Translating English to Scots: Tips for Authentic Scots Language

Scots (not Scottish English) is a distinct Germanic language variety with its own grammar, vocabulary, and orthography. There's no single "correct" translation—dialects vary (Insular, Northern, Central, Southern, Ulster). Here's how to approach it:

Core Principles

1. Use Scots Vocabulary

• house → hoose
• night → nicht
• child → bairn
• girl → lassie
• boy → laddie
• know → ken
• can't → canna
• not → no / nae
• very → gey / fair

2. Master Scots Spelling Conventions

• ui for /ø/ or /ɪ/ (guid = good, muin = moon)
• ee for /i/ (been = bean, but "been" = bin)
• oa for /o/ (stane = stone, hame = home)
• ch for /x/ (loch, nicht, bricht)
• quh- historical for wh- (quhair = where; now rare)

3. Learn Scots Grammar

• Verb "be": am/is/are → am / is / are (similar), but past: was/were → wis / war
• Negation: "I don't know" → "A dinna ken"
• Progressive: "I'm going" → "A'm gaun"
• Relative clauses: "that" → at / that
• Pronouns: I → A; you → ye; we → we; they → thay

4. Respect Dialect Variation

• Doric (NE): fit (what), far (where), fan (when)
• Glaswegian: distinct vowel shifts, glottal stops
• Borders: closer to Northern English
• Shetlandic/Orkney: Norse influence (peerie = small)

Resources

• DSL: Dictionary of the Scots Language (authoritative)
• Scots Language Centre: scotslanguage.com
• Itchy Coo / Black & White Publishing: Modern Scots books

Cultural Note

Scots has ~1.5M speakers (2011 census). It's recognized under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Translation should honor it as a language, not a dialect of English.