Scots is a Germanic language which originated in Scotland in the 7th century CE when Anglo-Saxon speaking Northumbrians migrated into the Gàidhlig speaking Scottish Lowlands. The language shares vocabulary and grammatical features with Old English, Norse, and Gàidhlig. It is recognized as an Indigenous language within Scotland, and as a minority language by the European Union. Although there is no official standardized spelling for Scots as there is for English, modern Scots speakers typically use the Dictionar o the Scots Leid (DSL). There are currently 1.5 million Scots speakers, with the majority living in the northeast of Scotland or the city of Glasgow.
Like many languages, Scots comes in distinctive regional dialects:
Lallans, also known as Southern Scots, is spoken in the Scottish Borders and is the most heavily influenced by the early Anglo-Saxon language;Scotch is to Central Scots, which has the lowest number of speakers, but is widely recognized because of the poetry of Robert Burns;
Glasgow Patter is a sub-dialect of Scotch, and includes significant Cockney influence and modern pop culture references;
Doric, the most widely spoken dialect, originates in the northeast of Scotland and retains Flemish influences from the 13th century;
Insular Scots is spoken in the Shetland and Orkney islands
Oor Wullie (R.D. Lowe/Dudley D. Watkins)
Learnin Resoorces|
Learning materials
Media
Leeterar | Literature
The Brus by John Barbor
The The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace by “Blind Harry”
Oor Wullie comics
“A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle” by Hugh MacDiarmand
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
But n Ben A-Go-Go by Matthew Fitt