Editing Scots language

{{short description|West Germanic language}}
{{About|the distinct West Germanic language|the dialects of English spoken in Scotland|Scottish English|the Celtic language|Scottish Gaelic}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Scots
| altname          = Lowland Scots<br>Broad Scots
| nativename       = {{lang|sco|(Braid) Scots}}<br>{{lang|sco|Lallans}}<br>{{lang|sco|Doric}}
| states           = [[United Kingdom]], [[Republic of Ireland]]
| region           = {{plainlist|
* [[Scotland]]: [[Scottish Lowlands]], [[Northern Isles]], [[Caithness]], [[Isle of Arran|Arran]] and [[Campbeltown]]
* [[Ulster]] ([[Ireland]]): [[Counties of Ireland|Counties]] [[County Down|Down]], [[County Antrim|Antrim]], [[County Londonderry|Londonderry]], [[County Donegal|Donegal]] and [[County Armagh|Armagh]]}}
| ethnicity        = [[Scottish people|Scots]]
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|sco|skɔts|}}
| speakers         = 1,508,540
| date             = 2022
| ref              = <ref name="census22"/>
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| fam3             = [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
| fam4             = [[North Sea Germanic]]
| fam5             = [[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]]
| fam6             = [[Anglic languages|Anglic]]
| ancestor         = [[Old English]]
| ancestor2        = [[Northumbrian Old English]]
| ancestor3        = [[Early Middle English]]
| ancestor4        = [[Early Scots]]
| ancestor5        = [[Middle Scots]]
| minority         = [[Northern Ireland]] (as Ulster Scots)<br>[[Republic of Ireland]] ([[County Donegal]]; also as Ulster Scots)
| nation           = [[Scotland]]<ref name="Scottish official languages">{{cite web |title=Fact: Scotland's official languages are English, Scots, Gaelic & British Sign Language |url=https://www.scotland.org/about-scotland/facts/scotlands-languages |website=Scotland.org |access-date=19 April 2022}}</ref>
| dia1             = [[Central Scots|Central]]
| dia2             = [[Southern Scots|Southern]]
| dia3             = [[Northern Scots|Northern]]
| dia4             = [[Insular Scots|Insular]]
| dia5             = [[Ulster Scots dialect|Ulster]]
| script           = [[Latin script|Latin]]
| iso2             = sco
| iso3             = sco
| glotto           = scot1243
| glottorefname    = Scots
| lingua           = 52-ABA-aa (varieties: 52-ABA-aaa to -aav)
| map              = Scots speakers in the 2011 census.png
| mapcaption       = The proportion of respondents in the 2011 census in Scotland aged 3 and above who stated that they can speak Lowland Scots
| map2             = Ulster-Scots speakers in the 2011 census in Northern Ireland.png
| mapcaption2      = The proportion of respondents in the 2011 census in Northern Ireland aged 3 and above who stated that they can speak Ulster Scots
| pushpin_image    = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language
}}
{{Scots language}}

'''Scots'''<ref group=note>The [[endonym]] for Scots is {{lang|sco|Scots}} {{IPA|sco|skɔts|}}.<!--Do not add the Scottish Gaelic name: it is a completely different language.--></ref> is a [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] [[Variety (linguistics)|language variety]] [[Anglic languages|descended from]] [[Early Middle English]]. As a result, [[Modern Scots]] is a [[sister language]] of [[Modern English]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fuster-Márquez |first1=Miguel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQLBqKjxuvAC |title=A Practical Introduction to the History of English |last2=Calvo García de Leonardo |first2=Juan José |publisher=Universitat de València |year=2011 |isbn=9788437083216 |location=[València] |page=21 |access-date=19 December 2017}}</ref><ref>Alexander Bergs, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=lLhZAAAAMAAJ Modern Scots]'', Languages of the World series, № 242 (Bow Historical Books, 2001), {{ISBN|978-3-89586-513-8}}, pp. 4, 50. "Scots developed out of a mixture of Scandinavianised Northern English during the early Middle English period.... Scots originated as one form of Northern Old English and quickly developed into a language in its own right up to the seventeenth century."</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Good or Bad Scots?: Attitudes to Optional Lexical and Grammatical Usages in Edinburgh|author=Sandred, Karl Inge|journal=Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis|publisher=Ubsaliensis S. Academiae|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-LodAQAAIAAJ|year=1983|volume=48|isbn=978-91-554-1442-9|page=13|quote=Whereas Modern Standard English is traced back to an East Midland dialect of Middle English, Modern Scots developed from a northern variety which goes back to Old Northumbrian}}</ref> Scots is recognised as an indigenous language of [[Scotland]] by the Scottish government,<ref name="ScotsLangPolicy">{{cite web|title=Scots language policy: English version - gov.scot|url=https://www.gov.scot/publications/scots-language-policy-english/|website=www.gov.scot}}</ref> a regional or minority language of Europe,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CV=1&NA=&PO=999&CN=999&VL=1&CM=9&CL=ENG|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709023931/http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?NT=148&CV=1&NA=&PO=999&CN=999&VL=1&CM=9&CL=ENG#selection-6725.113-6725.116|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 July 2011|title=List of declarations made with respect to treaty No.&nbsp;148|publisher=Conventions.coe.int|access-date=9 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=States Parties to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and their regional or minority languages|url=https://rm.coe.int/states-parties-to-the-european-charter-for-regional-or-minority-langua/168077098c|website=coe.int}}</ref> and a vulnerable language by [[UNESCO]].<ref>{{cite web|title=UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger|url=http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/en/atlasmap/language-id-410.html|access-date=6 October 2020|website=www.unesco.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Evans|first=Lisa|date=2011-04-15|title=Endangered languages: the full list|url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/apr/15/language-extinct-endangered|access-date=2020-10-06|website=The Guardian}}</ref> In a Scottish census from 2022, over 1.5&nbsp;million people in Scotland reported being able to speak Scots.<ref name="census22">{{Cite web |title=Scots |url=http://www.gov.scot/policies/languages/scots/ |access-date=2024-06-29 |website=Scottish Government |language=en}}</ref> 

Most commonly spoken in the [[Scottish Lowlands]], the [[Northern Isles]] of [[Scotland]], and northern [[Ulster]] in [[Ireland]] (where the local [[dialect]] is known as [[Ulster Scots dialect|Ulster Scots]]), it is sometimes called '''Lowland Scots''', to distinguish it from [[Scottish Gaelic]], the [[Celtic language]] that was historically restricted to most of the [[Scottish Highlands]], the [[Hebrides]], and [[Galloway]] after the sixteenth century;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cranntara.scot/gaelic.htm |title=Gaelic Language |website=cranntara.scot}}</ref> or '''Broad Scots''', to distinguish it from [[Scottish Standard English]]. Most Scottish people's speech exists on a [[dialect continuum]] ranging between Broad Scots and Standard English.<ref name="Stuart-Smith-phonology"/>

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 whether Scots is a dialect of [[English language|English]] or a separate language.<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> 

==Nomenclature==
Native speakers sometimes refer to their [[vernacular]] as {{lang|sco|braid Scots}} (or "broad Scots" in English)<ref name="SND Scots adj">{{cite web|url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/scots|title=Scottish National Dictionary (1700–): Scots, adj|publisher=Dsl.ac.uk|access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref> or use a dialect name such as the "[[Doric dialect (Scotland)|Doric]]"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/sndns1238 |title=Scottish National Dictionary (1700–): Doric |publisher=Dsl.ac.uk |access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref> or the "{{lang|sco|Buchan Claik}}".<ref name="BuchanToulmin1998">{{cite book|last1=Buchan|first1=Peter|last2=Toulmin|first2=David|title=Buchan Claik: The Saut and the Glaur O't: a Compendium of Words and Phrases from the North-east of Scotland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BdWyAAAACAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Gordon Wright|isbn=978-0-903065-94-8}}</ref> The old-fashioned ''[[Scotch (adjective)|Scotch]]'', an English loan,<ref>Aitken, A. J. ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language''. Oxford University Press, 1992 p. 892.</ref> occurs occasionally, especially in Ulster.<ref>{{cite book|last=Traynor|first=Michael|year=1953|title=The English dialect of Donegal|publisher=Royal Irish Academy|location=Dublin|page=244}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Nic Craith|first=M.|year=2002|title=Plural Identities—singular Narratives|publisher=Berghahn Books|page=107}}</ref> The term ''[[Lallans]]'', a variant of the [[Modern Scots]] word {{lang|sco|lawlands}} {{IPA|sco|ˈlo̜ːlən(d)z, ˈlɑːlənz|}},<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/lawland|title=Scottish National Dictionary (1700–): Lawland, adj|publisher=Dsl.ac.uk|access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref> is also used, though this is more often taken to mean the Lallans [[Literary language|literary form]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Ethnologue – Scots |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sco |publisher=Ethnologue |access-date=9 September 2012}}</ref> Scots in Ireland is known in official circles as [[Ulster Scots dialects|Ulster-Scots]] ({{lang|sco|Ulstèr-Scotch}} in revivalist Ulster-Scots) or "Ullans", a recent [[neologism]] merging Ulster and Lallans.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Maria Tymoczko |last1=Tymoczko |first1=M. |last2=Ireland |first2=C.A. |year=2003 |title=Language and Tradition in Ireland: Continuities and Displacements |publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Press]] |page=159 |isbn=1-55849-427-8}}</ref>

===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]].

==History==
{{main|History of the Scots language}}
[[File:History of Scots in Scotland and Ulster.png|thumb|left|The growth and distribution of Scots in Scotland and Ulster:<ref>{{cite map|url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/british_isles_802.jpg|title=The British Isles about 802|scale=1:7 500 000}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.scots-online.org/dictionary/read_dictionary.php?letter=C&CurPage=5|dictionary=The Online Scots Dictionary|title=cairt n. v.}}</ref>
{{legend|Red|[[:w:Old English|Old English]] by the beginning of the 9th century in the northern portion of the [[:w:Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]]<ref name="scotslanguage.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/node/id/660/type/referance|title=550-1100 Anglo-Saxon (Pre-Scots)|website=Scotslanguage.com }}</ref> kingdom of [[:w:Northumbria|Northumbria]], now part of Scotland}}
{{legend|Orange|[[:w:Early Scots|Early Scots]] by the beginning of the 15th century}}
{{legend|Yellow|[[:w:Modern Scots|Modern Scots]] by the mid-20th century}}]]

[[Northumbrian Old English]] had been established in what is now southeastern Scotland as far as the [[River Forth]] by the seventh century, as the region was part of the [[Anglo-Saxon]] kingdom of [[Northumbria]].<ref name="DictionaryScots">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2002 |title=A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue |publisher=[[Dictionary of the Scots Language]] |access-date=18 October 2015 |volume=12 |page=xxxvi |last2=Aitken |first2=A.J. |last1=Macafee |first1=Caroline |chapter=A History of Scots to 1700 - 2. The origins and spread of Scots (CM) |chapter-url=https://dsl.ac.uk/about-scots/history-of-scots/origins/}}</ref> Some historians have traditionally argued that the regions later known as [[Lothian]] and the [[Scottish Borders]] became attached to the [[Kingdom of Scotland]] in the tenth and early eleventh centuries,<ref>{{cite book |last=Rollason |first=David W. |author-link=David Rollason |title=Northumbria, 500 – 1100: Creation and Destruction of a Kingdom |year=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-81335-2 |p=275}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Barrow |first=G. S. W. |title=The Kingdom of the Scots: Government, Church and Society from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth Century |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7486-1803-3 |location=Edinburgh |page=121}}</ref> but this is no longer accepted and the takeover that does take place is not fully evident until the twelfth century and probably incomplete until at least the thirteenth century.<ref>{{citation |last=Stringer |first=Keith | author-link = | contribution="Middle Britain in Context, c. 900-c1300  |title=Northern England and Southern Scotland in the Central Middle Ages |editor-last=Stringer  |editor-first=Keith J. |editor2-last=Winchester |editor2-first=Angus |editor2-link=  |year=2019 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |location=Woodridge |isbn=9781787441521 | url= |pages=1–30}}, at pp. 4-5</ref><ref>{{citation |last=McGuigan |first=Neil | contribution=Donation and Conquest: The Formation of Lothian and the Origins of the Anglo-Scottish Border |title= Offa's Dyke Journal 4: Borders in Early Medieval Britain | editor-last=Guy  |editor-first=Ben |editor2-last= Williams  |editor2-first= Howard |editor3-last= Delaney |editor3-first= Liam  |publisher= JAS Arqueología |location=Chester |year=2022|volume=4 | issn=2695-625X |pages= 36–65 |doi=10.23914/odj.v4i0.352 |s2cid=257501905 |url=http://revistas.jasarqueologia.es/index.php/odjournal/article/view/352|doi-access=free }}, pp. 36–65.</ref> The common use of English remained largely confined to Lothian and the Borders until the thirteenth century, where the local varieties were reshaped in response to migration from the [[Danelaw|Scandinavian-influenced]] [[Northern England|North]] and [[Midlands]] of England that came with the foundation of the first [[burgh]]s in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Jeremy |title=Scots: an outline history - Influence of Old Norse |url=https://dsl.ac.uk/about-scots/an-outline-history-of-scots/origins/ |archive-date= |access-date=31 March 2025 |website=Dictionaries of the Scots Language}}</ref> The Scots language scholar [[Robert McColl Millar]] framed Early Scots as a ''[[Koiné language|koine]]'' of the varieties of English spoken in [[Bernicia]] and the [[Danelaw]] that had been brought to the new burghs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McColl Millar |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ecLSEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=A History of the Scots Language |date=29 March 2025 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780198863991 |location=Oxford |publication-date=2023 |pages=36–38 |language=English |chapter=3.4 The Creation and spread of ''Inglis'' / 3.5 Formation of ''Inglis''}}</ref>

Later influences on the development of Scots came from the [[Romance language]]s via [[Ecclesiastical Latin|ecclesiastical]] and legal [[Latin]], [[Norman French]],{{r|DictionaryScots|page=lxiii–lxv}} and later [[Parisian French]], due to the [[Auld Alliance]]. Additionally, there were [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and [[Middle Low German]] influences due to trade with and immigration from the [[Low Countries]].{{r|DictionaryScots|page=lxiii}} Scots also includes loan words in the legal and administrative fields resulting from contact with [[Middle Irish]], and reflected in early medieval legal documents.{{r|DictionaryScots|page=lxi}} Contemporary [[Scottish Gaelic]] loans are mainly for geographical and cultural features, such as ''[[cèilidh]]'', ''[[loch]]'', ''[[whisky]]'', ''[[glen]]'' and ''[[Scottish clan|clan]]''. [[Cumbric]] and [[Pictish]], the medieval [[Brittonic languages]] of Northern England and Scotland, are the suspected source of a small number of Scots words, such as ''lum'' (derived from Cumbric) meaning "chimney".<ref name="dictscotvocab">{{cite web |title=Dictionaries of the Scots Language – vocabulary |url=https://dsl.ac.uk/about-scots/history-of-scots/vocabulary/ |access-date=30 April 2021}}</ref> From the thirteenth century, the [[Early Scots]] language spread further into Scotland via the [[burgh]]s, which were proto-urban institutions first established by King [[David I of Scotland|David I]]. In fourteenth-century Scotland, the growth in prestige of Early Scots and the complementary decline of French made Scots the [[prestige dialect]] of most of eastern Scotland. By the sixteenth century, [[Middle Scots]] had established orthographic and literary norms largely independent of those developing in England.<ref name=EdinburghCompanion>{{cite book|chapter=A Brief History of Scots|editor-last1=Corbett|editor-first1=John|editor-last2=McClure|editor-first2=Derrick|editor-last3=Stuart-Smith|editor-first3=Jane|year=2003|title=The Edinburgh Companion to Scots|location=Edinburgh|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=0-7486-1596-2|page=9}}</ref>

From 1610 to the 1690s during the [[Plantation of Ulster]], some 200,000 Scots-speaking Lowlanders settled as colonists in Ulster in Ireland.<ref name="Montgomery & Gregg 1997: 572">Montgomery & Gregg 1997: 572</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=July 2020}} In the core areas of Scots settlement, Scots outnumbered English settlers by five or six to one.<ref>Adams 1977: 57</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=July 2020}}

The name [[Modern Scots]] is used to describe the Scots language after 1700.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

A seminal study of Scots was undertaken by [[JAH Murray]] and published as ''Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924026538938|title=The dialect of the southern counties of Scotland : its pronunciation, grammar, and historical relations; with an appendix on the present limits of the Gaelic and lowland Scotch, and the dialectical divisions of the lowland tongue; and a linguistical map of Scotland|last=Murray|first=James Augustus Henry|year=1873|publisher=Asher & Co}}</ref> Murray's results were given further publicity by being included in [[Alexander John Ellis]]'s book [[On Early English Pronunciation, Part V]] alongside results from Orkney and Shetland, as well as the whole of England. Murray and Ellis differed slightly on the border between English and Scots dialects.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ellis|first=Alexander John|title=On early English pronunciation: with especial reference to Shakspere and Chaucer, containing an investigation of the correspondence of writing with speech in England from the Anglosaxon period to the present day means of the ordinary printing types|publisher=Trübner & Co|pages=20–21|url=https://archive.org/details/onearlyenglishpr00elliuoft/page/20/mode/2up?q=murray}}</ref>

Scots was studied alongside English and Scots Gaelic in the ''[[Linguistic Survey of Scotland]]'' at the [[University of Edinburgh]], which began in 1949 and began to publish results in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Petyt |first=Keith Malcolm |title=The Study of Dialect: An introduction to dialectology |publisher=Andre Deutsch |year=1980 |pages=94–98 |isbn=0-233-97212-9}}</ref> Also beginning in the 1970s, the ''[[Atlas Linguarum Europae]]'' studied the Scots language used at 15 sites in Scotland, each with its own dialect.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eder |first=Birgit |title=Ausgewählte Verwandtschaftsbezeichnungen in den Sprachen Europas: untersucht anhand der Datensammlungen des Atlas Linguarum Europae |publisher=Peter Lang |year=2004 |page=301 |isbn=978-3-631-52873-0}}</ref>

===Language shift===
From the mid-sixteenth century, written Scots was increasingly influenced by the developing [[Standard English]] of Southern England due to developments in royal and political interactions with England.{{r|EdinburghCompanion|p=10}} When [[William Flower (officer of arms)|William Flower]], an [[Chester Herald|English herald]], spoke with [[Mary of Guise]] and her councillors in 1560, they first used the {{lang|enm|"Scottyshe toung"}}. As he found this hard to understand, they switched into her native French.<ref>Joseph Bain, [https://archive.org/details/calendarstatepa00baingoog/page/322/mode/2up ''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), 322 no. 662]</ref> King [[James VI and I|James VI]], who in 1603 became [[James I of England]], observed in his work ''[[Some Reulis and Cautelis to Be Observit and Eschewit in Scottis Poesie]]'' that {{lang|enm|"For albeit sindrie hes written of it in English, quhilk is lykest to our language..."}} (''For though several have written of ''(the subject)'' in English, which is the language most similar to ours...''). However, with the increasing influence and availability of books printed in England, most writing in Scotland came to be done in the English fashion.{{r|EdinburghCompanion|p=11}} In his first speech to the [[Parliament of England|English Parliament]] in March 1603, King James VI and I declared, {{lang|enm|"Hath not God first united these two Kingdomes both in Language, Religion, and similitude of maners?"}}.<ref>"A Speach in Parliament. Anno 1603" in "The Workes of the Most High and Mightie Prince Iames, by the Grace of God" (1616), pg. 485</ref> Following James VI's move to London, the [[Protestantism in Scotland|Protestant]] [[Church of Scotland]] adopted the 1611 [[Authorized King James Version]] of the Bible; subsequently, the [[Acts of Union 1707]] led to Scotland joining England to form the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]], having a single [[Parliament of Great Britain]] based in London. After the Union and the shift of political power to England, the use of Scots was discouraged by many in authority and education, as was the notion of "Scottishness" itself.<ref name=LangSuppressed>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Charles|year=1995|title=A Language Suppressed: The Pronunciation of the Scots Language in the 18th Century|location=Edinburgh|publisher=J. Donald Publishers|page=vii|isbn=0-85976-427-3}}</ref> Many leading Scots of the period, such as [[David Hume]], defined themselves as [[North Britain|Northern British]] rather than Scottish.{{r|LangSuppressed|page=2}} They attempted to rid themselves of their Scots in a bid to establish standard English as the official language of the newly formed union. Nevertheless, Scots was still spoken across a wide range of domains until the end of the eighteenth century.{{r|EdinburghCompanion|page=11}} [[Frederick Albert Pottle|Frederick Pottle]], the twentieth-century biographer of [[James Boswell]] (1740–1795), described James's view of the use of Scots by his father [[Alexander Boswell (judge)|Alexander Boswell]] (1706–1782) {{when|date=September 2020}}<!-- can the half-century or decade(s) of this time be clarified? --> in the eighteenth century while serving as a judge of the [[College of Justice|Supreme Courts of Scotland]]:

{{blockquote|He scorned modern literature, spoke broad Scots from the bench, and even in writing took no pains to avoid the Scotticisms which most of his colleagues were coming to regard as vulgar.}}

However, others did scorn Scots, such as [[Scottish Enlightenment]] intellectuals David Hume and [[Adam Smith]], who went to great lengths to get rid of every Scotticism from their writings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scuilwab.org.uk/assets/TheHistoryOScots-1.pdf|title=Scuilwab, p.3}}</ref> Following such examples, many well-off Scots took to learning English through the activities of those such as [[Thomas Sheridan (actor)|Thomas Sheridan]], who in 1761 gave a series of lectures on English [[elocution]]. Charging a [[Guinea (British coin)|guinea]] at a time (about £{{formatnum:{{inflation|UK|1.05|1761|r=-2}}}} in today's money{{inflation-fn|UK}}), they were attended by over 300 men, and he was made a [[:wikt:freeman|freeman]] of the City of [[Edinburgh]]. Following this, some of the city's intellectuals formed the Select Society for Promoting the Reading and Speaking of the English Language in Scotland. These eighteenth-century activities would lead to the creation of [[Scottish English|Scottish Standard English]].{{r|EdinburghCompanion|p=13}} Scots remained the vernacular of many rural communities and the growing number of urban working-class Scots.{{r|EdinburghCompanion|p=14}}
[[File:AU Burns Canberra.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Robert Burns]] in [[Canberra, Australia]]]]

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the use of Scots as a [[literary language]] was revived by several prominent Scotsmen{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} such as [[Robert Burns]].<!-- R. Burns is so well known, that claim (almost) does not greatly need a citation; but the claim about others clearly does --> Such writers established a new cross-dialect literary norm.

Scots terms were included in the [[English Dialect Dictionary]], edited by [[Joseph Wright (linguist)|Joseph Wright]]. Wright had great difficulty in recruiting volunteers from Scotland, as many refused to cooperate with a venture that regarded Scots as a dialect of English, and he obtained enough help only through the assistance from a Professor Shearer in Scotland.<ref name=Bradford>{{cite news|title=The Dialect Dictionary: meeting in Bradford|newspaper=Bradford Observer|date=7 October 1895}}</ref> Wright himself rejected the argument that Scots was a separate language, saying that this was a "quite modern mistake".<ref name=Bradford/>

During the first half of the twentieth century, knowledge of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literary norms waned, and {{as of|2006|lc=y}}, there is no institutionalised standard literary form.<ref>{{cite web|last=Eagle|first=Andy|year=2006|title=Aw Ae Wey – Written Scots in Scotland and Ulster|url=http://www.scots-online.org/articles/contents/AwAeWey.pdf|access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref> By the 1940s, the [[Scottish Education Department]]'s [[language policy]] was that Scots had no value: "it is not the language of 'educated' people anywhere, and could not be described as a suitable medium of education or culture".<ref>Primary education: a report of the Advisory Council on Education in Scotland, Scottish Education Department 1946, p. 75</ref> Students reverted to Scots outside the classroom, but the reversion was not complete. What occurred, and has been occurring ever since, is a process of [[language attrition]], whereby successive generations have adopted more and more features from Standard English. This process has accelerated rapidly since widespread access to mass media in English and increased population mobility became available after the [[Second World War]].{{r|EdinburghCompanion|p=15}} It has recently taken on the nature of wholesale [[language shift]], sometimes also termed language [[Language change|change]], [[Language convergence|convergence]] or [[Language merger|merger]]. By the end of the twentieth century, Scots was at an advanced stage of [[language death]] over much of [[Scottish Lowlands|Lowland Scotland]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Macafee|first=C.|chapter=Studying Scots Vocabulary|editor-last1=Corbett|editor-first1=John|editor-last2=McClure|editor-first2=Derrick|editor-last3=Stuart-Smith|editor-first3=Jane|year=2003|title=The Edinburgh Companion to Scots|location=Edinburgh|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=0-7486-1596-2|page=51}}</ref> Residual features of Scots are often regarded as slang.<ref name=EdinburghHistory>{{cite book|title=The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language|last=Jones|first=Charles|year=1997|publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]]|location=[[Edinburgh]]|isbn=978-0-7486-0754-9|page=518|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ldowI6VgeMC&q=%22scots+language%22+slang&pg=PA518|access-date=9 August 2010|quote=Menzies (1991:42) also found that in her sample of forty secondary-school children from Easterhouse in Glasgow, there was a tendency to describe Scots words as 'slang' alongside the use of the term 'Scots'}}</ref> A 2010 [[Scottish Government]] study of "public attitudes towards the Scots language" found that 64% of respondents (around 1,000 individuals in a [[representative sample]] of Scotland's adult population) "don't really think of Scots as a language", also finding "the most frequent speakers are least likely to agree that it is not a language (58%) and those never speaking Scots most likely to do so (72%)".<ref name="Public Attitudes">{{cite web|last=The Scottish Government|title=Public Attitudes Towards the Scots Language|url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2010/01/06105123/0|access-date=18 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102091527/http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2010/01/06105123/0|archive-date=2016-01-02|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Decline in status===
[[File:John Knox House - Edinburgh Fringe.jpg|thumb|{{lang|sco|Lufe God abufe al and yi nychtbour as yi self}} ("Love God above all and thy neighbour as thyself"), an example of [[Early Scots]], on [[John Knox House]], Edinburgh]]

Before the [[Treaty of Union 1707]], when Scotland and England joined to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, there is ample evidence that Scots was widely held to be an independent [[sister language]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scots-online.org/articles/Nostra_Vulgari_Lingua.php |title=Nostra Vulgari Lingua: Scots as a European Language 1500–1700 |first=Dauvit |last=Horsbroch |publisher=www.scots-online.org |access-date=18 October 2015 }}</ref> forming a [[pluricentric language|pluricentric]] [[diasystem]] with English.

German linguist {{lang|de|[[Heinz Kloss]]|italic=no}} considered Modern Scots a {{lang|de|Halbsprache}} ('half language') in terms of an [[abstand and ausbau languages|{{lang|de|abstand|nocat=y}} and {{lang|de|ausbau|nocat=y}} languages]] framework,<ref>Kloss, Heinz, ²1968, ''Die Entwicklung neuer germanischer Kultursprachen seit 1800'', Düsseldorf: Bagel. pp.70, 79</ref> although today in Scotland most people's speech is somewhere on a continuum ranging from traditional broad Scots to [[Scottish English|Scottish Standard English]]. Many speakers are [[diglossia|diglossic]] and may be able to [[code-switching|code-switch]] along the continuum depending on the situation. Where on this continuum English-influenced Scots becomes Scots-influenced English is difficult to determine. Because standard English now generally has the role of a {{lang|de|[[Dachsprache]]}} ('roofing language'), disputes often arise as to whether the varieties of Scots are dialects of Scottish English or constitute a separate language in their own right.<ref name="Stuart-Smith"/><ref name="Maggie Mcott">{{cite web |last=Scott |first=Maggie |title=The Scots Continuum and Descriptive Linguistics |url=http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/ScotLit/ASLS/SWE/TBI/TBIIssue2/ScotsContinuum.html |work=The Bottle Imp |publisher=[[Association for Scottish Literary Studies]] |access-date=21 July 2011|date=November 2007}}</ref>

The UK government now accepts Scots as a [[regional language]] and has recognised it as such under the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Second Report submitted by the United Kingdom pursuant to article 25, paragraph 2 of the framework convention for the protection of national minorities |url=http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/minorities/3_fcnmdocs/PDF_2nd_SR_UK_en.pdf |publisher=[[Council of Europe]] |access-date=16 August 2013 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|Notwithstanding the UK government's and the Scottish Executive's obligations under part II of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the Scottish Executive recognises and respects Scots (in all its forms) as a distinct language, and does not consider the use of Scots to be an indication of poor competence in English.}}

Evidence for its existence as a separate language lies in the extensive body of Scots literature, its independent – if somewhat fluid – [[orthography|orthographic conventions]], and in its former use as the language of the original [[Parliament of Scotland]].<ref>See for example {{cite web |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aosp/1560/1/contents |title=Confession of Faith Ratification Act 1560 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826030235/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aosp/1560/1/contents |archive-date=26 August 2020 }}, written in Scots and still part of British Law</ref> Because Scotland retained distinct political, legal, and religious systems after the Union, many Scots terms passed into Scottish English.

==Language revitalisation==
[[File:William Wye Smith-The New Testament in Braid Scots.pdf|thumb|William Wye Smith's ''The [[New Testament]] in Braid Scots'']]
During the 2010s, increased interest was expressed in the language.

===Education===

The status of the language was raised in Scottish schools,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-31453253|title=Scots language being revived in schools|work=[[BBC News]]|date=13 February 2015}}</ref> with Scots being included in the new national school [[Curriculum for Excellence|curriculum]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/knowledgeoflanguage/scots/scotsandliteracy/curriculum/index.asp|title=Knowledge of Language: Scots: Scots and Curriculum for Excellence|publisher=[[Education Scotland]]|access-date=18 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014173218/http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/knowledgeoflanguage/scots/scotsandliteracy/curriculum/index.asp|archive-date=2016-10-14}}</ref> Previously in Scotland's schools there had been little education taking place through the [[Medium of instruction|medium]] of Scots, although it may have been covered superficially in English lessons, which could entail reading some Scots literature and observing the local dialect. Much of the material used was often Standard English disguised as Scots, which caused upset among proponents of Standard English and proponents of Scots alike.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/exposed-to-ridicule-1-512738|title=Exposed to ridicule|work=The Scotsman|date=7 February 2004|access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref> One example of the educational establishment's approach to Scots is, "Write a poem in Scots. (It is important not to be worried about spelling in this – write as you hear the sounds in your head.)",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/specialfocus/scots/ideas/index.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041030060009/http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/specialfocus/scots/ideas/index.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 October 2004|title=Scots – Teaching approaches – Learning and Teaching Scotland Online Service|publisher=Ltscotland.org.uk|date=3 November 2005|access-date=21 May 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> whereas guidelines for English require teaching pupils to be "writing fluently and legibly with accurate spelling and punctuation".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/htmlunrevisedguidelines/Pages/englang/main/elng1003.htm|title=National Guidelines 5–14: ENGLISH LANGUAGE Learning and Teaching Scotland Online Service|publisher=Ltscotland.org.uk|access-date=21 May 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006192200/http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/htmlunrevisedguidelines/Pages/englang/main/elng1003.htm|archive-date=6 October 2008}}</ref>

A course in Scots language and culture delivered through the medium of Standard English and produced by the [[Open University|Open University (OU)]] in Scotland, the Open University's School of Languages and Applied Linguistics as well as [[Education Scotland]] became available online for the first time in December 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/course/index.php?categoryid=382 |title=OLCreate: Scots language and culture |access-date=22 December 2019 |archive-date=26 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826030240/https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/course/index.php?categoryid=382 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Government===
In the [[United Kingdom Census 2011#2011 Census for Scotland|2011 Scottish census]], a question on Scots language ability was featured.<ref name=ScotsLangPolicy/> In the 2022 census conducted by the [[Scottish Government]], a question in relation to the Scots language was also featured.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scottish government website |url=https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/media/ulcfhmoq/scotlands-census-2022-individual-questionnaire.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707161600/https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/media/ulcfhmoq/scotlands-census-2022-individual-questionnaire.pdf |archive-date=Jul 7, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Planning the 2022 census {{pipe}} Scotland's Census|url=https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/plans-scotland%E2%80%99s-census-2021|url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826030242/https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/plans-scotland%E2%80%99s-census-2021|archive-date=26 August 2020|access-date=7 January 2022|website=Scotland's Census}}</ref> 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">{{cite web|website=[[Scottish Government]]|url=https://www.gov.scot/policies/languages/scots|title=Scots - Languages }}</ref> approximately 45% of Scotland's 2022 population. The [[Scottish Government]] set its first Scots Language Policy in 2015, in which it pledged to support its preservation and encourage respect, recognition and use of Scots.<ref name=ScotsLangPolicy/> The Scottish Parliament website also offers some information on the language in Scots.<ref name="test">{{cite web|url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/help/79056.aspx|title=Scots - Help |publisher=[[Scottish Parliament]]|access-date=18 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109171441/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/help/79056.aspx |archive-date= Nov 9, 2015 }}</ref>

In September 2024, experts of the [[Council of Europe]] called on the [[UK Government]] to "boost support for regional and minority languages", including the Scots Language.<ref>{{cite news|website=Scottish Legal News|url=https://www.scottishlegal.com/articles/council-of-europe-experts-call-on-uk-to-boost-support-for-regional-and-minority-languages |date= 20 Sep 2024 |title=Council of Europe experts call on UK to boost support for regional and minority languages}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|website=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/19/uk-urged-to-promote-speaking-of-irish-and-ulster-scots-in-northern-ireland |first1=Lisa |last1=O'Carroll |date=Sep 18, 2024 |title=UK urged to promote speaking of Irish and Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|website=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]]|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24594585.scots-gaelic-teaching-must-strengthened-says-report |first1=Gabriel |last1=McKay |date=18 September 2024 |title=Scots and Gaelic teaching must be strengthened says report}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|website=[[The Scotsman]]|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/scots-speakers-gaelic-hate-speech-threats-european-report-4788448 |date=19 Sep 2024 |first1=Jane |last1=Bradley |title=Scots speakers experience 'threats and hate speech' amid calls to 'depoliticise' Gaelic}}</ref>

===Media===
The serious use of the Scots language for news, encyclopaediae, documentaries, etc., remains rare. It is reportedly reserved for niches{{Clarify|date=September 2024}} where it is deemed acceptable, e.g. comedy, [[Burns supper|Burns Night]] or traditions' representations.

Since 2016, the newspaper ''The National'' has regularly published articles in the language.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/17519026.the-national-at-the-fore-of-dictionary-updates-of-scots-language/ |first1=Katharina |last1=Moos Bille |title=The National at the fore of dictionary updates of Scots language|website=The National|date=22 March 2019 }}</ref> The 2010s also saw an increasing number of English books translated in Scots and becoming widely available, particularly those in popular [[children's fiction]] series such as ''[[The Gruffalo]]'', ''[[Harry Potter]]'', ''[[Diary of a Wimpy Kid]]'', and several by [[Roald Dahl]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/node/id/108|title= Children's books in Scots|website=Scotslanguage.com }}</ref> and [[David Walliams]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Book List: Scots books for 9–14 year olds |url=https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/book-lists/scots-books-for-9-14-year-olds |access-date=2021-10-21 |website=Scottish Book Trust |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2021, the music streaming service [[Spotify]] created a Scots language listing.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/singer-wins-campaign-to-persuade-spotify-to-recognise-scots-language-for-first-time-3155256 |title=Singer wins campaign to persuade Spotify to recognise Scots language for first time |work=[[The Scotsman]] |date=4 March 2021}}</ref>

The Ferret, a [[United Kingdom|UK]]-based fact-checking service, wrote an exploratory article in December 2022 to address misconceptions about the Scots language to improve public awareness of its endangered status.<ref>{{cite web|website=The Ferret|url=https://theferret.scot/fact-check-claims-about-scots-language|title=Fact check: Claims about the Scots language}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|website=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]]|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/23166037.lennie-pennie-debunking-myths-scots-language|title=Lennie Pennie: Debunking the myths about the Scots language}}</ref>

==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.

==Literature==
{{Main|Scots-language literature}}
Among the earliest Scots literature is [[John Barbour (poet)|John Barbour's]] ''Brus'' (fourteenth century), [[Wyntoun]]'s ''Cronykil'' and [[Blind Harry]]'s ''[[The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace|The Wallace]]'' (fifteenth century). From the fifteenth century, much literature based on the Royal Court in Edinburgh and the [[University of St Andrews]] was produced by writers such as [[Robert Henryson]], [[William Dunbar]], [[Gavin Douglas]] and [[David Lyndsay]]. ''[[The Complaynt of Scotland]]'' was an early printed work in Scots. The ''[[Eneados]]'' is a [[Middle Scots]] translation of [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', completed by Gavin Douglas in 1513.

After the seventeenth century, anglicisation increased. At the time, many of the oral [[ballad]]s from the [[Border ballads|borders]] and the North East were written down. Writers of the period were [[Robert Sempill the elder|Robert Sempill]], [[Robert Sempill the younger]], [[Francis Sempill]], [[Lady Wardlaw]] and [[Lady Grizel Baillie]].

In the eighteenth century, writers such as [[Allan Ramsay (poet)|Allan Ramsay]], [[Robert Burns]], [[James Orr (poet)|James Orr]], [[Robert Fergusson]] and [[Walter Scott]] continued to use Scots – Burns's "[[Auld Lang Syne]]" is in Scots, for example. Scott introduced vernacular dialogue to his novels. Other well-known authors like [[Robert Louis Stevenson]], William Alexander, [[George MacDonald]], [[J. M. Barrie]] and other members of the [[Kailyard school]] like [[Ian Maclaren]] also wrote in Scots or used it in dialogue.

In the [[Victorian era]] popular Scottish newspapers regularly included articles and commentary in the vernacular, often of unprecedented proportions.<ref>William Donaldson, ''The Language of the People: Scots Prose from the Victorian Revival'', Aberdeen University Press 1989.</ref>

In the early twentieth century, a [[Scottish Renaissance|renaissance]] in the use of Scots occurred, its most vocal figure being [[Hugh MacDiarmid]] whose benchmark poem "[[A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle]]" (1926) did much to demonstrate the power of Scots as a modern idiom. Other contemporaries were [[Douglas Young (classicist)|Douglas Young]], [[John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir|John Buchan]], [[Sydney Goodsir Smith]], [[Robert Garioch]], [[Edith Anne Robertson]] and [[Robert McLellan]]. The revival extended to verse and other literature.

In 1955, three [[Ayrshire]] men – Sandy MacMillan, an English teacher at [[Ayr Academy]]; Thomas Limond, noted town chamberlain of [[Ayr]]; and A. L. "Ross" Taylor, rector of Cumnock Academy&nbsp;– collaborated to write {{lang|sco|Bairnsangs}} ("Child Songs"),<ref>Bairnsangs {{ISBN|978-0-907526-11-7}}</ref> a collection of children's [[nursery rhyme]]s and poems in Scots. The book contains a five-page glossary of contemporary Scots words and their pronunciations.

[[Alexander Gray (poet)|Alexander Gray]]'s translations into Scots constitute the greater part of his work, and are the main basis for his reputation.

In 1983, [[William Laughton Lorimer]]'s translation of the [[New Testament]] from the original Greek was published.

Scots is sometimes used in contemporary fiction, such as the Edinburgh dialect of Scots in ''[[Trainspotting (novel)|Trainspotting]]'' by [[Irvine Welsh]] (later made into a [[Trainspotting (film)|motion picture of the same name]]).

''[[But'n'Ben A-Go-Go]]'' by [[Matthew Fitt]] is a [[cyberpunk]] novel written entirely in what {{Lang|sco|Wir Ain Leed|italic=no}}<ref>{{cite web|author=Andy Eagle|url=http://www.scots-online.org/grammar|title=Wir Ain Leed – An introduction to Modern Scots|publisher=Scots-online.org|date=26 July 2005|access-date=15 September 2012}}</ref> ("Our Own Language") calls "General Scots". Like all cyberpunk work, it contains imaginative [[neologism]]s.

The ''[[Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam]]'' was translated into Scots by [[Rab Wilson]] and published in 2004. Alexander Hutchison has translated the poetry of [[Catullus]] into Scots, and in the 1980s, [[Liz Lochhead]] produced a Scots translation of ''[[Tartuffe]]'' by [[Molière]]. [[J. K. Annand]] translated poetry and fiction from German and [[Medieval Latin]] into Scots.

The strip cartoons ''[[Oor Wullie]]'' and ''[[The Broons]]'' in the ''[[Sunday Post]]'' use some Scots. In 2018, ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stane'', a Scots translation of the first [[Harry Potter]] book, ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'', was published by [[Matthew Fitt]].

==Phonology==
{{Further|Modern Scots#Phonology|Phonological history of Scots}}
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Christine speaking Shetlandic.webm|thumb|Scottish poet [[Christine De Luca]] speaking the [[Shetland dialect]] of Scots]]

===Vowels===
The vowel system of Modern Scots:<ref>Aitken A. J. "How to Pronounce Older Scots" in ''Bards and Makars''. Glasgow
University Press 1977</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
![[A. J. Aitken|Aitken]] !! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] !! Common spellings
|-
| 1 || short {{IPA|/əi/}}<br>long {{IPA|/aɪ/}} || i-e, y-e, ey
|-
| 2 || {{IPA|/i/}} || ee, e-e, {{Not a typo|ie}}
|-
| 3 || {{IPA|/ei/}}{{efn|With the exception of [[North Northern Scots|North Northern dialects]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/INTRO/intro2.php?num=28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922070428/http://www.dsl.ac.uk/INTRO/intro2.php?num=28|archive-date=2012-09-22|title=SND INTRODUCTION|date=22 September 2012}}</ref> this vowel has generally merged with vowels 2, 4 or 8.}} || ei, ea
|-
| 4 || {{IPA|/e/}} || a-e, #ae
|-
| 5 || {{IPA|/o/}} || oa, o-e
|-
| 6 || {{IPA|/u/}} || ou, oo, u-e
|-
| 7 || {{IPA|/ø/}}{{efn|Merges with vowels 15. and 8. in central dialects and vowel 2 in Northern dialects.}}{{efn|name=oe|Also {{IPA|/(j)u/}} or {{IPA|/(j)ʌ/}} before {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/x/}} depending on dialect.}} || ui, eu{{efn|name=oe}}
|-
| 8 || {{IPA|/eː/}} || ai, #ay
|-
| 8a || {{IPA|/əi/}}{{efn|name=əi|Vowels 8a and 10 are ultimately the same vowel in Modern Scots.}} || i-e, y-e, ey
|-
| 9 || {{IPA|/oe/}} || oi, oy
|-
| 10 || {{IPA|/əi/}}{{efn|name=əi}} || i-e, y-e, ey
|-
| 11 || {{IPA|/iː/}} || #ee, #{{Not a typo|ie}}
|-
| 12 || {{IPA|/ɑː, ɔː/}} || au, #aw
|-
| 13 || {{IPA|/ʌu/}}{{efn|Monophthongisation to {{IPA|/o/}} may occur before {{IPA|/k/}}.}} || ow, #owe
|-
| 14 || {{IPA|/ju/}} || ew
|-
| 15 || {{IPA|/ɪ/}} || i
|-
| 16 || {{IPA|/ɛ/}} || e
|-
| 17 || {{IPA|/ɑ, a/}} || a
|-
| 18 || {{IPA|/ɔ/}}{{efn|Some mergers with vowel 5.}} || o
|-
| 19 || {{IPA|/ʌ/}} || u
|}

{{notelist}}

[[Vowel length]] is usually conditioned by the [[Scottish vowel length rule]].

===Consonants===

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|-
! colspan=2|
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Interdental consonant|Dental]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br>alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan=2|[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
|
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}{{efn|Spelt {{vr|ng}}, always {{IPA|/ŋ/}}.<ref name=JohnstonEdinburghHistory>{{cite book|last=Johnston|first=Paul|year=1997|chapter=Regional Variation|editor-last=Jones|editor-first=Charles|title=The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|location=Edinburgh|page=510}}</ref>}}
|
|-
! colspan=2|[[Stop consonant|Stop]]
| {{IPA link|p}} {{IPA link|b}}
|
| {{IPA link|t}} {{IPA link|d}}{{efn|{{IPA|/t/}} may be a glottal stop between vowels or word final.{{r|JohnstonEdinburghHistory|page=501}} In Ulster dentalised pronunciations may also occur, also for {{IPA|/d/}}.}}
| {{IPA link|tʃ}} {{IPA link|dʒ}}{{efn|The cluster {{vr|nch}} is usually realised {{IPA|/nʃ/}}{{r|EdinburghHistory|page=500}} e.g. {{lang|sco|brainch}} ("branch"), {{lang|sco|dunch}} ("push"), etc.}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}} {{IPA link|ɡ}}{{efn|In Northern dialects, the clusters {{vr|kn}} and {{vr|gn}} may be realised as {{IPA|/kn/}}, {{IPA|/tn/}} and {{IPA|/ɡn/}}{{r|EdinburghHistory|page=501}} e.g. {{lang|sco|knap}} ("talk"), {{lang|sco|knee}}, {{lang|sco|knowe}} ("knoll"), etc.}}
| {{IPA link|ʔ}}
|-
! colspan=2|[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| {{IPA link|f}} {{IPA link|v}}
| {{IPA link|θ}} {{IPA link|ð}}{{efn|Spelt {{vr|th}}. In Mid Northern varieties an intervocalic {{IPA|/ð/}} may be realised {{IPA|/d/}}.{{r|EdinburghHistory|page=506}} Initial {{vr|th}} in ''thing'', ''think'' and ''thank'', etc. may be {{IPA|/h/}}.{{r|JohnstonEdinburghHistory|page=507}}}}
| {{IPA link|s}} {{IPA link|z}}{{efn|Both {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/z/}} may be spelt {{vr|s}} or {{vr|se}}. {{vr|z}} is seldom used for {{IPA|/z/}} but may occur in some words as a substitute for the older {{vr|ȝ}} ([[yogh]]) realised {{IPA|/jɪ/}} or {{IPA|/ŋ/}}. For example: {{lang|sco|brulzie}} ("broil"), {{lang|sco|gaberlunzie}} (a beggar) and the names ''[[Menzies]]'', ''[[Finzean]]'', ''[[Culzean]]'', ''[[Mackenzie (surname)|Mackenzie]]'' etc.}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}} {{IPA link|ʒ}}
| {{IPA link|ç}}{{efn|name=ch|Spelt {{vr|ch}}, also {{vr|gh}}. Medial {{vr|cht}} may be {{IPA|/ð/}} in Northern dialects. {{lang|sco|loch}} ("fjord" or "lake"), {{lang|sco|nicht}} ("night"), {{lang|sco|dochter}} ("daughter"), {{lang|sco|dreich}} ("dreary"), etc. Similar to the German {{lang|de|Nacht}}.{{r|JohnstonEdinburghHistory|page=499}} The spelling {{vr|ch}} is realised {{IPA|/tʃ/}} word initially or where it follows {{vr|r}} e.g. {{lang|sco|airch}} ("arch"), {{lang|sco|mairch}} ("march"), etc.}}
| {{IPA link|x}}{{efn|name=ch}}
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
!rowspan=2|[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
! <small>[[Central consonant|central]]</small>
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɹ}}{{efn|name=r|Spelt {{vr|r}} and pronounced in all positions, i.e. [[Rhotic consonant|rhotically]]. The phoneme {{IPA|/r/}} is most commonly realised as an approximant {{IPA link|ɹ|[ɹ]}}, although an alveolar tap {{IPA link|ɾ|[ɾ]}} is also common, especially among older speakers in rural areas. The realisation as a trill {{IPA link|r|[r]}} is obsolete and only sporadically used for emphasis.{{r|EdinburghHistory|page=510–511}}}}
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
| {{IPA link|ʍ}}{{efn|{{vr|w}} {{IPA|/w/}} and {{vr|wh}} {{IPA|/ʍ/}}, older {{IPA|/xʍ/}}, do not merge.{{r|JohnstonEdinburghHistory|page=499}} Northern dialects also have {{IPA|/f/}} for {{IPA|/ʍ/}}.{{r|JohnstonEdinburghHistory|page=507}} The cluster {{vr|wr}} may be realised {{IPA|/wr/}}, more often {{IPA|/r/}}, but may be {{IPA|/vr/}} in Northern dialects{{r|JohnstonEdinburghHistory|page=507}} e.g. {{lang|sco|wrack}} ("wreck"), {{lang|sco|wrang}} ("wrong"), {{lang|sco|write}}, {{lang|sco|wrocht}} ("worked"), etc.}} {{IPA link|w}}
|
|-
! <small>[[Lateral consonant|lateral]]</small>
|
|
| {{IPA link|l}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan=2|[[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|
| {{IPA link|r}}{{efn|name=r}}
|
|
|
|
|}

{{notelist}}

==Orthography==
{{Further|Northumbrian Old English|Middle English|Early Scots|Middle Scots|Modern Scots}}
The [[orthography]] of [[Early Scots]] had become more or less standardised<ref>Agutter, Alex (1987) "A taxonomy of Older Scots orthography" in Caroline Macafee and Iseabail Macleod eds. The Nuttis Schell: Essays on the Scots Language Presented to A. J. Aitken, Aberdeen University Press, p. 75.</ref> by the middle to late sixteenth century.<ref>Millar, Robert McColl (2005) Language, Nation and Power An Introduction, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. pp. 90–91</ref> After the [[Union of the Crowns]] in 1603, the [[Standard English]] of England came to have an increasing influence on the spelling of Scots<ref>Wilson, James (1926) The Dialects of Central Scotland, Oxford University Press. p.194</ref> through the increasing influence and availability of books printed in England. After the [[Acts of Union 1707|Acts of Union]] in 1707 the emerging [[Scottish English|Scottish form of Standard English]] replaced Scots for most formal writing in Scotland.{{r|EdinburghCompanion|page=11}}
The eighteenth-century Scots revival saw the introduction of a new [[literary language]] descended from the old court Scots, but with an orthography that had abandoned some of the more distinctive old Scots spellings<ref>Tulloch, Graham (1980) The Language of Walter Scott. A Study of his Scottish and Period Language, London: Deutsch. p. 249</ref> and adopted many standard English spellings. Despite the updated spelling, however, the rhymes make it clear that a Scots pronunciation was intended.<ref name=ScottishDictionary>{{cite encyclopedia|editor-first1=William|editor-last1=Grant|editor-first2=David D.|editor-last2=Murison|title=The Scottish National Dictionary (SND) (1929–1976)|publisher=The Scottish National Dictionary Association|volume=I|location=Edinburgh|page=xv}}</ref> These writings also introduced what came to be known as the [[apologetic apostrophe]],{{r|ScottishDictionary|page=xiv}} generally occurring where a [[consonant]] exists in the Standard English [[cognate]]. This Written Scots drew not only on the vernacular, but also on the [[Authorized King James Version|King James Bible]], and was heavily influenced by the norms and conventions of [[Augustan literature|Augustan English poetry]].{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=168}} Consequently, this written Scots looked very similar to contemporary Standard English, suggesting a somewhat modified version of that, rather than a distinct speech form with a phonological system which had been developing independently for many centuries.<ref>McClure, J. Derrick (1985) "The debate on Scots orthography" in Manfred Görlach (ed.), ''Focus on: Scotland'', Amsterdam: Benjamins, p. 204</ref> This modern literary dialect, "Scots of the book" or Standard Scots,<ref>Mackie, Albert D. (1952) "Fergusson's Language: Braid Scots Then and Now" in Smith, Sydney Goodsir ed. ''Robert Fergusson 1750–1774'', Edinburgh: Nelson, p. 123–124, 129</ref><ref>Mairi Robinson (editor-in-chief), ''The Concise Scots Dictionary'', Aberdeen University Press, 1985 p. xiii</ref> once again gave Scots an orthography of its own, lacking neither "authority nor author".<ref>Stevenson, R.L. (1905). ''The Works of R. L. Stevenson Vol. 8'', "Underwoods", London: Heinemann, p. 152</ref> This literary language used throughout Lowland Scotland and Ulster,<ref>Todd, Loreto (1989). ''The Language of Irish Literature'', London: Macmillan, p. 134</ref> embodied by writers such as Allan Ramsay, Robert Fergusson, Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, [[Charles Murray (poet)|Charles Murray]], [[David Herbison]], James Orr, [[James Hogg]] and [[William Laidlaw (poet)|William Laidlaw]] among others, is well described in the 1921 ''Manual of Modern Scots''.<ref name="Manual of Scots">{{cite book|last1=Grant|first1=William|last2=Dixon|first2=James Main|year=1921|title=Manual of Modern Scots|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>

Other authors developed dialect writing, preferring to represent their own speech in a more phonological manner rather than following the pan-dialect conventions of modern literary Scots,<ref name=ScottishDictionary/> especially for the northern<ref>McClure, J. Derrick (2002). ''Doric: The Dialect of North–East Scotland''. Amsterdam: Benjamins, p. 79</ref> and insular dialects of Scots.

During the twentieth century, a number of proposals for spelling reform were presented. Commenting on this, [[John Corbett (writer)|John Corbett]] (2003: 260) writes that "devising a normative orthography for Scots has been one of the greatest linguistic hobbies of the past century". Most proposals entailed regularising the use of established eighteenth- and nineteenth-century conventions, in particular, the avoidance of the [[apologetic apostrophe]], which represented letters that were perceived to be missing when compared to the corresponding English cognates but were never actually present in the Scots word.<ref>{{cite web|last=Eagle|first=Andy|date=2014|title=Aw Ae Wey—Written Scots in Scotland and Ulster|url=http://www.scots-online.org/articles/contents/AwAeWey.pdf|version=v1.5}}</ref><ref>Rennie, S. (2001) "The Electronic Scottish National Dictionary (eSND): Work in Progress", ''Literary and Linguistic Computing'', 2001 16(2), Oxford University Press, pp. 159</ref> For example, in the fourteenth century, [[John Barbour (poet)|Barbour]] spelt the Scots [[cognate]] of "taken" as {{lang|sco|tane}}. It is argued that, because there has been no ''k'' in the word for over 700 years, representing its omission with an apostrophe is of little value. The current spelling is usually {{lang|sco|taen}}.

Through the twentieth century, with the decline of spoken Scots and knowledge of the literary tradition, phonetic (often humorous) representations became more common.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

==Grammar==
{{see also|Modern Scots#Grammar|label 1=Modern Scots grammar}}
Modern Scots follows the [[subject–verb–object]] sentence structure like [[Standard English]]. However, the word order {{Lang|sco|Gie's it}} (''Give us it'') vs. "Give it to me" may be preferred.{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=897}}
The [[indefinite article]] ''a'' may be used before both consonants and vowels. The [[definite article]] ''the'' is used before the names of seasons, days of the week, many nouns, diseases, trades and occupations, sciences and academic subjects.{{r|"Manual of Scots"|page=78}} It is also often used in place of the indefinite article and instead of a [[possessive pronoun]].{{r|"Manual of Scots"|page=77}}
Scots includes some irregular [[plural]]s such as {{lang|sco|ee/een}} ("eye/eyes"), {{lang|sco|cauf/caur}} ("calf/calves"), {{lang|sco|horse/horse}} ("horse/horses"), {{lang|sco|cou/kye}} ("cow/cows") and {{lang|sco|shae/shuin}} ("shoe/shoes") that survived from [[Old English]] into Modern Scots, but have become regularised plurals in Standard Modern English – ''ox''/''oxen'' and ''child''/''children'' being exceptions.{{r|"Manual of Scots"|page=79}}{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=896}} [[Noun]]s of measure and quantity remain unchanged in the plural.{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=896}}{{r|"Manual of Scots"|page=80}}
The [[relative pronoun]] is ''that'' for all persons and numbers, but may be [[elided]].{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=896}}{{r|"Manual of Scots"|page=102}} Modern Scots also has a third adjective/adverb ''this''-''that''-''yon''/''yonder'' ({{lang|sco|thon/thonder}}) indicating something at some distance.{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=896}} {{lang|sco|Thir}} and {{lang|sco|thae}} are the plurals of ''this'' and ''that'' respectively.
The [[present tense]] of [[verb]]s adheres to the [[Northern subject rule]] whereby verbs end in -''s'' in all persons and numbers except when a single personal pronoun is next to the verb.{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=896}}{{r|"Manual of Scots"|page=112}} Certain verbs are often used [[Progressive tense|progressively]]{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=896}} and verbs of motion may be dropped before an adverb or [[adverbial phrase]] of motion.{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=897}}
Many verbs have [[Germanic strong verb|strong]] or [[Irregular verb|irregular]] forms which are distinctive from Standard English.{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=896}}{{r|"Manual of Scots"|page=126}}
The regular past form of the [[Germanic weak verb|weak]] or [[Regular verb|regular]] verbs is ''-it'', ''-t'' or ''-ed'', according to the preceding consonant or vowel.{{r|OxfordCompanion|page=896}}{{r|"Manual of Scots"|page=113}}
The [[present participle]] and [[gerund]] ''in'' are now usually {{IPA|/ən/}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Beal|first=J.|chapter=Syntax and Morphology|editor-last=Jones|editor-first=C.|title=The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language|location=Edinburgh|publisher=University of Edinburgh Press|page=356}}</ref> but may still be differentiated {{IPA|/ən/}} and {{IPA|/in/}} in Southern Scots,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/INTRO/intro2.php?num=22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121171949/http://www.dsl.ac.uk/INTRO/intro2.php?num=22|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 January 2012|title=SND Introduction - Dialect Districts. p.xxxi|publisher=Dsl.ac.uk|access-date=21 May 2009}}</ref> and {{IPA|/ən/}} and {{IPA|/ɪn/}} in Northern Scots.
The [[Negation (linguistics)|negative particle]] is {{lang|sco|na}}, sometimes spelled {{lang|sco|nae}}, e.g. {{lang|sco|canna}} ("can't"), {{lang|sco|daurna}} ("daren't"), {{lang|sco|michtna}} ("mightn't").{{r|"Manual of Scots"|page=115}}

[[Adverb]]s usually take the same form as the verb root or [[adjective]], especially after verbs. Examples include {{lang|sco|Haein a real guid day}} ("Having a really good day") and {{Lang|sco|She's awfu fauchelt}} ("She's awfully tired").

==Sample text of Modern Scots==
From ''The Four Gospels in Braid Scots'' (William Wye Smith):
{{Poemquote
|text={{lang|sco|Noo the nativitie o' Jesus Christ was this gate: whan his mither Mary was mairry't till Joseph, 'or they cam thegither, she was fund wi' bairn o' the Holie Spirit.
Than her guidman, Joseph, bein an upricht man, and no desirin her name sud be i' the mooth o' the public, was ettlin to pit her awa' hidlins.
But as he had thir things in his mind, see! an Angel o' the Lord appear't to him by a dream, sayin, "Joseph, son o' Dauvid, binna feared to tak till ye yere wife, Mary; for that whilk is begotten in her is by the Holie Spirit.
"And she sall bring forth a son, and ye sal ca' his name {{smallcaps|Jesus}}; for he sal save his folk frae their sins."
Noo, a' this was dune, that it micht come to pass what was said by the Lord throwe the prophet,
"Tak tent! a maiden sal be wi' bairn, and sal bring forth a son; and they wull ca' his name Emmanuel," whilk is translatit, "God wi' us."
Sae Joseph, comin oot o' his sleep, did as the Angel had bidden him, and took till him his wife.
And leev'd in continence wi' her till she had brocht forth her firstborn son; and ca'd his name {{smallcaps|Jesus}}.|italic=no}}
|source=Matthew 1:18–21
}}

From ''The New Testament in Scots'' (William Laughton Lorimer, 1885–1967)
{{Poemquote
|text={{lang|sco|This is the storie o the birth o Jesus Christ. His mither Mary wis trystit til Joseph, but afore they war mairriet she wis fund tae be wi bairn bi the Halie Spírit. Her husband Joseph, honest man, hed nae mind tae affront her afore the warld an wis for brakkin aff their tryst hidlinweys; an sae he wis een ettlin tae dae, whan an angel o the Lord kythed til him in a draim an said til him, "Joseph, son o Dauvit, be nane feared tae tak Mary your trystit wife intil your hame; the bairn she is cairrein is o the Halie Spírit. She will beir a son, an the name ye ar tae gíe him is Jesus, for he will sauf his fowk frae their sins."

Aa this happent at the wurd spokken bi the Lord throu the Prophet micht be fulfilled: Behaud, the virgin wil bouk an beir a son, an they will caa his name Immanuel – that is, "God wi us".

Whan he hed waukit frae his sleep, Joseph did as the angel hed bidden him, an tuik his trystit wife hame wi him. But he bedditna wi her or she buir a son; an he caa'd the bairn Jesus.|italic=no}}
|source=Matthew 1:18–21
}}
==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}}
== See also ==
{{portal|Scotland|Languages}}
{{div col}}
* [[Bungi Creole]] of the Canadian [[Metis people]] of Scottish/British descent
* [[Doric dialect (Scotland)]]
* [[Glasgow patter]]
* [[Billy Kay (writer)|Billy Kay]]
* [[Languages of the United Kingdom]]
* [[Phonological history of Scots]]
* [[Scotticism]]
* [[Scottish Corpus of Texts and Speech]]
* [[Scottish literature]]
* [[Scots Wikipedia]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==

{{Commons}}
{{Wikibooks|Lowland Scots}}
{{InterWiki|code=sco}}
* [http://www.scots-online.org/ Scots-online]
* [http://www.lallans.co.uk/ The Scots Language Society]
* [http://www.scotslanguage.com/ Scots Language Centre]
* [https://archive.org/details/dialects-english-scots Internet Archive Collection on Dialects of English and Scots]


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