The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-11-15
The Scottish Language.

In adjectives of quality Scotch is ex-
tremely rich. Many of them are remark,
ably expressive, To give their meaning
in English it is requisite to use in many
cases several words. Gruesome, eerie,
weirdlike, for example, have in English
no exact equivalents; their meaning can
be expressed only by periphrase. The
more frequent examinations for deriv
alive articles are lie, fu, some, less, ish
as couthie, kindly, careful, careful
waesome, woeful, tlDchtless, fairish,
pretty good. Others are if and lie, as
waukif, wakeful, kittle, difficult, smittle,
infectious. After the comparative de-
gree, nor, as and be are used instead OF
than. Be with an adjective in the posi-.
tive degree gives an emphatic compar-
alive. Young be you means decidedly
younger. Beside vera, very, several
other words are used to express the SUI
perlative absolute, such as real, RIGHT,
unco, byOus. Real RIGHT or unco guide
is particularly good. Unco is often used
in the sense of the old word uncouth,
unknown. Ross in his ''Helenore" has
an unco din she hears of fOuk and play.
Byous, though said to belong to Aber-
deGnshire, is used over much wider
area, and signifies exceedingly out OF
the common run. The middle east
coast dialect has for its strongest form
of comparison the peculiar phrase by
the eyes, which is probably corruption
of the by the byous. A thing is said to
be by the byouS when it possesses the
quality referred to in preposterous de.
gree, or in degree beyond all manner
of conception. Eel and gey are also
used in comparisons, and signify
moderately, fairishly, but sometimes
very, or exceedingly. In Perthshire,
Fife, Forfarshire, etc, That's fel guild,
means exceedingly good. Sair, very, is
used with touch of compassion. The
plurals of this and that are thare and
thay. Where the Englishman uses
these the Scotch use those. Instead of
you Scotch has thou. 1t and us are
aspirated chiefly when emphatic. Mines
is used for mine, and the old North En-
glish relative at is retained The verb
presents several peculiarities. Where
lllt ISL AiSCu Cl VI u do llC
nation for the past tense, or for the past
participle, Scotch uses very frequently
it or t. Thus slipped is slippit, talked,
talkit, licked, lickit, wondered wunn'r TT.
Told, again, is telt. On the other hand,
slept is often sleeped, went, gaed, and
saw, seed; bent is bendt, and gone is
often went. Let and put, again, make
in the past lat and pat, and in the past
participle latten and patten. For the
men came, you were, Scotch has the
men cum'd and you was or Yves. Beside
the gerund or verbal now in ing it has
also the old present participle in and.
Instead of the auxiliary do it has div and
dow; for shall, SAL for have, haze and for
must, maun. Negative sentences are
generally formed by using the sutliX ma,
or the word no. Dnna gang, A Gamma,
Div we no ken? Didna ye sect? Ye
maunna do it, mean DO not 90, l can
not, Do you not know? Did you not
see it? You must not do it. For shall
]? wull a? is used, and for will not,
wunna. What's aucht that? is a curious
phrase meaning whose is thatP Aucht
is from the Anglo Saxon agan, ahan, to
own, or to make to own, and is used hv
Chauccr, - Scottish ReCisW.