Christine Robinson - Modren Scots Grammar: Wirkin wi Wirds

CHRISTINE ROBINSON MA PhD has taught Scots at the University of Edinburgh for many years. She lectures on Scots for the University of the Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute and is Director of Scottish Language Dictionaries (SLD). SLD is the organisation dedicated to the lexicography of Scots and Scottish English with stewardship of the Scottish National Dictionary, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue and the online Dictionary of the Scots Language www.dsl.ac.uk. In addition to lexicographical work, SLD has a lively outreach programme, supporting Scots in the community and in education. Brought up in Perth, of Kincardineshire parents, and now living in West Lothian she has first hand knowledge of a range of Scots dialects and has carried out a number of dialect research projects. She also has an interest in Older Scots.

She is a committee member of the Scots Language Society, a Trustee of The Scots Language Centre, Chair of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies Language Committee, a member of the Literature Forum and a regular attendee at the Parliamentary Cross Party Group on Scots. This Buik wis scrievit in celebration o the first ten years o Scottish Language Dictionaries (SLD). SLD wis formed in 2002 and brocht thegither the staff o A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue ( dost ) and The Scottish National Dictionary Association. We inheritit awmaist a century o wark, 12 muckle volumes o dost an 10 o the Scottish National Dictionary . Thir dictionars are online as the Dictionar o the Scots Leid at www.dsl.ac.uk. Noo SLD bigs on the thae braw foonds tae hain the record o spoken and written Scots fae aw the airts.We are unnertakkin the wechty darg o editin a saicont edition o the Concise Scots Dictionary and are ettlin tae improve the Dictionar o the Scots Leid .

Sen 2009 we hae been maistly fundit by the Scottish Government. We wad like tae thank them an aw oor memmers an generous supporters that help us tae tak tent tae the future o Scots lexicography. Christine Robinson Director, Scottish Language Dictionaries
Modren Scots Grammar by Christine Robinson with illustrations by Bob Dewar Luath Press Limited EDINBURGH www.luath.co.uk First published 2012 Reprinted 2013 ISBN (print): 978-1-908373-39-7 eBook 2013 ISBN (eBook): 978-1-909912-19-9 The authors right to be identified as author of this work under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has been asserted. Scottish Language Dictionaries Contents Introductory notes For awbodie This buik is in Scots and aboot Scots, but whit is Scots? Whither ye speak Shetland Dialect, the Doric, Dundee, Glasgwegian, Borders Scots, Ulster Scots or onie ither variety, they are aw dialects o the same leid, descendit fae Northern Middle Inglis wi a fair skelp o Auld Norse, French, Latin and Gaelic, wi a guid bit o Dutch or Flemish as weel. For aw that we hae very different accents, which maks us spell differently, and for aw that we hae mony wirds that are weel kent in ae place an nae heard in anither, we aw speak the ae leid. We hae mair things in common than we hae keepin us apairt.

Ane o thae things is grammar. There are wee differences in grammar fae place tae place in Scotland, but nae that mony. Sae this is a grammar buik for awbodie that speaks Scots. There is nae wey that A can scrieve Scots in awbodies dialect at aince. A hae tried tae avoid very local wirds or aff-pittin spellins and A howp that yell read it in yer ain accent onywey. If ye come across a wird ye dinnae ken, mind its aye guid tae extend yer vocabulary.

Maybe, if we aw stert tae read and write in Scots a bit mair, we will come tae a consensus aboot whit is the best wey tae spell in Scots and well aw hae a grand vocabulary. Then we can say we hae a standard Scots. Until that time, we jist hae tae keep an open mind, nae fash ower muckle ower spellin and enjoy lairnin fae ane anither. We micht hae mony dialects but ilkane is jist as guid Scots as the ither. For lairners Whit is grammar? It is whit we ken aboot the wey wirds are pit thegither. The wee dug bit the muckle man is no the same as The wee man bit the muckle dug .

We ken that because o the order the wirds gaes in. The laddie lowps that dyke is different fae The laddies lowpit thae dykes. We ken fae the form o the wirds. Thats grammar. As explained abune, we dinnae aw speak the same wey (we dinna aa spikk e same wey). That is hoo in this buik ye will find a wheen o things in brackets.

The brackets gie the maist likely options, but gin ye dinnae find yer ain wey o speakin there, dinnae let it pit ye aff. Discuss it wi yer cless and yer teacher. Ye will find some examples that stert wi an asterisk *. That tells ye the example is something maist speakers wadnae be comfortable wi. It is an example o a thing that jist isnae yaised in ordinary speakin an scrievin. Maist folk yaisin this buik will ken baith Scots an Inglis.

By the time ye hae feenished the buik, ye will be able tae wirk oot whit wey they differ and whit wey they are alike and ye will be able tae talk aboot language and unnerstand whit wey it wirks. For teachers We hae ettelt tae cover as mony dialects as possible athoot makkin the buik ower complicatit. Jist acause a grammatical construction isnae in the buik disnae mean it is wrang. This isnae intendit as a prescriptive grammar. It accords wi Curriculum for Excellence in that it ettles tae gie readers an unnerstandin o the wey language wirks and tae gie them the vocabulary tae think aboot an discuss Scots, Inglis an ither Modren Languages. It also ettles tae encourage discovery in language, suggestin areas whaur further exploration cuid be cairried oot.

Mair importantly, it ettles tae gie readers confidence in their ain leid and tae help them see that whit differs fae Inglis isnae bad Inglis but a different leid in its ain richt. If they can distinguish tane fae tither, they will be better at baith. The relevance o this buik tae Studying Scotland lies in wirkin wi the leid itsel and in the better unnerstannin o Scottish Literature that familiarity wi the grammar can foster. The buik deals wi grammar in a modren wey, wi modren terminology. It can be yaised progressively, muivin fae the basic pairts o speech tae mair complex grammatical structures. This will allou a naitral transition tae mair advanced grammar buiks sic as Understanding Grammar in Scotland Today by John Corbett and Christian Kay.

The vocabulary yaised in this text is maistly in the Essential Scots Dictionary . The Concise Scots Dictionary will supply the remainder. The intention haes been tae mak the language accessible tae Scots speakers, makkin yiss o lexical items shared wi Inglis but at the same time extendin the lairners Scots vocabulary. Nouns A noun is a namin wird. It tells ye the name o a thing, a person or a place. They can be concrete nouns (physical things that ye micht see or touch, like hoose, tree, sausage ) or abstract nouns (things that are jist in yer mind, like boredom, arithmetic, fascination ).

Nouns can dae things and be things. Then we say they are the subject o the sentence: The dug is daft. Sandy swam. Edinburgh rocks. Nouns can hae things done till them. Then we say they are the object o the sentence: The dug cockit its lugs .

Mary sings opera . Glasgae walcomes tourists . Exercise 1 Wale oot the nouns and say whether they are subjects or objects : Harry biggit a hoose. The hoose haed twa doors and echt windaes. The hoose fell doon. Maggie bocht a tent.