse, op. cit., p.252).


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Thathas the reduced form at. There are distinctive forms of the plural demonstratives:thirthese and thaethose. Themthose occurs occasionally, as in other non-standardvarieties:

an 3a& /ollaet them ... doon the steps. (tone steps in them days

in the old astles). (he th"ee /eathe"s, op. cit., p.2')

In Northern Scots, and formerly more widely (DOST f/c), thisand thatare used for bothsingular and plural:

hey wo+ld say this wi"ds when they we"e haalin +p the line. (a##ie

ille"s tows, op. cit., p.9?)

Iv oo"se


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Ahll ta& thaim.

As in colloquial English generally, these(Scots thir) is used in narratives with reference

to past time:

5ow the pove"ty wasnt so o0vio+s in these days. Its only when yo+

loo& 0a& in "et"ospet ("eti"ed man, "eo"ded in $las#ow, 19-9)

Conversely, thae(also those) is occasionally found with reference to time continuing upto the present of the speaker:

he"e is a m+&le stee" on thae days (A m+&le stee", op., cit.,

p.6)

Thisis usual in Scots in adverbials expressing time since, e.g. this wee while, this day ortwo.

Thatand thaeoccur with cataphoric reference:

I will say that /o" the Bn#lish, that they a"e a eeveleesed people.

(5D s.v. that)

%+t when aas d+in, we ome +pon thae wo"ds, p"entit wi le#itimate

p"ide, P+od . $. ., a&a". (@o0e"t $a"ioh, Lnde" the Bildon

"ee, '(ros1, 1969:?-)

Thisand thatare used elliptically for this/that time/place/person:

Ill hae plenty adae atween this and hits+nday. (5D s.v. this)

%it /"iht o" no, a wee& /ae


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The numeral ane(yin, een, etc.) one has contrasting nominal and determiner forms intradititional Scots, with aneetc. for the nominal, and ae(yae) for the determiner. Thesame distinction is found in the co-ordinate construction the tae/ the tane ... the tither:

he tae hal/ o the #illies winna &en. ($"ant and Di!on, 1921:1)

/o" twa "easons, the tane o whil& one"ns +s the no+ ... the tithe"

we sall leave /o" a late" pa"a#"aph (*en"y the inst"els


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A tellt ye that. (ilson, 191:9?)

Itcan also be used:

hes /i/ty ome ;e0"+a"y yo+d neve" thin& it.

b) as predicate of a modal verb:

dae yo+ thin&, he says, that yo+ o+ld #et the p"iness Hh /ine

that, he says (he p"iness and the p+ps, op. cit., p.26)

Thatcan be fronted without inducing SUBJECT OPERATOR inversion:

F"omise me ... that yell "ead o+t o that 0oo& eve"y ni#ht at

wo"ship ... hat I will, si", "esponded Annie ea"nestly. ($"ant

and Di!on, 1921: 1')

c) as a subject complement:

$ood mo"nin#, si", he says. Its a /ine mo"nin. It is that, he

says. (he th"ee do#s, op. cit., p.19?)

d) thatis also used instead of soas an intensifier:

ma man thaht di////"int ... = hithaht indipehhhhndint (om 7eona"d,

ea time in Bunnit Husslin, 19-)

23.2 So

Sois used as a pro-form by Scottish speakers in the following constructions:

a) emphatic sentence fragments:

*e isnae omin#. *e is so. (%"own and illa", 19:11)

b) in apposition to the predicate in emphatic replies:

*e is soomin#. (ibid)

This is an innovatory usage, and is not recorded with Scots sae. There is a form sut,probably confined to childrens speech, which appears to be influenced by nut, anemphatic form of not (see above):

Ahm no a 0ampot. >e a"e s+t. Ah m+" n+t.


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