A Test for Ulster-Scots

Philip Robinson

Ulster-Scots is often confused with Ulster “dialect” for a very good reason: Ulster dialect contains many Scots words and pronunciations when compared to the English spoken in England or the south of Ireland. From outside, all Ulster speech can sound very Scottish, particularly the “accent” in Antrim, Down, Londonderry and Donegal.

Ulster-Scots, however, is more than Ulster dialect. It is a living version of the lowland Scots language which has recognition as a traditional, regional language of Europe.

How, then, can we tell the difference between somebody who is talking Ulster-Scots, and somebody who is just using “dialect”? The easiest way to identify Ulster-Scots is by listening for a number of “markers”. These “markers” are the most common words used by Ulster-Scots speakers, and which are not used by other dialect speakers. For example, the Scots words thon, dander and wee (for “that”, “stroll” and “little”) are used every day by the great majority of folk throughout Ulster. Although they are Scots rather than English words, they have simply been borrowed into Ulster dialect.

On the other hand, words like nicht, cannae and gye (for “night”, “can’t” and “very”) are very common markers of Ulster-Scots speech. Indeed, they are also markers of Ulster-Scots literature, if you wish to distinguish this from Ulster “dialect” writing.

It is important to remember that almost all Ulster-Scots speakers will only use the “markers” in each other’s company. When speaking to an outsider, in public, or to a professional person such as a teacher, minister or doctor, Ulster-Scots speakers will switch to Standard English, or — more often — to Ulster dialect, which is regarded as more acceptable.

The following list of 67 everyday words is set out to show how English, Ulster dialect and Ulster-Scots are different from each other. In particular, note how the first 22 words in this list are Scots words used in everyday speech throughout Ulster. The rest are words which are only used in Ulster-Scots. These last 45 words can be used as “markers” of Ulster-Scots speech and literature. If, for example, you often hear (and sometimes use) less than 20 of this entire list, your experience of Ulster-Scots is very limited. If, however, you often hear and sometimes use more than half (33) of the words on this list, you are already part of the Ulster-Scots speaking community. Test yourself against these scores: