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{{short description|West Germanic language}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Early Scots
|nativename=''Inglis''
|region=[[Scottish Lowlands]]
|era=Developed into [[Middle Scots]] by mid-the late 15th century
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
|fam3=[[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
|fam4=[[IngvaeonicNorth languages|IngvaeonicSea Germanic]]
|fam5=[[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]]
|fam6=[[Anglic languages|Anglic]]
|ancestor=[[Old English]] ([[Northumbrian Old English|Northumbrian]])
|ancestor2=[[Early Middle English]]
|isoexception=historical
|map=Image:Languages of Scotland 1400 AD.svg
|mapcaption=One interpretation of the linguistic divide in 1400, here based on [[BritishScottish toponymy|place-name evidence]].
{{Legend|#357EC7|[[Scottish Gaelic]]}}
{{Legend|#ff0|[[EnglishMiddle language|English]]/[[ScotsEarly language|Scots]]}}
{{Legend|#F87217|[[Norn language|Norn]]}}
}}
 
{{Scots language}}
'''Early [[Scots language|Scots]]''' was the emerging literary language of the Northern [[Early Middle English]] -speaking parts of [[Scotland]] in the period before 1450. The northern forms of Middle English descended from [[Northumbrian dialect (Old English)|Northumbrian Old English]]. During this period, speakers referred to the language as "English" (''Inglis'', ''Ynglis'', and variants).
 
Early examples such as [[John Barbour (poet)|Barbour]]’s ''[[The Brus]]'' and [[Andrew of Wyntoun|Wyntoun]]’s ''Chronicle'' are better explained as part of Northern Middle English than as isolated forerunners of later Scots, a name first used to describe the ''language'' later in the [[Middle Scots]] period.
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== History ==
 
[[Northumbrian (Anglo-Saxon)|Northumbrian]] [[Old English]] had been established in south-eastern Scotland as far as the [[River Forth]] in the 7th century and largely remained there until the 13th century, which is why in the late 12th century Adam of Dryburgh described his locality as "in the land of the English in the [[Kingdom of the Scots]]" <ref>"{{lang|la|in terra Anglorum et in regno Scottorum}}", Adam of Dryburgh, ''{{lang|la|De tripartito tabernaculo}}'', II.210, tr. Keith J. Stringer, "Reform Monasticism and Celtic Scotland", in Edward J. Cowan & R. Andrew McDonald (eds.), ''Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages'', ([[East Lothian]], [[2000 in literature|2000]]), p. 133.</ref> and why the early 13th century author of ''[[de Situ Albanie]]'' wrote that the [[Firth of Forth]] "divides the kingdoms of the Scots and of the English.".<ref>[[Alan Orr Anderson|A.O. Anderson]], ''Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500–1286'', 2 Vols, ([[Edinburgh]], 1922), v.i, pp. cxv–cxix; see also [[Dauvit Broun]], “The"The Seven Kingdoms in De Situ Albanie: A Record of [[Pict]]ishPictish political geography or imaginary Map of ancient Alba”Alba", in E. J. Cowan & R. Andrew McDonald (eds.), ''Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Mediæval Era,'' (Edinburgh, 2000, rev. 2005), pp. 24–42.</ref>
 
Political developments in the 12th century facilitated the spread of the English language. Institutions such as the [[burgh]]s first established by [[David I of Scotland|David I]], mostly in the south and east of Scotland, brought new communities into the areas in which they were established. Incoming burghers were mainly English (notably from regions like [[Yorkshire]] and [[Huntingdonshire]]), [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and [[French language|French]]. Although the military aristocracy employed French and Gaelic, these small urban communities appear to have been using English as something more than a ''{{lang|la|[[lingua franca]]}}'' by the end of the 13th century, although this may not be surprising as the area south of the Forth in eastern lowland Scotland was already English speaking and had been since Anglo-Saxon times. Although the population of the largest burghs would have been counted in hundreds rather than thousands, a radical social shift occurred whereby many Gaelic speakers became assimilated into the new social system and its language.
 
The increasing economic influence of the burghs attracted further English, [[Flemish people|Fleming]] and [[Scandinavia|Scandinavian]]n immigration. As the economic power of the burghs grew, Gaelic-speakers from the [[hinterland]] found it advantageous to acquire a working knowledge of English. The institutional language of the burghs consisted of vocabulary that was [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] in origin, such English terms as ''[[toft village|toft]]'' (homestead and land), ''[[croft (land)|croft]]'' ([[smallholding]]), ''[[rood (Scots)|ruid]]'' (land let by a burgh), ''[[guild]]'' (a trade association), ''bow'' (an arched gateway), ''[[wynd]]'' (lane) and ''raw'' (row of houses).<ref>J. Derrick McClure in(1994), "''The Cambridge History of The English Language"'', Vol. 5 1994, p. 29</ref>
 
Multi-lingualismMultilingualism and cultural diversity became increasingly the norm after David I. People in one part of the realm could be addressed as "{{lang|la|"Franci, Angli, [[Gaels|Scoti]] et [[Galwegian Gaelic|Gallovidiani]]"}}" (French, English, Scots and [[Galloway]]-men). The end of the [[House of Dunkeld]] led to the throne being passed to three families of Anglo-French origin, the [[House of Balliol|Balliol]]s, [[House of Bruce|Bruce]]s and [[House of Stuart|Stewart]]s. After the death of King [[Robert I of Scotland|Robert I]], the kings of Scotland (with the exception of King [[Robert II of Scotland|Robert II]]) increasingly identified themselves with the English-speaking part of the kingdom. As a result, by the reign of King [[James I of Scotland]], the political heartland of the Scottish king moved from the area around [[Scone, Perth and Kinross|Scone]] and [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] to the traditionally English area around [[Edinburgh]] south of the Forth.
 
By the 14th and 15th centuries, the variety of English ({{lang|sco|Inglis}}) that resulted from the above influences had replaced Gaelic ({{lang|sco|Scottis}}) in much of the lowlands and Norman French had ceased to be used as the language of the elite. By this time differentiation into Southern, Central and Northern dialects had perhaps occurred. Scots was also beginning to replace [[Latin language|Latin]] as a language for records and literature. In [[Caithness]], it came into contact with both [[Norn language|Norn]] and [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]].
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The core vocabulary is of Anglo-Saxon origin although many of the differences in the phonology, morphology and lexicon in the northern and southern dialects of Middle English have been traced to the linguistic influence in the North of the eighth- and ninth-century Viking invaders who first plundered, then conquered and settled in, large territories in Northumbria, Lincolnshire and East Anglia. Scots also retained many words which became obsolete farther south. The pattern of foreign borrowings, such as [[Romance languages|Romance]] via ecclesiastical and legal [[Latin]] and French, was much the same as that of contemporary English but was often different in detail because of the continuing influence of the [[Auld Alliance]] and the imaginative use of Latinisms in literature.
 
During this period a number of words of Anglo-Saxon origin, such as ''{{lang|sco|anerly'' }} (alone), ''{{lang|sco|berynes''}} (grave), ''{{lang|sco|clenge''}} (cleanse), ''{{lang|sco|halfindall''}} (a half part), ''{{lang|sco|scathful''}} (harmful), ''{{lang|sco|sturting''}} (contention), ''{{lang|sco|[[Thirlage|thyrllage'']]}} (bondage), and ''{{lang|sco|umbeset''}} (surround), were now almost or completely unique to Scots.
 
French -derived warfare terms such as ''{{lang|sco|arsoun''}} (saddle-bow), ''{{lang|sco|[[Bascinet|bassynet'']]}} (helmet), ''{{lang|sco|eschell''}} (battalion), ''{{lang|sco|[[Hauberk|hawbrek'']]}} (coat of mail), ''{{lang|sco|[[wikt:quirboilly|qwyrbolle'']]}} (hardened leather), ''{{lang|sco|troppell''}} (troop), ''{{lang|sco|vaward''}} (vanguard), and ''{{lang|sco|vyre''}} (crossbow bolt) became part of the language along with other French vocabulary such as ''{{lang|sco|cummer''}} (godmother), ''{{lang|sco|[[wikt:déjeuner|disjone'']]}} (breakfast), ''{{lang|sco|dour''}} (stern, grim), ''{{lang|sco|fasch''}} (annoy), ''{{lang|sco|grosar''}} (gooseberry), ''{{lang|sco|ladron''}} (rascal), ''{{lang|sco|moyen''}} (means), ''{{lang|sco|plenissing''}} (furniture) and ''{{lang|sco|vevaris''}} (provisions).
 
The vocabulary of Scots was augmented by the speech of Scandinavians, Flemings, [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and [[Middle Low German]] speakers through trade with, and immigration from, the [[low countries]].
 
From Scandinavian (often via Scandinavian influenced [[Middle English]]) came ''at'' (that/who), ''byg'' (build), ''bak'' (bat), ''bla'' ([[blae]]), ''bra'' ([[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brae brae]]), ''ferlie'' (marvel), ''flyt'' (remove), ''fra'' (from), ''gar'' (compel), ''gowk'' (cuckoo), ''harnis'' (brains), ''ithand'' (industrious), ''low'' (flame), ''lug'' (an appendage, ear), ''man'' (must), ''neve'' (fist), ''sark'' (shirt), ''spe'' (prophesy), ''þa'' (those), ''til'' (to), ''tinsell'' (loss), ''{{lang|sco|wycht''}} (valiant), and ''wyll'' (lost, confused).
 
The Flemings introduced ''[[bonspiel|bonspell]]'' (sporting contest), ''bowcht'' ([[sheep pen]]), ''cavie'' ([[hen coop]]), ''crame'' (a booth), ''{{lang|sco|furisine''}} ([[flint]] striker), ''{{lang|sco|grotkyn''}} (a [[Gross (unit)|gross]]), ''[[wikt:hof#Middle Dutch|howff]]'' (courtyard), ''kesart'' (cheese vat), ''lunt'' (match), ''much'' (a cap), ''muchkin'' (a liquid measure), ''skaff'' (scrounge), ''[[Wapenshaw|wapinschaw]]'' (muster of militia), ''wyssill'' (change of money), and the coins ''{{lang|sco|plak''}}, ''{{lang|sco|stek''}} and ''{{lang|sco|doyt''}}.
 
A number of Gaelic words such as ''breive'' (judge), ''cane'' (a tribute), ''[[Comhdhail|couthal]]'' (court of justice), ''davach'' (a measure of land), ''duniwassal'' (nobleman), ''kenkynolle'' (head of the kindred), ''mare'' (tax collector), and ''toschachdor'' (leader, cf. Irish {{lang|ga|[[wikt:taoiseach|taoiseach]]}}, Welsh {{lang|cy|[[tywysog]]}}) occurred in early legal documents but most became obsolete early in the period. Gaelic words for topographical features have endured, such as ''bogg'' (bog), ''[[Cairn|carn]]'' (pile of stones), ''corrie'' (hollow in a hill), ''crag'' (rock), ''inch'' (small island), ''knok'' (hill), ''[[loch]]'' (lake or fjord), and ''strath'' (river valley).
 
== Orthography ==
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:The notable use of the [[Northern subject rule]], which according to one hypothesis, is thought to have arisen through contact with the Celtic languages of Britain during the early medieval period. Another hypothesis proposes a possible path of developments from the reduction of verbal affixes followed by originally enclitic postverbal pronouns.
 
:The forms of the third person plural [[pronoun]] ''they/their/them'' (derived from Old Norse) which later moved southwards to replace the older Southern ''he/here/hem'' forms (derived from Old English). One reason why the Northern forms were ultimately successful is that they got rid of the ambiguity of early Southern Middle English ''he'' (which could mean 'he', 'they', or even in some dialects 'she') and ''{{lang|enm|hir(e)''}}, ''{{lang|enm|her(e)''}} (which could mean either 'her' or 'their').
 
:The reduced set of [[verb]] agreement endings originating in the 9th or 10th centuries. In Northern Middle English, in the present tense, in all persons and numbers but the first singular, which had –''e'', the ending was –''(e)s''; and in Scotland even the first person singular was occasionally –''s''. Whereas the Old English and Southern and Midlands Middle English pattern had –''e'', -''(e)s(t)'', -''(e)th'' in the three persons of the singular and –''(a)th'' ''(-(e)n'' in the Midlands) in all persons of the plural.
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:Loss of the Old English prefix ''ge''-, often ''y''- or ''i''- further south.
 
:The singlebare syllable northernstem [[infinitive]] (''sing'' rather than the Old English ''singan''), whereas the past participle -''en'' inflection was used in the South. The [[Silent E|final ''e'']] was silent in the North but still pronounced further south.
 
:The northern present [[participle]] –''and'', whereas –''{{lang|enm|-inge(e)''}}, -''–{{lang|enm|ynge(e)''}} was used in the South, and the northern past participle of strong verbs, in for example, ''{{lang|enm|drive(n)''}} and southern ''{{lang|enm|ydrive''}}.
 
: The Scottish -''yt''/-''it'' for the [[past tense]], the northern form was usually -''yd''/-''id'' where further south -''ed'' was used.
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[[Category:Medieval languages|Scots, Early]]
[[Category:Scotland in the High Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Scotland in the Latelate Middle Ages]]
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