Editing Scots language (section)

===Etymology===
''Scots'' is a contraction of {{lang|sco|Scottis}}, the [[Early Scots|Older Scots]]<ref name="SND Scots adj"/> and northern version of late {{langx|ang|Scottisc}} (modern English "Scottish"), which replaced the earlier [[Germanic umlaut#I-mutation in Old English|i-mutated]] version {{lang|sco|Scyttisc}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost30888|title=Dictionaries of the Scots Language:: DOST ::}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oed.com/|website=OED online|title=Scots, a. (n.)|access-date=28 July 2020|archive-date=26 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226130007/https://www.oed.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> Before the end of the fifteenth century, English speech in Scotland was known as "English" (written {{lang|sco|Ynglis}} or {{lang|sco|Inglis}} at the time), whereas "Scottish" ({{lang|sco|Scottis}}) referred to [[Gaelic language|Gaelic]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotslanguage.com/books/view/2/539/What%20is%20Scots|website=Scotslanguage|title=A Brief History of Scots}}</ref> By the beginning of the fifteenth century, the English language used in Scotland had arguably become a distinct language, albeit one lacking a name which clearly distinguished it from all the other English variants and dialects spoken in Britain. From 1495, the term {{lang|sco|Scottis}} was increasingly used to refer to the Lowland vernacular{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=894}} and {{lang|sco|Erse}}, meaning "Irish", was used as a name for Gaelic. For example, towards the end of the fifteenth century, [[William Dunbar]] was using {{lang|sco|Erse}} to refer to Gaelic and, in the early sixteenth century, [[Gavin Douglas]] was using {{lang|sco|Scottis}} as a name for the Lowland vernacular.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Stewart Kingdom of Scotland, 1371–1603|first=Caroline|last=Bingham|year=1974|publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Companion to the Oxford English Dictionary|first=Tom|last=McArthur|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1994}}</ref> The Gaelic of Scotland is now usually called [[Scottish Gaelic]].