Scots Tongue
Scottish Pronunciation
This is an informal guide to the
Scots tongue for the benefit of occasional visitors to Scotland or readers of
Scottish literature. It makes no claims to be authoritative, complete or
accurate.
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. Apart from the Scots Tongue, Scotland also claims a second language - Gaelic (which has affinities to Irish Gaelic, Welsh, ancient Cornish and Breton).
The following list gives sample Scottish words that a visitor or reader might come across, and is certainly not complete. Most words are likely to be used only in Scotland, and but some are known to English speakers in general. Some of the words have other meanings.
| Scottish | Standard English |
|---|---|
| -a | -ow (e.g. ‘arra’, ‘ra morra’) |
| a' | all |
| aboot | about |
| agin | against |
| Aberdonian | of/from Aberdeen |
| -ae | ‘have’ as a suffix to a verb (widae = would have) |
| aebody | anybody |
| Ah | I |
| aff | off |
| ain | own |
| aglae | awry |
| ain | own |
| an' | and |
| ane | one |
| aroun | around |
| Athol brose | sweet oatmeal dessert |
| auld | old |
| Auld Reekie | nickname for Edinburgh |
| Auld Lang Syne | a poem by Burns widely sung at New Year (literally ‘old long since’, sometimes incorrectly quoted as ‘for the sake of auld lang syne’) |
| aw | all |
| awa | away |
| awfu, awfy | awfully |
| bahookie | behind (buttocks) |
| bairn | child |
| bannock | biscuit or scone |
| (The) Barras | outdoor shopping market in Glasgow (‘The Barrows’) |
| bauchle | worn-out shoe (literally), an old and dishevelled man (figuratively) |
| ba'heid, baw heid | bald head |
| baw | ball |
| 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 |
| blaeberry | bilberry |
| blether | (idle) chatter |
| Blue Train | Glasgow suburban train |
| boak | vomit, heave |
| body | person (e.g. ‘Whit's a body tae dae?’) |
| bonnie, bonny | beautiful |
| bonspiel | (ice) curling tournament |
| bowf | smell strongly |
| brae | slope |
| braw | fine |
| breeks | trousers |
| bridie | meat in pastry pie |
| broon | brown (‘The Broons’ is a well-known cartoon from the Sunday Post newspaper) |
| brose | broth (e.g. made using oatmeal) |
| bumfle | bump or raised area (in cloth) |
| bunnet | cap (bonnet) |
| burn | stream |
| Burns Supper | a traditional dinner to celebrate the birth of famous Scottish poet Robert Burns (25th January) |
| but and ben | cottage |
| ca', caw | call |
| ca' canny, caw 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) |
| chanty | chamber pot |
| chiel | fellow |
| chuckie | pebble |
| chust (Highland) | just |
| claes | clothes |
| clarty | dirty |
| claymore | the traditional Scottish broad sword (‘Gaelic claidheamh mhor’ - great sword) |
| cloot | cloth, clothing (‘ne'er cast a cloot till May be oot’ - do not discard clothing until May has past) |
| clootie dumpling | a pudding (like Christmas pudding) steamed in a cloth |
| close | common stairwell in a tenement |
| Clockwork Orange | nickname for the Glasgow underground due to the colour of the coaches |
| cludgie | toilet |
| clype | telltale |
| cock-a-leekie | chicken and leek soup |
| coo | cow |
| coorie | hide, nestle |
| coorie doon | cuddle down (to sleep) |
| cootie | louse, nit |
| corbie | raven, crow |
| coup, cowp | tumble |
| couthy | genial |
| crabbit | ill-tempered |
| cratur | creature (used jocularly for whisky) |
| croft(er) | small-scale farm(er) |
| crowdie | curd cheese |
| cud | could |
| dae | do |
| daunce | dance (an old riposte: ‘Are ye dauncin? No it's just the way ah'm staunin.’) |
| deid | dead |
| de'il | devil |
| dominie | schoolmaster |
| donnert | stunned |
| 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) |
| Doric | Abderdonian dialect |
| dram | small quantity of whisky |
| dreep | drip (also used of dropping off a wall) |
| dreich | miserable, cold and wet (weather) |
| drookit | soaking wet |
| drouth(y) | thirst(y) |
| dug | dog |
| dunderheid | idiot |
| Dundonian | of/from Dundee |
| dunt | bump |
| dyke | wall |
| eechie ochie | neither here nor there |
| een | eyes |
| eejit | idiot |
| efter | after |
| erse | arse |
| fae | from |
| faimly | family |
| 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 |
| ferm(er) | farm(er) |
| first foot | the first visitor in the New Year (who, for good luck, should be handsome and bring a gift) |
| firth | estuary |
| footer | fiddle, nuisance |
| footer about | mess about |
| forby(e) | besides |
| fowk | folk |
| 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) |
| glaur | mud |
| Glaswegian | of/from Glasgow |
| glaur | mire |
| Glescae | Glasgow |
| gloaming | dusk |
| glen | valley |
| gonny | (are you) going to (e.g. ‘Gonny no shout sae loud?’) |
| gowk | fool |
| greet | weep |
| guddle | fish with the hands (figuratively a mess) |
| guid | good |
| hae | have |
| haggis | pudding made from minced meat (offal) and oatmeal |
| hame | home |
| hauf | half |
| haver | talk nonsense |
| Havers! | Nonsense! |
| haud | hold (‘Haud yer wheesht!’ = ‘Shut up!’) |
| hauf | half |
| haugh | meadow by a river |
| heavy | dark beer |
| heid | head |
| Help ma Boab! | Goodness gracious! |
| hen | vocative term for a woman (e.g. ‘It's aw richt, hen’), or a general term of endearment for anyone |
| hert(y) | heart(y) |
| het | heated (also `it' of someone chosen in a children's game) |
| Hielan | Highland |
| high heidyin | high-up person in organisation |
| hing | hang (‘hingin oot the windae’ is street-watching from one's window) |
| hirple | limp |
| Hogmanay | New Year's Eve |
| hoor | whore |
| hoose | house |
| Hoots! | Well then! |
| hough | shank of meat |
| howk | dig (tattie howkin is digging for potatoes) |
| 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 |
| Jessie | a cowardly or weak-willed male (e.g. ‘Ye're just a big Jessie!’) |
| Jimmy, Jock | generic term for a man (e.g. ‘Hey there, Jimmy!’) |
| Jings! | Gosh! |
| jist | just |
| keech | exrement |
| keek | look |
| ken | know |
| kirk | church |
| lad o' pairts | talented man |
| laddie | boy |
| laldie/laldy | thrashing (‘gie it laldie’ = give it all your energies |
| lang | long |
| lassie | girl |
| loch | lake |
| loup | leap |
| lug | ear |
| lum | chimney (e.g. ‘lang may your lum reek’ = may you always be prosperous enough to have coal) |
| ma | my |
| mair | more | mak | make | maw | mother |
| merrit | married |
| messages | shopping |
| micht(y) | migh(y) |
| Michty me! | Goodness gracious! |
| midden | rubbish heap |
| mind | remember (e.g. ‘dae ye mind him?’) |
| mingin | smelly |
| 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(side) | out(side) |
| Orcadian | from Orkney |
| ower | over, rather |
| oxter | armpit |
| palaver | fuss |
| pairt | part (‘a lad o pairts’ = someone of significance) |
| paw | father |
| pech | pant |
| peely-wally | pale |
| piece | slide of bread with jam, etc. |
| polis | police |
| puddin | pudding |
| puggle | tire out (e.g. ‘fair puggled’ = ‘rather worn out’) |
| pun(d) | pound |
| ra | the |
| rammy | noisy fight |
| rid | red |
| sae | so |
| sair | sore (‘a sair fecht’ = ‘a sore fight’ means something problematic) |
| sang | song |
| Sassenach | an Englishman (‘Saxon’) |
| scratcher | bed |
| scunner | nuisance (‘fair scunnered’ = quite vexed) |
| see | consider (e.g. ‘see they computers’, prior to making some negative remark); pass (e.g. ‘sees us ower thae book’) |
| see in the bells | wait up until midnight on New Years Eve (when the bells are rung) |
| -sel | -self (e.g. ‘hissel’ = ‘himself’) |
| sgian dubh | a knife often worn decoratively with Highland dress (Gaelic for ‘black knife’) |
| shoogle/shoogly | shake/shaky |
| skelp | smack |
| skite | skip (off a surface, e.g. skiting stones off water), smack |
| skivvy | servant |
| Slàinte! (Gaelic) | Cheers! or Your Health! |
| slater | woodlouse |
| sma | small |
| smeddum | dust, spirit |
| smirr | fine rain (noun and verb) |
| snaw | snow |
| snell | very cold (weather) |
| Special | a commercial beer |
| sparra | sparrow |
| spurtle | wooden spoon |
| stan, staun | stand |
| stank | drain |
| stane | stone |
| staun | stand |
| stoat | bounce (heavy rain is said to stoat off the ground) |
| stoater | stunning woman |
| stook | bundle of hay or straw |
| stookie | a uselessly immobile person (e.g. ‘dinnae stan aroun like a stookie’, i.e. like a stook) |
| stoor | dust |
| stooshie | commotion |
| stowed out | packed full |
| stramash | commotion |
| stravaig | wander about |
| stushie | commotion |
| -t | -ed |
| tae | to |
| tak | take |
| Tartan | a commercial beer |
| tattie | potato |
| telt | told |
| Teuchter | Highlander (often pejorative) |
| thae, they | that, those (e.g. ‘see they computers’) |
| thirl | bind, pierce |
| thole | endure |
| thon | that |
| thrawn | perverse |
| toon/toun | town |
| toty | tiny |
| (Edinburgh) trades | traditional summer holiday period in Edinburgh (the first two weeks of July) |
| trauchle | trouble |
| trews | trousers |
| tumshie | turnip (figuratively a useless person) |
| twa | two |
| verra | very |
| wabbit | pale and weak (as after illness or exertion) |
| wain | child |
| wally | china? (a ‘wally dug’ is a china dog book-end) |
| wan | one |
| wean | child |
| wee | small |
| Wee Free | Free Church of Scotland |
| wee heavy | strong beer (barley wine) |
| wersh | tasteless, bitter |
| wha | who |
| wham | whom |
| whaur | where |
| wheech | whiz |
| wheen | lot |
| Wheesht! | Quiet! |
| whit | what |
| wi' | with |
| wid, wud | would |
| wifie | (old) woman |
| windae | window |
| wis, wus | was |
| wrang | wrong (an old pun: ‘is that a cake or am ah wrang?’ = ‘a meringue’) |
| wull | will |
| ye | you |
| yer | your |
| yin | one |
Here are a very few examples of sayings:
| Saying | Meaning |
|---|---|
| a wee thing amuses the bairns | simple people are amused by simple things |
| guid things come in sma bulk | just because something is small doesn't mean it's of little value |
| Here's tae us, wha's like us, gey few an' they're aw deid (with variants on this) | (a toast) |
| it taks a lang spoon tae sup wi' the de'il | keep your distance when dealing with evil things |
| tak tent o time ere time taks tent of thee | take care of how you spend your time before you eventually die |
Some Scottish given (Christian) names derive from the Gaelic, some from other settlers' languages (e.g. English, Scandinavian). 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 |
| Cambus- | where a twisting river passes |
| 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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