Scots Tongue
Scottish Pronunciation
This is an informal guide to the
Scots tongue for the benefit of occasional visitors to Scotland. It makes
no claims to be authoritative, complete or accurate.
The major regions in Scotland (e.g. Aberdeen, Ayrshire, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife, Inverness) have their own distinct accents and dialect words. See, for example, the Glasgow Patter books by Michael Munro (Holmes McDougall, Glasgow). Many older words survive thanks to the poetry of Robert Burns and others. Only words in general use are included below. There are dictionaries of Scottish words; for example, see the Concise Scots Dictionary (Aberdeen University Press). The following web links may also be useful:
| Sound/Word | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| ch | This is an aspirated ‘k’ sound as in the German ‘ach’. |
| Gaelic | This celtic language spoken in Scotland (‘Gàidhlig’) has a whole range of sounds that can be learned only by hearing them. |
| glottal stop | In some areas of Scotland (e.g. Glasgow), the final ‘t’ of a word is not pronounced. Instead the throat is closed to cut the word off. Thus ‘bit’ might sound more like ‘bih’ (with a short and truncated vowel), or ‘water’ as ‘wa-er’. |
| Milngavie | A town near Glasgow whose pronunciation is commonly used to confuse visitors (‘Mil-guy’ or ‘Mul-guy’). |
| -ing | The final ‘g’ is often elided (e.g. ‘walking’ sounds like ‘walkin’). |
| qu | This is silent in some proper names (e.g. Colquhoun = ‘Co-hoon’). |
| stress | The pattern of stress is usually that of English, but in some proper names the last syllable is stressed (e.g. Dun-bar, Dun-lop). |
| r | This is rolled on the tongue. |
| z | This is silent in some proper names (e.g. Culzean = ‘Cul-ain’, Dalziel = ‘Dee-el’, Menzies = ‘Ming-is’). |
A visitor to Scotland is most likely to come across standard English pronounced in the local fashion. However Scotland has its own distinct language, with similar roots to English but also affinities to Scandinavian languages. The following list gives some sample Scottish words. (Some of these have other meanings.) Some words are likely to be used only in Scotland, and some are mostly known to English speakers in general.
| Scottish | English |
|---|---|
| a' | all |
| aboot | about |
| agin | against |
| Aberdonian | of/from Aberdeen |
| -ae | ‘have’ as a suffix to a verb (widae = would have) |
| Ah | I |
| aff | off |
| ain | own |
| aglae | awry |
| ain | own |
| an | and |
| ane | one |
| Athol brose | sweet oatmeal dessert |
| auld | old |
| Auld Reekie | nickname for Edinburgh |
| aw | all |
| awa | away |
| awfu, awfy | awfully |
| bairn | child |
| bannock | biscuit or scone |
| bauchle | worn-out shoe (literally), an old and dishevelled man (figuratively) |
| baw | ball |
| baw heid | bald head |
| bawbee | an old penny |
| ben | mountain |
| ben | inside (e.g. ‘cam ben the hoose’) |
| besom | difficult woman |
| bile | boil (e.g. ‘Awa an bile yer heid!’ = ‘Get lost!’) |
| birl | spin |
| blae | blue |
| blether | (idle) chatter |
| boak | vomit |
| body | person (e.g. ‘Whit's a body tae dae?’) |
| bonnie, bonny | beautiful |
| brae | slope |
| braw | fine |
| bridie | meat in pastry pie |
| brose | broth (e.g. made using oatmeal) |
| bumfle | bump or raised area (in cloth) |
| burn | stream |
| but and ben | cottage |
| ca(w) | call |
| ca(w) canny | be careful |
| caber | a log used in the traditional game of ‘tossing the caber’ |
| cam | came |
| canny | careful |
| cauld | cold |
| caw | drive, turn (e.g. rope, wheel) |
| claes | clothes |
| claymore | the traditional Scottish broad sword (‘Gaelic claidheamh mhor’ - great sword) |
| cock-a-leekie | chicken and leek soup |
| coo | cow |
| coup, cowp | tumble |
| crabbit | ill-tempered |
| croft(er) | small-scale farm(er) |
| crowdie | curd cheese |
| cud | could |
| dae | do |
| deid | dead |
| de'il | devil |
| doo | dove (or pigeon) |
| dook | duck (in the sense of wetting - ‘dooking for apples’ is a Halloween game involving placing your face into a basin of water to retrieve a floating apple by biting on it) |
| doon | down (‘doon the water’ is a trip down the Clyde) |
| dram | small quantity of whisky |
| dreep | drip (also used of dropping off a wall) |
| dreich | miserable, cold and wet (weather) |
| drookit | dripping wet |
| Dundonian | of/from Dundee |
| dunt | bump |
| dyke | wall |
| een | eyes |
| eejit | idiot |
| efter | after |
| fair | somewhat (e.g. ‘fair taken wi’) |
| fair (fortnight) | traditional summer holiday period in Glasgow (the second two weeks of July, e.g. ‘where are ye gaun fur the fair?’) |
| faither | father |
| fankle | (twisted) mess |
| fash | bother (‘dinnae fash yersel’ = don't bother yourself) |
| feart | afraid |
| first foot | the first visitor in the New Year (who, for good luck, should be handsome and bring a gift) |
| firth | estuary |
| footer | nuisance |
| footer about | mess about |
| forby(e) | besides |
| frae | from |
| frein | friend |
| fu | full (also, drunk) |
| fur | for |
| gae, gang | go |
| gallus | daring |
| (stupid) galoot | idiot |
| gaun | going |
| get het up | become agitated |
| gey | rather |
| girn | complain, cry (e.g. of child) |
| glaikit | stupid, glazed (expression) |
| Glescae | Glasgow |
| Glaswegian | of/from Glasgow |
| glaur | mire |
| gloaming | dusk |
| glen | valley |
| gowk | fool |
| greet | weep |
| guid | good |
| hae | have |
| haggis | pudding made from minced meat (offal) and oatmeal |
| hame | home |
| hauf | half |
| haver | talk nonense |
| Havers! | Nonsense! |
| haud | hold (‘Haud yer wheesht!’ = ‘Shut up!’) |
| hauf | half |
| haugh | meadow by a river |
| heavy | dark beer |
| heid | head |
| hen | vocative term for a woman (e.g. ‘It's aw richt, hen’), or a general term of endearment for anyone |
| hert | heart |
| het | heated |
| Hielan | Highland |
| high heid yin | high-up person in organisation |
| hing | hang (‘hingin oot the windae’ is street-watching from one's window) |
| Hogmanay | New Year's Eve |
| hoose | house |
| Hoots! | Well then! |
| hough | shank of meat |
| howf(f) | inn |
| howk | dig |
| huv | have |
| -icht | -ight (e.g. nicht, richt) |
| ilka | every |
| intae | into |
| -it | -ed (e.g. ‘wantit’ = ‘wanted’) |
| ither | other |
| Jimmy, Jock | generic term for a man (e.g. ‘Hey there, Jimmy!’) |
| Jings! | Gosh! |
| keek | look |
| ken | know |
| kirk | church |
| laddie | boy |
| laldy | thrashing |
| lang | long |
| lassie | girl |
| loch | lake |
| loup | leap |
| lum | chimney (e.g. ‘lang may your lum reek’ = may you always be prosperous enough to have fuel) |
| ma | my |
| mair | more |
| merrit | married |
| midden | rubbish heap |
| mind | remember (e.g. ‘dae ye mind him?’) |
| mither | mother |
| mon | vocative term for a man (e.g. ‘Whit're ye daeing, mon?’) |
| Mon! | My! |
| mony | many |
| moose | mouse |
| mooth | mouth |
| -na, -nae | ‘no’, or ‘not’ as a suffix to a verb (dinna = don't, wisnae = wasn't) |
| neep | turnip |
| ne'er | never |
| Ne'erday | New Year's Day |
| neuk | corner |
| no | not |
| noo | now (e.g. ‘Ah'm gaun oot the noo’) |
| o | of |
| Och! | Well! |
| -ocht | -ought (e.g. bocht, thocht) |
| ony | any |
| oor | our |
| oot | out |
| ower | over, rather |
| oxter | armpit |
| palaver | fuss |
| pairt | part |
| puddin | pudding |
| puggle | tire out (e.g. ‘fair puggled’ = ‘rather worn out’ |
| pun | pound |
| rammy | noisy fight |
| rid | red |
| sae | so |
| sair | sore (‘a sair fecht’ = ‘a sore fight’ means something problematic) |
| Sassenach | an Englishman (‘Saxon’) |
| scunner | nuisance |
| see | consider (e.g. ‘see they computers’, prior to making some negative remark) |
| -sel | -self (e.g. ‘hissel’ = ‘himself’) |
| sgian dubh | a knife often worn decoratively with Highland dress (Gaelic for ‘black knife’) |
| shoogle | shake |
| skelp | smack |
| slater | woodlouse |
| smirr | fine rain (noun and verb) |
| snaw | snow |
| Special | a commercial beer |
| spurtle | wooden spoon |
| stank | drain |
| stane | stone |
| stoat | bounce (heavy rain is said to stoat off the ground) |
| stoor | dust |
| stramash | commotion |
| stravaig | wander about |
| tae | to |
| tak | take |
| tattie | potato |
| Teuchter | Highlander (often pejorative) |
| Tartan | a commercial beer |
| they | those (e.g. ‘see they computers’) |
| toun | town |
| tak | take |
| thirl | bind, pierce |
| thole | endure |
| thrawn | perverse |
| toon/toun | town |
| toty | tiny |
| (Edinburgh) trades | traditional summer holiday period in Edinburgh (the first two weeks of July) |
| trauchle | trouble |
| twa | two |
| wabbit | pale and weak (as after illness or exertion) |
| wain | child |
| wan | one |
| wean | child |
| wee | small |
| wee heavy | strong beer (barley wine) |
| wha | who |
| wham | whom |
| whaur | where |
| Wheesht! | Quiet! |
| whit | what |
| wi' | with |
| wid, wud | would |
| wifie | (old) woman |
| wis, wus | was |
| wull | will |
| ye | you |
| yer | your |
| yin | one |
Some Scottish given (Christian) names derive from the Gaelic while others are native. Here are some common examples:
| Forename | Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Alasdair | English ‘Alastair’ or ‘Alexander’ |
| Andra | English ‘Andrew’ |
| Calum | English ‘Malcolm’ |
| Christina | Gaelic ‘Cairistiona’ |
| Dauvit | English ‘David’ |
| Donald | Gaelic ‘Domhnal’ |
| Dougal/Dugal | Gaelic ‘Dugall’, English ‘Dugald’ |
| Duncan | Gaelic ‘Donnchadh’ |
| Fergus | Gaelic ‘Fearghus’ |
| Fiona | Gaelic ‘Fionnuala’ |
| Flora | Gaelic ‘Floraidh’ |
| Hendrie | English ‘Henry’ |
| Iain | English ‘Ian’ |
| Kenneth | Gaelic ‘Coinneach’ |
| Kirsten | English ‘Christine’ |
| Lachlan | Gaelic ‘Lachlann’ |
| Mairead | English ‘Marion’ |
| Maìri | English ‘Mary’ |
| Morag | English ‘Marion’ |
| Niall | English ‘Neil’ |
| Rab/Rabbie | English ‘Robert’ |
| Seumas | English ‘James’ |
| Tam | English ‘Tom’ |
Scottish family names (surnames) often have the prefix ‘Mac' or ‘Mc' meaning ‘son of'. Telephone directories and the like often list these together; it can be hard to remember if someone is ‘MacLean' or ‘McLean', for example. Some family names derive from Scottish towns (e.g. Cowie, Glasgow, Stirling). Here are a very few examples of Scottish surnames (apart from the ‘Mac/Mc' forms):
| Surname |
|---|
| Baird |
| Blair |
| Buchanan |
| Campbell |
| Ferguson |
| Fraser |
| Gilmore/Gilmour |
| Muir |
| Scott |
| Stewart/Stuart |
| Wylie |
Place names in Scotland often have common prefixes, many derived from Gaelic. Ordinary words like ‘ben' and ‘glen' also appear frequently in names.
| Prefix | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ard- | point |
| Auchen- | field |
| Auchter- | top of |
| Drum- | ridge |
| Dun- | hill or fort |
| Inch- | island |
| Inver- | at the mouth of a river |
| Kil- | cell of a saint |
| Kinloch- | at the head of a lake |
| Kirk- | church, fort |
| Knock, Nock | hillock |
| Strath- | river valley |
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