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PHONETIC DESCRIPTION OF SCOTTISH LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS
order to indicate the distribution of the sounds with complete accuracy, a whole series of maps would be required. At this stage, however, we shall content ourselves with giving the main distinctions, with the county background familiar to all our readers.
§ 82.1. The lines in Map 2 that run parallel to the coast indicate the peculiar pronunciation of the test words in the district lying between the coast and the western limit of Scottish speech. The lines run unbroken up to the River Forss although, strictly speaking, they ought to be discontinued between Dornoch Firth and Clyth Ness, as in these parts of Sutherland and Caithness only English or Gaelic is heard.
§ 83. Of these dialect districts the most populous and extensive is the Mid Sc. area, the importance of which is enhanced by the fact that it is the home of our conventional literary language. See §§ 15, 16.
East Mid Scots.
§ 84. em.Sc.(a) the district north of the Forth retains the older ae, ane, aince, against the yae, yin, yince of em.Sc.(b) and of all the other central and southern districts. These y forms are the result of the diphthongising of O.E. and open a which is a regular feature of the s.Sc., from which, probably, yae, etc., have been borrowed. In one or other of the central dialects, some other diphthongised forms of or open a can be found --- e.g. yill (ale), yits (oats), yiblins (aiblins).
§ 85. The  sound, unknown in the Northern dialects, is the rule in em.Sc. in all words of O.E. w, w, g origin. See §§ 34, 49. 1. This sound has been extended to many words which have [a] but no original final w or g. South of the Forth this extension is more in evidence than north of it --- e.g. in the Lothians, what, warm, cat, hat, back, black have this new sound where north of the Forth the original a is retained. Curiously enough, two, who, whose, where, away have generally a as in fate [e] in em.Sc.(b) but aw  in em.Sc.(a).
§ 86. Words like mune, spune, gude (see §§ 35.1, 35.2) preserve the ui vowel [y] in em.Sc.(a),1 but have i [I, ] in em.Sc.(b).2 Words like do, shoe, moor, floor (see §§ 35.3, 35.4) have ui [ø] in em.Sc.(a),3 but ai or ae [e] in em.Sc.(b),4 written dae, shae, mair, flair. In e.Lth. and Bwk. older people may still be heard using the rounded vowel. Words like enough and tough (see § 35.6) have u  in em.Sc.(a),5 written eneuch or enyuch, teuch or tyuch, and oo in em.Sc.(b), written enewch or enyooch, and tewch or tyooch.6
§ 87. In Fife, words like think,7 rink, sink, link, drink. swing are pronounced with a diphthong similar to what we hear in Eng. fight; words like big, egg, leg8 have the same diphthong, known also in e.Abd., Black Isle, Cai., n.Rxb.
§ 88. Words which in O.E. have (1) æ (i-umlaut of ), (2) a, (3) e in open position have
a as in fate [e] in em.Sc.(a), and ee [i] in em.Sc.(b). Examples (the footnotes show the difference between em.Sc.(a) and (b)):
(1) Clean, deal, heal, leave, least, lead (v).9
(2) Bread, cheap, dead, deaf, deave, dream, east, hea, heap, lead (n.), leaf, threap, threat.10
(3) Bear (v.), tear (v.), mare, swear, pear, steal, eat, meal.11
§ 89. em.Sc. has a decided predilection for ay as in day [e] in the endings y, ie, ow, ful, and in na (not) after verbs --- e.g. lady, laddie, weedow, carefu', canna, dinna.12
§ 90. As we approach the Celtic Border in Per. there is a distinct tendency to substitute u  for i in words other than those beginning with w, as hill, milk, silk. The Gaelic speaker seems to find a difficulty with the vowel i I]. He substitutes for it [ or , or i] --- e.g. for fish he may say fush [f], fesh [f] or feesh [fi].
§ 91. d after n and l (see §§ 64, 64.1) is generally retained in em.Sc. ``It'' becomes ``id'' in a number of phrases --- e.g. of it, to it, till it, for it, be it, do it --- as, ``he's weel free o'd'' 13; ``see till'd''14; ``naething else for'd.'' 15 Cf. Cai. and Ork., §§ 158, 165.
§ 92. In Bwksh. the vowel ui as in guid, etc., has survived longer than in Lth. au  is
1 myn, spyn, gyd.
2 mm, spIn, gId.
3 dø:, ø:, mø:r, flø:r.
4 de:, e:, me:r, fle:r.
5 n(j)x, t(j)x
6 njux, tjux.
7 þik or þeik.
8 big, ig, lig, or beig, etc.
9 (a) klen, del, etc.; (b) klin, dil, etc.
10 (a) bred, tep, etc.; (b) brid, tip, etc.
11 (a) be:r, swe:r, etc.; (b) bi:r, swi:r,etc.
12 ld, l:d, wid, kerf, kan, dn.
13 hiz wil fri od.
14 si: tld.
15 neþI ls ford.
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