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→Orthography: it wasn't always a single syllable (e.g. understand ~ understandan) |
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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
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
|fam3=[[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
|fam4=[[
|fam5=[[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]]
|fam6=[[Anglic languages|Anglic]]
|ancestor=
|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 [[
{{Legend|#357EC7|[[Scottish Gaelic]]}}
{{Legend|#ff0|[[
{{Legend|#F87217|[[Norn language|Norn]]}}
}}
{{Scots language}}
'''Early [[Scots language|Scots]]''' was the emerging literary language of the
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
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
The increasing economic influence of the burghs attracted further English, [[Flemish people|Fleming]] and [[Scandinavia
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
French
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'' ([
The Flemings introduced ''[[bonspiel|bonspell]]'' (sporting contest), ''bowcht'' ([[sheep pen]]), ''cavie'' ([[hen coop]]), ''crame'' (a booth),
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
: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
:The northern present [[participle]] –''and'', whereas –
: 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
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