About Scots

This section contains articles about the Scots language, ranging from a brief explanation of what Scots actually is, to a detailed phonological history of the language up to the year 1700.

Click on the title of each article to see it.

What is Scots?

Where does it come from? Where is it spoken? This brief article will explain.

A language or a dialect?

Looking in turn at Scots pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, is Scots more than just a dialect?

An outline history of Scots

Aimed primarily at the general reader, this outline history traces Scots from its origins to the present day.

A history of Scots to 1700

A detailed and scholarly history of Older Scots.

Phonetic description

This Phonetic Description of Scottish Language and Dialects appeared in the Scottish National Dictionary, Volume 1 Part 1, which was published in 1931. it contains a wealth of information about the history and distribution of Scots and its various dialects.