Editing Scots language (section)

==Geographic distribution==
In Scotland, Scots is spoken in the [[Scottish Lowlands]], the [[Northern Isles]], [[Caithness]], [[Isle of Arran|Arran]] and [[Campbeltown]]. In [[Ulster]], the northern [[Provinces of Ireland|province]] in [[Ireland]], its area is usually defined through the works of [[Robert John Gregg]] to include the [[Counties of Ireland|counties]] of [[County Down|Down]], [[County Antrim|Antrim]], [[County Londonderry|Londonderry]] and [[County Donegal|Donegal]] (especially in East Donegal and [[Inishowen]]).<ref>Caroline I. Macafee (ed.), ''A Concise Ulster Dictionary''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996; pp. xi–xii.</ref> More recently, the [[Fintona]]-born linguist Warren Maguire has argued that some of the criteria that Gregg used as distinctive of Ulster-Scots are common in south-west Tyrone and were found in other sites across Northern Ireland investigated by the [[Linguistic Survey of Scotland]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Maguire |first=Warren |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-1-4744-5290-8 |title=Language and Dialect Contact in Ireland: The Phonological Origins of Mid-Ulster English |year=2020 |page=4}}</ref> Dialects of Scots include [[Insular Scots]], [[Northern Scots]], [[Central Scots]], [[Southern Scots]] and [[Ulster Scots dialects|Ulster Scots]].

It has been difficult to determine the number of speakers of Scots via census, because many respondents might interpret the question "Do you speak Scots?" in different ways. Campaigners for Scots pressed for this question to be included in the [[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 UK National Census]]. The results from a 1996 trial before the Census, by the [[General Register Office for Scotland]] (GRO),<ref name=Mate>[Iain Máté] (1996) Scots Language. A Report on the Scots Language Research carried out by the General Register Office for Scotland in 1996, Edinburgh: General Register Office (Scotland).</ref> suggested that there were around 1.5&nbsp;million speakers of Scots, with 30% of Scots responding "Yes" to the question "Can you speak the Scots language?", but only 17% responding "Aye" to the question "Can you speak Scots?".{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} It was also found that older, working-class people were more likely to answer in the affirmative. The [[University of Aberdeen]] Scots Leid Quorum performed its own research in 1995, cautiously suggesting that there were 2.7&nbsp;million speakers, though with clarification as to why these figures required context.<ref>Steve Murdoch, Language Politics in Scotland (AUSLQ, 1995), p. 18</ref>

The GRO questions, as freely acknowledged by those who set them, were not as detailed and systematic as those of the [[University of Aberdeen]], and only included reared speakers (people raised speaking Scots), not those who had learned the language. Part of the difference resulted from the central question posed by surveys: "Do you speak Scots?". In the Aberdeen University study, the question was augmented with the further clause "...&nbsp;or a dialect of Scots such as Border etc.", which resulted in greater recognition from respondents. The GRO concluded that there simply was not enough linguistic self-awareness amongst the Scottish populace, with people still thinking of themselves as speaking badly pronounced, grammatically inferior English rather than Scots, for an accurate census to be taken. The GRO research concluded that "[a] more precise estimate of genuine Scots language ability would require a more in-depth interview survey and may involve asking various questions about the language used in different situations. Such an approach would be inappropriate for a Census." Thus, although it was acknowledged that the "inclusion of such a Census question would undoubtedly raise the profile of Scots", no question about Scots was, in the end, included in the 2001 Census.<ref name=Stuart-Smith>{{cite book|title=A Handbook of Varieties of English|editor=Bernd Kortmann and Edgar W. Schneider|pages=48–49|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=2004|isbn=978-3-11-017532-5|chapter=Scottish English: phonology|author=Jane Stuart-Smith|given13=9783110175325}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=The Scots Language in education in Scotland|journal=Regional Dossiers Series|publisher=Mercator-Education|issn=1570-1239|format=PDF|year=2002|url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/01/06105123/4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Scottish Education|author=T.G.K. Bryce and Walter M. Humes|pages=263–264|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-7486-1625-1}}</ref> The Scottish Government's ''Pupils in Scotland Census 2008''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/04/01090908/20|title=Pupils in Scotland, 2008|publisher=Scotland.gov.uk|date=1 April 2009|access-date=9 September 2012|archive-date=26 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826030241/https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20170701074158/www.gov.scot/Publications/2009/04/01090908|url-status=live}}</ref> found that 306 pupils{{clarify|date=April 2022}} spoke Scots as their main home language. A [[Scottish Government]] study in 2010 found that 85% of around 1000 respondents (being a representative sample of Scotland's adult population) claim to speak Scots to varying degrees.<ref name="Public Attitudes"/>

The [[2011 UK census]] was the first to ask residents of Scotland about Scots. A campaign called ''Aye Can'' was set up to help individuals answer the question.<ref>{{cite web|title=Scottish Census Day 2011 survey begins|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-12871752|work=BBC News|access-date=21 July 2011|date=26 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Scots language – Scottish Census 2011|url=http://www.ayecan.com/|work=Aye Can|access-date=21 July 2011}}</ref> The specific wording used was "Which of these can you do? Tick all that apply" with options for "Understand", "Speak", "Read" and "Write" in three columns: English, Scottish Gaelic and Scots.<ref>{{cite web|title=How to fill in your questionnaire: Individual question 16|url=http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/en/howto/questionshelp/q/i16.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301034753/http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/en/howto/questionshelp/q/i16.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 March 2011|work=Scotland's Census|publisher=General Register Office for Scotland|access-date=21 July 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Of approximately 5.1&nbsp;million respondents, about 1.2&nbsp;million (24%) could speak, read and write Scots, 3.2&nbsp;million (62%) had no skills in Scots and the remainder had some degree of skill, such as understanding Scots (0.27&nbsp;million, 5.2%) or being able to speak it but not read or write it (0.18&nbsp;million, 3.5%).<ref>{{cite web|title=Scotland's Census 2011: Standard Outputs|url=http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/standard-outputs.html|publisher=National Records of Scotland|access-date=12 December 2014|archive-date=5 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005011314/http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/standard-outputs.html|url-status=live}}</ref> There were also small numbers of Scots speakers recorded in England and Wales on the 2011 Census, with the largest numbers being either in bordering areas (e.g. [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]]) or in areas that had recruited large numbers of Scottish workers in the past (e.g. [[Corby]] or the former mining areas of [[Kent]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/rft-table-ks206ew.xls|title=UK Government Web Archive|website=webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk}}</ref> In the 2022 census conducted by the [[Scottish Government]], it was found that 1,508,540 people reported that they could speak Scots, with 2,444,659 reporting that they could speak, read, write or understand Scots,<ref name="Policy action 2 of 5 Scots"/> approximately 45% of Scotland's 2022 population.