Shaetlan leid

**Shetland**, fir ordinar caaed (*auld* or *braid*) *Shaetland* bi native spækers, hit’s a North Germanic leid fae Auld Norse,

is spakken idda Shetland Islands be-nort mainland Scotland an wis, læk Orcadian, ee dialect o Insular Scots. Hit comes fæ da Scots dialects brocht til Shetland fæ da end o da fifteent century bi Lawland Scots, mainly fæ Fife an Lothian, wi a peerie grain o Scandinavian influence fæ the Norn leid dat wis spakken on da islands till da late 18t century.

As ee result, Shætlandic hæs a wheen wirds fæ da Norn leed. Maist o daim, if day ir no plæss-næms, refers ta da seasons, da waddir, plants, beasts, plæsses, maet, materials, tøls, colours (especially o sheep or horse), møds an whims or 'unbalanced states o mind'.

Læk Mid Nortren Scots (Doric) in Nort Æst Scotland, Shætlandic hæs ee hie degree o autonomy wi its geography an isolation fæ sootren dialects. Bekkis o a lairge amoont o unique wirds, an a degree o Shætland patriotism, hit's whiles treatit as a sindry leed bi its spækers.

Shaetlan wis recognised as a leid an gien the ISO code .scz in October 2025.

## Phonologie
"Shetland dialect speakers generally haes a kin o slaw delivery, pitched law an wi a somewhit level intonation".

### Consonants
Consonants is maistly pronunced the same as in ither Modren Scots varieties. Exceptions is:

* The dental fricatives  an  micht be sayed as alveolar plosives  and  respectively, for example  an  insteid o , or debuccalized  an , (thing) an  *mither* (mither) as in Central Scots.
* The *qu* in *quick*, *queen* an *queer* micht be sayed  insteid o 
* Initial  *ch* micht be sayed 
* The initial cluster *wr* micht be sayed  or .

### Vouels
The unnerlyin vouel phonemes o Shetland Scots based on McColl Millar (2007) an Johnston P. (1997). The actual allophones micht differ frae place tae place.

# Vowel 11 occurs stem final.
# Vowel 3 is aften retracted or diphthongised or mey sometimes be realised .
# Vowel 7 micht be pronunced  afore  an  afore  an .
# Vowel 8 is aften merged wi vowel 4, aften sayed   or  afore . The realisation in the cluster *ane* micht be  like in Mid Northren Scots.
# Vowel 15 micht be pronunced  or diphthongist tae  afore .
# Vowel 16 micht be sayed  or .
# Vowel 17 aften merges wi vouel 12 afore  an .

Vouel lenth is bi an lairge determined bi the Scots Vouel Lenth Rule, tho the ar a puckle exceptions.

## Orthographie
Tae some extent a lot o spellins haes been uised for tae represent the varied pronunciation o the Shetland varieties. Forby, the uiss o the apologetic apostrophe for tae shaw 'missin' English letters haes been joukit. On the hale the lieterar conventions o Modern Scots is applyed, if no consistent-like, the main differs bein:

* The  an  realisation o wha is for ordinar  an  in ither forms o Scots is aften written *d* an *t* insteid o *th*.
* The  realisation o the *qu* in *quick*, *queen* an *queer* is aften written *wh*.
* The  realisation o initial *ch*, for ordinar  in ither Scots dialects, is aften written *sh*.
* The letters *j* an *k* insteid o *y* an *c*, influenced bi Norse spellin, the first ane aften uised for the semivouel , especially for the palatalised consonants in wirds like, *Yuil* written *Jøl*, *guid* (guid) written *gjöd* or *gjüd*, *caibin* written *kjaebin*, *kist* written *kjist* etc.
* Leeterar Scots *au* an *aw* (vouel 12 an whiles vouel 17) is aften representit bi *aa* in written Shetlandic.
* Leeterar Scots *ui* an *eu* (vouel 7) is aften representit by *ü*, *ö*, or *ø* influenced bi Norse spellin.

## Grammar
The grammatical structur o Shætlandic tends tæ follæ dat o Modern Scots, wi a grain o Norse (Norn) influence an featurs skared wi Standirt Inglish.

### Airticles
The definite airticle *the* is pronunced  affen written *da* in dialect write. Læk Lalland Scots, Shætlandic pits a airticle whaar Standirt Inglish widna:

* *gjaan til da kirk/da scole idda Simmer*-- 'gaun tae the kirk/schuil in the simmer'
* *da denner is ready* – 'the denner is ready'
* *hæ da caald* – 'hae the cauld'

### Noons
Noons in Shætland hæs grammatical gender aside natural gender. Some noons that's considert neuter in Inglish is masculine or feminine, læk *spade* (m), *sun* (m), *mön/møn* (f), *kirk* (f).

Da plural o noons is for ordinar formt bi eekin -s. Dere's a puckle unregular plurals, læk *kye*, 'cous' or *een*.

### Pronoons
Shætland distinguishes atween personal pronoons øsed bi parents whan spækkin wi bairns, aald fowk spækkin wi yunger fowk, or atween friends or equals anaa and da anes øsed in formal situations an whan spækkin wi superiors. (See T–V distinction)

Da familiar forms *is du* (thoo) ; *dine*(*s*) or dy (thy) and *dee* ; contrastin wi da formal forms *ye*/*you*, *your* and *you*.

Da familiar *du* taks da singular form o da verb: *Du is, du hes* ('ye are, ye hae').

Læk da rest o Scots, da relative pronoon is *that*, pronunced  or , affen written *dat* or *at* in dialect write, as in

* *da dog at bet me...* – 'the dug that bait me...'

### Verbs
Læk maist Scots varieties, da past tense o waik verbs is formt bi aither eekin -*ed*, -*it*, or -*t*, as in *spoot*, *spootit* (muve quick).

Da auxiliary verb *ta be* 'tae be', is øsed whaar Scots wid øse 'tae hae':

* *I'm written* for "I'v written".

*Ta hæ* is øsed as a auxiliary wi da modal verbs *cud*, *hed* ('had'), *micht*, *most* ('maun'), *sood* ('shoud'), an *wid* ('wad') an syne reduced tae , affen written *a* in dialect write: *Du sood a taald me* 'ye sud'a telt me'.

Læk idder Scots dialects, auxiliary an monosyllabic verbs can be made negative bi eekinn -*na*: *widna*. Idderwise, da Scots negative *no*.

## Example
Ensaumple o the Lord's Prayer in Shetland Norn:

**Shetland Norn**

: *Fy vor or er i Chimeri.*
: *Halaght vara nam dit.*
: *La Konungdum din cumma.*
: *La vill din vera guerde*
: *i vrildin sin da er i chimeri.
: *Gav vus dagh u dagloght brau.*
: *Forgive sindorwara sin vi forgiva gem ao sinda gainst wus.*
: *Lia wus ikè o vera tempa, but delivra wus fro adlu idlu.*
: *For do i ir Kongungdum, u puri, u glori, Amen*


*'Owersettin tae modren Norse (nynorsk)**

: ''Far vår som er i himmelen!''
: ''Heilagt skal namnet ditt vera.''
: ''Lat kongedømet ditt koma.''
: ''Lat viljen din verta gjort''
: ''på jorda som i himmelen.''
: ''Gjev oss i dag vårt daglege brød.''
: ''Forlat syndene våre, som vi òg forlèt dei som har synda mot oss.''
: ''Lei oss ikkje ut i freisting, men frels oss frå alt ille.''
: ''For kongedømet er ditt, og makta og æra i all æve. Amen.''



**Owersettin tae modren Norse (bokmål)**

: ''Fader vår, du som er i himmelen!''
: ''La ditt navn være hellig.''
: ''La ditt rike komme.''
: ''La din vilje skje''
: ''på jorden som i himmelen.''
: ''Gi oss i dag vårt daglige brød.''
: ''Forlat oss våre synder, som vi óg forlater våre syndere.''
: ''Led oss ikke inn i fristelse, men frels oss fra det onde.''
: ''For riket er ditt, og makten og æren i evighet. Amen.''



**Auld Norse version**

: ''Faþer vár es ert í himenríki,''
: ''verði nafn þitt hæilagt''
: ''Til kome ríke þitt,''
: ''værði vili þin''
: ''sva an iarðu sem í himnum.''
: ''Gef oss í dag brauð vort dagligt''
: ''Ok fyr gefþu oss synþer órar,''
: ''sem vér fyr gefom þeim er viþ oss hafa misgert''
: ''Leiðd oss eigi í freistni,''
: ''heldr leys þv oss frá öllu illu.''


**W L Lorimer's Scots version (no a leeteral owerset)*'

: *Our Faither in heiven,*
: *Be hallowt thy name,*
: *Thy Kíngdom come,*
: *Thy will be dune,*
: *On the yird, as in heiven.*
: *Gíe us our breid for this incomin day;*
: *Forgíe us the wrangs we hae wrocht,*
: *As we hae forgíen the wrangs we hae dree’d;*
: *An sey-us-na sairlie,*
: *But sauf us frae the Ill Ane:*
: *For the Kíngdom, the pouer an the glorie ar thine*
: *For ivver an aye. Amen.''

## References



## Freemit airtins
*Introduction to modern Scots: Insular Scots 
*Wirhouse zip file
*Shetland for Wirds - Promoting Shetland Dialect
*Shetland for Wirds - Online Dictionary
*McColl Millar's internet extension to 'Northern and Insular Scots' 2007, with recordings of regional dialect variants of the Shetland Islands
*Wikitongues: Christine speaking Shetlandic