East Central North Scots

The **East Central North** is a muckle region o whaur the Scots leid is spoken. It haps the waster hauf o Angus, the hail o Clackmannan, Fife, Kinross, Stirlinshire an Fawkirk, an hauf o Perthshire. Fowk in Fife whiles crys thair speech **Fife Scots**, an ye micht hear the name **East Neuk Scots** forby. Thegither thir airts an pairts maks up the norland hauf o Easter Scots an-aw, acause thay hing thegither as a general byleid.

## Region
This region haps the hert o Scotland an taks in a screed o touns. Fife haes intil’t the touns o Ainster, Coudenbeith, Cupar, Dunfaurlin, Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy an St Aundraes, while Perth an Kinross haes Auchterairder, Dunkeld an Birnam an Perth. Forder sooth, in the airt o Stirlinshire, the’r the Fawkirk an Stirlin. Sir James Kay Wilson set furth twa important speirings intae the Scots o this region. The first wis *Lowland Scotch As Spoken in the Lower Strathearn District of Perthshire* (London, 1915) an the second ane wis the *Dialects of Central Scotland* (Oxford, 1926) that comprehendit Fife. Belangin this region the’r a wheen poyets, singers an screivars sic as Weelum Hershaw, Mary Kermack, Andrew McNeil an Weelum Soutar. Weelum L Lorimer, that owerset the New Testament in Scots, belanged this region an-aw.

The biggest toun athin this by byleid is the city o Dundee that haes its ain speech kent tae its speakers as **Dundonian**. Screivars, poyets an singers in Dundonian comprehends Ellie McDonald, , Mark Thomson, an .

## Cutty history
This region haes intil’t a wheen historic touns. On the norland boonds is Dundee, foondit in the hinner 12t centurie bi Erle Dauvit, brither o King Weelum the Lion. In the wast is Perth, foondit as a burgh in the 12t centurie an-aw. Tae the east, in Fife, is baith Dunfaurlin an St Aundraes, that dates back tae the 8ct an 9t centuries an wis kenspeckle centres o kingship. Taewards the southland boonds o this region is Stirlin.

Thare haes been a hoose o strength at Stirlin fae the 7t centurie at least whan hit wis a fort o the Auld-Angles speakin kings o Northumbrie. Syne mony kings an queens haed this as a favoured hame until the 17t centurie. The sma burghs o the east o Fife wis gey important tae the economy o Scotland an helpit estaiblish strang links atween Scotland an her neebors in troke in Flaunders, Fraunce, Denmark, Norawa an alang the Easter Seas.

In Perth an Stirlin the twa faimlies o maucht wis Drummond an Murray while in Angus waster it wis the Hays an Ogilvies. In Fife the heid faimlies wis Lindsay an Wemyss. The’r inklins o the Scots leid in chairters fae this airt, stertin in the 12t centurie, an hail texts kythin fae the 14t centurie onwards.

## The byleid
Tae the north o Dundee an in Angus easter ye’ll can find the maks , ,  an  an  an , but in Dundee an Angus waster, an in ither airts tae the sooth, sic as Perth, Stirlin or Fife, thir maks becomes *, , * an **' an **' an *.* In Angus the’r twa-three pynts whaurby the tuin differs fae forder sooth. In the sooth the i is the ordnar soond gien in ,  an , but in Angus the same words haes an oo soond as in ,  an .

In Angus an-aw, the word  is pronoonced as it looks but tae the sooth it becomes . In the city o Dundee the’r a soond no fund ithergaits that’s a shair sign o a Dundonian speaker: the *eh soond*. Billy Kay, in , gies a rare instance o this soonds in the follaein sentence: ‘*Eh hud meh eh on a peh*’ (A haed ma ee on a pie). Athin Perth an Kinross, Stirlin an Fawkirk, the byleid changes a bittie fae Dundee in its tuin an ilka airt haes words it favours ower ithers. In the East Neuk o Fife the’r strang links atween the byleid an words an saws parteeclar tae the fisher communities, fowk that tends tae heichten the pitch at the end o sentences. The auld mining communities o waster Fife haes thair weys o pronooncin the byleid an-aw.

## Soorce

* ''East Central North'', frae the Centre for the Scots Leid (CSL)

## See an-aw
*(''A hunner key Dundonian words''), frae the CSL an-aw