Western Scots Norse

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Outer Scots Norse
Veastèghsc
Pronunciation[ˌvɛst.ˈejʃc]
Created byMelinoë
Native toSiarègh
EthnicityNorse Scots
Native speakers(L1) 900 (2020)
(L2) < 20,000
Early forms
Dialects
  • Fadhèghsc
  • Ìvistèghsc
  • Barèghsc
Official status
Official language in
Scotland
File:Lang Status 20-CR.svg
Scots Norse is classified as critically endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Western Scots Norse (endonym: Veastèghsc; /ˌvɛst.ˈejʃc/) is spoken throughout the Veastèghiar, or the Outer Hebrides. It has the heavier influence of the two dialect groups from Gàidhlig.

Western Scots Norse is one of two main dialect groups, the other being Inner Scots Norse, corresponding to the Inner and Outer Hebrides. Western Scots Norse is further divided into Fadhèghsc (Lewis and Harris), Ìvistèghsc (Uist), and Barèghsc (Barra). Ìvistèghsc and Barèghsc tend to be more similar than Fadhèghsc, which often leads to them being paired as Sudhveastèghsc.

Phonology

A "standard" phonology is difficult to establish as the dialects tend to differ from each other in small but major ways, but it'd probably look like the following.

labial alveolar velar
broad slender broad slender broad slender
Nasal m mʲ n ɲ
Stop Unvoiced p p͡f t t͡ʃ k c
Voiced b b͡v d d͡ʒ g ɟ
Fricative Unvoiced f fʲ s ʃ x ç
Voiced v vʲ z ʒ ɣ ʝ
Approximant r, ɫ rʲ, ʎ j
Front Back
High i u
Near-High ɤ
Mid e o
Low ɛ ɔ
Nasals Front Back
High iə̯ uə̯
Near-High ɤə̯
Mid eə̯ oə̯
Low ɛə̯ ɔə̯
  1. /ə/ is the unstressed realization of /æ, ɔ/. (differing by slender vs broad)

All Outer dialects share the following features:

  • front round vowels > a back vowel, thus words like "systir" become siuest in Outer.
  • short i-e merger, always to /ɛ/.
  • loss of dental fricatives through merging variably with ⟨t, d⟩ or ⟨(c)h, gh⟩. (Always with ⟨(c)h, gh⟩ when slender)
  • denasalization of nasal vowels, giving varying values throughout the dialects.
  • merger of /r/ and /ɾ/.
  • Broad A/À rather than the slender A and plain À of Inner dialects
  • no a-e merger, keeping ⟨a⟩ as /ə/, thus words like "hvelpr" and "hvalpa" become velp and valp, rather than merging to valp as in Inner.
  • no à > /o/ shift, keeping ⟨à⟩ as /ɑ/. Thus /ˈɑv/ (àv) for Inner /ˈovʲ/ (àev)
  • ⟨a⟩ for Old Norse ⟨ǫ⟩, where Inner has ⟨o⟩.

Fadhaèghsc

Fadhaèghsc, or High Scots Norse (Locative "high"), is spoken on Fadhaègh, or Lewis and Harris.

labial alveolar velar
broad slender broad slender broad slender
Nasal m mʲ n ɲ
Stop Unvoiced p p͡f t t͡ʃ k c
Voiced b b͡v d d͡ʒ g ɟ
Fricative Unvoiced f f(j)~ç s ʃ x ç
Voiced v v(j)~ʝ z ʒ ɣ ʝ
Approximant ɾ, ɫ ɾʲ j
  1. The dental fricatives merge with /x, ɣ/
  2. /ʎ/ becomes /j/
Front Back
High i u
Near-High ɤ
Mid e o
Low ɛ ɔ~ɒ
  1. /ə/ is the unstressed realization of /ɛ, ɔ/. (differing by slender vs broad)

"Nasal" vowels are typically realized as centering diphthongs.

Front Back
High iɪ̯̈ uʊ̯̈
Near-High ɤʊ̯̈~ʊ̈ː
Mid eɪ̯̈ oʊ̯̈
Low ɛɪ̯̈ ɔʊ̯̈
  1. /əɪ̯̈/ is the unstressed realization of /ɜˑ, ɞˑ/. (differing by slender vs broad)

Ìvistèghsc

Ìvistèghsc, or Uist Norse, is spoken on the islands of Ìvist, or Uist.

labial alveolar velar
broad slender broad slender broad slender
Nasal m mʲ n ɲ
Stop Unvoiced p p͡f t t͡ʃ k c
Voiced b b͡v d d͡ʒ g ɟ
Fricative Unvoiced f f(j) s ʃ x ç
Voiced v v(j) z ʒ ɣ ʝ
Approximant r, ɫ rʲ, ʎ j
Front Back
High i u
Near-High ɤ
Mid e o
Low ɛ 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.

Front Back
High ɪ̈ˑ ʊ̈ˑ
Mid ɘˑ ɵˑ
Low ɜˑ ɞˑ
  1. /əˑ/ is the unstressed realization of /ɜˑ, ɞˑ/. (differing by slender vs broad)

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

radical (basic)
lenition
eclipsis
mec tàlir /ˈmʲɛc ˈtɑ.ʎəɾʲ/ — "I speak"
ha dàlir /ˈxə ˈdɑ.ʎəɾʲ/ — "he speaks"
ec thàlir /ˈɛc ˈxɑ.ʎəɾʲ/ — "we (emphatic) speak"

Orthography

(updated up to "bh")

Morphology

Pronouns

Scots Norse personal pronouns
plain emphatic possessive
sg. 1st mic mìnhich mì E
2nd tic tìda L tì E
3rd m ha E haza E haz
f hành L henha E henhar
pl. 1st och ochuith ochar
2nd uech uechith uechar
3rd tèr tèrthir tèor

L Triggers lenition   E Triggers eclipsis

Nouns

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

Nouns are categorized under gender and class. There are two genders, being masculine and feminine, and three classes, being radical, lenite, and eclipse. The classes are based on the mutation the singular form causes on the following word. The gender distinction is murky at best, and it has been well observed that it gets confused often, to the point it likely does not hold any actual bearing on the language, rather being more a semantic distinction, see asc for a word where the gender is often confused.

Nouns typically only have at most two forms, distinguishing singular and plural, but many nouns, especially animate nouns, gain distinct feminine forms formed with -al, as in scòthal ("female Scot").

The plural is very consistently formed with the suffix -ar. There is no concrete evidence for the existence of any irregular plurals in the standard language, but within Western Scots Norse many have been observed, the most notable being "man"-"men" as in English, the lack of this in Standard Scots Norse is likely from the a-e merger of Eastern Sudrey Norse.

Adjectives

Adjectives have long lost all declension, with the gender distinction through mutation having been leveled off.

Numerals

1 è
2 thèr
3 trìr
4 fiòr
5 fi
6 siacs
7 siò
8 àth
9 niù
10 tiù
11 eliov
12 tòlv

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 i (class 3)
plain emphatic
singular 1st inì E inìnhic
2nd idì E idìda
3rd m ighaz ighaza E
f ighenh ighenha E
plural 1st inhach inhachúith
2nd inhich inhichith
3rd idèor L idèorthi

E: Triggers eclipsis L: Triggers lenition


Inflection of til (class 1)
plain emphatic
singular 1st tilmì E tilmìnhic
2nd tiltì E tiltìda
3rd m tilaz tilaza E
f tilenh tilenha E
plural 1st tilach tilachúith
2nd tilich tilichith
3rd tiltèor L tiltèorthi

E: Triggers eclipsis L: Triggers lenition

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 elsc ("to love"). Otherwise it's been replaced by hinnar

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 tàl (regular)
infinitive tàl(ich)
pres. part. tàlin
past part. tàladh
positive negative
personal impersonal personal impersonal
ind. pres. tàlir tàltir è thàlir è thàltir
past tàlaidhir tàltaidhir è thàlaidhir è thàltaidhir
fut. tàlist tàltist è thàlist è thàltist
cond. tàlaidhist tàltaidhist è thàlaidhist è thàltaidhist
cont. pres. tàlireu tàltireu è thàlireu è thàltireu
past tàlaidhireu tàltaidhireu è thàlaidhireu è thàltaidhireu
fut. tàlisteu tàltisteu è thàlisteu è thàltisteu
cond. tàlaidhisteu tàltaidhisteu è thàlaidhisteu è thàltaidhisteu
perf. pres. tàliriò tàltiriò è thàliriò è thàltiriò
past tàlaidhiriò tàltaidhiriò è thàlaidhiriò è thàltaidhiriò
fut. tàlistiò tàltistiò è thàlistiò è thàltistiò
cond. tàlaidhistiò tàltaidhistiò è thàlaidhistiò è thàltaidhistiò
imp. tàl tàlt è thàl è thàlt


Conjugation of mèl (regular)
infinitive mèl(ich)
pres. part. mèlin
past part. mèladh
positive negative
personal impersonal personal impersonal
ind. pres. mèlir mèltir è mhèlir è mhèltir
past mèlaidhir mèltaidhir è mhèlaidhir è mhèltaidhir
fut. mèlist mèltist è mhèlist è mhèltist
cond. mèlaidhist mèltaidhist è mhèlaidhist è mhèltaidhist
cont. pres. mèlireu mèltireu è mhèlireu è mhèltireu
past mèlaidhireu mèltaidhireu è mhèlaidhireu è mhèltaidhireu
fut. mèlisteu mèltisteu è mhèlisteu è mhèltisteu
cond. mèlaidhisteu mèltaidhisteu è mhèlaidhisteu è mhèltaidhisteu
perf. pres. mèliriò mèltiriò è mhèliriò è mhèltiriò
past mèlaidhiriò mèltaidhiriò è mhèlaidhiriò è mhèltaidhiriò
fut. mèlistiò mèltistiò è mhèlistiò è mhèltistiò
cond. mèlaidhistiò mèltaidhistiò è mhèlaidhistiò è mhèltaidhistiò
imp. mèl mèlt è mhèl è mhèlt


Conjugation of àgh (regular)
infinitive àgh(ich)
pres. part. àghin
past part. àghadh
positive negative
personal impersonal personal impersonal
ind. pres. àghir àghtir è h'àghir è h'àghtir
past àghaidhir àghtaidhir è h'àghaidhir è h'àghtaidhir
fut. àghist àghtist è h'àghist è h'àghtist
cond. àghaidhist àghtaidhist è h'àghaidhist è h'àghtaidhist
cont. pres. àghireu àghtireu è h'àghireu è h'àghtireu
past àghaidhireu àghtaidhireu è h'àghaidhireu è h'àghtaidhireu
fut. àghisteu àghtisteu è h'àghisteu è h'àghtisteu
cond. àghaidhisteu àghtaidhisteu è h'àghaidhisteu è h'àghtaidhisteu
perf. pres. àghiriò àghtiriò è h'àghiriò è h'àghtiriò
past àghaidhiriò àghtaidhiriò è h'àghaidhiriò è h'àghtaidhiriò
fut. àghistiò àghtistiò è h'àghistiò è h'àghtistiò
cond. àghaidhistiò àghtaidhistiò è h'àghaidhistiò è h'àghtaidhistiò
imp. àgh àght è h'àgh è h'àght

Suppletive verbs

There are very few known suppletive verbs in Scots Norse, the main one being the copula vèr, and even it has been leveled by many speakers.


Conjugation of vèr (suppletive)
present past future
infinitive vèr(ich) vèradh vèrast
participle vèrin vèra vèranist
positive negative
personal impersonal personal impersonal
pos. pres. vèrir vèrscir ibèrir ibèrscir
past vèradhir vèrscadhir ibèradhir ibèrscadhir
fut. vèrist vèrscist ibèrist ibèrscist
imp. vèradhist vèrscadhist ibèradhist ibèrscadhist
cont. pres. i bèrir u i bèrscir u i n'ibèrir u i n'ibèrscir u
past i bèradhir u i bèrscadhir u i n'ibèradhir u i n'ibèrscadhir u
fut. i bèrist u i bèrscist u i n'ibèrist u i n'ibèrscist u
imp. i bèradhist u i bèrscadhist u i n'ibèradhist u i n'ibèrscadhist u
perf. pres. as vèrir u as vèrscir u as ibèrir u as ibèrscir u
past as vèradhir u as vèrscadhir u as ibèradhir u as ibèrscadhir u
fut. as vèrist u as vèrscist u as ibèrist u as ibèrscist u
imp. as vèradhist u as vèrscadhist u as ibèradhist u as ibèrscadhist u

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

Another suppletive verb is that of elsc, which has a suppletive reciprocal from the Old Norse verb "unna" (Scots Norse "uen")

Conjugation of elsc (regular)
infinitive elsc(ich)
pres. part. elscin
past part. elscadh
positive negative
personal impersonal personal impersonal
ind. pres. elscir elsctir è h'elscir è h'elsctir
past elscaidhir elsctaidhir è h'elscaidhir è h'elsctaidhir
fut. elscist elsctist è h'elscist è h'elsctist
cond. elscaidhist elsctaidhist è h'elscaidhist è h'elsctaidhist
cont. pres. elscireu elsctireu è h'elscireu è h'elsctireu
past elscaidhireu elsctaidhireu è h'elscaidhireu è h'elsctaidhireu
fut. elscisteu elsctisteu è h'elscisteu è h'elsctisteu
cond. elscaidhisteu elsctaidhisteu è h'elscaidhisteu è h'elsctaidhisteu
perf. pres. elsciriò elsctiriò è h'elsciriò è h'elsctiriò
past elscaidhiriò elsctaidhiriò è h'elscaidhiriò è h'elsctaidhiriò
fut. elscistiò elsctistiò è h'elscistiò è h'elsctistiò
cond. elscaidhistiò elsctaidhistiò è h'elscaidhistiò è h'elsctaidhistiò
imp. elsc elsct è h'elsc è h'elsct

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

arr manarr al bhori mhriàl h-o hiavn, vèrann vhirrdhing o rhèt h-atharr. vèrann gaèdhadh h-o shanvisc h-atharr, o shcùl ghèor hanna thil bròdhligh.
arr manarr al bhori mhriàl h-o hiavn, vèrann vhirrdhing o rhèt h-atharr. vèrann gaèdhadh h-o shanvisc h-atharr, o shcùl ghèor hanna thil bròdhligh.

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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