Th' leid (the language)

Scotland has three recognised languages: English, Scots, and Scottish Gaelic (they are not official languages of the United Kingdom though). Scottish English is the name given to the English dialect spoken with a Scottish accent, with some specific Scottish terms and expressions. Scots has some similarity with English but often differ, as we’ll see below, and Scottish Gaelic or Scots Gael is a more distinct language.

A minority of people can speak Scots but it’s being promoted at the moment by tourism organisation to celebrate the unique Scottish culture. Even if a few people can fluently speak Scots, many Scottish people use Scots words and expressions. The accent and even the worlds vary a lot depending on the area and some people can actually tell what part of Scotland a speaker comes from depending on the way he talks.

The data is from 2001 but that gives a global idea of the situation

What about some examples

One of the main things to notice is the pronunciation of some words having two consonants that follow each other. For instance, ‘world’ becomes [woruld], ‘girl’ becomes [girul] and so on. Try it and tell me if you're able to pronounce those words with a Scottish accent: ‘curly’, ‘purple’, ‘burglar’, ‘alarm'.

Usually, you can hear ‘heya’ for ‘hello’ and ‘cheers’ for ‘thanks’. Here are some other basic words you may need if you come to Scotland for the first time.

• Yes = Aye
• No = Nae
• Can = Kin
• Can’t = Cannae
• Do = Dae
• Don’t = Dinnae
• Some = sum
• From = fae
• Nice = braw

I won’t make an exhaustive list, it was just for you to get a wee taste of it!

This video makes me laugh every damn time

Now let’s play a game: here are 5 Scottish words, can you guess their meaning? Tell me your answer in the comments below!

Wain – Bonnie – Laddie – Lassie – Eejit


See you next time pal!