Central Scots

**Central Scots** is a group o dialects o th' Scots leid. It wis spaken bi Robert Burns.
 
Central Scots is spaken frae Fife an Perthshire tae the Lothians an Wigtounshire, aften split intae North East Scots (Northeast Mid Scots) an Sooth East Central Scots (Sootheast Mid Scots), Wast Central Scots (Wast Mid Scots) an Sooth Wast Central Scots (Soothwast Mid Scots). Commonly spaken bi Iain Smith an popularised bi his cronies in Dalkeith.

Like ither varieties o Scots, Central Scots haes been gang throu a process o language attrition, whaur fowk fae later generations ur adoptin mair featurs frae Inglis. Bi the end o the 201 yearhunner Scots wis at an advanced stage o language deeth ower a lot o Lawland Scotland.

## Phonology

### Consonants
Maist consonants are uisually pronoonced much as in Inglis but:

* **ch** is tradeetionally realised  in, for exemple, *bocht*, *coch*, *dochter*, *focht*, *socht* an *troch*.
* **ld** an **nd** elision tae  an  happens in aw Central Scots dialects but in the Lothians ‘’ld’’ anerly simplifies tae ‘’l’’ finally whaur the nixt wird stairts wi a consonant.
* **ng**: is aye .
* **nch**: uisually . *brainch*, *dunch*, etc.
* **r**:  or  is pronooncit in aw poseetions, i.e. rhotically.
* **t**: micht be a glotal stop atweesh vowels an at the end o a wird.
* **wh**: uisually , aulder .

### Vowels
Vowel length is uisually condeetioned bi the Scottish Vowel Length Rule (SVLR).

* **a** (vowel 17) is uisually  but tae the north an east  happens an aw. Note final *a* (vowel 12) in *awa*, *twa*, an *wha* is uisually realised  South o the Forth, aften scrieved as *awae*, *twae* and *whae* in dialect scrievin.
* **aw** an **au** (vowel 12) is uisually  in the East an pairts o Perthshire or  in the Wast tae Wast Lothian, hounaiver,  is spreadin eastwards, for exemple *aw*, *cauld*, *braw*, *faw* an *snaw*.
* **ai**, **ay** an **a** (consonant), **e**, **ae** (vowel 4 or 8) are uisually realised ,  for exemple *baith*, *braid*, *cake*, *claes*, *grape*, *kail*, *laid*, *laif*, *made*, *raip*, *saip*, *spae*. Sooth o the Forth the stairtin realisation is aften , for exemple *acre*, *aik*, *aits*, *ale*, *ane* an *ance* aften scrieved *yicker*, *yick*, *yits*, *yill*, *yin* an *yince* in dialect writin. Whaur that happens, *ae* (ane afore nouns) is realised , aften scrieved *yae* in dialect writin.
* **e** (vowel 16) is uisually realised , for exemple *bed*, *het*, *yett*, etc.
* **ea**, **ei** (vowel 3), has generally melled wi  (vowel 2) or   (vowel 4 or 8) dependin on dialect.  Wi   prevailin in the sooth east an wast and  prevailin in the north east o the dialect area. Afore ,  micht occur. For exemple *deid*, *heid*, *meat*, *clear* etc.
* **ee** (vowels 2 an 11), **e** (Consonant), **e** (vowel 2). Occasionally **ei** an **ie** wi *ei* generally afore *ch* (), but in twa three ither wirds an aw, an *ie* generally occurrin afore *l* an *v*.  The realisation is generally   e.g. *dree*, *ee*, *een*, *flee*, *here*, *lee*, *see*, *speir*, *steek*, *thee* (thigh) and *tree* etc. The digraph *ea* also occurs in a few words such as  *lea* and  *sea*.
* **eu** (vowel 7 afore  an  see *ui*) is uisually realised  in the wast an Fife,  and   in the sooth wast  an sooth o the Forth, for exemple *beuk*, *eneuch*, *ceuk*, *leuk* an *teuk*.
* **o** (vowel 18):  haes melled wi vowel 5 () oothrou a muckle pairt o the the dialect area, aften spellt phonetic-like *oa* in dialect spellins such as , , *Goad*  an  etc.
* **oa** (vowel 5) is uisually .
* **ou** the general literary spellin o vowel 6, forby **u** (consonant) **e** in some wirds, is realised , aften representit bi **oo**, a 19t-yearhunner borrawom frae Inglis.  e.g. *cou*, *broun*, *hoose*, *moose* etc.
* **ow**, **owe** (root final), (vowel 13) is uisually    in *bowe*, *howe*, *knowe*, *cowp*, *yowe*, etc. Vocalisation tae  aften happens afore , for exemple *bowk*, *howk* aften written *boak* an *hoak* in dialect writin.
* **ui**, the uisual literary spellin o vowel 7 (except afore  and  see **eu**). The aulder realisation   micht still occur in Perthshire an  in pairts of Fife itherwise, as is the norm elsewhere, vowel 7 mells wi vowel 15 () in SVLR short environs an vowel 8 () in lang environs,  e.g. *buird*, *buit*, *cuit*, *fluir*, *guid*, *schuil*, etc. Note that  v. an  n. (use) are  an . The realisation  is aften scrieved *ai* in dialect writin, e.g. *flair* for *fluir*, *shair* for *shuir*,  for  an *yiss* for .

## See an aw

* Glesga patter
* Berwick-upon-Tweed

## References