Editing Scots language (section)

==Relationship to English==

Given that there are no universally accepted [[Language or dialect|criteria for distinguishing]] a language from a [[dialect]], scholars and other interested parties often disagree about the linguistic, historical and social status of Scots, particularly its relationship to [[English language|English]].<ref name=OxfordCompanion>{{cite book|author-link=A. J. Aitken|last=Aitken|first=A. J.|title=The Oxford Companion to the English Language|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1992|page=894}}</ref> Although a number of paradigms for distinguishing between languages and dialects exist, they often render contradictory results. Broad Scots is at one end of a bipolar [[Dialect continuum|linguistic continuum]], with [[Scottish English|Scottish Standard English]] at the other.<ref name="Stuart-Smith-phonology">{{cite book|last=Stuart-Smith|first=J.|chapter=Scottish English: Phonology|title=Varieties of English: The British Isles|editor-last1=Kortman|editor-last2=Upton|location=Mouton de Gruyter, New York|year=2008|page=47}}</ref> Scots is sometimes regarded as a variety of English, though it has its own distinct dialects;{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=894}} other scholars treat Scots as a distinct Germanic language, in the way that [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] is closely linked to but distinct from [[Danish language|Danish]].{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=894}}