Scots Norse

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Scots Norse
Sudhraèsc
Pronunciation[sˠɤðˠ.ˈreʃc]
Created byMelinoë
DateApril 3rd, 2026
Native toSuðreyjar
EthnicityNorse Scots
Native speakers(L1) 2,000 (2019)
(L2) < 50,000
Early forms
Dialects
  • Inner South
  • Inner Central
  • Inner North
  • Outer South
  • Outer North
Official status
Official language in
Scotland
Scots Norse is classified as critically endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Scots Norse (Also Sodor Norse; endonym: Sudhraèsc; /sˠɤðˠ.ˈreʃc/) is a West Nordic language, thus closer to Icelandic and Faroese than Swedish or Danish. It is natively spoken throughout Suðreyjar, being the dominant language of the isles. It has recieved heavy influence from Gàidhlig over the last several centuries, contributing heavily to the spelling conventions of the language, and likely being the primary pushing force behind the development of the broad/slender distinction in Scots Norse.

Scots Norse is typically split into two main dialect groups, Inner and Outer, corresponding to the Inner and Outer Hebrides, these are further divided into North and South for both, with a Central division for Inner. These dialects are almost entirely mutually intelligible within their groups, and mostly so even between the groups. Uniting all of these is the standardized form, Hàsudraèsc, literally meaning "High Scots Norse". ("high" as in "exalted")

Scots Norse is hard to classify type-wise, as it shows signs of creolization, but not to the extent where it could typically be classed as a creole, this leads to the branching from Insular West Norse into so-called "Gaelo-Nordic", characterized by the partial creolization of Old West Norse with Middle Irish and Scots Gaelic. Regardless how it is classed, Scots Norse is with no doubt some kind of mixed language.

History

Pre-Modern

Scots Norse originates in the mid to late 13th century, around the time Suðreyjar was handed over to Scotland with the Treaty of Perth. Though the language would continue to be largely unchanged from the Old Norse of the 12th century, 1266AD is often used as a dividing date between Old Norse and the earliest forms of Scots Norse. While 1266 is a relatively arbitrary date, it serves its purpose as a convenient divide between two stages, as following the Treaty of Perth, the Hebrides would gain a much larger population of Gaelic and English speakers (At this point still Middle Irish and Middle English), and from roughly 1450AD onward, Scots Norse would be increasingly influenced by Scots Gaelic and, to a lesser extent, Scots.

Having been spoken throughout Suðreyjar, Scots Norse had a dialect within the Isle of Man (Scots Norse Monaèirr). Little is known about Manx Norse (Monaèsc), as it is very poorly recorded, the most extensive description being a short document from around 1500AD that contains a list of about 150 words (see the Noreine speche fra Man), with a very poor description of the pronunciations. Though from this description we can gather that Manx Norse still had the dental fricatives that had been lost in other dialects (merging with t/d), we get this from the description "... these [th and dh] are like that of the Saxons' beloved þ."

Following the treaty of Perth, the usage of Norse began declining significantly, with evidence it was nearly extinct by 1550. A small revitalization occured in the mid 18th century when several of the last native speakers (at the time, Scots Norse had no more than 150 remaining speakers) gathered together to document the language so it could be taught to children. This effort was mostly effective, leading to the first noticeable rise in speaker count since it began declining. By the 1880's, there would be upwards of 1,500 native speakers, a majority of them young.

Modern

Modern Scots Norse is typically classed as critically endangered due to how few speakers it has, having no more than 2,500 native speakers as of 2020, and virtually all of them live in the Hebrides, making it extremely limited.

Since the early 1990's, Scots Norse has gained a small but dedicated community of linguists that are determined to further document it and make resources more readily available. As of 2018, an online course has been published that goes over Standard Scots Norse, and it has been continually updated since then, improving the quality and extent of the contents, having started out as a rather barebones description of the phonology, orthography, and rudimentary grammar.

Phonology

labial dental alveolar velar
plain broad slender plain broad slender plain broad slender plain broad slender
Nasal m mˠ mʲ n nˠ ɲ
Stop Unvoiced p pˠ pʲ t tˠ tʲ k c
Voiced b bˠ bʲ d dˠ dʲ g ɟ
Fricative Unvoiced f fˠ fʲ θ θˠ θʲ s sˠ ʃ h¹ x ç
Voiced v vˠ vʲ ð ðˠ ðʲ z zˠ ʒ ɣ ʝ
Approximant r, l rˠ, lˠ rʲ, ʎ j
  1. /h/ merges with /x/ outside of Standard Scots Norse.
Front Back
Unround Round
High i u
Near-High ɪ ɤ~ʊ
Mid e (ə) o
Low æ~ɛ ɔ~ɒ
  1. /ə/ is the unstressed realization of /æ, ɔ/. (differing by slender vs broad)
  2. /æ/ is often /ɛ/ before nasals, but rarely so anywhere else.

Long vowels have long been lost, though their effects remain prominently, influencing the languages stress patterns heavily.

Every vowel can appear nasalized, though nasalization only occurs in specific positions, and is always shown with a single N. (though not all single Ns are nasalization)

  • Word finally
  • Before a fricative (Though "nh" is /n̥/)
  • In some irregular positions when loaned from another language.

Dialects

Uist Norse

labial dental alveolar velar
broad slender broad slender broad slender broad slender
Nasal m mʲ n ɲ
Stop Unvoiced p pʲ t tʲ k c
Voiced b bʲ d dʲ g ɟ
Fricative Unvoiced f fʲ θ θʲ s ʃ x ç
Voiced v vʲ ð ðʲ z ʒ ɣ ʝ
Approximant r, ɫ rʲ, ʎ j
Front Back
Unround Round
High i u
Mid e o
Low ɛ (ɐ) ɔ~ɒ
  1. /ə/ is the unstressed realization of /ɛ, ɔ/. (differing by slender vs broad)

Nasal vowels in Uist Norse are typically realized slightly centralized and longer, often without the nasalization.

Front Back
Unround Round
High ɪ̈ˑ ʊ̈ˑ
Mid ɘˑ ɵˑ
Low ɜˑ (əˑ) ɞˑ

Prosody

The rules for stress are very slightly more complex than they were in Old Norse, but not by much.

Stress always goes on the left-most syllable possible. When there are vowels with a grave, stress goes to the first one, skipping over all vowels without one. (so sudhraèir is stressed on "aèi")

Mutation

Since Old Norse, initial consonant mutation has developed. Scots Norse has several forms:

radical (basic)
lenited
nasal
voiced

these can be shown quite well through pronoun + verb, as a pronoun exists that causes most of them (except voiced), the word order for these will be slightly odd.

The following gives an example using each of the nominative pronouns:

e thàel /ˈɛ θoʎ/ — "I speak"
tù thàlarr /ˈtˠu ˈθo.lər/ — "you speak"
ha nhàlarr /ˈha n̥o.lər/ — "he speaks"
ho nhàlarr /ˈxɔ ˈn̥o.lər/ — "she speaks"
tat tàlarr /ˈtat ˈto.lər/ — "it/they (sg) speak(s)"
vit tòlu /vʲɪt tˠo.ɫɤ/ — "we speak"
it tòlud /ɪt tˠo.ɫɤd/ — "you (pl) speak"
tèrr tòl /ˈtʲer ˈtˠoɫ/ — "they (m/f) speaks"
tò thòl /ˈtˠo ˈθˠoɫ/ — "they (n) speak"

Orthography

(updated up to "dh")

Morphology

Nouns

Nouns have been reduced down to a basic singular/plural distinction, with the masc/fem distinction only maintained in the singular and when paired with the article hin.

Noun declensions
masculine feminine
singular plural singular plural
indefinite -ᶫ -arr - -arr
definite hin h-ᶫ hin h-arr hin - hin -arr

All nouns fit into one of these two patterns, regardless the forms in Old Norse. Below are several examples.

Declension of ald (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite aldᶫ aldarr
definite hin h-aldᶫ hin h-aldarr
Declension of hàet (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite hàetᶫ hàtarr
definite hin 'àetᶫ hin 'àtarr
Declension of hàmar (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite hàmarᶫ hàmararr
definite hin 'àmarᶫ hin 'àmararr
Declension of bèdh (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite bèdhᶫ bèdharr
definite hin bhèdhᶫ hin bhèdharr
Declension of bòegh (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite bòeghᶫ bògharr
definite hin bhòeghᶫ hin bhògharr
Declension of màel (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite màelᶫ màlarr
definite hin mhàelᶫ hin mhàlarr
Declension of poest (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite poestᶫ postarr
definite hin phoestᶫ hin phostarr
Declension of arrv (feminine)
singular plural
indefinite arrv arrvarr
definite hin arrv hin arrvarr

Adjectives

Adjectives have essentially lost all declension, at most declining for gender, where the forms are identical, the only difference being that the masculine form triggers lenition. (see sèl)

Both the comparative and superlative forms were lost by the time of Sudrey Norse, being replaced with the usage of mèr ("more") and mast ("most"), so rather than, say, Old Norse "beztr" (hypothetical Scots Norse **bast) for "better", it is instead mèr ghòedh (lit. "more good").

Numerals

1 èn
2 tfèrr
3 trìrr
4 fiòrarr
5 fi
6 sac
7 siò
8 àet
9 naì
10 taì
11 aliov
12 tòlv

èn is the only adjective-like word in all of Scots Norse that retains a distinct plural form, ènarr

Prepositions

Scots Norse has a very, very simple system of inflected prepositions, only inflecting for person and number.

A large amount of speakers simply don't use inflected prepositions.

Inflection of in
1st 2nd 3rd
singular inᶫ ionhᶫ inhᶰ
plural imat int inharr

ᶫ: causes aspirate
ᶰ: causes nasal


Inflection of til
1st 2nd 3rd
singular tilᶫ tiolhᶫ tilhᶰ
plural tilvat tilt tilharr

ᶫ: causes aspirate
ᶰ: causes nasal


Verbs

Many significant changes have happened to the verb system since Old Norse, notably both the mood and voice distinctions have been lost. The active indicative has descended into the present and past tense, while the active subjunctive was lost entirely. The oppositive happened in the mediopassive, with the subjunctive becoming the future and stative, while the indicative was lost.

The stative doesn't exist for every verb, but the forms are still displayed for convenience's sake.

The original mediopassive indicative only remains in a small set of verbs acting as a reciprocal, typically physical actions taken towards others, like [Term?] ("to fight"), slà ("to hit"), [Term?] ("to embrace"), as well as a few abstract verbs, such as [Term?] ("to love"). Otherwise it's been replaced by hìnu n-onaru

Verbs have reduced to such a limited number of forms that analogy and sound changes have leveled them all down to essentially one pattern (excluding a few irregular verbs), which seemingly descends from Old Norse's weak class 2 pattern.

Conjugation of tàel (weak)
present past future stative
infinitive tàel — — —
participle tàlann tàladh — —
finites tàlarr tàladharr tàlist tàladhist
Combined conjugation of tàel (weak)
singular plural impersonal
1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
independent present tàlarr a tàlarr tù tàlarr ha tàlarr vit tàlarr it tàlarr tèrr tàlarr
past tàladharr a tàladharr tù tàladharr ha tàladharr vit tàladharr it tàladharr tèrr tàladharr
future tàlist a tàlist tù tàlist ha tàlist vit tàlist it tàlist tèrr tàlist
stative tàladhist a tàladhist tù tàladhist ha tàladhist vit tàladhist it tàladhist tèrr tàladhist
negative present tàlart a tàlart tù tàlart ha tàlart vit tàlart it tàlart tèrr tàlart
past tàladhart a tàladhart tù tàladhart ha tàladhart vit tàladhart it tàladhart tèrr tàladhart
future tàlistat a tàlistat tù tàlistat ha tàlistat vit tàlistat it tàlistat tèrr tàlistat
stative tàladhistat a tàladhistat tù tàladhistat ha tàladhistat vit tàladhistat it tàladhistat tèrr tàladhistat
continuative arr tàlann u n-a arr tàlann u nhù arr tàlann u nha arr tàlann u mit arr tàlann u n-it arr tàlann u nhèrr arr tàlann u
perfect present arr tàladh u n-a arr tàladh u nhù arr tàladh u nha arr tàladh u mit arr tàladh u n-it arr tàladh u nhèrr arr tàladh u
past varr tàladh u n-a varr tàladh u nhù varr tàladh u nha varr tàladh u mit varr tàladh u n-it varr tàladh u nhèrr varr tàladh u
future vèrist tàladh u n-a vèrist tàladh u nhù vèrist tàladh u nha vèrist tàladh u mit vèrist tàladh u n-it vèrist tàladh u nhèrr vèrist tàladh u
stative vèradhist tàladh u n-a vèradhist tàladh u nhù vèradhist tàladh u nha vèradhist tàladh u mit vèradhist tàladh u n-it vèradhist tàladh u nhèrr vèradhist tàladh u
negative perfect present arr tàladhat u n-a arr tàladhat u nhù arr tàladhat u nha arr tàladhat u mit arr tàladhat u n-it arr tàladhat u nhèrr arr tàladhat u
past varr tàladhat u n-a varr tàladhat u nhù varr tàladhat u nha varr tàladhat u mit varr tàladhat u n-it varr tàladhat u nhèrr varr tàladhat u
future vèrist tàladhat u n-a vèrist tàladhat u nhù vèrist tàladhat u nha vèrist tàladhat u mit vèrist tàladhat u n-it vèrist tàladhat u nhèrr vèrist tàladhat u
stative vèradhist tàladhat u n-a vèradhist tàladhat u nhù vèradhist tàladhat u nha vèradhist tàladhat u mit vèradhist tàladhat u n-it vèradhist tàladhat u nhèrr vèradhist tàladhat u


Conjugation of mèl (weak)
present past future stative
infinitive mèl — — —
participle mèlann mèladh — —
finites mèlarr mèladharr mèlist mèladhist
Combined conjugation of mèl (weak)
singular plural impersonal
1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
independent present mèlarr a mèlarr tù mèlarr ha mèlarr vit mèlarr it mèlarr tèrr mèlarr
past mèladharr a mèladharr tù mèladharr ha mèladharr vit mèladharr it mèladharr tèrr mèladharr
future mèlist a mèlist tù mèlist ha mèlist vit mèlist it mèlist tèrr mèlist
stative mèladhist a mèladhist tù mèladhist ha mèladhist vit mèladhist it mèladhist tèrr mèladhist
negative present mèlart a mèlart tù mèlart ha mèlart vit mèlart it mèlart tèrr mèlart
past mèladhart a mèladhart tù mèladhart ha mèladhart vit mèladhart it mèladhart tèrr mèladhart
future mèlistat a mèlistat tù mèlistat ha mèlistat vit mèlistat it mèlistat tèrr mèlistat
stative mèladhistat a mèladhistat tù mèladhistat ha mèladhistat vit mèladhistat it mèladhistat tèrr mèladhistat
continuative arr mèlann u n-a arr mèlann u nhù arr mèlann u nha arr mèlann u mit arr mèlann u n-it arr mèlann u nhèrr arr mèlann u
perfect present arr mèladh u n-a arr mèladh u nhù arr mèladh u nha arr mèladh u mit arr mèladh u n-it arr mèladh u nhèrr arr mèladh u
past varr mèladh u n-a varr mèladh u nhù varr mèladh u nha varr mèladh u mit varr mèladh u n-it varr mèladh u nhèrr varr mèladh u
future vèrist mèladh u n-a vèrist mèladh u nhù vèrist mèladh u nha vèrist mèladh u mit vèrist mèladh u n-it vèrist mèladh u nhèrr vèrist mèladh u
stative vèradhist mèladh u n-a vèradhist mèladh u nhù vèradhist mèladh u nha vèradhist mèladh u mit vèradhist mèladh u n-it vèradhist mèladh u nhèrr vèradhist mèladh u
negative perfect present arr mèladhat u n-a arr mèladhat u nhù arr mèladhat u nha arr mèladhat u mit arr mèladhat u n-it arr mèladhat u nhèrr arr mèladhat u
past varr mèladhat u n-a varr mèladhat u nhù varr mèladhat u nha varr mèladhat u mit varr mèladhat u n-it varr mèladhat u nhèrr varr mèladhat u
future vèrist mèladhat u n-a vèrist mèladhat u nhù vèrist mèladhat u nha vèrist mèladhat u mit vèrist mèladhat u n-it vèrist mèladhat u nhèrr vèrist mèladhat u
stative vèradhist mèladhat u n-a vèradhist mèladhat u nhù vèradhist mèladhat u nha vèradhist mèladhat u mit vèradhist mèladhat u n-it vèradhist mèladhat u nhèrr vèradhist mèladhat u

mèl was originally a class 1 verb.


Suppletive verbs

There is only one known suppletive verb in Scots Norse, that being the copula vèr, and even it has been leveled by many speakers.

Conjugation of vèr (suppletive)
present past future stative
infinitive vèr — — —
participle vèrann vèradh — —
finites arr varr vèrist vèradhist
Combined conjugation of vèr (suppletive)
singular plural impersonal
1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
independent present arr a arr tù arr ha arr vit arr it arr tèrr arr
past varr a varr tù varr ha varr vit varr it varr tèrr varr
future vèrist a vèrist tù vèrist ha vèrist vit vèrist it vèrist tèrr vèrist
stative vèradhist a vèradhist tù vèradhist ha vèradhist vit vèradhist it vèradhist tèrr vèradhist
negative present art a art tù art ha art vit art it art tèrr art
past vart a vart tù vart ha vart vit vart it vart tèrr vart
future vèristat a vèristat tù vèristat ha vèristat vit vèristat it vèristat tèrr vèristat
stative vèradhistat a vèradhistat tù vèradhistat ha vèradhistat vit vèradhistat it vèradhistat tèrr vèradhistat
continuative arr vèrann u n-a arr vèrann u nhù arr vèrann u nha arr vèrann u mit arr vèrann u n-it arr vèrann u nhèrr arr vèrann u
perfect present arr vèradh u n-a arr vèradh u nhù arr vèradh u nha arr vèradh u mit arr vèradh u n-it arr vèradh u nhèrr arr vèradh u
past varr vèradh u n-a varr vèradh u nhù varr vèradh u nha varr vèradh u mit varr vèradh u n-it varr vèradh u nhèrr varr vèradh u
future vèrist vèradh u n-a vèrist vèradh u nhù vèrist vèradh u nha vèrist vèradh u mit vèrist vèradh u n-it vèrist vèradh u nhèrr vèrist vèradh u
stative vèradhist vèradh u n-a vèradhist vèradh u nhù vèradhist vèradh u nha vèradhist vèradh u mit vèradhist vèradh u n-it vèradhist vèradh u nhèrr vèradhist vèradh u
negative perfect present arr vèradhat u n-a arr vèradhat u nhù arr vèradhat u nha arr vèradhat u mit arr vèradhat u n-it arr vèradhat u nhèrr arr vèradhat u
past varr vèradhat u n-a varr vèradhat u nhù varr vèradhat u nha varr vèradhat u mit varr vèradhat u n-it varr vèradhat u nhèrr varr vèradhat u
future vèrist vèradhat u n-a vèrist vèradhat u nhù vèrist vèradhat u nha vèrist vèradhat u mit vèrist vèradhat u n-it vèrist vèradhat u nhèrr vèrist vèradhat u
stative vèradhist vèradhat u n-a vèradhist vèradhat u nhù vèradhist vèradhat u nha vèradhist vèradhat u mit vèradhist vèradhat u n-it vèradhist vèradhat u nhèrr vèradhist vèradhat u

"arr" and "varr" are the more prevalent forms, but the regularized forms "vèrarr" and "vèradharr" are also rather common.

Syntax

Texts

UDHR Article 1

Original (English)

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Old Norse (modern translation)

Allir menn eru bornir frjálsir ok jafnir at virðingu ok réttum. Þeir eru allir viti gœddir ok samvizku, ok skulu gøra hvárr til annars bróðurliga.

Scots Norse

èor mhanarr al bhori mhriàl h-o hiavn, vèrann vhirrdhing o rhèt h-atharr. vèrann gaèdhadh h-o shanvisc h-atharr, o shcùl ghèor thil bròdhligh hionn.
èor mhanarr al bhori mhriàl h-o hiavn, vèrann vhirrdhing o rhèt h-atharr. vèrann gaèdhadh h-o shanvisc h-atharr, o shcùl ghèor thil bròdhligh hionn.

English translation
lit: "all men are born free and equal, being dignity and rights at them. being reason and conscience at them, and should act to brotherhood at each other"
"all men are born free and equal, having dignity and rights. they have reason and conscience, and should act to eachother as a brotherhood"

Deor

Old English

Welund him be wurman
wræces cunnade,
anhydig eorl
earfoþa dreag,
hæfde him to gesiþþe
sorge and longaþ,
wintercealde wræce,
wean oft onfond
siþþan hine Niðhad on
nede legde,
swoncre seonobende
on syllan monn.
Þæs ofereode,
þisses swa mæg.

Scots Norse

Vòluenn shi, thur ròvnirr
cvàlarr cenn,
ànar iall
arrvidh thoeld,
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
ta h-oevgangtirr,
tash thil mègh.

(lines with "-" are yet to be translated)

Lexical comparison

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